Scroll down for reviews of reissues by Sir Douglas Quintet and Captain Beefheart.

Omega
Trombitás Frédi És A Rettenetes Emberek

(Qualiton 1968/Mega 1992 (Hungary))

http://www.gammapolis.de/

One of the most interesting groups to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain, Omega recorded some excellent material in the psychedelic rock vein before moving on to progressive rock, the genre they are most often associated with. This, their first album, was released on the Hungarian label Qualiton in 1968, and is a very interesting example of Eastern European 60s rock. Trombitás Frédi És A Rettenetes Emberek (say that five times fast) has a variety of songs, including lighthearted pop tunes like “Trombitás Frédi”, quiet ballads like “A Napba Néztem”, as well as more aggressive rock numbers like “Rettenetes Emberek”. The standout song on the album is probably “Egy Lány Nem Ment Haza”, a hard-hitting psychedelic punk romp propelled by a vicious fuzztone guitar riff which surely must have frightened the socialists. While some tunes like “Holnap” are more experimental, others such as “Ha Én Szél Lehetnék” are carefree pop rock. The music on the album definitely displays the influence of Eastern European and Gypsy folk music, as does most other rock music from Eastern Europe. Considering the level of government oppression and censorship of rock music behind the Iron Curtain, this album is surprisingly experimental. Trombitás Frédi És A Rettenetes Emberek will certainly be a treat for those who enjoy the ethnic idiosyncrasies of European pop music. Available from www.folio.hu

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Sir Douglas Quintet
The Best Of

(Tribe 1966/BeatRocket\Sundazed 2000)

http://www.laventure.net/tourist/sdq_hist.htm

Breaking out of Texas in the mid-60s, the Sir Douglas Quintet represented the epitome of gritty southern rock. With the Top-40 hits “She’s About a Mover” and “The Rains Came”, the group effectively made a dent in the national pop scene. Though some argued the group was capitalizing on the British Invasion, the SDQ’s music could never be mistaken for anything other than bare bones Texas rock ‘n’ roll. This release is a reissue of the band’s only album on Tribe, which was actually a ‘first album’ rather then a ‘best of’. In addition to the aforementioned hits, this release features similar sounding mid-tempo rock tracks like “In the Jailhouse Now” and “The Tracker”, as well as some pleasant ballads like “Beginning of the End” and “It Was in the Pines”. Throughout the album, the fine organ work of Doug Sahm’s lifetime musical partner Augie Myers is featured prominently. Certainly the organ work is among the best to be found anywhere in 60s pop. This reissue on BeatRocket features two bonus tracks: “Bacon Fat” and “Blue Norther’, both of which were released as singles on the Tribe label, but were not included on the original Best Of album. After recording their Tribe material, the group splintered and broke up briefly, though they soon reformed and recorded some fine material on the Smash label, including the smash (pun intended) hit “Mendocino”. Although the style of the Sir Douglas Quintet’s music could be criticized for being somewhat derivative, the songwriting and performances often prevent the songs from being monotonous. The same winning formula used for “She’s About a Mover” seems to have been used on the other songs on the Best Of album. Maintaining the high standards of Sundazed, this CD on their BeatRocket imprint features fine from-masters sound quality and attractive packaging. Overall, a fairly solid release.

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Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
The Mirror Man Sessions

(Buddah 1999)

http://members.lycos.nl/teejo

Often mentioned in the same breath as such high-rollers as Frank Zappa and The Fugs, Captain Beefheart is regarded by many as one of Rock’s true innovators. After recording his legendary debut album Safe As Milk, the Captain and his band retreated into the studio to begin work on an ambitious, but unfocused new project tentatively titled “It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper”. Months were spent in the studio recording, but Buddah Records were less than impressed with the results, and the album was scrapped. Though disappointed with Buddah’s verdict, The Captain continued to record interesting new material, including the acclaimed albums Strictly Personal, Trout Mask Replica, and Lick My Decals Off. In 1971-three years after the ‘Plain Brown Wrapper’ tapes were abandoned-Buddah released some of the session masters under the title Mirror Man. This new CD release from Buddah attempts to recreate Captain Beefheart’s original intentions for the scrapped album. Unfortunately however, having heard the album, I can understand why Buddah elected not to release it in 1968. The Mirror Man Sessions consists of long, meandering, slow-paced, and arguably pointless blues numbers featuring largely meaningless lyrics and unremarkable instrumentation. Although two of songs, “Tarotplane” and “Mirror Man”, are both over fifteen minutes long, the listener of this CD need not worry, because he will likely already be sleeping restfully before the third minute is up. The only really salvageable cuts from The Mirror Man Sessions are “Safe As Milk” and “Moody Liz”, both of which feature some nice bluesy guitar work at times. Overall however, this release is incredibly tiresome and lacking in both variety and vision. After the modest genius of Beefheart’s first album Safe As Milk, this release is certainly a disappointment. Oh, and did I mention all the songs sound alike? Do yourself a favor and buy the Sir Douglas Quintet CD instead…you’ll certainly tap your feet more.

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