1. Socrates Drank The Conium – Who Is To Blame? – On The Wings (1973)
Yannis Spathas is the guitar god you never heard of. Influenced majorly by Hendrix (watch him play “Little Wing” on youtube), he led Socrates Drank The Conium to a level of success in their home country of Greece, but unfortunately not outside. Though they started a little more psychedelic, Socrates really found their sound in the progressive rock world on their third album On The Wings. The guitar playing is absolutely outrageous. Spathas pulls off complicated licks like it’s nothing, seamlessly shifting from lead to rhythm like Hendrix himself did. The harmonies even sound like an early version of the direction bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden would take with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.
2. Dogfeet – Mr. Sunshine – Dogfeet (1994)
Dogfeet were a British psychedelic blues-rock band that, like many groups of the time, disappeared into obscurity without a ton of info. This track, “Mr. Sunshine,” was not on the albums original 1970 version, but opens up the 1994 reissue of it. From what I understand, the band started in this heavier style and had made a few shifts toward commerciality by the time they made the record. Not that the rest of the album isn’t good, but it’s very different. The rawness of “Mr. Sunshine” leads me to believe it was an older song from before the albums release, but I really haven’t been able to find any info on where the song came from. More so than any other track on Dogfeet, the band is really in a groove here, displaying some serious chops. It would have been interesting to hear Dogfeet do more material in this vein.
3. Far East Family Band – Nipponjin – Nipponjin (1975)
Japan experienced a pyschedelic/prog-rock movement similar to what happened in Germany and the UK in the late 60s and early 70s. It must have been something about growing up in those bombed out cities, war torn reminders of the previous generation that led these musicians to adventurous music. The problem was, though, the records didn’t translate as easily to English and thus, never got the respect of the European and American audiences. Julian Cope wrote a whole book about it that is well worth the read, but for now here is one of my favorites. I like to refer to Far East Family Band as the Pink Floyd of Japan. The title track of their 1975 album Nipponjin is an epic journey of psychedlia, an 18-minute serpentine beast. Swirling analog synths (courtesy of a young Kitaro, who would go on to be one of the most accomplished New Age musicians) accompany cool, melodic space-rock grooves. The guitar solo that happens about halfway through is technical and flawless. It’s a shame this band never gained the notoriety they deserved.
4. Leslie West – Dreams Of Milk And Honey – Mountain (1969)
Leslie West had been playing in a pop rock and soul group called The Vagrants who had cut a few singles and experienced some success in the New York City scene. In 1969, West left to do his own thing, a solo album called Mountain, which of course is what his next band would be called. Clearly shifting away from the R&B of The Vagrants, he employed a heavier blues-rock style influenced by Cream. It’s definitely a rawer version of what Mountain would become but the crushing distortion and wild guitar playing are present, as are West’s howling vocals.
5. MC5 – Come Together – Kick Out The Jams (1969)
Kick Out The Jams may be one of the most important albums of all time. It’s essentially a punk record that pre-dates the genres beginnings by at least 5 years. There is just nothing else like it. Known for their wild live shows, MC5 opted to make Kick Out The Jams, their first release, a completely live album. It is pure raw, energy. The amplifiers sound like they are about to burst into flames, with drums straining to match the volume of the guitars. Feedback screeches and vocalist Rob Tyner screams his way through the set. It’s a shame that their second album would be destroyed by Jon Landau who decided that what an intensely loud and chaotic band needed was a super pristine, dull production. Landau, of course, is the same guy who turned Springsteen from the gritty bar rock n roll version of Bob Dylan to the clown prancing around the stage in the “Dancing In The Dark” video.
6. Blue Cheer – Fruit & Icebergs – New! Improved! (1969)
Blue Cheers first two albums are proto-metal classics, their overly distorted blues rock pre-dating the first Black Sabbath album by a few years. Their third album doesn’t exactly share that distinction, though. Named New! Improved! because of a major lineup change, notably with original guitar player Leigh Stephens leaving, side A didn’t live up the name. But side B is a hidden gem. It features three songs written and sung by guitar player Randy Holden (who we will hear from again). He would only last with the band for this material, but I suppose that’s enough for the greatness that it is. “Fruit & Icebergs” is the best of the batch; and Holden would rerecord an even heavier version for his solo album a year later. Listen to that descending blues lick and understand the song “Black Sabbath” had yet to be released.
7. The Norman Haines Band – Den Of Iniquity – Den Of Iniquity (1971)
Norman Haines played a weird part in early heavy metal history. He was in a band called Locomotive with Jim Simpson who was managing Black Sabbath, then just changing their name to that from Earth. Simpson suggested that for one of the groups earliest recordings, they do a song called “The Rebel,” written and accompanied on organ by Haines. This song, along with another Haines tune recorded by Sabbath called “When I Come Down” have now become some of the most sought after recordings, mainly because they were never released. You can find “The Rebel” online now and it’s a pretty good song, though very different from the direction Black Sabbath would take, which is obviously why they would choose to shelve it. As For “When I Come Down,” about a minute and half of it can be heard online, but Haines would end up recording it for his own band on the Den Of Iniquity album. Now that story has nothing to do with this song, but I felt like I couldn’t write about Haines without it. The title track to that Norman Haines Band album is pretty cool, though. His organ and the guitar get into a weird phase shift and make this strange wooshing psychedelic effect. It’s heavy psych blues.
8. Randy Holden – Keeper Of The Flame – Population II (1970)
This whole thing opened with one guitar god you never heard of before and now it’s closing with another. After his stint in Blue Cheer, Randy Holden put together a band consisting of him and drummer Chris Lockheed, who also played keyboard, called Population II. Holden had a deal with Sunn amplifiers and loaded up a theater with the most powerful amps he could find to get the volume he needed for his sound. It’s one of the heaviest things you will hear from the era. So, then why is it not particularly known? Well, the label thought he wasted their money and his management decided to repossess and sell his wall of amplifiers. Holden gave up on the business and didn’t even know the album got released. Meanwhile, one of the best “proto-metal” albums disappeared into obscurity.
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