MAY BLITZ

May Blitz - s/t (1970)

May Blitz is yet another good example of high quality hard-rock with an artistic appeal. This power-trio, guitar, bass & drums has a very concentrated riff-based rock-sound and experiments along the way. All songs have fresh ideas and there are no compositional mistakes.

There are very few clichés. The vocals are a bit in the background in order to get us focussed on the tight rhythm and blues interplay. The riffs are most of the time played with a clean electric guitar, whilst the long solo sections are played with heavy distorted guitars. On some progressive passages the acoustic guitar with reverb is used to get us into new hard-rock territory, hence the 'heavy prog'-label. I would however prefer to call this proto-prog. All songs have some innovative ideas and more themes then would be necessary for a standard hard- rock band. The rhythm changes are very strong throughout.

Yet, not only the music of May Blitz is strong, but their daring artwork is a real treat. The hideous fat lady in underwear with a smile on her face is really a good anti-commercial statement. This completes the package into a fine rarity, one I love buying as a vinyl collector.

Conclusion. A very strong innovative riff-based proto-metal record that was released at a very early point in history. The progressive influences and the underground sound of record make this a real treat for collectors like me. Way better then Led Zeppelin if you'd ask me! Four stars.

The anglo-canadian group May Blitz released two LP's at the front-end of the 1970's before, like so many before and after them, disappearing into the rock netherworld. Thanks to Germany's Repertoire Records, both albums are now available on lovely, remastered, special-edition- mini-vinyl-replica editions, complete with the original artwork by Tony Benyon. Of the two releases, the eponymously-titled debut is by far the better album, featuring a powerful, bass-driven and, at times, very psychedelic sound which comes across like a heavier and more freaked-out version of Eric Clapton's Cream. Like Cream, May Blitz were a three-piece, featuring James Black(guitar, vocals), Reid Hudson(bass) and Tony Newman(drums), all of whom helped produce their debut along with ex-Vertigo Records engineer Barry Ainsworth, thus giving the album a thunderous overall sound peppered with feedback-drenched guitars and intense, tribal drumming. Released in 1970, 'May Blitz' sold very little, with the follow-up '2nd Of May' also proving a commercial failure, and the band were soon dropped by their label. However, thirty-plus years down the line and the group's first album is being rightfully hailed as a 'lost classic' from the golden era of popular music, and the group's reputation has risen from non-existant to cult-status as a result, with several internet fan clubs now being run for lovers of this un-compromising threesome. Adorned by some spectacularly odd artwork - a fat, ugly, large-nostrilled lady who looks like the lovechild of a gorilla and British politician Anne Widdecombe - the album starts with the brooding, marijuana-soaked rocker 'Smoking The Day Away', an 8-minute-plus heavy rock odyssey that demonstrates the group's pounding style. This is, in turn, followed by a collection of psychedelic rock songs peppered with the odd moody ballad, all of which find each member of the group in blistering form. Most outstanding is Reid Hudson's throbbing bass, which underpins every track with a ominous tension, though Tony Newman's drumming is pretty incredible throughout. The real shame, however, is the fact that the group abandoned this impressive formula in favour of a gruesome proto-metal sound for 'The 2nd Of May', consigning the group straight to the dustbin of promising rock acts and truncating a promising career right at it's inception.

Oh my, this album is a storming 'Progressive' rarity that features NO keyboards what-so-ever, quite unusual, truth be told (not that the 'keyboard' is the be-all and end-all of all Prog-Rock.....) MAY BLITZ was a not-so-average 3-piece, harder-edged band, simply consisting of a marvellous Guitarist in James Black, and a solid 'backbone' of Bassist Reid Hudson and Drummer/Percussionist Tony Newman. All musicians display a quite adventurous zeal on their respective instruments and their creativeness holds no boundaries to their song- writing. Admittedly, it's taken some years for me to get around to the band, and I have to say that I'm quite impressed with what I hear (if only I discovered them around 1989/90, back when I ........) anyway, here we have something that could be considered as a basic Blues-based band, but their seasoned musicianship and colourful arrangements stretch out further than many of their contemporaries. The album (now a seldomly obtainable record that was originally released on the famed 'Vertigo' label, lovingly re-issued by the amazing Italian vinyl specialists, AKARMA) features the original 7 tracks that offer the listener a surprising insight to what this inspired group of professional musicians can achieve within their simplistic, 3 piece format. The opening piece, the 8 min+ 'Smoking The Day Away' makes me wish I was (ho ho). It's a totally blowing piece of guitar-heavy music, superb riffs, great singing (in a Jack Bruce kinda way) with the rhythm section supplying a constantly changing backdrop for Mr Black to demonstrate his chops - indeed, the middle section displays some of the finest acoustic-guitar playing I've heard for a long time. The album also shows off some early-morning 'descending mood' moments (as I recall them.....) with 'Tomorrow May Come' and 'Virgin Waters', which are great mellow-out tracks. 'Squeet' is very impressive, too - Reid Hudson absolutely cooks on the Bass-Guitar. I'm inclined to give this fantastic album a 5, but I'm aware that many folks will find its contents less than enthralling - so, a strong 4.5 stars feels adequate - not really a weak moment throughout. Please discover this under-rated gem.

Firstly, let me declare a sentimental interest in all things Vertigo "Spiral". Way back in the very early 70s, I used to spend my pocket money on bargain bin LPs because i could not afford full price releases. Nearly all the "Spiral" releases were in there, along with RCA Neon and other obscure labels. All of these are worth a mint now, but only cost 50p each at the time!

One of my early purchases was this May Blitz album. I probably bought it because of the lovely lady on the cover! I still listen to it now, and although it is heavily influenced by Cream (the singer is a dead-ringer for Jack Bruce) and The Groundhogs in particular, it has its own charm.

Standout tracks are Smoking The Day Away, I Don't Know, and Virgin Waters. The guitarist seems to be more jazz than blues influenced at times, which lends the solos an interesting edge.

This LP is far better than their second effort, when they seemed to run out of ideas after the first track.

Incidentally, if May Blitz is on this site, why not Clear Blue Sky, who were probably more proggy??

See my review on their debut, stay away. Competent musicianship does not make for quality. Rarity & the herd instinct (he'll pay $XXX, then I'll Pay $xxxx, cause there's only 3 available). There's nothing here that's more than mediocre, & ingesting mind enhancing matters should not be necessary to determine a music's worth.

Ok Folks, before any of you put down ANY money to purchase this, I have one thing to tell you ... some so-called obscure gems are obscure for a simple reason - they were not good compared to the music issued in their time, they are not good compared to what may have come after, in brief they are not good. In my case, one my fanatical record collecting friends had a cassette dub of this album that he'd gotten from another friend. So I borrowed it after reading the gushing reviews both here & Amazon.com. Out of all the songs of their 2 albums , only 2 managed not to be fast forwarded - "For Mad Men Only" & 8 Mad Grim Nits". And even then, because they recall the late 60s - early 70s hard rock scene. I am sure that Psychelic music may be enhanced by certain chemicals, but surely mediocrity can only be helped so much no matter you were on when you listen to this. One star for competent playing, & the sound is comparable to other bands of the era. Be forewarned, some items that are supposedly selling/worth extravagant amounts are due to the hype & the rarity, not their musical quality.

I guess it would have been appropriate to have posted this review four weeks ago! The 1971 follow-up to "May Blitz", "The 2nd of May" featured similarly grotesque artwork on the cover and contained eight excellent tracks, but sold poorly, probably due to lack of air play.

The album kicks off with "For Mad Men Only", with a heavy fuzzy power chord guitar and driving beat, it contains some great riffs and solos, certainly a sign of things to come as they are similar to bands such as Black Sabbath. This track also reminds me of the typical heavy sound from UK underground Psyche/Space rock band "Stray". The style of vocals in "Snakes and Ladders" sounds reminiscent of Hendrix, has a strong bass line, fuzz power chords which sound very Black Sabbath indeed. There are echoed backing vocals and "space" effects swirling around, now we're in Hawkwind territory! "The 25th of December" as you'd guess is a Christmas song which swings along beautifully, occasionally leading into whispered vocals and a jazzy style rhythm and bluesy guitar. "In Part" is a jazzy style number which has a flute playing in the background, funny thing the vocals are half sung half spoken, almost rap-like, which leads into a fine drum solo. I don't care what anyone says, i love 'em!! The next track on the cd is called "8 Mad Grim Nits", not sure who they refer to but it is a crazy fast jazzy jam featuring very fast drum and bass playing and some wild fuzzy, phased over- amped lead guitar, really sounds like they had a lot of fun doing this one! Here's another group i would have loved to have seen live. "High Beech" is a beautiful folky song overlaid with watery acoustic guitars and nice lyrics, "shadows spring to life", "today is the beginning of the rest of our lives". "Honey Coloured Time" is another beautiful song about our hypocritical world with hushed vocals, which includes some fine jazz style guitar and bass and a Hendrix style ending, talk about mixing styles. "Just Thinking" is a ponderous, dreamy love song, very laid back, and features some interesting echoed "squeaky" guitar effects.

I enjoy listening to this album very much and it's a shame May Blitz didn't do more after they were dropped from Vertigo. James Black and Reid Hudson returned to Canada and Tony Newman went on to work with such artists as Three Man Army, Marc Bolan, David Bowie & Mick Ronson, Chris Spedding and David Coverdale's Whitesnake. IMO an essential addition to any Prog/Space/Psyche collection.

MAY BLITZ, briefly an integral part of the UK heavy underground live music scene, were formed by ex-Jeff Beck Group member Tony Newman (drums), who recruited Canadians James Black (lead guitar, vocals) and Reid Hudson (bass and vocals) in 1969. There were many such "power trios" around at the time most famously Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Groundhogs and Bakerloo. Their debut album "May Blitz" was released on Vertigo (6360 007) in 1970 but despite containing some excellent original heavy music sold moderately. The album has very good sound quality and production, the distinctive cover was designed by NME cartoonist Tony Benyon. I managed to get hold of an original copy some years ago and in recent years this album and the follow-up "2nd of May" have each been reissued by Akarma on vinyl and both albums together on a "Beat Goes On" cd BGOCD153.

The first track "Smokin' the Day Away" , a smoke in the country away from the "smoke" starts slowly, almost ponderously, and develops into a jam before returning to the main theme, my favourite song, it is very effective i can almost "smell" that stuff! It also contains some fine drum work and unusual metallic sounding guitar effects. "I Don't Know" , which has another "back to the country" theme is a lazy bluesey number which contains some fine guitar work which snakes its way along. "Dreaming", as the title suggests, is a slow dreamy song with acoustic guitar and shimmering cymbals, then momentarily speeds up into a frenzy of screaming "Arthur Brown" style half-sung vocals, fast tom toms and slide guitar. "Squeet" ("squeet all over the wall?...what could they possibly be talking about??) is an unusual song which develops into a boogie-style jam, "Tomorrow May Come", a dream of a better world, is a slow and ethereal song with echoed vocals, drums and guitar, this mood changes into the fast-paced "Fire Queen" with screaming vocals and thundering drums. Waves lapping introduce the last track "Virgin Waters", a beautiful song about first love, containing some lovely effects, whispered vocals, brilliant drumming and echoey acoustic guitar which build to a heavy climax.

Overall a brilliant group and an amazing album, definitely more "gem" than "lost", an essential masterpiece to any progressive Psych/Space Rock collection!

as a professional musician on my odd nights on the computer, I stumble on what I think must be a prog spotters bible, and it gets better. All those obscure albums that I thought I was the only person listening to are here. 35 years on this lp I bought from Reddingtons Rare Records in Birmingham back in the early 70's as etched itself into my soul through my heavy metal, rock, prog, classical and now jazz life. The vertigo label seemed more incredible than the music, but the sleeve is also special. The famous vertigo sampler of which I also have, has 'I DONT KNOW' which I thought was so cool as I was more interested in uriah heep, black sabbath etc. Tony Newman the drummer could play jazz and the bass player sounding if he knew what he was doing. James Black was a interesting guitarist using basic ideas but quite wide ranging in approach. Anyway maybe not as prog as some but interesting all the same. I love fire queen, i dont know and smoking the day away. I believe the guys have contacted each other, hope they are well. I bet they can't believe the prices these two old albums are worth now! I have both, i have seen prices going into hundreds of pounds! Thats something to be bloody proud of lads or gents because not all vertigo stuff was that good. Tell that to your children!

If you get the BGO 2 on 1 Cd cat# BGOCD153 , you will get it with their first album , and this is a great deal , not only financially but also artistically as the sophomore effort is the proud successor to their debut.

The same type of hard rock than the debut but I found two glaring weaknesses: the Chrismas charoll-like third track and the lenghty (did I hear someone whisper Boring?) drum solo track. Honey Coloured Time and Just Thinking being the clearly the best tracks on this record with High Beech a close third.

However , I find listening to the two albums in one sitting a bit tiresome, and if I did do it , does it ever feel nice, once the disc is being ejected.