SINGLES

BEATSTALKERS-When I’m Five/ Little Boy (CBS)
JOHN BROMLEY-Melody Fayre/ Sugar Love (Polydor)
ERIC BURDON/ANIMALS-Ring Of Fire/ I’m An Animal (MGM) #35
CALIFORNIANS-Mandy/ The Cooks Of Cakes And Kindness (Fontana)
CARAVAN-Place Of My Own/ Ride (Verve)
CARTOONE-Knick Knack Man/ A Penny For The Sun (Atlantic)
CONSORTIUM-All The Love In The World/ Spending My Life Saying Goodbye (Pye) #22
CREAM-White Room/ Those Were The Days (Polydor) #28
DAVE DAVIES-Hold My hand/ Creeping Jean (Pye)
EXCELSIOR SPRING-Happy Miranda/ It (Instant)
ELMER GANTRY’S VELVET OPERA-Volcano/ A Quick ‘B’ (Direction)
GENTLE INFLUENCE-Never Trust In Tomorrow/ Easy To Love (Pye)
HEAVY JELLY-I Keep Singing That Same Old Song/ Blue (Island)
ELTON JOHN-Lady Samantha/ All Across The Heavens (Philips)
THE LOCOMOTIVE-Mr Armageddon/ There’s Got To Be A Way (Parlophone)
THE LOOT-Try To Keep It A Secret/ Radio City (Page One)
NEIL MacARTHUR-She’s Not There/ World Of Glass (Deram) #34
MAN-Sudden Life/ Love (Pye)
THE MIXTURE-Sad Old Song/ Never trust In Tomorrow (Parlophone)
1984-This Little Boy/ Rosalyn (Big T)
NIRVANA-Wings Of love/ Requiem For John Coltrane (Island)
OPAL BUTTERFLY-Mary Anne With The Shakey Hand/ My Gration Or? (CBS)
THE ORANGE MACHINE-You Can All Join In/ Dr Crippen’s Waiting Room (Pye)
NICKY SCOTT-Honey Pie/ No More Tomorrows (Pye)
SCRUGG-Will The Real Geraldine Please Stand Up/ Only George (Pye)
STATUS QUO-Make Me Stay A Little Bit Longer/ Auntie Nellie (Pye)
TINKERBELL’S FAIRYDUST-Sheila’s Back In Town/ Follow Me Follow (Decca)
TOBY TWIRL-Movin’ In/ Utopia Daydream (Decca)
THE TROGGS-Evil Woman/ Sweet Madeleine (Page One)
TYRANNOSAURUS REX-Pewtor Suitor/ Warlord Of The Royal Crocodiles (Regal Zonophone)
UNIT 4 + 2-3.30/ I Will (Fontana)
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR-People You Were Going To/ Firebrand (Polydor)
VELVETT FOGG-Telstar ‘69/ Owed To The Dip (Pye)
GARY WALKER AND THE RAIN-Come In You’ll Get Pneumonia/ Francis (Philips)
WILD SILK-Vision In A Plaster Sky/ Toymaker (Columbia)

ALBUMS

THE BEATLES-Yellow Submarine (Apple) #4
FAIRPORT CONVENTION-What We Did On Our Holidays (Island)
GROUNDHOGS-Scratching The Surface (Liberty)
THE LIVERPOOL SCENE-The Amazing Adventures Of (RCA)
MAN-Revelation (Pye)
PROCESSION-Procession (Mercury)
SAM GOPAL-Escalator (Stable)
VANITY FAIR-The Sun, The Wind And Other Things (Page One)
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR-Aerosol Grey Machine (Mercury USA Only)
VELVETT FOGG-Velvett Fogg (Pye)

HAPPENING!

• The Beatles perform an impromptu concert on the roof of Apple HQ in Saville Row to complete the filming of their “Let It Be” movie.
• U.S Police confiscate thirty thousand copies of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Two Virgins” album, declaring the cover to be “pornographic”.
• With Traffic having split when Steve Winwood quit the previous month, keyboardist Wynder K Frog (Mick Weaver) joins Capaldi, Mason and Wood. They are briefly known as Wooden Frog but they split after a series of unproductive rehearsals and a few uninspired live appearances.
• Terry Sylvester is Graham Nash’s replacement in The Hollies.
• Trevor Burton, the lead guitarist of The Move, quits the group to join The Uglys. Rick Price of Sight & Sound is drafted in to replace him.
• Peter Frampton announces that he is leaving The Herd.
• Noel Redding forms a new band, Fat Mattress, but denies that he is leaving the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
• Jimi Hendrix appears on the BBC TV show “A Happening For Lulu”. He is supposed to perform ‘Hey Joe’ but partway through the song he leads the Experience into an unrehearsed rendition of “Sunshine Of Your Love” in tribute to the recently defunct Cream. Lulu is left helpless in the wings as she waits in vain to perform her show finale. Hendrix gleefully shouts “We’re being thrown off the air” as the shows producers cut the broadcast. Also appearing on the programme were The Iveys, miming to “And Her Daddy’s A Millionaire” and “Maybe Tomorrow”.
• Hendrix also finds the time to add guitar overdubs to Eire Apparent’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Band” track.
• Martin Barre is installed as Jethro Tull’s new guitarist.
• Pete Giles quits Giles, Giles and Fripp. The group replace him with Greg Lake (ex-Shy Limbs/ The Gods) and change their name to King Crimson.
• Ian Matthews quits Fairport Convention, citing his desire to play country-rock rather than follow the traditional British path that Fairport are beginning to tread.
• Uriel rename themselves Egg.
• BBC1 TV “Omnibus”-excerpts from Cream’s farewell concert (5th)
• BBC1 TV “Crackerjack-Harmony Grass (17th), Manfred Mann, The Move (24^th)
• BBC2 TV “Colour Me Pop”-The Move (4th), Sons & Lovers (11th), The Toast (25th)
• BBC2 TV "Julie Felix Show"- The Pentangle (11th)
• The Kinks play two tracks from their “Village Green Preservation Society” album on the BBC 2 TV show “Once More With Felix”(30th).
• ITV “Time For Blackburn”-Grapefruit (12th-as 3 piece because Pete Swettenham is in Hampstead Hospital undergoing a chest operation)
• German TV “Beat Club”-The Move, Gun, Status Quo, Donovan (25th)
• BBC SESSIONS-Art Movement (13th-17th, Brian Matthew--27th-31st, Dave Cash), Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (6th-10th, David Symonds), Pete Brown’s Battered Ornaments (8th, Night Ride), Dave Brock & Friends (29th, Night Ride), Bystanders (6th-10th, Dave Cash), Caravan (5th, Top Gear), Colosseum (19th, Top Gear-20th, WS R&B), Cupid’s Inspiration (13th-17th, Brian Matthew), Cymbaline (13th-17th, Dave Cash), Eclection (13th-17th, David Symonds--27th-31st, Tony Brandon), Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera (13th-17th, David Symonds), Episode Six (20th-24th, Keith Skues), Fairport Convention (6th-10th, David Symonds--6th, live appearance on Radio 1 Club--20th-24th, David Symonds), Freedom (13th-17th, David Symonds), Grapefruit (6th-10th, David Hamilton), The Gun (29th, Radio 1 Club), The Herd (6th-10th, David Symonds),  Honeybus (20th-24th, David Symonds), Idle Race (13th-17th,David Symonds--26th, Top Gear--27th-31st, Tony Brandon), Kaleidoscope (13th-17th, David Symonds), Katch 22 (20th-24th, Dave Cash), Kinks (6th-10th, David Symonds), Liverpool Scene (19th, Top Gear), Love Sculpture (4th, Saturday Club--13th-17th, David Symonds), Mandrake Paddle Steamer (31st, Radio 1 Club), Manfred Mann (13th-17th, David Symonds), Marmalade (18th, Saturday Club-final edition of this long running show)--27th-31st, Jimmy Young), The Mirage (13th-17th, Dave Cash), Montanas (6th-10th, Dave Cash), Moody Blues (6th-10th, David Symonds), The Move (6th-10th, David Hamilton--20th-24th, Dave Cash), New Formula (13th-17th, Dave Cash), Nite People (27th-31st, Tony Brandon), Orange Bicycle (27th-31st, Dave Cash), Pretty Things (21st, Radio 1 Club), Simon Dupree & The Big Sound (20th-24th, Keith Skues), Spectrum (13th-17th, Brian Matthew--27th-31st, Jimmy Young), Spooky Tooth (20th, David Symonds), Status Quo (11th-Pete Murray’s People--27th-31st, Dave Cash), Strawbs (12th, Top Gear), Tangerine Peel (13th-17th, Dave Cash), Ten Years After (5th, Top Gear--26th, Symonds On Sunday), Third Ear Band (1st, Night Ride), Timebox (13th-17th, David Symonds--27th-31st, Dave Cash), Tremeloes (6th-10th, David Symonds--13th-17th, Dave Cash), The Troggs (13th-17th, Dave Cash--20th-24th, David Symonds), Yes (12th, Top Gear)

WATCHING!

• The Pretty Things mime their concept album “SF Sorrow” in two performances at London’s Roundhouse.

• The “Midnite Rave-Part 2” at The Lyceum on the 24th/25th features Status Quo, Joe Cocker, The Gun, Love Sculpture, Spencer Davis Group and Aynsley Dunbar.

• Marquee-Yes (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th), Octopus (1st, 18th), Colosseum (3rd), Earth (3rd), Spice (4th, 11th, 18th, 25th), Clouds (4th, 21st, 29th), The Explosives (5th, 19th), Groundhogs (7th), Toast (8th), Spooky Tooth (9th), Village (10th, 22nd), Van Der Graaf Generator (11th), House Of Lords (12th), Jeff Beck Group (14th), Andromeda (14th, 23rd), Procession (15th), Free (16th), Pegasus (17th), Marmalade (21st), Joe Cocker (23rd), Jethro Tull (24th), East Of Eden (25th), The Exception (26th), The Nice (28th), Killing Floor (28th), Capaldi, Mason, Wood & Frog (30th), Feathers (30th) Steamhammer (31st)

• Middle Earth/Roundhouse-Fairport Convention (4th),Love Sculpture, Egg (11th), Pink Floyd, Arcadium (18th), Pretty Things, Egg, Glass Menagerie (25th), The Move (26th)

• Speakeasy-Kaleidoscope (10th), Jethro Tull (14th), Freedom (18th), Van Der Graaf Generator (23rd)

• Queen Elizabeth Hall-Tyrannosaurus Rex (13th)

• Royal Albert Hall-Ten Years After, Family, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre (17th), Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine (18th)

• Country Club-Idle Race (2nd), Ten Years After, Freedom (12th), Spooky Tooth (19th), Edgar Broughton Band, Third Ear Band (23rd), Colosseum (26th), Clouds (30th)

• Klooks Kleek- Van Der Graaf Generator (7th), Eclection (28th), Timebox (30th)

• Whisky A Go Go- Explosive (2nd), Spirit Of John Morgan (4th)

• Aberdeen Beach Club-Marmalade (25^th)

• Aberdeen University-Marmalade (24^th)

• Pavilion, Bath-Jethro Tull (7th), Gun (20th)

• Birmingham, Bull's Head- Ten Years After (23rd)

• Mothers, Birmingham- Andromeda (3rd), Spooky Tooth (4th), Bonzo Dog Band (11th), Pink Floyd (12th), The Liverpool Scene (17th), The Who, Gun (19th), Roy Harper (24th), Mason, Wood, Capaldi & Frog (25th), The Nice (26th), Free (31st)

• Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford-Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (13th), The Spectrum, The Fox (27th)

• Bolton Nevada- Casuals (25th)

• Key Club, Bridgend-Gun (18th)

• Spa, Bridlington-Jethro Tull (18th)

• Homerton College, Cambridge-Pink Floyd (18th)

• Trinity College, Carmarthen-Gun (17th)

• Chislehurst Caves-Blossom Toes (31^st)

• Coventry Cathedral-Pentangle (29th)

• Lanchester Arts Festival, Coventry- Fairport Convention (24th), Family, Eclection (25th)

• Dunfermline Kinema- Writing On The Wall (5th)

• Dunstable California Ballroom- Katch 22 (4th)

• Town Hall, Glastonbury-Ten Years After (4th)

• Civic Ballroom, Haverfordwest-Marmalade (11th)

• Hereford Hillside-The Move (24^th)

• Borough Road College, Isleworth-The Who, The Pyramids (25th)

• Keele University-Jethro Tull (15th), Pentangle (30th)

• The Barn, Little Bardfield-The Fox (18th)

• London, Goldsmith’s College-Gun (10^th)

• London, Imperial College- The Troggs, The Gods (18th)

• Kings College, London- Pretty Things, Van Der Graaf Generator (17th), Family, Blonde On Blonde (31st)

• London Lyceum- New Formula (2nd)

• Red Lion, London-Family (30th)

• Loughborough University- Love Sculpture, Idle Race, East Of Eden (10th), Spirit Of John Morgan (15th), Juniors Eyes, Andromeda (18th), Pesky Gee! (22nd)

• Manchester Houldsworth Hall-Family, Roy Harper, Bridget St John (18th)

• Manchester University-Jethro Tull (18th), Nice (25th)

• College Of Commerce, Manchester-Moody Blues (27th)

• Nairn Town Hall- Marmalade (23rd)

• Civic Hall, Nantwich-The Who (18th)

• Newcastle City Hall-Family, Gun, Bonzo Dog Band (26th)

• Newtown Montgomery- Casuals (31st)

• Norwich Gala Ballroom-Jethro Tull (11^th), The Move (25^th)

• Oxford Town Hall-Gun (4th)

• Winter Gardens, Penzance-Jethro Tull (2nd)

• Van Dykes, Plymouth-Ten Years After (3rd), Jethro Tull (4th), Fairport Convention (29th)

• Orchid Ballroom, Purley-Marmalade (27th)

• Redcar Coatham Hotel-Jethro Tull (12^th)

• 69 Club, Royal York Hotel, Ryde, IOW-Pink Floyd (25th)

• Salisbury, Alex Disco-Gun (16^th)

• City Hall, Sheffield-The Nice (27th)

• Pavilion, Sidmouth-Rainbow Ffolly, Room (4th)

• Guild Hall, Southampton-Pentangle (23rd)

• Southampton University- Van Der Graaf Generator, Fairport Convention (18th)

• Golden Torch, Stoke-on-Trent-The Nice (19th)

• Bay Hotel, Sunderland-Family (6th), Free (13th), Harmony Grass (20th), Keef Hartley (27th)

• Toby Jug, Tolworth-Gun (5th), Jethro Tull (8th)

• Twickenham, Eel Pie Island-The Nice, Van Der Graaf Generator (31st)

• Weston Super Mare Pavilion- Casuals (11th)

• Civic Hall, Wolverhampton-The Who (24th)

• Lafayette Club, Wolverhampton-Jethro Tull (16th)

• The glamorous sounding Fishmongers Arms in Wood Green, North London plays host to Pink Floyd (1st), Fairport Convention and Gary Farr (3rd), Ten Years After (10th).

REVIEWS

Dave Davies

Hold My Hand: This is one of Dave's own compositions and it groans and strains strangely, a bit like Dave Mason freaking out with Family.

Excelsior Spring

Happy Miranda: Strange--the lead singer sounds like Steve Winwood, for about fifty seconds of the intro. But by Jupiter, the lad has his own style, and with a jolly hot potato accompaniment, suitably out-of-tune, over the heavy four-to-the-bar beat, one is hard put to conceal feelings of pleasure on hearing a sound that won't be a hit but will please anybody who stumbles across it on Radio Bilge.

Heavy Jelly

I Keep Singing That Same Old Song: Some people seem convinced this is Spooky Tooth at work, but I have my own ideas about this eight minute Guy Stevens production and the faces behind the voices. The leader's voice certainly rings a bell, and the skipping piano-and-drums rhythm that biffs one's consciousness so insistently is highly familiar. This is tremendously dramatic and exciting, with a vicious piano riff and clever guitar phrasing. The whole group explodes with excitement and can't get out enough emotion to satisfy themselves until the full eight minutes are ridden out. An absolute gas and I recommend it to heads everywhere, from Walthamstow to Claygate and from Earl's Court to Muswell Hill. Go ahead--blow your minds.

Man

Revelation (album) : An outstanding release is an album by a group simply called Man. It has some fine compostions 'And in the beginning...', 'And Castles Rise In Children's Eyes' and 'The Future Hides Its Face', though the track which stands out is 'Erotica' which features a woman reaching a climax! You hardly need a visual image to do that! The cover can easily be spotted - five nude guys in a steam bath. Maybe it won't be long before 16mm movies are provided to go with the records.

Orange Machine

You Can All Join In: A fine Dave Mason tune that should have been a hit for Traffic, if the dolts had played their cards right. These lads lose the essential hoe down quality of Traffic's LP version, but I still think the tune is strong enough for a single hit.

Status Quo

Make Me Stay A Bit Longer: Put on a psyched-out pair of Madrid style dancing boots and onion-a-go-go to the top of the chart! Here is a good hit for the lads, with a driving, Spanish flavoured introduction and unpretentious vocal and guitar sound. Reminds me a bit of the Move, but we'll be seeing them watching the monitor screens and smiling three seconds late on Top Of The Pops before the month is out.

Toby Twirl

Movin' In: mason Williams and The Beatles appear to be a great inspiration to young Toby and his cohorts. The intro with powerful strings and brass reminds faintly of Classical Gas while the main theme is reminiscent of With A Little Help From My Friends, and there is a Sgt Pepperish whining guitar break. Apart from that it's highly original. And do you know what? I find it rather groovy.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Pewter Suitor: Another bopping opus, this time distinguished by a rather natty guitar phrase from Marc, which could be a selling point among fans of the jolly duo. Their rattling pots and tiny voices get quite heated at the end, rather like a couple of rough gnomes bashing each other with toadstools.

Van Der Graaf Generator

People You Were Going To: This is one of the best records of the week, interesting, intelligent, informative, intuitive, introvert, extrovert, yet strangely moving.

BACK TO MONTHLY INDEX