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Tucky Buzzard

I keep going back to \"Coming On Again.\" What a great album. It was only released in Spain, and Brazil I guess. Recorded for Hispavox records. Why this album didn\'t get a UK or US release is beyond me. It\'s the only Tucky Buzzard I\'ve heard that sounds kind of like The End in parts. It\'s orchestrated on a lot of it, and the first side is one long \"suite\" (Abbey Road in reverse...) that works well. It\'s a fairly short album, a little over fifteen minutes a side, so I suppose it could have used one more song. But every song is good. When I hear their other stuff I don\'t hear much of The End there, but this album is very much the link between the sixties and seventies. It was released in 1972, (I\'ve also read 1971), supposedly after their first album, but it sounds like \'69 or \'70 to me. Galactic Ramble doesn\'t review it, jumping to the more standard rock album \"Warm Slash\" instead. This is definitely one of my favorite \"psych band morphs into seventies band\" albums along with B.B. Blunder and the first Fairfield Parlour album. Any other fans of this? It\'s difficult to even find much info on this album as it was in so few Tucky Buzzard sections at the record stores.

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Hi Joe,i have this album on a fine double cd titled Time will be Your Doctor which was released by Castle Music which was part of the Sanctuary label way back 2005,if i remember right it wasn't available long....anyway Joe i must put my hand up and say i have really ignored this album "Coming on Again"(72)for cd1 which features the non UK debut self titled Tucky Buzzard(71) album.Im listening to Coming on Again right now and i don't understand why i ignored it as the side long suite as you say is damn good,sometimes i find those side long suites very up yer arse but this 2 part suite is very good indeed with snatches of full orchestration by the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra in places mixed with some pretty hard rock with bursts of brass and glorious vocals....very good indeed.Next up is "You're all alone"which is just tremendous mate,all proggy with fine orcheststration and a catchy keyboard hook with lovely vocals which to me is a real highlight of this album.Next up"You Never Will"is another piece of rock with lashes of electric guitar with interludes of glockenspiel, it only lasts for 2 minutes so before its really begun its over."Free Ticket"which sounds most like a hard rock version of The End and "Lady Fair"which finishes of this short album,is very nice indeed sorta shimmery with elecctric piano and acoustic pickings with an undercurrent of brass way down in the mix so not to overwhelm the lovely arrangements......and that they say is the end.Joe thanks for putting me onto this tho it was under my nose all those years.A very good album indeedy,whether its the bridge between the sound of The End morphing into something more 70s,i'll leave to you but i find some of their 71 self titled album more like that to be honest,tho in my opnion that album aint as good as "Coming on Again",close though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Glad you agree on this one Stu. To be honest I've only given the self-titled album a couple of listens, but the mellotron and orchestration of "Coming On Again" is what really hit me. As you say, the brass low in the mix also works fine on "Lady Fair." It's like a slightly less bombastic tune from Quadrophenia with the way the simple guitar is supported by the brass and orchestration. And speaking of the Who, the fierce double-time "Pinball Wizard" guitar strumming on the song "You Never Will" is propulsive. "You're All Alone" appeared on a recent Mr.Toytown Presents" which is as you say a fine later-period psych tune, but the whole album is great, if maddeningly short. Also tough to find on vinyl. I have that Castle CD collection you mentioned, and there's a version of "Coming On Again" on a label called Flawed Gems that includes a song that I think is also on "The Last Word" album of End tracks put out by Tenth Planet.

Well Stuart, I'm giving a listen to the self-titled album now and I do remember this one sounding more like The End than the harder "Warm Slash." But I'm glad to direct you to "Coming On Again" (a.k.a. the Spanish Album) because to my ears that one really stands out as something unique. Still seems crazy they didn't release it in the UK or US, but as you point out, that first album was a US only release, right? So there must have been all sorts of confusion on how or where to market them at the time.

You're right there's some good stuff on this first album, a bit back and forth from hard to mellow, but good. It does have that "End" organ sound, which is great. Definitely the second one to hear!

Re: Tucky Buzzard

I mention mellotron in that last post, which might be the keyboard on "You're All Alone", but on further listen it might just be organ. Either way, it's a great late-period psych tune, as its inclusion on Mr. Toytown Presents in shorter form demonstrates, I happen to have the 45, and it is 4:00, while the lp version is closer to six minutes.
I still enjoy the Travels of Mrs Fitzhenry CDR you put together, Stu of heavier (and mostly later) UK psych. That CDR led me to the Markos III Nirvana album which I enjoy after being nonplussed by the All Of Us album. That one, apart from "Rainbow Chaser" seemed too light to me. I've grown to like the Simon Simeopath album though.

Re: Tucky Buzzard

I have that flawed gems release of 'Coming On Again' and I like it a lot.
The bonus track is 'Smartypants' from the B side of spanish single.
I bought the stand alone version as I wasn't too fussed about what I'd heard of 'Tucky & Warm Slash'...they sounded okay but no great shakes for me, though maybe I should have another pop at 'Tucky' if you guys reckon it's almost as good as Coming On...
Mr Toytown was where I first encountered 'You're All Alone'.
Some of their best stuff is on the later part of that Tenth Planet collection...fab stuff

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Hi Painterman, do you mean "The Last Word" Tenth Planet lp? The one with the band looking more like Tucky Buzzard era than psych era? I was wondering about that lp. I think Smartypants is on that album too. I've only got "Introspection" and "Retrospection" so I'm curious about "The Last Word" lp. Do you recommend it?
I think that self-titled Tucky Buzzard is good, but I wouldn't pay lots for it. It starts kind of hard rock with "Time Will Be Your Doctor" (although I think I prefer Fuzzy Duck's version of that particular tune just a tad). After that, the album reveals a bit more of that organ sound and songwriting I associate with "Introspection", and there is variety. The last song may be my favorite, but there are good songs all along.
I still find that "Coming On Again" is their best effort. "Coming on Again" is one of those rare albums, like Bowie's "Hunky-Dory," that came out in the early seventies that blends orchestration without drowning out the songs. That's not to say it sounds like "Hunky-Dory" of course, just that I think both those albums work with orchestration.

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Oh Yes Joe, I'd certainly recommend it although I'm not quite sure what's what.
A very kind 'zoner gave me the 3 LPs on 2 CDrs and I'm not sure I have the tracklist so I'm not clear about where part 2 ends and part 3 begins but I just know that theres some great stuff on there and it's possibly the best of the three.
A curious lot, The End, usually great psych bands evolve from great beat bands but I find with The End, their early stuff is okay but not outstanding but by the time they turned day-glo, it was like a switch was flicked and they really came into their own and produced some of the best psych around, almost like a differnt band.

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Thanks for that info Painterman. I found "Retrospection" good, but not amazing, and I agree that their earlier songs don't reveal what they were going to become as The End on "Introspection" at least. To be fair I haven't heard "In The Beginning..." which is the early stuff, but the less psych songs on "Retrospection" seem to support the idea that they got better when they went day-glo.
I'll have to search out "The Last Word".

Re: Tucky Buzzard

I've emailed you Joe

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Joe i had a cdr of the Last Word collection...its blooming ace from memory as i have lost the bloody cdr of it,In fact i had all 3 vinyl releases on cdr,after a clean up of my cd collection,i have mislaid all 3 cdrs.......would anyone on here be able to send me the 3 vinyl collections on cdr by snail mail if possible as i would love to hear all 3 again.Many many thanks if you can!!
Much obliged.

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Stuart, I can do that for you if you can wait a few days mate...I\'m at my girlfriends at the minute and I\'m leaving from here tomorrow to go up to Aberdeen.
Be back Wed or Thurs.

Re: Tucky Buzzard

Many thanks Painterman,and yes i can wait,you have a safe trip mate.Once again Many thanks!!
stuart

Re: Tucky Buzzard