Showing posts with label ZEPHYR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ZEPHYR. Show all posts
June 11, 2014
December 29, 2013
ZEPHYR - SUNSET RIDE
''SUNSET RIDE''
MAY 1972
41:49
1 /I Am Not Surprised
Candy Givens / David Givens/5:18
2 /Someone to Chew
Candy Givens / David Givens/2:52
3 /High Flying Bird/3:37
4 /No Time Lonesome
David Givens/4:05
5 /Moving Too Fast
David Givens/5:19
6 /Sold My Heart
Jock Bartley / David Givens/3:47
7 /Sierra Cowgirl
Candy Givens/3:10
8 /Chasing Clouds
David Givens / Dan Smyth/4:06
9 /Sunset Ride
Candy Givens/3:46
10 /Winter Always Finds Me
Jock Bartley / David Givens/5:49
John Alfonse /Conductor, Congas
Jock Bartley /Guitar, Vocals
Candy Givens /Harmonica, Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
David Givens /Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Bobby Notkoff /Violin
Dan Smyth /Keyboards, Organ, Piano
P.M. Wooten /Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
By William Ashford
There are two kinds of fans; those who think the band died when Tommy Bolin left, and those who know it didn't. This second and final album for Warner featured Boulder, CO, guitar slinger in place of Tommy Bolin Bobby Berge and John Faris, and one of the few known recorded appearances of Bobby Notkoff other than his work with Neil Young, for whom he created the heart-wrenching violin break on "Running Dry." Without Bolin, the band took a decided turn toward jazz. This is a stunning album, featuring unknown classics like "Moving Too Fast," "Chasing Clouds," and "Winter Always Finds Me." Lead singer Candy Givens passed away some years ago, and this album is perhaps her most passionate legacy. Reissued on CD by the One Way label in 2000.
BIOGRAPHY
By Wikipedia
Zephyr was a blues-based hard rock band formed in 1969 in Boulder, Colorado by guitarist Tommy Bolin, keyboardist John Faris, David Givens on bass guitar, Robbie Chamberlin on drums and Candy Givens on vocals. Although the charismatic performances by Candy Givens were originally the focal point for the band, it was the flashy guitar work of Tommy Bolin that the band is best remembered for.[1] After Bolin left, he was replaced by Jock Bartley, and the band recorded the album Sunset Ride, their second for Warner Brothers Records. The album is still in print and is much loved by a small but loyal following. On Sunset Ride, Candy Givens displayed her gifts as a singer, composer, and harmonica player. The album was produced by David Givens who also authored the majority of the tunes. As a result of his stint with Zephyr, Bartley went on to a successful career with Gram Parsons and Firefall and drummer, Michael Wooten, went on to play for several years with Carole King. Various versions of Zephyr continued to play in Colorado until Candy's death in 1984. The release of "Heartbeat" in 1982 was promoted by a video that incorporated very early examples of analog computer animation combined with live action.
Other Zephyr members of note include trance blues maven, Otis Taylor, who played bass during the mid-1970s, guitarist Zack Smith (founder of Columbia Records band Scandal), and blues guitarist, Eddie Turner, who played guitar in the last incarnation during the early 1980s. Candie and David, Tommy, and John Faris were all founding members of The Legendary 4Nikators, Boulder's oldest and best loved party band. Taylor and Turner were later additions to The Legendary 4Nikators - Taylor noted for playing motorcycle on stage during "Leader Of The Pack" and performing in a kilt and Turner for his renditions of Jimi Hendrix classics.
40 years after, Zephyr's music is still in print and continues to be played in the various media. YouTube has brought new eyes and ears to the band.
http://fp.io/3cm5136f/
ZEPHYR - Schaeffer Music Festival New York City, NY - 08/17/1970
1970-08-17
Schaeffer Music Festival
New York City, NY
01. Cross The River (7:42)
02. Going Back to Colorado / All over Now (8:17)
03. Hard Chargin' Woman (13:19)
04. Hard Chargin' Woman (cont.) (6:54)
05. Under My Thumb / Gimme Shelter / The Crator Has a Master Plan / Hard Chargin' Woman (14:32)
Tommy Bolin - guitar
Candy Givens - vocals
David Givens – bass
Bobby Berge - drums
John Faris – keyboards
http://fp.io/2e618b12/
ZEPHYR - Montana Gardens Kalispell, MT - 08/14/1970
Zephyr
1970-08-14
Montana Gardens
Kalispell, MT
01. See My People Come Together (6:35)
02. Going Back To Colorado (7:41)
03. Hard Chargin' Woman (12:11)
04. Instrumental Jam (9:25)
05. Blues Jam (3:04)
06. Lead Myself Away (4:38)
Tommy Bolin - guitar
Candy Givens - vocals
David Givens – bass
Bobby Berge - drums
John Faris – keyboards http://fp.io/8m83mf9e/
December 28, 2013
ZEPHYR - PBS Sound Stage (TV Broadcast) Cincinnati, OH (1969)
Zephyr
1969
PBS Sound Stage
(TV Broadcast)
Cincinnati, OH
01. Cross The River 4:54
02. St. James Infirmary 6:36
03. Tommy's Solo 5:50 (Fillmore East, NY)
Tommy Bolin – guitar
David Givens – bass
Richard Chamberlain - drums
Candy Givens - vocals
John Faris – keyboards
ZEPHYR - Reed's Ranch Colorado Springs, CO. - 07/03/1969
Zephyr
1969-07-03
Reed's Ranch
Colorado Springs, CO
01. Hard Chargin' Woman (22:33)
02. Cross the River (15:06)
03. instrumental (6:57)
Soundboard recording of Zephyr opening for The Grateful Dead
Tommy Bolin - guitar
Candy Givens - vocals
David Givens – bass
Richard Chamberlain - drums
John Faris – keyboards http://fp.io/e7c3cb3d/
ZEPHYR - Denver Pop Festival Denver, CO - 06/29/1969
Zephyr
1969-06-29
Denver Pop Festival
Denver, CO
01 (cuts in) Cross The River (cuts out) 7:02
02 (slight cut in) Hard Chargin' Woman (cuts out, also with show stop interuption at about 2:30m mark) 9:24
03 (cuts in) Riot Squad Intro /St. James Infirmary (cuts out) 16:15
Tommy Bolin - guitar
Candy Givens - vocals
David Givens – bass
Richard Chamberlain - drums
John Faris – keyboards
http://fp.io/abc63d89/
ZEPHYR - GOING BACK TO COLORADO - 1971
The second and last Zephyr LP to feature wunderkind guitarist Tommy Bolin, Going Back to Colorado is a '70s rock sleeper, popular only among obsessive Bolin fans. Singer Candy Givens refines her Joplinesque delivery on the 1971 Warner Bros. release, but fails to define a sound of her own. Hippy-drippy moments like those on "Miss Libertine" come off as a little naïve, and the entire recording lacks a unique vision. When Bolin rips it up on tracks like "See My People Come Together," all the revolutionary clichés become tolerable. Unfortunately, most of this album's material is tired, and Givens' delivery is too derivative. Bolin has his share of shining moments, but they are not quite in keeping with his band's "free love" aesthetic, and ultimately the choice licks are wasted on Going Back to Colorado. Fans of the guitarist should still snatch this record up when they can, if for no other reason than to chart Bolin's musical development.
(By Vincent Jeffries)
ZEPHYR
"GOING BACK TO COLORADO"
1971
WARNER BROTHERS
1 Going Back to Colorado 4:17
2 Miss Libertine 3:19
3 Night Fades Softly 3:22
4 Radio Song 2:28
5 See My People Come Together 6:09
6 Showbizzy 2:34
7 Keep Me 4:24
8 Take My Love 4:18
9 I'll Be Right Here 4:26
10 At This Very Moment 5:54
Bobby Berge / Drums
Tommy Bolin / Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Vocals, Guitar (12 String), Vibraphone
Paul Conley / Moog Synthesizer On Track 3
John Faris / Organ, Flute, Piano, Keyboards, Sax (Soprano), Lead Vocal On Track 8
Paul Fleisher / Saxophones On Track 4
Eileen Gilbert / Vocals (bckgr)
Candy Givens / Harmonica, Piano, Vocals
David Givens / Bass, Vocals On Track 2
Eddie Kramer / Percussion, Piano, Clavinet
Buzzy Linhart / Vocals On Track 4
Gerard McMahon / Vocals (bckgr)
Albertine Robinson / Vocals (bckgr)
Tasha Thomas / Vocals (bckgr)
http://fp.io/fm878efe/
ZEPHYR (1969)
The band's debut finds Bolin already developed as a skilled player, but his playing, and the largely group-penned material, lacks strength or subtlety. The most distinctive trait of the band at this point, in fact, is the somewhat histrionic singing of lead vocalist Candy Givens.
(By Richie Unterberger)
ZEPHYR
"ZEPHYR"
1969
ONE WAY
44:43
1 Sail On (Bolin, Givens) 7:43
2 Sun's a Risin' (Bolin, Givens) 4:30
3 Raindrops (Clark) 2:42
4 Boom-Ba-Boom/Somebody Listen (Bolin, Faris, Givens, Givens) 7:30
5 Cross the River (Givens, Givens) 4:52
6 St. James Infirmary (Primrose, Traditional) 5:42
7 Huna Buna (Bolin, Givens) 2:26
8 Hard Chargin' Woman (Bolin, Chamberlin, Faris, Givens, Givens) 9:18
Candy Givens / Lead Vocal, Harmonica
Robbie Chamberlin / Drums, Backing Vocals
David Givens / Bass, Backing Vocals
John Faris / Piano, Organ, Flute
Tommy Bolin / Guitar, Backing Vocals
http://fp.io/88c9398f/
December 27, 2013
ZEPHYR - "LIVE" - MAY 02, 1973
For some time now, one of THE Holy Grails for Zephyr and Tommy Bolin fanatics has been Zephyr Live at Art’s Bar and Grill. It has been said of Zephyr, as with the Dead, and the Allman Bros, that their studio albums were nothing compared to their live sound. While this is a credible claim, the band broke up long before many fans had a chance to see or hear them live. Mike Drumm correctly compares Bolin in Zephyr to Clapton in Cream. In each case the guitarist would move on from that seminal band to a variety of other projects, but many fans would continue to regard the young, hot years as his finest. Till now, Zephyrs recorded legacy consisted solely of their two studio albums, 1969’s Zephyr, and 1971’s Going Back to Colorado.
The only other recording of the band I had heard of was a very poor bootleg of the Art’s Bar and Grill show. The small venue must have been just the place to catch the briefly re-united Zephyr, a band whose members had effortlessly mixed blues, jazz, and psychedelic rock. The environment created by the very talented line-up had everything to do with enabling Tommy to test the creative waters, and experiment heavily with his playing and effects. Teamed with the powerful bluesy wail and harmonica of Candy Givens, the propulsive bass playing of husband David Givens, the hard driving drumming of Bobby Berge, and the outside atmospheric organ sounds and saxophone of the gifted John Faris, the result was a legendary bridge between the classic San Francisco bands of the late sixties, and their lesser known Texas psychedelic counterparts. All unleashed on America with jaw dropping displays of chops and soul. Now, with the Tommy Bolin Archives’ Bob Ferbrache’s usual great job of re-mastering the tape which was provided by David Givens, this great performance is available for all to marvel at. This long awaited Zephyr live disc is your front row ticket to an evening with Boulder Colorado’s all time finest jam masters.
The set kicks off with the apply named Just Warming Up, a bluesy B Bish shuffle, with some great harp playing courtesy of Candy Givens, and a nice thick Bolin slide solo. A solid vamp to warm the crowd and the band for Cross The River, from Zephyr’s eponymous first album. Riffing hard blues throb like turbocharged Canned Heat into a Allmansy funk-jazzy jam. Tommy’s triplet-laden solo mixes in some nice space-ray Echoplex effects. The crowd gets its first taste of Candy’s gutsy singing, and clearly approves! John Faris unleashes his B-3 over David Givens’ flowing bass lines. Effortless shifts in tempo and volume reveal the band’s mastery of dynamics.
Boom-Ba-Boom/Somebody Listen follows, also from the Zephyr album. Put on the headphones and listen to what any of the instruments does on this one; each member of Zephyr displays intimate knowledge of their craft, as the song goes “out there” and back! A beautiful echo-laden cozmic intro by Tommy moves into a dramatic organ powered Since I’ve Been Lovin You minor key blues. Candy’s haunting harmonica solo makes time stand still before she steps to the microphone to wrap her throaty vocals around the tune. Faris gets to elaborate on the keyboards until a SICK guitar solo erupts with nods to Page, although it’s all Tommy. A show stopper.
Huna Buna is a fun stop-n-start blues shuffle that shows Zephyr just having a blast! Jazzy chording supports Faris’ and Givens’ respective keyboard and harmonica excursions on this tasty mover from the first album. This short number is an appetizer for a monumental version of The Creator Has A Master Plan. Faris opens lenghtily with soulful horn sounds over Tommy’s percussive wah-wah wakka wakka, into free-jazz exposition. David Givens says that John Faris was the band’s mentor in exploring unknown realms, and here the band prove themselves to be adept students! This Pharoah Sanders song of faith has Bolin’s well-planned thematic lines follow the vocal and crack the sky wide open. Slide effects and a nice tremelo-picking aftermath return to vocals, then more sound-effect-laden jamming - this song travels to many places! An expansively open lysergic feel says all is possible.
Sail On is a sunny, majestic number that begins with a surging, epic sound, and then in true Zephyr fashion veers into sonic mayhem. A guitar break moves into an organ solo over a one-chord rhythm riff, with blues-rocking guitar taking over, and well, too, before heading back into a slower section with a sweet San Fran-ish sound, into a bolero, which eventually builds into a rave-up, into a series of taut surf-rock drum breaks. Are you exhausted yet? Relief is provided by Crazy ’Bout You Baby. The sweet slide-and-harp blues intro is the real deal, drifting lazily, goin’ back to Chicago! Candy Givens puts loads of sultriness and sass into the delivery.
Does Zephyr cut Ten Years After on Going Home? You decide. Unlike Alvin Lee’s Wooodstock workout, this version features real band interaction, with ear loads of harp soloing over jazzier chording than Lee offered. Everyone steps out; a sweet tasting guitar solo; harmonica fills between verses; an organ solo; a harp solo; and yet another guitar solo ripe with repeated triplets and speed to burn!! David Givens’ bass lines walk like mad. There’s great interplay with the drums, which accent the wild bends, Bobby Berge generally swinging like mad. A nice ’50’s rock riff gets tossed in for good measure, if only because the kitchen sink was unavailable.
The encore of the disc is Hard Chargin’ Woman, starting in a slow, sludgy EVIL intro with bass and keyboard explosions and Candy’s sinister lyrics. This moodpiece lets Tommy wail over the top and maul his guitar, climaxing in an Echoplex discharge into a sweet unaccompanied guitar spectacle which mxes fast fingers with effects to blow your skull sideways and back. Bolin offers blues shuffle soloing that returns to earth before going off into outer space sounds, again grounding itself in Givens’ husky singing. A ghostly Faris organ solo takes the jam back into the evil beginning drones — Tommy tossing sci-fi in between eerie vocals and sledgehammer riffs. Zephyr finally throw themselves into bringing the song to a close with heavy pounding drum thunder and Tommy’s shredding not letting up until the very end.
(By Jim Sheridan)
ZEPHYR
"LIVE"
MAY 13, 1997
MAY 2, 1973
TOMMY BOLIN ARCHIVES
WARNER BROTHERS
1 Just Warming Up 3:52
2 Cross the River (Givens, Givens) 7:18
3 Boom-Ba-Boom (Givens) 3:30
4 Somebody Listen (Bolin, Faris, Givens, Givens) 8:27
5 Huna Buna (Bolin, Givens) 2:34
6 The Creator Has a Master Plan 11:09
7 Sail On (Bolin, Givens) 8:56
8 Crazy Bout You 4:10
9 Goin Home 6:10
10 Hard Chargin' Woman (Bolin, Chamberlin, Faris, Givens, Givens) 13:34
Tommy Bolin / Guitar, Vocal
John Faris / Keyboards, Flute, Piano, Sax, Vocals
Candy Givens / Vocal, Harmonica, Keyboards
David Givens / Bass, Vocals
Bobby Berge / Drums
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