"Pete Frame started drawing his Rock Family Trees in Zigzag, Britain's first rock magazine, which he founded in 1969.
They subsequently appeared in Sounds, NME, Melody Maker and Rolling Stone, on album sleeves and CD inserts. BBC Television broadcast two series of Rock Family Trees...his collected works have been published by Omnibus Press."
'Ford Theatre was typical of the sound of Boston psychedelic rock circa 1968: dark, foreboding, somber songs, sometimes quite long, with sub-California acid rock guitar, and more weight on the organ than many bands of the period carried.
In their use of winding minor-key melodies, hard rock guitar-organ interplay, extended guitar soloing, and earnest, ambitious lyrics, they were similar to other Boston psychedelic bands of the time, but more authentic. They were not one of the bands gathered up and promoted as part of the Bosstown Sound hype, for one thing.
Certainly the instrumental break on the 14-minute "Wake Up in the Morning" owes a lot to Doors songs like "Light My Fire."
The gothic, classically influenced "Theme for the Masses" is reprised a couple of times after it opens the album, giving the record a thematic aura that really isn't borne out by the contents.
It's easy to imagine audiences grooving out to the lengthy breaks on "101 Harrison Street (Who You Belong To)" on those nights when there weren't any major headliners passing through town, settling for a reasonable approximation of psychedelic rock heavyweights.
"Back to Philadelphia" takes a funkier, more straight-ahead approach, though the lyrics maintain a sense of displacement and disillusionment that permeates much of the music and lyrics.
"Postlude Looking Back" closes the album on a gentler, almost countrified note, though again with the sort of muted gloom characteristic of the rest of the material' (by Richie Unterberger).
"Could this be commercial overkill for the Rastafarian whose spiritual songs about social injustice, hope, and redemption have become anthems for billions of fans?"
"R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 - September 1, 2005), born Robert Lee Burnside, was a North Mississippi hill country blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who lived much of his life in and around Holly Springs, Mississippi."
* Who has released records on all these labels: the legendary r'n'b label OKeh, the nu-blues stronghold Fat Possum, the key rap originators Sugar Hill, Tommy Boy and 4th & Broadway, Real World Records and the innovative On-U Sound?
* Which musician links Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, James Brown, Robert Plant, Mark Stewart & The Mafia, Sinead O'Connor, and Megadeth?
"Today, most individuals carry in their bodies a mixture of metals, pesticides, solvents, fire retardants, waterproofing agents, and by-products of fuel combustion, according to studies of human tissues..."
"Here's a hysterical animation about Major League Baseball player Dock Ellis and his infamous 1970 no-hitter game against the San Diego Padres while under the influence of LSD."
"Peel your ears and get this, nickel rats. Some nighthawk has been using his noggin so much that rather than hittin' the hop they've compiled a collection of the best US slang from the 1920s to the 1960s. So grab a flop, chill your chat and learn how to talk like a real hipster."
