A brilliant lost classic (at least to me!)...psych rock soul
Jeff St. John, stalwart of the Australian 70s psych scene, lent his name to two previous bands (Jeff St. John & Id and Jeff St. John and Copperwine. Joint Effort, originally released on the Australian Spin label and probably the pinnacle of St. John's recording career, is very much a psych prog crossover album. Radioactive. 2004.
Teach Me To Fly!...brilliant live!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgWGQTcDFLk
It is an honour and a privilege to have "Joint Effort". Jeff St. John was born Jeffrey Leo Newton in Sidney, and for the rest of his life (in spite of several painful operations) was wheelchair-bound. He remains one of the finest and most powerful Australian acid/psychedelic singers. This album was preceeded by a string of bands and LPs : "The Syndicate" (1965), "The Id" (1966-67), "Jeff St, John & Yama" (1967-1968), and was recorded by most accomplished "incarnation" of St.John - Jeff St. John & Copperwine. This band lasted until 1972, to be replaced by Jeff St. John Band, and Red Cloud. The band and the singer were big names in Australian scene, but remain almost unknown for the rest of the world. Music is an unexpected cross of heavy acid and prog, while the voice is atypical for archetypal prog - it's outright untamed psychedelia. The band co-operated with heart-breaking blues singer Wendy Saddington (it is a disgrace that her voice is not available on CDs). The core of the songs from the album were first performed at the Australia's first outdoor rock festival in 1970, and feature "Cloud Nine" by Temptations and "Sing A Simple Song" by Sly & The Family Stone. Look for St.John on Youtube - you'll never forget it. All my respect and appreciation
P.S. I added a photo of absolutely amazing live performance of Wendy Saddington & Copperwine - it is not mentioned on Amazon, but might be available directly AztecMusic - woth every penny, and a must for real music fan!
-prog/acid amazon review
I Remember!...rocking psych!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEJ5bsbl1eo
Cloud Nine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivShjSb6 ... 5E6DCE9DA5
And with the brilliant Wendy Saddington...she holds up to Janis and then some!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i5TFgwHMyY
Of course Wendy deserves her own thread...genius rock & soul...she passed away this last June--RIP.
