ROCK MACHINE I LOVE YOU

Released in the same year as "The rock machine turns you on", "Rock machine I love you" retains the same compiler (David Howells), who once again shows a sense of adventure as he plunders the vast catalogue of current releases by CBS records. A number of the artists here also appear on the previous album, including The Electric Flag, Blood Sweat and Tears, the Byrds, Taj Mahal and Leonard Cohen. Once again though, those who bought the album in 1968 were presented with a wonderful diversity of new and exciting music.

The opening track, "More and more" is taken from Blood Sweat and Tears confusingly self titled second album. With founder Al Kooper already kicked out through a mutiny within the band, this was the first BS&T album to feature the wonderful tones of Canadian David Clayton-Thomas. The track captures perfectly the exciting blend of jazz, brass and rock the band would develop on their early albums. The departed Al Kooper teams up with Mike Bloomfield for a "Super session", represented here by the largely improvisational "Stop".

Interestingly, no credit is shown for Walter/Wendy Carlos's "Brandenburg Concerto" from "Switched on Bach". While the track may now sound dated and contrived, at the time it was wonderfully original and was many people's introduction to the world of the Moog synthesiser. Don Ellis and his Orchestra's "Excerpt from The Tihai" is probably the most prog track here, the piece being a mixture of brass rock and jazz fusion.

Also falling neatly into a proto-prog sphere are the pre Jefferson Airplane outfit Grace Slick and the Great Society, who's "Somebody to love" is now seen as something of a standard. The version here is a poorly recorded but superbly performed live rendition. Janis Joplin's band Big Brother and the Holding Company came good on her "Cheap thrills " album, represented here by the impassioned "Ball and chain".

Outside the prog/proto-prog related tracks, we have the Byrds's great cover of Dylan's "You ain't goin' nowhere", Simon and Garfunkel's original version of "America" (later covered by Yes), and Leonard Cohen's delightful "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye". Laura Nyro's "Stoned soul picnic" is another undoubted highlight, her soulful vocals suiting the deceptively complex arrangement well. The Band's unofficial 6th member John Simon co-ordained the soundtrack to an obscure film "You are what you eat", his "My name is Jack" being successfully covered as a hit single by Manfred Mann. Simon also produced other bands and artists here, including BS&T, The Electric Flag, and Janis Joplin.

The enigmatic Dino Valente (AKA Chet Powers) "Time" is a dreamy, atmospheric piece from his sole album for CBS while Taj Mahal's "A lot of love" is a typical piece of blues funk, the song being successfully covered by the Rolling Stones on their "Rock and Roll circus" project.

As the second CBS sampler in the same year to bear the "Rock machine" name, "RM, I love you" is a fine collection of songs from their vast array of artists. Today, it offers a wonderful snapshot of the music which was rapidly being developed by the pioneering bands of the day.