FAR CANAL

JD's second album is a fairly different affair compared with their debut: gone are the heavy brass arrangements, leaving the group with a much sober (less jam-oriented) songwriting and a harder sound. The group will suffer two major line-up changes and by late 69, only Hinkley was left from the original group. Holland and Gavin were asked to join up.

Surprisingly enough, the opening We've Had It starts on a classical guitar, but soon veers towards a more realistic form of proto- prog. Bath Sister starts on a blues-rock guitar riff, and while foraying a little, it remains close to the starting motif. Much more enthralling is the 7-min Jumb Bed Jed where past the hard-riffing guitar intro; the track veers very elegantly towards a demonstration of superb interplay and soloing. However the side closer Paradiso is marred by a lengthy drum solo taking up half the track, and it is too bad, because the other half is quite pleasant.

The flipside starts with the live-recorded Plastic Shit, which is understandably rougher and rawer than the rest of the album. Vegetable Oblivion is bit of a short instrumental interlude, very pleasant with the guitar gently dominating but has an overall feel of one of those power ballads of the 80's, but much better. Red Worm And Lice is clearly the album's highlight is JD's best track, with its seven minutes of excellent instrumental interplay where Holland's doubled guitars soars like an eagle in the sky. The closing Ballad For Bridget is a short jazz-inflicted ballad that doesn't find its place easily in this album.

Both albums differing enough, it is difficult to find one superior to the other (most opt for FC over OSO, but this writer prefers the debut because it communicates its enthusiasm better. While both albums are anything but essential to progheads, they are both worth the occasional spin and will certainly add depth to their shelves.

Falling into line

Following the release of Jody Grind's debut "One step on", the ubiquitous musical differences quickly developed between band leader Tim Hinkley and the other two members. As a result, Hinkley found himself in a similar position to Vincent Crane of Atomic Rooster (an interesting comparison given both were organ players), in having a band name but no band. Essentially, Hinkley wanted to move in a more straightforward, perhaps commercial, direction which could be exploited in a live environment, while the other two wanted to continue to explore the roots of prog direction of their first album.

Hinkley therefore recruited Bernie Holland and Peter Gavin as replacements, creating a line up which would last until the end of the band's brief 2 year existence. "Far canal" (I am not sure where the title comes from, but it appears to be a disguised form of swearing. Interestingly, or perhaps not, it is the name of English Football team Plymouth Argyle's fan site) was released a mere 6 months after the band's debut, the opening 5 minute song "We've had it" immediately indicating the softer and more accessible style of the new line up.

Tracks such as "Bath sister" and "Jump bed Jed" are fairly ordinary rock numbers, the latter having a rhythm guitar riff similar to Focus's "Syliva" (which of course it predates). The complete absence of the wonderful brass rock arrangements which adorned the first album are in part the reason why the tracks appear under-developed. While on the plus side, this leaves more room for the fine organ playing of Hinkley, it renders the tracks far less distinctive than their peers on the band's debut.

"O Paradiso" is a looser instrumental which once again (per the debut album) features an unwelcome drum solo. "Plastic [&*!#]" was recorded live, and as such is the only live recording of the band available. The song is essentially a Hendrix like piece featuring obscure vocals and a dynamic lead guitar jam.

The album closes with a couple of largely instrumental numbers with obscure titles and an outro of smooth jazz . Of these, "Red worms and lice" is an impressive, if slightly wandering organ and guitar jam. "Ballad for Bridget" is not a ballad at all, but a shuffling jazz piano number which is quite out of place.

In all, an interesting if unexceptional second album, which sees Jody Grind rather falling into line. Had Hinkley decided to continue to explore the direction of the band's fine debut, perhaps things might have been different. As it was, this was to be this short lived band's swan-song.

After the demise of Jody Grind, Hinckley went on to join Vinegar Joe, a band which featured Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer in its line up, and later moved to Nashville, USA where he now lives.