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Ah yes!  The clock on the wall says it's time for another look at some of the wonderful "Lost" albums of the 1970's!  There were many excellent records that popped up on my radar whenever I would go through the album racks in various record stores during this particular rock & roll era.  As a matter of fact, many times I would discover some very unique and special albums in the $1.00 bins.  So, without further adieu, let's check out some of the great lost albums of the 70's!

DWIGHT TWILLEY BAND > SINCERELY (1975)

TRACKS

"I'm on Fire" – 3:15

"Could Be Love" – 2:38

"Feeling in the Dark" – 2:54

"You Were So Warm" – 2:25

"I'm Losing You" – 2:11

"Sincerely" – 2:38

"TV" – 2:23

"Release Me" – 2:28

"Three Persons" – 2:05

"Baby Let's Cruise" – 3:00

"England" – 2:33

"Just Like the Sun" – 3:46

Producers: 

Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour (aka "Oister")

"TV" produced by Twilley, Seymour and Bob Schaper

"England", "Look Like an Angel", "Miserable Lady", "Rock Yourself, Son" and "I Don't Know My Name" produced by Robin Cable

"Shark (In The Dark)" produced by Twilley, Seymour and "The Master of Time and Space" (Leon Russell)

Engineers 

Jim Barth, Roger Harris, Roger Linn, Robin Cable, Ted Sharp, Bob Schaper, John Harkin

Phil Seymour and Dwight Twilley

Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour first met in Tulsa in 1967 at a movie theater where they had gone to see A Hard Day's Night (The Beatles).  After seeing the film Twilley and Seymore  began writing songs together which led to  recording tracks in a make shift studio together. They continued their partnership over the next several years under the band name Oister. Twilley wrote all the songs and played guitar and piano, Seymour played drums and bass, and both sang leads and harmonies. Later, guitarist Bill Pitcock IV played lead guitar on most of their tracks.

Sun Studio in the 1970's

Twilley and Seymour eventually decided to leave Tulsa and tried to be discovered in Memphis, Tennessee. By sheer chance, the first recording studio that they wandered into was Sun Studio, where they met, according to Twilley, ‘some guy named Phillips.’ After listening to a cassette of their folk/pop/country blend, Jerry Phillips (son of Sun founder Sam Phillips) referred them to the Tupelo, Mississippi studio of former Sun artist Ray Harris, whom both Twilley and Seymour credited for introducing them to rockabilly and adding a harder edge to their sound.

Twilley and Seymour soon left Tulsa and went to Los Angeles in 1974 to find a label, where they signed with Shelter Records, a label with offices in Los Angeles and Tulsa that was co-owned by Denny Cordell and Tulsa's Leon Russell. Cordell immediately changed the group's name from Oister to the Dwight Twilley Band, which set the seeds for future problems arising from Seymour's anonymity in the partnership. Because of Shelter's Tulsa headquarters, they were able to self-produce many songs in their hometown, recording I'm On Fire in one night at the historic The Church Studio which was established in 1972 by musician, songwriter, and producer Leon Russell. 

I'm on Fire quickly became their debut single and reached #16 on the Billboard charts in 1975 with relatively little promotion, largely because the band was in England recording its first album, tentatively called Fire, with producer Robin Cable at Trident Studios. 

The photos used on the single's picture sleeve were low quality from a photo booth, even less professional than the band's first promo picture. The unexpected success of the self-produced I'm On Fire caused most of the English tracks recorded with Cable to be relegated to a second album, thereafter known as The B Album. Leon Russell then permitted the band to record new tracks at his 40-track home studio, where one of the engineers was Roger Linn, who also contributed lead guitars and bass to some of their recordings.

Dwight Twilley Band - You Were So Warm

During an appearance on American Bandstand, the band played what was to be its follow-up single, Shark (in the Dark), produced by Twilley, Seymour and Russell. The success of the film Jaws, however, caused Cordell and Shelter to reject the single, apparently to keep the group from being perceived as a cash-in novelty act. The eventual follow-up single, You Were So Warm backed with Sincerely, failed due to distribution problems; just after the single was released, Shelter Records collapsed in the midst of a lawsuit between Russell and Cordell. The Dwight Twilley Band's completed album went unreleased for 10 months due to Shelter's switch from MCA Records to ABC Records for distribution, and The B Album was left unreleased.

When the album Sincerely was finally released in 1976, it failed as well, peaking at #138. During this time, Seymour and Twilley befriended labelmate Tom Petty and Phil sang backing vocals on "Breakdown" and "American Girl", creating a long-lasting friendship.

Dwight Twilley Band > Twilley Don't Mind

Shelter then switched distribution again to Arista Records. ABC elected to keep Petty and J. J. Cale, leaving Twilley alone on the Shelter/Arista label. Pitcock became a credited member of the Dwight Twilley Band during touring and recording of the second album. However, that album, Twilley Don't Mind, proved to be another commercial disappointment in 1977.

Seymour left the band the following year, pursuing a solo career with some success until he developed what proved to be terminal cancer. He died of lymphoma in 1993.

Dwight Twilley is still active in the music business but his early work with Phil Seymour still stands the test of time.

IGGY POP > LUST FOR LIFE (RCA 1977)

This album doesn't necessarily fall into the “Lost” file but the elements that Iggy dealt with made his journey as a solo artists difficult at times.

Lust for Life was recorded at Hansa Studio by the Wall in West Berlin from May to June 1977, with production being handled by Bowie, Pop, and engineer Colin Thurston. The touring band of Pop, Bowie, guitarist Ricky Gardiner, and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively, comprised the primary lineup for the album. After The Idiot was mostly composed by Bowie, Pop was adamant about having more control over Lust for Life, often composing his own arrangements, including for "Sixteen". This resulted in a hard rock and proto-punk sound more akin to his older style with the band the Stooges. Pop would use Bowie's arrangements for some songs, including the well-known title track.

Pop was adamant about taking control of his next record. The tour for The Idiot saw Pop branded as Bowie’s sidekick, something that frustrated the singer. Pop needed to shed some of the art rock pretences Bowie had saddled him with to establish himself fully. His music needed to return to Pop’s sound’s gritty rock and roll roots. Bowie was still heavily involved, but Pop came into the sessions with his own songs and his own ideas about what he wanted to do.

The result was Lust For Life, Pop’s definitive musical statement. Featuring an exuberant blast of early new wave and classic hard rock, the album was Pop at his absolute apex. For 40 minutes of nonstop energy, Pop leaves no part of his voice uncovered, stretching out his range to include shouts, croons, guttural bellows, and an impressive amount of melody. He sounds comfortable and confident through it all, ready to take his spot as a rock and roll legend.

Even though the powers-that-be @ RCA thought that the album would be a flop, Bowie persuaded RCA to release The Idiot in March. Suddenly, the album became the biggest commercial success involving Pop up to that point as Lust For Life hit the top 40 in both the US and the UK charts.

I can remember that only the “hip” radio stations immediately jumped on the Lust For Life album which eventually began to get heavy radio play in several cities.

TRACKS

SIDE 1

Lust For Life

Sixteen

Some Weird Sin

The Passenger

Tonight

SIDE 2

Success

Turn Blue

Neighborhood Threat

Fall in Love with Me

PERSONNEL

Iggy Pop – vocals

David Bowie – keyboards, piano, organ, backing vocals

Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead guitar ("Lust for Life", "Turn Blue")

Ricky Gardiner – lead guitar, backing vocals, drums ("Fall in Love with Me")

Warren Peace – keyboards and backing vocals ("Turn Blue")

Tony Fox Sales – bass, backing vocals, guitar ("Fall in Love with Me")

Hunt Sales – drums, backing vocals, bass ("Fall in Love with Me")

Upon release, the album suddenly became the biggest commercial success involving Pop up to that point as Lust For Life hit the top 40 in both the US and the UK charts.  Lust for Life received little promotion from RCA but nevertheless peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart and remained

The title track gained renewed popularity in the late 1990s after being featured in the 1996 British comedy film Trainspotting. The song was heavily featured in the film's marketing campaign and subsequent soundtrack album, resulting in a new UK chart peak of number 26 after being reissued as a single.^[31] The single's success inspired Pop's then-label Virgin Records to issue a greatest hits compilation titled Nude & Rude.^[77] Ambrose writes that it gained the same level of resurgence as the Doors' "The End" (1967) after the latter's inclusion in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now.^[78] In 1999, Pop reflected on the song's renewed popularity:^[43]

Lust for Life has appeared on several best-of lists by multiple publications. Sounds and Mojo ranked the album 21st and 44th in their lists of the 100 greatest albums of all time in 1986 and 1995, respectively. Pitchfork ranked Lust for Life number 64 in its list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1970s in 2004. In 2013, NME ranked the album 217th in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

 

 

Iggy Pop's statement regarding the Lust For Life album: “When I made Lust for Life, I really thought America was gonna rock to this motherfucker. And it took 20 fuckin' years which is a really long time to wait. I guess what happened is that there was this system that wasn't gonna fuckin' give me a break, and I outlived the system. The movies and advertisers have subverted the stranglehold of radio in America, and there are now other ways for people to hear music. All of a sudden, – a few years ago when Trainspotting came out – I was walkin' down the street and I'd heard Raw Power comin' out of the bars.”

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RY COODER > INTO THE PURPLE VALLEY (Warner Reprise 1972)

"Guitarist Cooder was so busy leading up to this period – working with Captain Beefheart, Randy Newman and the Rolling Stones – that his solo career didn't take off until the '70s. His second album includes backing by Jim Dickinson, Chris Ethridge, Van Dyke Parks and "Tainted Love" singer Gloria Jones. This diverse crew gives Into the Purple Valley a questing feel that steers it through blues, folk and roots. More celebrated albums like Paradise and Lunch followed, but it started here." (classicrock.com)

Ry Cooder is known as a virtuoso on almost every stringed instrument, and on Into the Purple Valley, he demonstrates this ability on a wide variety of instruments. The main focus of the music here is on the era of the Dust Bowl, and what was happening in America at the time, socially and musically. Songs by Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and a variety of others show Cooder's encyclopedic knowledge of the music of this time, combined with an instinctive feel for the songs. 'Phenomenal' is the descriptive I would describe his playing, whether it is on guitar, Hawaiian "slack key" guitar, mandolin, or the more arcane instruments he has found. This is a must for those who love instrumental virtuosity, authentic reworkings of an era, or just plain good music.

"How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" (Agnes "Sis" Cunningham) – 2:25

"Billy the Kid" (Traditional; arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:45

"Money Honey" (Jesse Stone) – 3:28

"FDR in Trinidad" (Fitz McLean) – 3:01

"Teardrops Will Fall" (Gerry "Dickey Doo" Granahan, Marion Smith) – 3:03

"Denomination Blues" (George Washington Phillips) – 3:58
 

"On a Monday" (Lead Belly) – 2:52

"Hey Porter" (Johnny Cash) – 4:34

"Great Dream from Heaven" (instrumental) (Joseph Spence) – 1:53

"Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" (Arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:52

"Vigilante Man" (Woody Guthrie) – 4:15

Personnel

Ry Cooder – guitars, mandolin, vocals

Van Dyke Parks – keyboards

Gloria Jones – vocals

Claudia Lennear – vocals

George Bohanon – horns

John Craviotto – drums

Joe Lane Davis – horns

Jim Dickinson – piano

Chris Ethridge – bass

Milt Holland – percussion

Jerry Jumonville – saxophone

Fritz Richmond – washtub bass

Donna Washburn – vocals

Donna Weiss – vocals

Ike Williams – horns

Into the Purple Valley is a real tour-de-force and one of Ry Cooder's strongest albums from the 1970s, showcasing an eclectic mix of obscure as well as traditional Depression-era numbers, including songs by Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie. 

The pertinent political album opener How Can You Keep on Moving (Unless You Migrate Too) is about the challenges faced by the poor and downtrodden who migrated west in the 1930s. The lyrics make it clear that these were difficult times for many folks living in America. You can hear the bitterness in Cooder's voice as he sings this powerful song. 

The next track Billy the Kid is about the notorious outlaw from the Old West. Cooder's reworking of the standard shows off his exceptional mandolin playing. 

The lighthearted F.D.R. in Trinidad is about U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1936 trip to Trinidad. It's also one of the few tracks that's hopeful and optimistic. 

Teardrops will Fall is a nice cover of a song originally by Dicky Doo and The Don'ts. 

Money Honey sounds like a song by The Band, but it's actually an old tune by The Drifters from the 1950s. 

Cooder's stripped-back version of the Woody Guthrie classic, "Vigilante Man", reveals a dark side on this album.

Ry Cooder's collection of engaging songs tell some fascinating stories from a unpleasant time in American history. Cooder successfully gives these standards his own unique spin, remaking them to suit his strengths, showcasing his talents as a first-rate guitarist, and at the same time, always remaining faithful to the original source material.  Amen.

Thomas Jefferson Kaye > First Grade (Probe label) 1974

TRACKS

1.  Northern California (Thomas Jefferson Kaye) 1:25
2.  Easy Kind Of Feeling (Thomas Jefferson Kaye) 3:32
3.  Sho Bout To Drive Me Wild (Alvin Robinson, Jessie Hill, Mac Rebbenack) 4:08
4  Say That You Love Me (Loudon Wainwright III) 2:31
5  American Lovers (Donald Fagen, Walter Becker) 4:57
6  Jones (Donald Fagen, Walter Becker) 3:24
7  Shine The Light (Link Wray) 3:28
8  All Cried Out (Thomas Jefferson Kaye) 4:21
9 LA (Thomas Jefferson Kaye) 2:45
10 One Man Band (Thomas Jefferson Kaye) 3:10

MUSICIANS:

Bass: Joe Osborn

Drums: Jim Gordon

Electric Guitar / Acoustic Guitar: Dean Parks

Slide Guitar / Acoustic: Rick Derringer

Keyboards: Michael Omartian

Percussion: Victor Feldman

Backing Vocals:

Richie Furay, Tim Schmit, Dusty Springfield, Clydie King.

Strings And Horns Arranged By Jimmie Haskell.

Producer – Gary Katz
Engineer – Roger Nichols
Engineer (Assistant Engineer) – Joe Tuzen
Strings (Strings Arranged And Conducted By) – Jimmie Haskell (Tracks 2, 5
Horns (Horns Arranged And Conducted By) – Jimmie Haskell (Tracks 3, 9, 10)

Art Direction, Design – David Larkham
Art Direction, Photography – Ed Caraeff

Recorded At – The Village Recorder

Who was Thomas Jefferson Kaye?

Thomas Jefferson Kaye carried on a close musical collaboration with Gene Clark through the mid-'70s. After stints in a group called White Cloud and as a sideman for Loudon Wainwright, he produced the supersession Triumvirate (CBS, 1973) for Mike Bloomfield, Dr. John and John Hammond. Around the same time, Kaye released two solo LPs, Thomas Jefferson Kaye (ABC/Dunhill, 1973) and First Grade (ABC/Dunhill, 1973). Both featured Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan prominently.

Kaye then produced Gene Clark's baroque No Other (Asylum, 1974). The two remained close during the next few years, and Kaye then produced the next Clark LP, the country-rocker Two Sides to Every Story (RSO, 1977). Kaye was then part of the K.C. Southern Band (Kaye-Clark, get it?) until Clark reunited with McGuinn in late '77. Kaye and Clark co-wrote "Release Me, Girl," which turned up on McGuinn Clark & Hillman (Capitol, 1979).

As I went searching around the web, I ended up finding more essential info on this great lost album: Kaye moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s, to produce Link Wray's album Be What You Want To.^[6][7] There, he "fell in love with Wally Heider's studio and with the air-conditioned San Francisco climate and with the hills and with the cable cars...".^[1] He settled in California, and was signed by David Geffen to produce his friend Bob Neuwirth's self-titled 1974 debut solo album, recorded in Los Angeles with a variety of top musicians including Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Bob Dylan, Don Everly and Rick Danko. Kaye said of that time: ‘The hours are crazy, the alcohol thing is crazy, the pills are crazy, the people are crazy... I was just as high as everybody else and I was up for it!’

In 1973, Kaye produced the album Triumvirate by Mike Bloomfield, John Hammond Jr. and Dr. John which eventually led to Kaye producing his own debut solo album, Thomas Jefferson Kaye which was released by ABC-Dunhill Records.  The album featured both Fagen and Becker (of Steely Dan fame) along with Steely Dan producer Gary Katz.  Kaye's First Grade album used the same musicians and producer used on creating Steely Dan albums. 

On this album there are two gems which were written by Becker and Fagen; ‘Jones’ and 'American Lovers', the latter a farewell of sorts to the era's counterculture.  Probably the track that stood out the most for me was ‘American Lovers’, which was written by Becker and Fagen and was recorded around the time that Steely Dan was working on Pretzel Logic.

‘American Lovers’ has a unique  chord structure and lyrical intelligence we’ve come to expect from the Becker and Fagen and the song seems to remind me of some of the excellent Steely Dan songs that pop up on the radio every once and awhile.  After listening to ‘American Lovers’ many times I've come to realize that the disillusionment of Becker and Fagen's ‘American Lovers’ are delivered with the same intelligence you would expect of Becker and Fagen.  Also, Dr. John's funky ‘Sho-bout to Drive Me Mad’ definitely grabbed my attention due to my taste for New Orleans music.

First Grade [ABC/Dunhill, 1974]

Reviewed by Robert Christgau

After listening to the album, Christgau rewarded Thomas Jefferson Kaye an A!

"Like the Triumvirate album he produced for John Hammond, Mike Bloomfield, and Dr. John, Kaye's debut was sensually laid-back, with a sly intelligence he hoped to pass off as an active relationship with his environment. But this one stands beside Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard as a critique of the laid-back mode. The secret is the covers, which I bet producer Gary Katz (also of Steely Dan) had something to do with--especially since the whole album centers around Fagen & Becker's bitter, poignant farewell to the counterculture, "American Lovers." Together with Loudon Wainwright's painful "Say That You Love Me" and natural boogies from Link Wray and Dr. John, it puts such Kaye titles as "Northern California" and "Easy Kind of Feeling" into the ironic perspective the artist intends. Maybe this is Katz rather than Kaye--but when you hear Kaye describe a "new religion/Called everything's gonna be all right," you won't think so."

THE YOUNGBLOODS > ROCK FESTIVAL (1970)

For their first album of the seventies, The Youngbloods released their first live album Rock Festival in 1970. Instead, The Youngbloods embarked upon a lengthy American tour in the spring of 1970, which lasted well into the summer months. The plan was to record several dates on the tour, and release them as The Youngbloods’ first live album, Rock Festival.

Featuring the smooth as apple-butter voice of Jesse Colin Young and the guitar/keyboard wizardry of Banana, backed by the rock-solid drum work by Joe Bauer, the Youngbloods positively sparkle here.

TRACKS

It's A Lovely Day

Faster All The Time

Preluce

On Beautiful Lake Spenard

Josiane

Sea Cow Boogie

Fiddler A Dram

Misty Roses

Interlude

Between March and July 1970, the tapes were running during five concerts. The first was on March ’29th’ 1970 at The Family Dog, in San Francisco. Three weeks later, the concert at The Barn in Marshall, California on ‘16th’ April 1970 was recorded. Two nights later, on ‘18th’ April 1970, the tapes were running at the Santa Clara University. Then when The Youngbloods played at Provo Park in Berkeley, California on ‘19th’ May 1970. There was one final recording session on July ’21st’ 1970, at Pacific High Recording in San Francisco. At last, The Youngbloods’ fourth album was ready for release.

Upon the release of the Rock Festival album the band received the same critical acclaim as previous albums. Rock Festival was another eclectic album, where The Youngbloods showcased their versatility. However, it’s a quite different album from their three studio albums. Rather than play to the audience, and win them over with some of their best known songs, The Youngbloods decided to move  in a new direction. 

The Youngloods opted to open the set with Jesse Colin Young’s It’s a Lovely Day, which gives way to Faster All The Time and Prelude. 

One of the most outstanding tracks on the album is the instrumental On Beautiful Lake Spenard which finds The Youngbloods stretching their legs musically.  In particular, Lowell Levinger aka Banana drives the band forward with his excellent piano work.

Josiane is a beautiful ballad which was written by Jesse Colin Young.  Jesse has such an easy vocal on this one that it draws the listener more closely and as the song flows along it seems to capture the listener in a way that it makes them feels as if they are right in the middle of the concert.

Fiddler A Dram finds The Youngbloods rework a traditional song. It gives way to the noodling Sea Cow Boogie, before Jesse Colin Young delivers a thoughtful cover on Tim Hardin’s Misty Roses. After another interlude, The Youngbloods whipped up bluesy Peepin’ and Hidin’, before closing the set with Ice Bag, a free jazz workout. This eclectic set proved popular not just with critics, but record buyers too.

When Rock Festival was released in 1970, it reached number eighty in the US Billboard 200. This made Rock Festival The Youngbloods’ most successful album.

JUDEE SILL (self-titled album) 1972

Judee Sill is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Judee Sill. Released on September 15, 1971, it was the first album on David Geffen's Asylum label. Backing musicians include John Beck and Jim Pons from the Leaves. While the majority of the album was produced by Henry Lewy, Graham Nash handled the duties for the single Jesus Was a Cross Maker, with his production designed to aim for radio airplay.

SIDE ONE:

"Crayon Angels" – 2:35

"The Phantom Cowboy" – 1:40

"The Archetypal Man" – 3:35

"The Lamb Ran Away with the Crown" – 3:10

"Lady-O" – 3:10

"Jesus Was a Cross Maker" – 3:20

SIDE TWO:

"Ridge Rider" – 4:28

"My Man on Love" – 3:23

"Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos" – 3:00

"Enchanted Sky Machines" – 2:40

"Abracadabra" – 1:54

Personnel

Judee Sill – guitar, piano & vocals

Clydie King, Rita Coolidge, Venetta Fields – background vocals

Don Bagley, Bob Harris – orchestration

David Crosby – guitar

Graham Nash – organ & production on "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"

Technical Personnel

Henry Lewy, John Beck, Jim Pons – production

Graham Nash – production on "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"

Larry Cox – engineering on "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"

Gary Burden – art direction, design

Andy Zax – reissue production

The album Judee Sill was released in 1971. Sill took the credit for composition, arrangements and supervision, while the production was split between Jim Pons (of the Turtles), John Beck (of the Leaves), and Henry Lewy (Graham Nash separately produced "Jesus Was a Cross Maker" with an eye toward releasing it as a single). Bob Harris and Don Bagley handled the strings. Listening to the record some 34 years later, it's nearly impossible to believe that this was Sill's debut record – most songwriters today would be lucky to have such an album stand as the crowning achievement in their catalogue, let alone stand as their first public outing. The record dabbles in folk and country figures, buoyed along by Sill's gospel-tinged piano lines, and some staggering baroque string arrangements. She is often associated with the so-called "Laurel Canyon sound" that also included folks like Carole King, but her sound is distanced from those contemporaries by the breadth of her musical knowledge, her stunning attention to detail, and a gorgeous everywoman type of voice, pitch perfect and rendering lyrics that dealt as much with heartbreaking balladry as they did with deep spiritual concerns and cosmos wanderings.

The songs that appear on Judee Sill were mostly composed in 1969–71. In 1969, Sill was hired by the Turtles to write songs for $35 a week for their publishing company, Blimp Music. The earliest of these are "Lady-O," which was recorded by the band, "Crayon Angels," "My Man on Love," "Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos," "Enchanted Sky Machines," and "Abracadabra."  As songs would come to Judy, they would burst forth with religious fervor.

The Judee Sill  album featured all original compositions, many of which relied on Sill's unique cosmological imagery to make their point. By turns spare and lavishly orchestrated, there is a cohesive feel to the album; her lyrics are exceptionally poetic and her smooth voice gives every song a shimmery feel. The essence of the music is folk, the execution pop: the songs feel like a comfort blanket, a statement of hope from a troubled soul. 

Despite the good reviews of her album, Judee Sill didn’t sell as well as the troubadour and her friends had hoped. Nevertheless, she soldiered on to record and release 1973’s Heart Food, an equally outstanding album, which made even greater use of both her gospel influenced keyboard playing and her talent for orchestral composition. Sadly, Heart Food sold even fewer copies than the first album.

Continuing her downward slide, Sill disappeared from the scene. She died from an overdose – cause of death was listed as ‘acute cocaine and codeine intoxication’ – in 1979, the day after Thanksgiving when she passed away at the age of 35.. By then she was long forgotten, and her passing didn’t even make the obits. Many friends and fans didn’t learn of her death until years afterwards.

Who knows what heights Judee and her music may have reached. Both Judee Sill and Heart Food rank right up there with the best from giants like Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Sandy Denny, and Carole King.

In 2003 Rhino Records Handmade imprint released limited editions of both of her albums, making them available for the first time in thirty years. Blessings to Judee for eternal peace.

ALBUMS

M.C. OSSO > AMERICAN ZOOM ANTHOLOGY

Mind Smoke Records is proud to release American Zoom Anthology, an eclectic collection of M.C. Osso recordings that capture the many musical personas of this mercurial artist. All of the proceeds from the sale of this album will be donated to The Music Cancer Fund, a charity that is associated with the Sweet Relief Musician's Fund.

THE HIDEAWAYS > THE LOST TAPES VOL. 1

Once upon a time, on a late September evening in four guys calling themselves The Hideaways, walked in EKO Studio in Deer Park, NY and created this 2-Track live-in-studio recording that features elements of blues, R&B, Country, Rockabilly, and jazz.

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