AFFINITY

The roots of Affinity go back in mid-60's and the friendship of classmates Lynton Naiff (keyboards) and Grant Serpell (drums), both students at the University of Sussex in Brighton.They played together in a band called Ice for a year or so after their graduation and continued to work together in a new band, for which old friend and bassist Mo Foster was called.Through auditions they found guitarist Mike Jopp from the act The Tridents and later teacher Linda Hoyle was brought in for the vocal duties.Since their official formation in 1968 Affinity became an instant call in various clubs of London, leading to a contract with Vertigo and an eponymous album in 1970.Actually ''Affinity'' was released through three different labels in 11 countries worldwide, from New Zealand to South Africa.

''Affinity'' was a collection of original compositions and personal cover versions with the absolute standout being the 11-min. reworking on Bob Dylan's ''All along the watchtower".The band in fact was formed out of the need of Naiff and Serpell to combine the accesible forms of Pop Music with the freedom given by Jazz improvisations, so reasonably the album is dominated by these sources of inspiration with a good bunch of bluesy and psychedelic colors along the way.The short tracks apparently are the most poppy ones as well with simplistic song structures and an instrumental background of nrass instruments, soft guitars and outdated organ, while the longer ones contain flashes of the Proto-Prog sound in early-70's Britain.''Night flight'' for example is a mix of soft Psychedelic Pop, organ-driven Psych Rock and a jazzy jamming section with nervous organ soloing and a rhythmic background.''Mr. Joy'' is pure poetry, a dreamy and lyrical piece of intelligent Art Rock with bluesy and jazzy vibes, driven by the electric piano of Naiff and the outstanding voice of Hoyle.''Three Sisters'' is closer to JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, an aggressive form of loosy Psychedelic Rock with another great performance by Hoyle and the electric guitars/organ in evidence.''All along the watchtower" clocks at almost 12 minutes and comes as a combination of tricky sounds from the past and future of British Rock, actually a very groovy track all the way, borrowing the freedom of Jazz, resulting to a vastly instrumental execution with quirky organ moves and solos, which remind me of old DEEP PURPLE.

Very much a product of its time, which has stood well in the sands of time, but the progressive content is rather limited.This is well-played, free-spirited Psychedelic Rock with a great female singer and an orgasmic keyboardist leading the sound.Rather dated but still recommended.