Vertigo Mixed ... by Andy Votel
various artists
label:: Family Recordings
format:: CD
Andy Votel has had his fingers in all sorts of
projects this past year from the Don Cooper
retrospective to two amazing compilations ‘folk is not
a four letter word’ and the ‘welsh rare beat comps on
the Delay 68 label he co-runs with cherry red records
Doug Shipton. Votel also runs the label Twisted Nerve
with Damon Gough aka badly drawn boy. He's also a
sleeve designer, a producer, a dj. It's almost
ridiculous how many things this guy is involved in and
to top it all off he's given prog-rock fans one truly
superb mix of artists from the highly collectible
Vertigo label.
The british label known for it's iconic swirl logo issued a total of 90 albums from 1969 to 1973. Just within the past year the label has garnered considerable attention with the 3 disc retrospective 'time machine' not to mention the two part overview of the label in Record Collector magazine. It might seem like Votel could just be capitalizing on all the interest but not so. The artists featured on the mix are all drawn largely from Votel's personal vinyl collection, the liner notes even give a nostalgic glimpse into the life of a young Andy Votel, scouring charity shops and spending his bus fare money on Vertigo records.
Now, if you're someone like me who has lived on the other side of the Atlantic all their life, it's highly unlikely you could ever compile a collection of Vertigo artists from visiting the nearest Salvation army. These days you'd have to do at least a couple sleep deprivation studies at the local hospital before you'd could buy at least one of the more collectible albums. Just to give you an example, a near mint copy of Tudor Lodge's lone 1971 Vertigo release will fetch upwards of 350 pounds which basically equals a ton of scratch. The mix itself omits some of the more well known Vertigo acts like Black Sabbath and concentrates on the more obscure progressive, hard rock, and jazz fusion bands that recorded for the label. Artists like Jim Croce, the Incredible String Band clones Dr. Strangely Strange and Rod Stewart's first album don't make the cut either as they would certainly break the continuity of what is a 75 minute seemless tribute to some of the most spaced out, monster riffing, heavy funking, music you've never heard. Check out Jucy Lucy's cover of Captain Beefheart's 'Willie the Pimp' the soulful voice of Linda Hoyle and her band Affinity. You'll hear percussive harpsicord, throbbing bass lines, Ian Anderson-esque flautists. There is a listing of artists featured on the back but with each song getting only about a minute of play and some pretty tight fades and mixes, it can be hard to tell if your listening to the Black Sabbath influenced Flied Egg or the Christian prog band Gravy Train. In the end I guess it doesn't really matter. If you have any interest in progressive rock, even just a little, you're going to enjoy this album garanteed, there is just too much good stuff on it not to. Luckily not all, but a good number of Vertigo bands have seen CD and vinyl reissues on labels like Akarma and Repertoire so if you are so inclined you can begin your own journey of discovering these amazing yet fogotten bands one album at a time.
---Ryan
1. Linda Hoyle – Morning for One
2. Lighthouse – Love of A Woman
3. Cracious – Introduction
4. Nirvana – Modus Operandi
5. Aphrodite’s Child – Battle of The Locusts
6. Colosseum – The Kettle
7. Manfredd Mann – One Way Glass
8. Black Sabbath – Behind The Wall of Sleep
9. Assagai – Telephone Girl
10. Marsha Hunt’s 22 – (Oh No Not) The Beast Day
11. Affinity – Three Sisters
12. Juicy Lucy – Willie The Pimp
13. Gravy Train – Think of Life
14. Freedom – Toe Grabber
15. Flied Egg – Leave Me Woman
16. Frumpy – I’m Afraid Big Moon
17. Warhorse – Vulture Blood
18. Thin Lizzy – Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed
19. Uriah Heep – Walking In Your Shadow
20. Tea – Through Scarlet
21. Juicy Lucy – Train
22. Bob Downes – Piccadilly Circles
23. Juicy Lucy – She’s Mine
24. Buffalo – Ballade of Irvin Fink
25. Atlantis – It’s Getting Better
26. Janne Schaffer – Air Mattress
27. Ian Carr – Hector’s House
28. Patto – Government Man
29. Atlantis – Living At The End of Time
30. Affinity – I Am You
31. Beggars Opera – Time Machine
32. Alan Stivell – An Dro Nevez
33. Agitation Free – Rucksturrz
34. ZAO – La Soupe
35. Catapilla – Embryonic Future
36. Brave New World – The End
37. Dr. Z – In A Tocken of Dispair
38. Atlantis – Let’s Get on The Road Again
39. Aphrodite’s Child – Do It
40. Black Sabbath – The Wizard
41. May Blitz – For Madmen Only
42. Baker Gurvitz Army – Memory Lane
43. May Blitz – In Part
44. Daddy Longlegs – Wheelin’ And Dealin’
45. Cressida – Lights In My Mind
46. Affinity – All Along The Watchtower
47. Trace – Galliarde
48. Brave New World – The End
49. May Blitz – Snakes And Ladders
50. Nucleus – Roots
51. Agitation Free – Haunted Island
52. Cressida – Let Them Come When They Will
