RARE '69 ORIG (CONNY PLANK) COSMIC ACID BLUES PSYCH = CREEPY JOHN THOMAS Heavy

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75

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• RARE ... ORIGINAL 1969 PRESSING

  
  

  HEAVY BLUES PSYCH CLASSIC

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• CREEEPY JOHN THOMAS
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• GERMANY - RCA - INTS 1097
  

  ORIGINAL 1969 GERMAN first pressing a really great underestimated psychedelic blues rock LP on par with SAM GOPAL.... plenty of strummin' and wailin' guitar within powerfully infectious songs, jamming along with drummer Helmut Pohl (who later turns up in Gomorrha bashing away.)
  
  This is one of our favorite late '60s psych-blues albums and every track has the 'right' sound in capturing a forgotten gem of the past generation. The album is predominately allocated to different guitars, throaty vocals and elastic hard-rock rhythms. Creepy John is John Thomas, nothing else intended. He was in two legendary bands, The Flies & Rust who made some very collectible recordings.
  
  CREEPY JOHN came from Australia, where he recorded in the 60s with The Flies. Then moved to London, but soon after settled down in Germany, where he recorded the pretty good psych album "Come With Me" with his band Rust (UK & US members.) He then formed Creepy John Thomas with German musicians Andy Marx & Helmut Pohle (who were not amused, when this LP came out with wrong musicians-credits and a bunch of uninvolved hipsters on the cover). The first of two Creepy John Thomas LP's was released in UK too, but sank like a lead elephant. Next was the album "Brother Bat Bone" 1970, a German only release on Telefuken, and one that's pretty weird & great as well.
  
  Creepy John plays all guitar/bass and sings, but is backed on "(Do I Figure) In Your Life" by Andy 'Shotgun' Marx/lead guitar & bass (later to join & support Cherubin, Tanned Leather, Utopia/Olaf Kubler, Udo Lindenberg). Paul Rodger ( vocalist of FREE ) also lends some backing vocals on "Ride A Rainbow".

  The album is produced by future Krautrock studio wizard engineer/producer Conrad Plank (aka Conny Plank). Fans of Kraftwerk, Guru Guru, Cluster, Neu!, etc will no doubt recognize this name. Oh yeah...Conny also displays his bongo playing skills here and there ;)
  
  Creepy John Thomas starts with hard blues tune, "Gut Runs Great Stone" with great rhythm that just kicks you at the very beginning, making you head-bang and simultaneously tap the rhythm with your hand. Next tune is another favorite in "(Do I Figure) In Your Life", a chilled psych classic rock tune. Lyrics are solid and fluid, they go great with the melody; and melody is real thing here - although it's just few chords changing in the background, second guitar runs around whole song and adds sweet guitar licks. Bass with drums makes solid groove and nice background - but highlight of this song is ingeniously executed sweet solo - it's one of those Hendrix's type grooves, with so much emotions that after few moments of listening, it may become one of your favorite solos.
  
  "You've Gotta Hide" is bluesy tune with solid elements of pure classic rock, chorus is catchy and fits quite well on first side of this album. "One Way Track Blues" is awesome blues riff, lead on acoustic guitar and filled with riffing on electric guitar. Vocals are executed well and are totally bluesy, with sour tone but with strength on the finish. The gritty guitar solo is another great thing in this tune. You may notice that they're singing "...Left my house, spend my time, Blue Cheer, plunder sky..." which left to conclude that they were probably in good relationship with Blue Cheer while Thomas was in San Francisco. "Trippin' Like A Dog" is another Muddy Waters-stylish blues tune but with psychedelic guitar wailing through whole song amid growling acid-weary vocals -- and without a doubt our fave cut on the album, a true anthem....
  
  "Ride A Rainbow" is psychedelic-trip themed tune, made by hippies for hippes - oriented on peace, unity and love. Thomas' guitar talent is obvious - with his psych-bluesy guitar sound he's painting every song with colors of a vivid picture. Next tune, "Green Eyed Lady", instantly reminded us of the bass groove on "The Other Side Of This Life" by mighty Jefferson Airplane, which proves Thomas' connection with San Fran scene. Although bass sounds similar, this song is nothing like upper mentioned. If anything's been really catchy here - than "Sun and Woman" is winner. Guitar is so cheery and catchy, it'll stick in your head for weeks.
  
  Pumping rhythms on "Lay It On Me" should really satisfy you, and the knitting of guitar leads might even make you love this band. It's funny how they use chorus from "Ride A Rainbow" in this song, just like that, in the middle of song - you'll hear parts from the previously mentioned song. "Bring Back The Love" will wake the cosmic-eastern side in you. There's bongos and sitars, out-rhythmic singing - like in a middle of some ritual...remember Krokodil "Invisible World" Lp. Realizing the strength of this album, the listener would expect psych-bluesy version of, let's say, a 10 minutes long jammer of sorts, but it ends with cool but rather short tune....
  
  - Creepy John Thomas - Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Vocals,Arranger, Producer.
  - Andy Marx - Guitar, Bass Guitar.
  - Konrad Plank - Bongos,Producer, Engineer.
  - Helmut Pohl - Drums.
  - Paul Rogers - Vocal Harmony.
  
  Gut Runs Great Stone 4:03
  (Do I Figure) In Your Life 2:46
  You've Got To Hide 2:34
  One Way Track Blues 2:09
  Trippin Like A Dog And Rocking Like A Bitch 4:19
  Ride A Rainbow 3:05
  Green Eyed Lady 3:35
  Sun And Woman 3:38
  Lay It On Me 3:21
  Bring Back The Love 3:23
  Moon And Eyes Song 3:43

  
       

1.   CONDITION:
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3. The cover: rated: near "EX" (excellent) clean, laminated & colorful, collection addition here with no problems, light handling isn't an issue

1. The vinyl: Rated: VG++ only little faint hair scuffs at worse, no problem with what is hard to see visually, the pressing is rock-solid and maintains excellent high-end quality throughout!  Both RCA labels are clean
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4. CREEEPY JOHN THOMAS
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