Anywhere

About

Originally envisioned as a female-fronted Japanese heavy rock cover act called the Flowers by entertainer and "entrepreneur" Yuya Uchida, the Flower Travellin' Band would eventually chart their own course, becoming an underground influence on later metal act, and counting one Julian Cope as a disciple. As the Flower, (original) vocalist Remi Aso, guitarist Hideki Ishima, bassist Jun Kowzuki, and drummer Joji Wada released their debut, Challenge, in 1969. Consisting entirely of cover versions of Western pop/rock song, the album got attention not necessarily from the music, but from the fact that the entire band was photographed in the nude on the cover. Uchida and Aso left after the first album, leaving the band to reorganize with new vocalist Joe Yamanaka, and allowing it to explore more original and experimental avenue. Their first album as the Flower Travellin' Band, Anywhere, was released in 1970. The album featured five cover, including Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blues" and Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath." Again, the bandmembers appeared nude on the cover; the difference this time was that they were on motorcycle. Best known for its iconic, quite frankly hilarious cover art -- featuring the four bandmembers riding three motorcycle, Easy Rider-style, only buck naked (gulp!) -- the Flower Travellin' Band's 1970 debut album, Anywhere, unfortunately isn't as original where the actual music is concerned. That's because, with the exception of its minute-long, book-ending solo harmonica workout, Anywhere was a covers album! And the second of its kind, technically speaking, following 1969's Challenge, which was recorded by the then simply named the Flowers with two different singers tackling Western rock and pop hits of the day by Janis Joplin, Cream, Hendrix, and the Jefferson Airplane. Come time for Anywhere, new singer Akira "Joe" Yamanaka had joined guitarist Hideki Ishima, bassist Joji "George" Wada, and drummer Jun Kowzuki in the newly renamed Flower Travellin' Band, and though they hadn't yet found time to come up with any original material, their often radical reworkings of the songs they covered almost qualified them as such. This is especially true of their 15-minute improvisation on Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blue," which they render virtually unrecognizable while introducing numerous themes of the band' own devising; and, to a lesser degree, their extended jam on King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," which breaks off into quite the freak-out halfway through. And, while not as engaging from a creativity standpoint, the band's relatively straightforward take on Black Sabbath's eponymous tune (surely the first time anyone covered the Sabs on record) comes off uniquely idiosyncratic enough, as does their mostly clumsy stab at the enduring folk ballad "House of the Rising Sun," which unfortunately falls apart due to Ishima's exaggerated and often off-pitch octave leap, and distractingly accented pronunciations ("...rouse of the lising sun," etc.). In sum, a curious listening experience to say the least. But those familiar with the group's subsequent masterpiece, Satori, will recognize all of these elements as building blocks for that album's unique mixture of progressive daring, psychedelic eccentricity, and muscular, heavy rock austerity. Those who haven't heard Satori, on the other hand, will see little point in bothering with Anywhere's cover, no matter how interesting...unless they find it impossible to resist with that legendary cover photo, that i. -- Eduardo Rivadavia (AMG) 3/5 Stars -- Released in 1970. Track listing 1) "Anywhere" 2) "Louisiana Blues" (Muddy Waters) 3) "Black Sabbath" (Black Sabbath) 4) "House Of The Rising Sun" (The Animals) 5) "Twenty-First Century Schizoid Man" (King Crimson) 6) "Anywhere" .

via Last.fm

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