Bernie Marsden - ...and on guitar (2003)

Bernard John Marsden was born on 7 May 1951 in Buckingham, England, and was inspired to play the guitar as a teenager by such authentic blues players as Howling Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. He later picked up on such 60's white blues players as Peter Green, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck, and after playing with local Buckingham based groups, he formed Skinny Cat at the age of 17. After playing with them for a while, he got his first professional gig with UFO in 1972, but he left after recording some demos with Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios, as the rest of the group wanted German guitarist Michael Schenker in the band, who had actually been recommended by Marsden to the other members of UFO. He then joined Juicy Lucy, but once again was ejected before he could record an album with them, following which he played with Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey in 1973, before he joined drummer Cozy Powell's band Cozy Powell's Hammer, playing on the band's hit single 'Na Na Na' in 1974. Babe Ruth were next in 1975, and he finally managed to record an album with one of his bands, playing on two releases for Capitol Records with 'Stealin' Home' in 1975, and 'Kid's Stuff' in 1976. During his time with Babe Ruth, Cozy Powell recommended him to Jon Lord who was forming a post Deep Purple outfit with Ian Paice and Tony Ashton called Paice Ashton Lord, and Marsden joined the band, along with bassist Paul Martinez, in time to record their 'Malice In Wonderland' album in 1976. While with Paice Ashton Lord he worked alongside saxophonist Howie Casey, who recommended him to Paul McCartney as a replacement for Henry McCulloch in Wings, but the offer never materialised, as after Paice Ashton Lord folded following the release of their sole album, Marsden formed a new band with former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale and guitarist Micky Moody. They started as David Coverdale's Whitesnake, which then became Whitesnake, and Marsden played on their debut EP, their first five studio albums and a live record between 1978 and 1980, co-writing many of the songs with Coverdale, and sometimes Moody. Following his departure from Whitesnake, he formed a short-lived band called Bernie Marsden's SOS, and then not long afterwards he put together Alaska, with Robert Hawthorne on vocals and Richard Bailey on keyboards, releasing two melodic rock albums, 'Heart Of The Storm' in 1984 and 'The Pack' in 1985, before splitting up. In 1986 he formed MGM with former Whitesnake members Neil Murray and his replacement guitarist in Whitesnake Mel Galley, with the band also briefly including former Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball, and while recordings were made they remain unreleased. In 1988 he wrote the song 'South Africa', which was recorded by Ian Gillan and released as a single, and in 1989 he reunited with Whitesnake guitarist Moody to form The Moody Marsden band, recording the acoustic live album 'Live In Hell' in Norway, and an electric live album in England titled 'Never Turn Our Back On The Blues', before releasing their one studio album 'Real Faith' in 1994. Marsden released two solo albums during his time in Whitesnake, and has continued to record and release albums right up to date, with his 'Kings' album coming out a few months ago, and with this post you can hear how he filled his spare time by appearing on a wide variety of albums from other artists throughout his early years.  

Track listing

01 Reality In Arrears (from 'You & Me' by Chick Churchill 1973)
02 Suzanne (from 'Journey's End' by Matthew Fisher 1973)
03 Oh My (Rockfield Studios demo for UFO 1973)
04 Na Na Na (single by Cozy Powell's Hammer 1974)
05 Some Kind Of Beautiful (from 'Jumble Queen' by Bridget St John 1974)
06 The City (from 'Why' by K2 1980)
07 Chance On A Feeling (from 'Before I Forget' by Jon Lord 1982)
08 Head The Ball (from 'Guitar Speak II' 1988)
09 South Africa (single by Gillan 1988)
10 In A Perfect World (from 'Forcefield IV: Let the Wild Run Free' by Forcefield 1991)
11 Check Me Out (from the soundtrack of the TV series 'Frankie' 1995)
12 A Woman Like That (from the soundtrack of the film 'Still Crazy' 1998)
13 Als God Geen Vrouw Is Mam (from 'Pop Model' by Mama's Jasje 2000)
14 On Common Ground (from 'I Eat Them For Breakfast' by Micky Moody 2002)
15 Lady Starlight (from 'Freak Out!' by Chris Catena 2003)

Cozy Powell - The Road To Bedlam (1974)

Colin Trevor Flooks (aka Cozy Powell) was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire and was adopted, never knowing his birth parents. He started playing drums aged twelve in the school orchestra, and his first band was The Corals, who played each week at a youth club in Cirencester. During this time the band broke the world record for non-stop playing, and by the age of fifteen Powell had already worked up an impressive drum solo, showing his influences by taking the name Cozy from jazz drummer Cozy Cole. The semi-professional circuit was next, and his first semi-pro band was The Sorcerers, who formed around 1965 in his hometown of Cirencester, and lasted until April 1968. They were lead by keyboardist Pete Ball, who had met up with Powell in Germany in 1967, and hired him to play in his band. They toured Germany and Turkey, before going back to England, and Powell stayed with Ball and his two brothers in their family home. After a couple of unsuccessful singles The Sorcerers changed their name to Young Blood, and signed a record deal with Pye records, where they released several more singles before disbanding. Powell's friendship with Pete Ball and his brothers, guitarist Dave and bassist Denny, led them to form a new band called Ideal Milk, but this time without Pete. The band recorded some demos, and also managed to score a BBC radio session, and rehearsal tapes of the music would later be used when they reconvened some years later as Bedlam. 
Before that, though, they were joined on vocals by ex-Move bassist Ace Kefford, and changed their name again to The Ace Kefford Stand, recording a single for Atlantic Records. 'For Your Love' was a cover of the Yardbirds classic, backed by their own 'Gravy Booby Jamm'. In mid '69 Kefford quit the band, and the remaining members formed Big Bertha, but as they'd already recorded their follow-up single 'This World’s An Apple', it was released under the name of Big Bertha featuring Ace Kefford. Big Bertha consisted of Powell and all three Ball Brothers, with Pete French on vocals, although he was soon replaced by Dave McTavish. The band signed to United Artists and recorded a couple of singles, and when 'Munich' was released in Germany it did reasonably well, but after some weeks of inactivity, Powell was approached by Jeff Beck’s management company to meet with the guitarist in London. Powell suggested that Denny went with him, and they played together as a trio at a rehearsal venue in north London, and Beck was impressed enough to suggest that they both stay at his cottage in Kent for further rehearsals. By April 1970, they still had no other members in mind for the band, so Beck and Powell went to America to cut several songs at Motown Studios with local sessionmen, although these legendary 'Motown Sessions' remain unreleased to this day. In January 1971, a promoter in Germany wanted to book the now defunct Big Bertha, so United Artists agreed to limited funding for the band to go over and perform, reuniting Powell with two of the Ball brothers. At the end of the tour, the trio vowed to reform at some point and 'do it properly', but for now Powell went back to the Jeff Beck Group, Denny Ball joined Long John Baldry, and Dave Ball joined Procol Harum. By April 1971, Beck had recruited keyboardist Max Middleton, Clive Chapman on bass, and Bob Tench on vocals, replacing the short-lived Alex Ligertwood, and so finally Beck had a band that would record the 'Rough And Ready' album for Epic as The Jeff Beck Group. 
However, a month after the release of their second album 'Jeff Beck Group', Beck disbanded the group so that he could team up with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice for the power-trio Beck, Bogert & Appice. This left Powell free to re-unite the Ideal Milk/Big Bertha line-up, adding vocalist Frank Aiello, to form The Beast, although this was quickly changed to Bedlam to avoid confusion with a similarly named US band. They signed to Chrysalis Records, and in August 1973 they released their debut eponymous album, helped out on keyboards by old band-mate Max Middleton, and produced by Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi. It's a great heavy rock album, and deserved a higher profile than it received at the time, but it was successful enough for sessions to start for a follow-up, although before that could happen Powell had a surprise hit single with 'Dance With The Devil' in January 1974, and when he had another with 'The Man In Black' later that year, Bedlam fell apart before a second album could be completed. We're lucky that some of Powell's early bands had their concerts recorded, and so you can hear a Big Bertha gig from 1970, and also a Bedlam concert from 1974, where they supported Black Sabbath on tour in the US, and the show was broadcast on the radio. As the title of the album suggests, this album will show Powell's journey to putting together his ideal band Bedlam, and so will stop before he formed Cozy Powell's Hammer, and was then recruited by Rainbow, for what was undoubtedly the most successful part of his career, followed by stints in Emerson, Lake & Powell, and Black Sabbath. What we do have are examples of his work with all of his early bands that made a record, including singles by The Sorcerers, The Ace Kefford Stand, and Big Bertha, an example of his work with Jeff Beck, and most importantly, three tracks from the proposed second album by Bedlam. Powell died in a car accident in April 1998, aged just 51, but in that short time he had become one of the most influential drummers in the world, with musicians today still citing him as the drummer they aspire to emulate.    

Track listing

01 Love Is A Beautiful Thing (single by The Sorcerers 1967)
02 The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill (single by Young Blood 1969)
03 Stepping Out (demo by Ideal Milk)
04 SWLABR (demo by Ideal Milk)
05 For Your Love (single by The Ace Kefford Stand 1969)
06 Gravy Booby Jamm (b-side of 'For Your Love')
07 This World's An Apple (single by Big Bertha Featuring Ace Kefford 1969)
08 Munich City (single by Big Bertha 1970)
09 Funky Woman (b-side of 'Munich City')
10 Situation (from 'Rough And Ready' by The Jeff Beck Group 1971) 
11 Ring Of Fire (recorded for proposed second Bedlam album)                  
12 At The Gateway (recorded for proposed second Bedlam album)  
13 Candy (Rainbow Over New York) (recorded for proposed second Bedlam album)  

Gary Moore - ...and on guitar (2006)

Robert William Gary Moore was born and raised in Belfast in 1953, and played in several local bands during his teenage years. In 1968, at the age of just 16, he moved to Dublin after having been asked to join the Irish band Skid Row, before the departure of lead singer Phil Lynott. Skid Row released one album and a few singles before Moore made the decision to move to England, but before he did he contributed a sublime guitar solo to 'Sign Of My Mind' on Dr. Strangely Strange's second album 'Heavy Petting'. In 1973 The Gary Moore Band released their 'Grinding Stone' album, and the following year Moore teamed up again with Lynott when he joined Thin Lizzy after the sudden departure of original guitarist Eric Bell mid-way through a tour. He only stayed long enough to help complete the tour, and to record three songs for Lizzy's 'Nightlife' alum, before he left to form Colosseum II with original Colosseum drummer Jon Hiseman. In 1978 Moore re-joined Thin Lizzy on a permanent basis, replacing Brian Robertson, and with his reputation as one of the finest guitarists around, other musicians started asking him to guest on their albums. Cozy Powell was the first, and Moore supplies some blistering guitar to his 'Over The Top' album. In 1985 Culture Club producer Steve Levine was taking The Beach Boys in a new direction, which included getting Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr and Gary Moore to guest on the recordings. 
Following a long career as a backing vocalist, 1977 saw Vicky Brown (wife to Joe Brown and mother of Sam Brown) starting a solo career, and for her 1990 single 'We Are One' Moore was invited to add some smokey blues guitar. A couple of years later came a similar request, this time from Jimmy Nail, who hadn't yet hit the big time with his 'Crocodile Shoes' single, and was recording his second album. In 1993 Paul Rodgers decided to record a tribute album to Muddy Waters, and invited a number of renowned guitarists to contribute to it, including Jeff Beck, Brian May, Steve Miller, Trevor Rabin, and Gary Moore. By 2001 Jim Capaldi had released a dozen solo albums, and for his next one he called on the help of George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Ian Paice, Paul Weller, and Gary Moore, who adds some great guitar to 'Heart Of Stone'. In 2007 Otis Taylor was the support act for Moore's European tour, and the previous year Moore had added some stunning guitar to Taylor's 'Definition Of A Circle' album, with the solo on 'Little Betty' possibly being the best on this album. While Moore's work with Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II, and his solo offerings is well known, I hope that this album uncovers some of his more obscure contributions from the first  thirty-five years of his career. 

Track listing

01 Sign Of My Mind (from 'Heavy Petting' by Dr. Strangely Strange 1970)
02 Killer (from 'Over The Top' by Cozy Powell 1979)
03 Maybe I Don't Know (from 'The Beach Boys' by The Beach Boys 1985)
04 We Are One (single by Vicki Brown 1990)
05 Absent Friends (from 'Growing Up In Public' by Jimmy Nail 1992)
06 She Moves Me (from 'Muddy Water Blues' by Paul Rodgers 1993)
07 Heart Of Stone (from 'Living On The Outside' by Jim Capaldi 2001)
08 Little Betty (from 'Definition Of A Circle' by Otis Taylor 2006)