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Plain and Fancy

Music gives soul to universe, wings to mind, flight to imagination, charm to sadness, and life to everything.

Plato

Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Travis Allan Band - A Place In Time (1982 us, heavy southern rock with psych guitar passages, 2013 reissue)



This is a remarkable rare private press, recorded in New Braunfels Texas between February and March 1982. Lead by singer / guitarist Tim Paul Catron who startet his career in the mid seventies releasing in 1976 the Single, “I’m Not Too Blind To See”. Later he joint Lady LucK for their 1978 LP "No Dice".

In the early eighties he formed the Travis Allan Band and went on to studio to record "A Place in Time". Tim P. has worked with such national artists as David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Earl Thomas Conley and Gary Stewart while living in Nashville for 6 years. 

Locally in the Texas area he has worked with a variety of bands with a variety of different sounds. The Emotions, Tp & The Emergency, The Lizard Kings, Texas After Dark and recently the largely publicized band, Kowboy. From classic country, new country, classic rock-n-roll to down home blues, TP has experienced and lived the circle of styles of music.

This album is a fine examble of his talent's versatility and his different musical influences, heavy southern bluesy rock mixed with fuzzed psych gutars. 

All an all a surprising good album that will keep you in tension from start to end.


Tracks
1. A Place In Time - 2:52
2. Let's Do It Again - 3:58
3. Missing You - 7:12
4. Florida Whiskey - 4:48
5. Southern Blues - 2:12
6. Saturday Evenings End - 3:45
7. Last Time Around - 3:17
All songs written by Tim P. Catron

The Travis Allan Band
*Tim P. Catron - Vocals, Guitars, Bass
*Stephen Schertz - Drums
*Ron Stirm - Keyboards
*Craig Satterwhite - Bass, Drums, Keyboards

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Hydra - Rock The World (1977 us, significant southern hard rock)



There's more than one band and artist called Hydra, but this is the 70's Southern Rock band. They released three albums. 

Most songs on the album are merely decent to good, but the following trio of songs are really outstanding and to any fan of classic 70's Hard Rock they'd be a thrill.

'Wasting Time' is an entertaining Southern Rock tune with catchy vocals. What's immediately made clear by this song is that the band has a very capable singer in Wayne Bruce.

'Shame' is something special, as it's in fact Speed Metal avant la lettre but with a classic Hard Rock sound. Remember. This is 1977. It would be years before Metal bands would start experimenting with double bass drumming (so, kudos to Hydra's drummer for being one of the first). Metallica's 'Kill em All' lay half a decade in the future as well. So, it's very surprising to hear this kind of music being made in the 70's. It's a full frontal assault of fast drums and savage riffs and in a way it sounds like early Ted Nugent in overdrive.

The strongest track, certainly from a compositional point of view, is the surprisingly subtle ballad 'To the Willowed'. It's one of the most graceful ballads I have ever heard, and there's nothing syrupy about it. 


Tracks
1. Rock The World - 3:55
2. Wasting Time - 5:57
3. Can You Believe - 3:30
4. Your Love Gets Around - 4:10
5. Shame - 3:27
6. To The Willowed - 5:02
7. Feel Like Running - 5:25
8. You're The One - 3:38
9. Diamond In The Rough - 5:21
All compositions by Wayne Bruce, Steve Pace and Spencer Kirkpatrick

Hydra
*Wayne Bruce - Vocals, Guitar
*Spencer Kirkpatrick – Guitar
*Steve Pace - Drums

1974  Hydra
1975  Land Of Money

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