JSD BAND
1972 SELF-TITLED ALBUM (ALSO KNOWN AS "THE BLACK ALBUM") BY SCOTTISH FOLK ROCK OUTFIT WHO TOURED EXTENSIVELY WORLDWIDE, EVEN SUPPORTING DAVID BOWIE IN 1972!
FIDDLE BASE SONGS AND TUNES PERFORMED WITH MUCH ENTHUSIASM, THIS IS FUN TO LISTERN TO!
"COUNTRY OF THE BLIND" IS THE DEBUT ALBUM BY THE SCOTTISH CELTIC ROCK BAND J.S.D. BAND. THE J.S.D. PART OF THE NAME COMES FROM THE INITIALS OF THE THREE FORMER MEMBERS OF THE BAND, WHO FORMED J.S.D. BAND IN GLASGLOW, SCOTLAND IN 1969. THEY PLAYED THE FOLK CIRCUITS IN GLASGLOW, AS MOST BANDS FROM THE TIME DID. THEIR DEBUT WAS RELEASED IN 1970, REGAL ZONOPHONE, A SUBSIDIARY OF EMI. IT MANAGED TO REACH NATIONAL INTREAST AND GRABBED THE ATTENTION OF ONE WELL REGARDED, DJ JOHN PEEL. DJ JOHN PEEL WOULD LATER WRITE THE SLEEVE NOTES FOR THEIR NEXT TWO ALBUMS. "COUNTRY OF THE BLIND," IS COMPOSED MOSTLY OF IRISH, SCOTTISH, AMERICAN, AND SOME ENGLISH TRADITIONAL SONGS, BUT ALSO SOME ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS. THEY WERE INVITED TO PLAY IN SEVERAL TV SHOWS INCLUDING OLD GREY WHISTLE SHOW, RADIO ONE IN CONCERT AND JOHN PEEL SHOW. THEY PLAYED FOR SEVERAL MUSICIANS AND BANDS SUCH AS STATUS QUO, SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, JOHNNY WINTER AND LOU REED, AND SOME OF THE MUSICIANS PARTICIPATED ON THE RECORDING OF DAVID BOWIE'S "ZIGGY STARDUST". THE BAND WOULD END IN 1974, AFTER 5 YEARS TOGETHER, LEAVING THEIR NAME IN THE HISTORY OF THE FOLK REVIVAL MOVEMENT.
THE JSD BAND RELEASED THREE ALBUMS IN THE EARLY '70 BEFORE DISBANDING IN 1974. "FOR THE RECORD" CD MUSIC ALTHOUGH NOT AS WIDELY RECOGNIZED AS STEELEYE SPAN OR FAIRPORT CONVENTION, JSD PRODUCED MUSIC WHICH EASILY RIVALLED THAT OF THE TWO FORERUNNERS OF ELECTRIC FOLK. FOR THE RECORD CONSISTS OF RE-RECORDED MATERIAL FROM THEIR PREVIOUS RECORDS. IT SERVES BOTH AS A REMINDER OF THE FINE MUSIC THEY CREATED AND AS A WELCOME BACK INTO THE FOLD, SINCE IT COMMENCED THEIR NEW RECORDING CONTRACT. JSD WERE EQUALLY ADEPT AT EITHER PLAYING CONTEMPORARY VERSIONS OF CELTIC OR AMERICAN FOLK SONGS. IN FACT, SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE TRACKS ON THIS ALBUM SOUND DISTINCTLY AMERICAN, LIKE "SARA JANE," "GROUNDHOG" AND "DOWN THE ROAD". HAD THEY FELT COMPELLED, JSD COULD HAVE BEEN A PREMIER CONTEMPORARY BLUEGRASS GROUP -- NO SMALL FEAT FOR A BUNCH OF SCOTMEN. THE MUSICIANSHIP IS SUPERB WITH FIDDLER CHUCK FLEMMING AND JACK-OF-ALL-INSTRUMENTS SEAN O'ROUKE LEADING THE WAY. JIM DIVER'S EXPERTISE AND ADAPTABILITY ON DOUBLE BASS IS FURTHER INDICATION THAT THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM FOR STAND-UP BASS IN THE MODERN FOLK AND ACOUSTIC -BASED MUSIC SCENE. OTHER STAND OUT TRACKS LIKE "AS I ROVED OUT," "THE IRISH GIRL," AND "THE GALWAY RACES" PROVE THAT THEIR STRENGTHS LIE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC.
"FOR THE RECORD" (CD FROM 1997)
JSD BAND FIRST MUSIC CDS RELEASED IN 1998, "PASTURES OF PLENTY" WAS JSD BAND'S FIRST ALBUM OF NEW MATERIAL IN ROUGHLY 25 YEARS. THE 1997 ALBUM "FOR THE RECORD" CONSISTED OF RE-RECORDED ACOUSTIC VERSIONS OF PAST SONGS. THIS ALBUM INTRODUCES BONGO AND DOBRO PLAYER RAB MAIRS AND REINSTATES ORIGINAL MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST DES COFFIELD (MANDOLIN, GUITARS, KEYBOARDS) TO THEIR LINE-UP, SO THEIR SOUND IS SLIGHTLY MORE ROBUST ON THIS RECORDING. THEY'VE ALSO ALLOWED FOR THE OPTION TO ROCK WHEN THE OCASSION CALLS, SOMETHING "FOR THE RECORD" DIDN'T. ACOUSTICALLY, THEY RESEMBLE FELLOW SCOTTISH FOLK GROUP OLD BLIND DOGS, WHO QUITE POSSIBLE, WERE INFLUENCED BY EARLY-PERIOD JSD BAND. THEIR UNIQUENESS, HOWEVER, IS EVIDENCED WHEN THE ELECTRIC GUITAR IS UNLEASHED, AS EXEMPLIFIED ON "THE DOWNFALL OF PARIS, THE CHANTER'S TUNE." THAT SONG ALSO ALLOWS FOR TASTEFUL FLUTE AND SAXOPHONE PASSAGES BY SEAN O'ROURKE. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FIDDLER CHUCK FLEMING'S "SHAKE LOOSE THE BORDER," THIS ALBUM IS COMPRISED OF TRADITIONAL PIECES LIKE "SPANISH
LADY" AND "SHADY GROVE," THE FORMER BEING THE MOST
RECOGNIZABLE WHILE THE REMAINING TRACKS BORDER ON THE OBSCURE.
DAVE SLEGER 6 MAN SCOTTISH BAND MIXES A NUMBER OF STYLES INTO THEIR VERY UNIQUE SOUND, INCLUDE,
JAZZ, COUNTRY, ROCK & TRADITIONAL CELTIC - THEY GO ALTERNATE BETWEEN ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC INSTRUMENTS THROUGHOUT THE ALBUM
JSD BAND
