APRIL WINE – Brian Greenway discusses band’s recent tours and upcoming tour w/ TRIUMPH

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Last year was a very busy year for APRIL WINE; the Canadian rock band undertook major tours of Canada, the UK, and Europe; here opening for BTO, and overseas opening for URIAH HEEP. The band will be busy again this year with a North American touring, starting April, as openers for TRIUMPH, who have reunited for a 50th Anniversary tour. In speaking with guitarist Brian Greenway a few weeks back, we talked about the tours last year, the band since Marc Parent has joined, the upcoming tour with Triumph, and Brian’s favorite guitar players. Enjoy the read; leave some feedback (and a like), and check out the band w/ Triumph in a few months!

Last year you went out with BTO, Uriah Heep, and then you went out with Uriah Heep again. So, that was a few big tours there. With the BTO tour and some of the shows you did, what were some of the highlights for you guy?

Well, across Canada, doing arenas in the summertime, it doesn’t get better than that in my books. That’s the kind of thing I love doing. Good exposure. It was fun every day because you make friends with, the band, the crew, and you love doing that. If you don’t like where you are, it changes the next day, like the weather does. But all in all, I love life on the road that way. So, for me, it was a great time.

I noticed when you guys had started out this with Marc and the whole idea of the band continuing with being based around the songs, the popularity of the songs, I kind of got that because I was at the St. Catharine’s show, and not just so much the energy, the audience got it, everybody was into it, every song got a good response, I think.

Yeah, including the lighting the phones up before “Just Between You And Me” when Marc said, “for the memory of Myles pull up your phones.”  People love the songs. It’s like, for me, it reminded me of a time in my life. Well, it does that for everybody too. It’s a memory that the audio jogs.  It’s a piece of your life. Without music, I imagine, you wouldn’t have that. But it’s like if a smell reminds you of something, a song reminds you of something, it takes you to a place that it was enjoyable. It’s a nice place for your brain to be in, your mind to be in.

Could talk a bit about Marc and what he’s brought to the band with his energy and that. Because, from that show, I gathered that, and anybody that’s seen the band over the last year, quickly puts aside any of the moaning and groaning about, ‘Well, there’s no Myles and this and that’. There’s a lot of energy on stage, and he does the songs so well, and it’s a really good vibe.

Yeah, when Marc first joined, him and I got together for about three months, just one-on-one, and went over all the guitar parts, the vocal parts, because he had a good way of sounding like Myles to begin with in his voice, and that’s what sold Myles on it, because a friend of his, called him Myles one day when he was listening to one of Marc’s demos, and the guy said, “Oh, you’re listening to one of your new songs.” and Myles said, “No, that’s the new singer.” and that sold Mark right there with Myles. I sat down with Marc, and we went over every song and learned them just like the record was, and every little part, and telling him the little inflections of how to play the song rather than just learn it yourself, because you weren’t there when it was recorded, I was, so I could say, ‘hey, this is what we did’. And that way it sounds pretty authentic, rather than somebody that says, ‘Hey, let’s learn an April Wine song’, and it’s like, Okay, you don’t have the parts all together.

So then when we got into rehearsal with the rest of the guys, he starts playing a song and someone said, ‘No, you’re not playing it right’, (Richard or Roy was saying). And Marc said, ‘Oh, no, I’m playing it right. You’re playing it wrong’. (laughs)  It was pretty ballsy for the new guy to say. But that’s Marc – No filters. And he was right, because over the time, the last, I don’t know how many years, the band had drifted. And any band will do that, perhaps if they’re not careful. The arrangement changes slowly, but sure, it’s like your car getting older and older, you don’t realize it, and all of a sudden one day it falls apart. Well, songs don’t fall apart, but the arrangements changed, and little pieces were sloppy here and there. So that got us to tighten it all up; all four of us go back and listen and do it. So, when we hit the stage and we marked for the first show in ‘22, the band was really ready, because we had rehearsed for about six months. We were primed.

It’s interesting. I saw you guys in 2018 when you played Niagara Falls, and it was a good show, but I don’t know if it lacked energy or what it was, but then when I saw you guys last year, the energy level is up a lot more, and…

Yeah. Myles, towards the end of it, he was taking his time on stage. He really didn’t want to be there, you know!? He wanted to be off the road. He didn’t like the traveling anymore. His diabetes was getting to him, and it wasn’t fun for him. So, yeah, it got to be a bit of a drudge at times. The shows slowed down, lack of energy, like you said. So, it was very noticeable when we, Boom(!) hit it with energy again, like we used to have.

You were over in Europe with Uriah Heep and that. You guys toured with them in 82.  

Oh, yeah.

Do you have any memories from back then, and then re-meeting up with those guys, which is obviously a very different, both bands are very different now as far as lineups go.

Yes, they are. Geez, you know, I really don’t have much of a memory of back then. (lol) Those are the days we were all drinking pretty good. I don’t drink anymore. Nobody really does in the band. And so now, yeah, I can remember stuff. But back then it was a party. And I think we only did a couple of shows. I don’t think we did, I remember we did Des Moines with them. We might’ve done something in Canada with them, but it was pretty much a one-off. So, it’s hard to remember those versus you’re doing, you know, 15, 20 nights in a row with them together, and you get everybody and say hi every day.

I found a few in the archives from ’82, maybe about a half a dozen or so, Texas and California….

I don’t remember those!

How did the shows go in UK and Europe? Because, obviously you guys hadn’t been over there since the early 80s, right?

43 years. 43 years! One fellow in Germany actually held up a sign that says, ‘I’ve waited 43 years to see you. I don’t want to wait 43 years to see you again.’  It was good reaction, considering we’re the opening act for the headliner, Uriah Heep. It was their tour. But because we hadn’t been there, people were quite excited to see us. They remembered, the reaction was very strong. We were hoping it would be. We’re trying to reopen that market, because we hadn’t been back there. Myles didn’t want to travel very far anymore.

Did you get to meet up with those guys much? I know, like, Bernie is Canadian guy.

Oh, yeah, Bernie…We saw them every day. We hung out before the show, after the show. Bernie was quite a character. They all are. Mick’s very quiet, but he, and everybody in the band was nice. They’re typically British.

Now, this tour you got coming up, you’re going out with Triumph. Is it going to be a longer set, or is it still going to be a 45-minute set for you guys?

It’s 50 minutes. Get out there and play one hit after the other. So, it’s going to be a powerful show for us.

Back in the late 70s, early 80s, you had Rush, Triumph, and April Wine that were the three biggest bands that made it into the States and that had headline tours and that. Do you ever recall doing many shows back with them?

I remember being in Texas with Triumph. A couple of outdoor shows. Texas was always a good market for Canadian bands. Before I got to know them later in years, Myles and Gil became good friends, and I would see Gil every now and then around with Myles. Rick, I sort of met back in the ‘80s, when we toured and that, but I live in Montreal, and he lives in Toronto, so we didn’t really hang out and see each other. We’d call each other up and say, ‘Hey, how are you doing’. We just saw each other on the road, so I hadn’t seen him in a long time. Other than on something like this or YouTube or TV thing. I’m looking forward to renewing acquaintances with them all.

Yeah. It’s a long, it’s a fairly long tour, is it not? Like, there’s a lot of dates on it.

Yeah, and getting added to it starts somewhere around the 21st of April and ends up around the first week of June.

Wow, and I assume you’ll be doing a lot of places you haven’t been to for a long time.

Yes, some going back in Canada. We just crossed the country with BTO last year, but not the same venues. Into the US, we’ll be hitting places we haven’t been in a while, or not in those size venues either, so I’m really looking forward to that. The band’s really up for it, and I think it’s a great package together – Two serious rock bands from that era. That’s going to blow some socks off people. It’s a good audience, it’s a good setup.

If you look at the year, you have you guys with Triumph and you have the Guess Who, you have Rush….

Isn’t that something!?

A lot of those Canadian bands from that era is like suddenly back out there.

It’s going to be a very good year for Canadian music on the world stage!

Is there anything in the works as far as getting back to Europe or the UK again?

Well, we just came back in November. Nothing right now. It’s a little early for that to perhaps transpire. The festivals for the year are taking place in Europe. The way the world situation is, I don’t think it’s going to change anything. Music is music, you know, it’s going to happen. We’ve got to wait until we get invited to go anywhere, that includes the rock cruises that happen out of Florida. I’m looking forward to doing some of them; we did one last year too. So it’s early, it’s January.  The bigger the shows, they tend to want a book a year or so in advance.

The last April Wine album was 2006.  What, if there might be anything recorded – either live or studio, that you guys might be able to have in the works?

Well, there was a live album recorded of Myles’s last show in March of 2022, and that has not been released yet. It’s been mixed, and all set to go, but there’s no label. And I’m not the one controlling it, April Wine Entertainment is, and that, of course, was Myles’s company. Now that’s being shared by his estate. So, I’m sure once the estate gets settled, there’ll be other plans that’ll be in the works.

Have you, over the years, since that last album, have you kept on writing? Do you have, like, anything kind of stashed away for a solo album or anything?

I’ve got lots of parts of stuff. I was pretty disillusioned when… I spent three years working on that album back in the ‘80s, and nothing happened, you know!? And it wasn’t to do with music. It was to do with that there was no promotion. Once the music’s finished recording an album, what happens after that It’s nothing to do with music. It’s all sales. It’s all contracts. And Atlantic Records, they sat on it for six months before they released it, and then they didn’t do any promo. So I was quite disappointed with the whole industry. And April Wine was there, It came back, and I said, Well, you know, I’m going to stick with this. Something better comes along, or I’m writing. But I was, you know, I got writer’s block in this. I was kind of hurt by it all, and it’s not the first time any musician has had that happen. A lot of stronger people get up and do it, but I didn’t have an interest. There was nobody interested in me saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you do another record? Here’s some support for it’. If I have support, that works, but to try to do the whole thing on your own, man, that’s tough.

It’s too bad, because it was a good album. Those solo albums kind of fall by the wayside, right? And I was surprised, I guess, because they really kind of put a lot of emphasis on guests and stuff on your album.

Yeah, we had Andy Newmark on drums. Surprisingly enough, so did Myles. We had Aldo Nova, we had some guys from keyboard player from Corey Hart’s band. We did it up in Le Studio with Marty Simon and Paul Northfield. It had all the ingredients. It had money being spent on it. It looked like it was going to really be ready for something, and then nothing. It was pushed over a cliff with no parachute.

You did do the TV special. Is that something that could ever be put out as a live album?

I don’t know. That belongs to CTV, CFCF in Montreal. Bill Merrill, who was the head of that department, CFCF in Montreal at that time, had a mandate for them to do, I think, with five shows every year to do it, and he asked me if I wanted to do one. I knew him from living out here in Hudson. And I said, Yeah, do it. So, we had some good people. We had Nanette Workman on it, Jerry was in the band. We had Jeff Smallwood on guitar. It was a fun show to do. It’s been played a few times. I don’t know…, because they own the rights to it, so I don’t know what their plans are for it. But I don’t have personal management, so I got no one going out there, Hey, we should do this, good that, you know. And I just don’t think of that stuff. I’m at home. I’m a homebody. I stay at home with my dogs and my wife. With COVID, ‘everybody keep six feet away’; I kind of liked that.

I’m a bit of a recluse anyway. When I stopped drinking 11 years ago, that whole lifestyle I had of going out to bars and going out jamming just stopped. I found a nice woman, I got remarried. I was happy being a homebody. It’s something you do as you get older that you really want to have. The things at home are what’s really valuable and what makes you whole.

I’m amazed now, I’m content to go to bed at 9 o’clock many nights.

Lol! So do I because, well, or 10, because my chocolate lab gets me up at 6 o’clock every morning. Yeah. And if I don’t get up, he sticks his nose under my neck and worships me up. I love it.

The last album you guys did was Roughly Speaking. What do you recall of that? Because you guys took a very different direction on that album.

Well, that was done at Myles’ studio. It was his own label. I forget who was distributing it. Oh, yeah, it was Unidisc, I guess. And he was producing.

You guys only had like eight songs on there. It was more of a blues album, which makes me wonder if it was more of a Myles’ solo album.

Ah, maybe that was the start of it, yeah, because you know the Forever For Now album that  was originally going to be a Myles Goodwyn solo album.

What had you thought of it at the time(?), because it kind of came out and really kind of disappeared pretty quickly.

Yeah, well, radio wasn’t playing it, and we really only sold it the shows. Or I don’t know how Unidisc promoted it. I didn’t have the deal. Myles was signed with the record company, not the band. So, he would never let Privy do anything. So, at that point, everything was pretty secretive.

But do you keep up with any of the, like Unidisc has all those reissues coming out? I know they put out Attitude on vinyl, and they cut off four songs, which is kind of odd.

Oh, did they? That’s weird. Which ones did they cut off?  I didn’t know that. I didn’t even bother, because I wasn’t getting anything from it, so it didn’t concern me to even bother checking, because it was doing nothing. We have all those colored vinyl records, I guess that’s from Unidisc too, in merch at the shows. And I don’t know how many sell, but there’s an industry out there for vinyl.

Frigate is the only one they haven’t done, I guess, from that period.

 Yeah, I didn’t know if that was them or if that was Capital..I’m not sure back then, because like I said, we weren’t the ones signed to the deal. It was Myles who signed to the deal, and then he would have us as April Wine.

I guess Unidisc has bought up everything, because they’ve done all the Moxy albums, the Teaze albums, Foot and Coldwater.

All of Aquarius!?

Yeah. Aquarius, and the label that Foot and Coldwater were on – Daffodil

There was a band that was really good. I liked that band.

They’re almost like a British-influenced band from the early 70s, with the Hammond organ and that.

That big hit they had with “Make Me Do Anything You Want” was so ahead of it’s time in production sound. It took everybody in this country, I think, musician-wise, by surprise, how good it was and how great the guitar sounds were on it. And a great arrangement.

I read some of those early reviews from the early 70s. They compare them to the British bands. Did those British bands have an impact on you?

Oh, yeah. But for me, I was sort of bitten by the blues way back in 1966, 67. The first time I heard John Mayall’s album, Bino Record, album with Eric Clapton on it, I thought that was just the end of the world. And then Cream and Hendrix. I went and saw Jimi Hendrix in Montreal in ‘68. I sat third row in the center in front of him, live.

I said, wow, man, this is so good. I was influenced by guitar players. And because of that, when other bands would come out that didn’t have such an insane guitar player like Clapton, Hendrix, whatever, I wouldn’t listen to them. Even when Led Zeppelin came out, I said, nah, I’m not too sure about Plant’s voice. And even when U2 came out, it was the same way. And Genesis, past two or three years now, I’ve been listening to old Genesis saying, why didn’t I pick up on them way back then? It’s because it wasn’t a heavy blues guitar.

I’ve actually picked up all those Steve Hackett, because every year he goes out and tours a different Genesis album. And he releases a live show from it. So, I’ve picked up all those.

I saw him last year. I saw him last year in Montreal. I forget, but I think he was doing The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. It was really good.

I saw him in Toronto two years ago. I was kind of curious how those British bands would have impacted you guys back then.

There was another band I really liked too, was Procol Harum.  Back in the day, especially around the Shine On Brightly album and the Salty Dog album, because I was fascinated with Robin Trower’s guitar playing in Procol Harum. He had a very wicked vibrato and very, very passionate in the playing, combined with blues-style riffing over classical-style patterns with a keyboard with Matthew Fisher and Gary Brooker. When he went to do his Hendrix-style thing later, I said, ‘Wow, that’s so different’. But he says, ‘Well, that was how I was all along. I was sort of forced to do the Procol Harum thing’. But he did it well. And he was a bit of a mentor. Now it’s people I love listening to. I love listening to Mark Knopfler. There’s all kinds of people that, just guitar players that are really good now. It doesn’t matter what they’re playing. I just listen and go, Wow, there’s so many different styles of players out there. Sometimes I think that I can’t play at all.  I like Richie Blackmore, too. He was quite an influence. And we got to play with Deep Purple in 2005 when Steve Morse was on guitar. Steve Moore. I was just talking about him today. Myles and I were invited up to, we did three shows with him in Toronto, London, and Ottawa. In London, Ontario, we were invited up to play the encore with “Smoke on the Water”. That was quite something. Talk about –  How many times did you hear it (?), now you’re on the stage with the band playing it. It was just, Wow, you’re looking around and you’re playing it, you’re trading licks with Steve Moore. It’s quite something.

As far as the upcoming tour, any surprises? Or is it just going to be hits?

I think it’s just going to be the hits. That’s what people want to hear, you know. A lot of times the band plays what they want to hear, it doesn’t go over well. You’ve got to play what the audience wants to hear. They bought the tickets, they voted, they want to see you, they want to hear those songs.

  • Thanks to Marco Magin and Mike Taylor for photos from the European tour (Marco – first 2 galleries from Stuttgart & Frankfurt; Mike – 3rd gallery from Hannover) .

LINKS:

http://www.aprilwine.ca

https://www.facebook.com/AprilWineOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/aprilwineband/

DREAM THEATER – Lost Not Forgotten Archives: Live In Tokyo, 2010

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For DREAM THEATER‘s first release of 2026, the progressive-metal mainstays are starting up their “Lost Not Forgotten Archives” series again with Live In Tokyo, 2010, to be released March 13th, 2026. The latest live release from the band comprised of James LaBrie, John Petrucci, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, and Mike Portnoy documents their performance from Summer Sonic Festival from Tokyo, Japan in 2010. That performance would end up being founding drummer Mike Portnoy’s last performance with the band until he returned in 2023. Recorded while on the Black Clouds & Silver Linings tour, this features 4 tracks from that album, as well as “Prophets Of War” and classic “Pull Me Under”.

The 6-track release captures some of the band’s most-notable classics in one live performance. Live In Tokyo, 2010 is available in numerous configurations including a special edition CD Digipak, gatefold white 180g 2LP, Ltd gatefold white-lilac marble 180g 2LP, Ltd Gatefold Fig Cream 180g 2LP  and as a digital album.

https://www.facebook.com/dreamtheater

The Story Behind The Album cover – Ozzy’s No Rest For The Wicked, w/ Mark Millington.

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Mark Millington has been involved in hundreds of album (and single) covers over the years, as a designer, art director, and many of those through the company The Leisure Process, who were hired to create the cover for Ozzy Osbourne’s No Rest For The Wicked album in 1988. In our exchange below Mark recalls the project that The Leisure Process took, as well as his younger years, and touches on some of the other covers he created.

What drew you in to art, and specifically, creating album covers? 

I went to art college after being made redundant from the Steel industry. I spent 4 years training to be a designer. My first job was a lucky mis called phone call and I got a placement with a design company Called XL Design, These guys were responsible for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grace Jones, Pet Shop, Boys, OMD, Propaganda, Art of Noise and many more. They liked my work and offered me a full time position.

How did this project come about?

The album was commissioned by  Sharon his wife. She approached my boss John Carver who was a partner in the design Company ‘The Leisure Process’.

The photography was done by a guy called Bob Carlos Clarke. John wanted to create a one off image something quite new at the time and Bob’s style was perfect.

There was a lot of build up for the shoot as a set needed to be built, props and a cast of young models. Obviously the prince of darkness is the idea with the children of the damned.

Ozzy’s thrown made up for the core image. Bob’s photographic style was perfect. Look up Bob’s work he did a lot of erotic material and John knew Bob and was looking to commission him for a project this one seemed made to measure. Looking at the album now I would go for a  full bleed photo to make the most of  the image but 1988 was just before digital art arrived and retouching, especially extending artwork was an expensive process, much simpler these days. But this was John’s baby, I never had a creative roll in the artwork but the album was very well received as was the artwork.

Were you around for any of the photoshoot or have much input (even with suggestions or ideas? or get to meet Ozzy at the time)

You often find that company directors like to hog the limelight. John is a very good creative director but left it to his design team to pull the parts together. The shoot was a big production and meeting Ozzy and Sharon was a blast. If anything Ozzy was true Rock n Roll but no big head, lovely man to speak to and very polite.

I love the lettering on the front cover, though I must confess, with the color scheme, some of the back cover (especially under the song list) is tough to read. 

The problem back in the day artwork was created as a series of layers on artboard. Each layer would contain text, logos, label information. A position guide for the image textures etc. All the overlays were in black and white because of the print prices. The artwork was then covered and the designer would mark up the colors to the text, background, tint images etc. It was a massive technical job that could take a couple of days. If anything was slightly off it would show in the proof then we/I would color correct and mark up likewise. Not like today when we work directly with color and the artwork is much easier to amend. 

Favorite album cover artists (or album covers) from your younger days? (influences…) 

I love the work Of Vaughn Oliver, Peter Saville, Stylo Rouge, Assorted Images, Designers Republic, Intro. Most of the guys around in the ’80s produced some beautiful work its difficult to say my most favorite but probably the work produced by Vaughn at 23 Envelope/4ad stuff like the Pixies, Xmal Deutchland and many more the guy created art.

What are a few of your favorite album covers that you were involved in creating (in whole or part)? 

The only covers I show are the ones I totally created myself. Unlike one or two of the above designers most of us have to pitch and pretty much fight for our work. I’ve done so much It’s difficult to say all so I’ll name what I can remember: 

*I’ve included a gallery of some of the covers / sleeves Mark designed.

I was Head Of Art at Universal covering many projects, even Classics and Jazz and some of  them covers are from a design sense much better as. Like Vauge I was captain of my own ship. Eric Whitacre’s cover of one of my favorite tunes.

LINKS:

*For more on Mark’s work check out his site- http://www.mark-millington.com

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/19227/lot/205/bob-carlos-clarke-ozzy-osbourne-no-rest-for-the-wicked/

OZZY OSBOURNE – The other albums: a look at the studio albums beyond the Blizzard

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Some time ago I’d featured the first 2 BLIZZARD OF OZZ albums as a ‘classic pair’ of albums, and for me those 2 albums – whether you want to classify them as band albums (as I do) or as OZZY OSBOURNE solo albums are above anything else Ozzy did beyond BLACK SABBATH.

So, my ‘best of’ Ozzy list would include almost all of those tracks before anything else. This ‘best of the other albums’ is my selection of favorite Ozzy tunes beyond Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman. really, the next 2 albums with Jake E Lee were his next best albums for a long time, and I really started losing interest after No Rest For The Wicked, aside from Ozzmosis (which I like), it’s all pretty much downhill for me. But (back up a bit), there was also the Mr Crowley live Ep, with the excellent non- album track “You Said It All”, and prior to the next solo album was the double live Speak Of The Devil (or Talk Of The Devil in some countries). Loved Speak Of The Devil at the time, it’s still my favorite Ozzy live release, even if it is all Black Sabbath songs! Brad Gillis sounded amazing on this. A shame it was such a tough period for Ozzy, and that Brad couldn’t continue (he would have great success with a number of excellent Night Ranger hits and albums). So, this article ended up being an overview of those Ozzy studio albums beyond the original band…

Bark At The Moon

Ozzy’s first album with Jake E Lee. Also here are Tommy Aldridge and Don Airey, who’d remained from Ozzy’s touring band since the death of Randy Rhoads. Rudy Sarzo had left, a combination of Ozzy needing Bob Daisley back to write songs, and Rudy’s feelings of still being there after the loss of his friend. Before the album was done Tommy would be fired and Carmine Appice was brought in to finish/fix the album’s drums and then tour. This is told in Carmine’s interview with The Metal Voice some years back.

I remember buying Bark At The Moon in March of 1984 at a small record shop in Niagara Falls. The store had a Ticketron outlet, and I had to go to get a refund for a cancelled Saga concert (February 29!), so with that I purchased Bark At The Moon (and a Styx album). I played this album to death for the first few weeks, and liked pretty much everything on it, except for sappy ballad “So Tired” (who thought this would be cool on an Ozzy album!?)

Side one was near perfect, the title track / first single was outstanding at the time, and even the keyboard heavy “You’re No Different” is one of the best here, followed by “Now You See It, Now You Don’t”, and the classic “Rock N Roll Rebel”. With Ozzy being an easy target for religious groups who would set up protests at his shows, “Rock N Roll Rebel” was an excellent and fitting anthem in response to critics. As much as I was a Randy Rhoads fan, I loved Jake E Lee’s sound on the 2 albums he did, very different to Randy, but the guy played heavy and creative. A shame he got fucked over and left the Ozzy fold. Side two was very good, though I spun it far less. “Centre Of Eternity” (titled “Forever” in some countries) was a fast paced rocker to open that side, but then things grind to a halt with the ballad “So Tired” – piano, strings, like WTF! I was never a fan of Sabbath’s “Changes”, and this was worse. Things picked back up with “Slow Down”, a decent rock tune. And the album ended with on a high note with another favorite, “Waiting for Darkness”.

Bark At The Moon (for me) is the next best album released under the Ozzy name in the catalogue, but a lot of that credit goes to Jake and Bob, along with Max Norman. I think this album lacked a certain ‘band’ magic that the previous 2 albums possessed, as well as some sort of Epic track ala “Revelation (Mother Earth)” or “Diary Of A Madman”.

The ‘werewolf’ idea that featured in the title track (single & video) was interesting at the time, as there’d been a number of ‘werewolf’ films in 81-82, most notably “An American Werewolf In London’, and (later, 85) “Teen Wolf”). Michael Jackson’sThriller came out a year prior to Bark At The Moon, and the video (produced by the same guy who produced American Werewolf In London). Ozzy did an interview on Canadian TV in 84-85, and was asked about Michael Jackson and Thriller, and he replied “boring to both, but when asked about the video, Ozzy sighed and said “Ok”. (I have this on an old VHS tape somewhere). The video shoot for the “Bark At The Moon” would use the same make up artist who had also worked on American Werewolf in London and the “Thriller” video! “So Tired” was released as the 2nd single & video, where a shattering mirror sent Ozzy to hospital with glass in his throat. Frankly, either single B-side (“Spiders” and “One Up The B Side”) would’ve been better on the LP, IMO. The non-LP tracks would appear on the 2002 re-mixed reissue on the album.

It took a few years before Ozzy’s next album, but The Ultimate Sin was released in early 1986.

The Ultimate Sin album was originally intended to be called Killer Of Giants, according to the press back then. The cover featured artwork by fantasy illustrator, Boris Vallejo. Fortunately, he still had Bob Daisley around for the early stages of this album to co-write songs with Jake E Lee. Daisley later recalled that he’d tried to get Ashley Howe in to produce the album, as Howe had produced the 2 Uriah Heep albums that Bob was on (Abominog and Head First). But as Daisley didn’t carry on to play on the album, that idea wasn’t pursued and Ron Nevison was hired to produce. During the mid 80s, Nevison was producing commercial rock albums for Heart, Survivor, Triumph, and Jefferson Starship. Bass player Phil Soussan, ex Wildlife was hired to play on the album and tour, while Mike Moran (ex Ian Gillan) played keyboards. I remember picking this LP up when it came out, in a shop in Hamilton. Played the heck out of it. I thought (and still think) Jake E Lee was even better on this album, with many creative riffs and solos, some cool intros… Jake’s performances are THE best sounding thing about this album! But I can’t say that I dig it as much overall now due to the production / sound, and a couple of songs. New drummer Randy Castillo does a decent job, but can’t help but think that it’s ironic that after Diary of A Madman, Ozzy (Sharon) was quick to dismiss Lee Kerslake, and then went through at least 3 of them over the next few albums. However, the 2 side openers made for decent singles – the title track and “Lightning Strikes”, but there’s a few even better cuts here, notably “Never” (the best, IMO), “Fool Like You”, “Never Know Why” (despite revisiting the ‘rock rebel’ theme again), and “Killer Of Giants” (kind of a return to that “Diary Of A Madman” epic feel with the acoustic guitar). Not so big on “Thank God For The Bomb” and the cover of “Shot In The Dark” (a blatant attempt at doing something mainstream / commercial, which just doesn’t fit here). Co-credited for the hit “Shot In The Dark” was Soussan, as the song was originally recorded during his Wildlife days, but there’s more to this song, as John Sloman (ex Lone Star, Uriah Heep) lays some claim to the songs origins in his book (Lost On Planet Artiface), as the bass player also worked briefly with Sloman in the singer’s post-Heep band Badlands (Not to be confused with Jake E Lee’s post-Ozzy band!) Soussan in more recent years is part of the Dio alumni band Last In Line.

Before the next studio album there was the release of the Randy Rhoads live Tribute album, which was most welcome to hear Randy playing live. But now I can’t help but wonder why they haven’t released something else, particularly from the original ( Blizzard of Ozz band) on their first UK tour, following the first album’s release.

No Rest For The Wicked came out in ’88, and this was the last Ozzy album I picked up close to release date. Bob Daisley was back on bass, along with ex Uriah Heep keyboard player John Sinclair (though credited fully, neither would be pictured on the album’s inner sleeve). Randy Castillo was back, and new young guitarist Zakk Wylde. For the most part I really liked this record; it had 4 standouts (favorite cuts) for me – the single “Miracle Man” (mocking Jimmy Swaggart – “now Jimmy he got busted, with his pants down”), “Bloodbath In Paradise”, “Breaking All The Rules”, and the softer “Fire In The Sky” (which started life demo’d as “Valley Of Kings” when Sinclair & Daisley were in Uriah Heep, 1982). The rest is not bad, but those ones I was happy with and played repeatedly. I liked Zakk’s sound here, and he came up with some big riffs and solos, and the overall sound & production is a big improvement over the dated sound of The Ultimate Sin. Sinclair contributed a classic intro to “Bloodbath In Paradise”, and then contributed largely to the piano based ballad “Liar” – which was a non-LP track, along the excellent “Hero”. I’m guessing both of the latter tracks were left off the LP to keep it heavy, with cuts like “Devil’s Daughter”, “Tattooed Dancer” (which is spelt wrong on the back of the LP!), and “Demon Alcohol”. I think after revisiting these albums, No Rest For The Wicked was/is much better than I remembered, and I’ll put it slightly above the previous one.

Following the release of No Rest... Bob Daisley was gone again, and in came Geezer Butler for the tour. Gone are the ridiculous glam outfits of The Ultimate Sin era, with everyone looking more ‘rock n roll’, in leather and denim. 1990 saw the release of the 6 song EP – Just Say Ozzy (recorded in the UK, November of ’89). This featured 4 tracks from No Rest For The Wicked, plus 2 Black Sabbath classics. Not a bad release, but where’s the rest of the show?

Now this is where I kind of got off the Ozzy train. Growing less enthused about many of my favorites from the early 80s (really, I think the ’80s bands golden era was pretty much over), by then… I had moved on, or more so – back(!), discovering and picking up more ’70s band’s like Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, and Uriah Heep. I continued to pick up the next few Ozzy releases, but was not in much of a rush.

The next album was No More Tears, and I got to confess I never liked the title track, or the sound of this (ok, the bass intro is cool). Between Zakk’s sound, the production here, and new writers, etc… Ozzy (musically) was sounding like other metal acts of the time. There was also a few softer cuts here (ballads). For me there was no huge standout tracks, though if I had to pick a favorite it would be “Desire”. Bob Daisley played on this album, but was not in the songwriting credits. Ozzy co-wrote a number of songs with Lemmy (Motorhead), as well as Wylde and Castillo. I know this album was a huge seller and got lots of press at the time, ya know – because it was supposed to be Ozzy’s final album and tour, but for me it’s a ‘nice’ listen, just not very memorable. This was followed up by the Live & Loud release. I played this and the even worse Live At Budokan very few times. Again, wasn’t a fan of the sound at this point, nor did I care to hear Ozzy dropping F-bombs between songs, and the Budokan album has got to be the worst album cover in Ozzy’s catalogue!

Now, 1995’s Ozzmosis I actually thought was an improvement. Despite the move towards mainstream with more outside writers, I really liked the single “Perry Mason”. An interesting subject for a song, the fictional defense lawyer created by writer (and lawyer) Erie Stanley Gardner, and who then became the title character of the American tv show that ran for nearly a decade from the late 50s to 60s. But this is a powerful song, heavy, dramatic, that leads off the album. .Ozzy tells it so well. Geezer Butler on bass, Dean Castronovo on drums! This album also includes the singles “See You On The Other Side”, and “I Just Want You”, which was co-written by Jim Vallance, best known for his years of co-writing with Bryan Adams. It’s kind of a heavy ballad, highlighted by Rick Wakeman’s keyboards and a great vocal from Ozzy. Ozzmosis also included heavier favorites “Denial” and “Tomorrow”. The track “My Little Man”, was co-written with Steve Vai, which is interesting as Bob Daisley later recalled that he, Vai, and Ozzy got together a year earlier to this album and started working on a project, which was abandoned. Ozzmosis was Ozzy’s highest charting album in the US then.

The Ozzman Cometh was the career spanning (mostly post-Sabbath), released in 1997. Shameful that Bob Daisley’s name was spelled wrong throughout. There’s a few different early versions of Sabbath classics, as well as “Paranoid” live from the Randy Rhoads period. Their was one ‘new’ track, “Back On Earth”, which was from the Ozzmosis sessions, and has a keyboard intro/pattern, not too different to “I Just Want You” . A decent song, and single.

It would be 6 years from Ozzmosis to the next studio album, 2001’s Down To Earth. Despite having another odd cover, I thought this one is the last good Ozzy studio album. Some excellent tracks in “It Gets Me Through”, “That I Never Had”, and the ballad “Dreamer” ( a vast improvement on “So Tired”) A number of these songs were co-written with guitarist Joe Holmes, who played live with Ozzy following Ozzmosis. Interesting that Down To Earth went Top 10 in Canada and the US.

After all those Ozzy albums I was pretty done, and I’ve picked up things over the years – not because I expected much or liked what I heard before release. 2007’s Under Cover album (who the Hell wants to hear Ozzy doing a bunch of cover versions!?), then Black Rain, which I thought was forgettable at the time. I never bought it then, and only have it now because I found it for $3 at a flea market a few years ago. Scream came out in 2010, and not as forgettable as Black Rain. In retrospect I never gave this one a lot of time then, but revisiting it, Scream is better than I remembered. Really, at the time I picked up in part because it came with the t-shirt, and didn’t expect much! But I like the lead off track “Let It Die”, as well as the single “Life Won’t Wait”, the (somewhat) title track “Let Me Hear You Scream”. Gus G on guitars, Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

The last 2 Ozzy releases – Ordinary Man (2020) and Patient Number 9 (2022), I bought these at some point, perhaps as a completist and was expecting something with all the guests on these albums, or was easily swayed by all the suck-up reviews. Either way, a few listens and I just don’t care.

In retrospect I dig the ’80s Ozzy era even more so, and wouldn’t miss much else beyond No Rest For The Wicked (well, maybe Ozzmosis). It also makes me want to go back and fill in the gaps from the ’80s with live recordings and some singles (those non LP cuts). I’ve still got binders of Ozzy press clippings and magazine articles from the 80s, and early 90s, that I’ll have to scan some day.

RUSH – ‘Grace Under Pressure’: the last classic Rush album!?

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Well, the box set for RUSH’s 1984 album Grace Under Pressure has been announced. For me Grace Under Pressure is the last in the line of classic RUSH albums, before I started losing interest. I’d also say it’s probably one of the band’s most underrated. The Grace Under Pressure Tour was the first Rush show I saw, Maple Leaf Gardens Sept 21, 1984. I saw the Power Windows tour as well, but beyond “Big Money”, not much of that album stuck with me, and I didn’t get excited about Rush again ’til the mid ’90s albums.

Grace Under Pressure followed 1982’s Signals, which saw the band use more keyboards, less guitar, more so less big riffs, more of a lighter guitar sound, where the guitar was not as forceful or heavy sounding, but leaving space and toned down for the band’s new direction for the ’80s. But Signals was the 3rd in a trio of my favorite Rush albums – Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures before it, all seeing the band producing shorter songs, more direct, without the lengthy progressive tracks, full of energy, and classics that remain FM rock staples. And Signals followed that, for the most part. “New World Man”, “Chemistry”, as well as “Subdivisions” and “Analog Kid”, which were 2 of the band band’s best, and at the time, a new fresh sound, that still sounded like Rush. Grace Under Pressure came out a year and a half later, and another great album; featuring 8 songs, most of which either got some radio play at the time, and all of which were played live (at some point) throughout the tour. This album, like the 3 before it, had a good flow from song to song, “Distant Early Warning”, “The Enemy Within”, “The Body Electric”, and “Between The Wheels” stand out (for me), but really, there’s nothing here I tend to pass over. However, as much as I like this album, and those 4 mentioned tracks, one thing I have never been able to claim is there is that huge Rush favorite here, a trademark tune, the one that stands out for me as perhaps “Freewill”, “Spirit Of Radio”, “Limelight”, or “Subdivisions” do. I’d be curious if anyone else sees it similarly, Or what is THE biggest track on this album?

Now, as for the box set…. I passed on the Signals box, mainly because there was nothing new to listen to in it, ie a live show from that tour. This Grace Under Pressure box announced includes the full recording from the band’s September 21st , 1984 show at Maple Leaf Gardens (the one I was at). So, it includes the missing tracks that were cut from the Grace Under Pressure Live CD that came out years ago. There’s also a remix of the album by Terry Brown, who didn’t originally produce this album, as well as a new remastered version of the album, a blu-ray of the Toronto show, and a Dolby Atmos / Dolby TrueHD 5.1* stereo mix of the album (I’ll be honest, I’m not up on such technology, so this is kinda irrelevant to me), plus videos mixed in Dolby TrueHD 5.1″. And then there’s all sorts of visual and print material, such as new art, prints, photos, book, press release, liner notes, poster, etc… Not sure Why this whole thing required new cover-art!? I would love to add this box set, but with the price (!!!) at present ($438 on Amazon, Canadian, for the CD version, and 545 for the vinyl version), I don’t foresee this anytime soon in my future. What I really want is the live recording, (and maybe the 2025 remaster). A shame with these sets that some of these pieces aren’t made available separately. Not sure if they will be down the road, but for those of us who more so just want to hear the music, and are willing to pass on the extras, that would be a great option.

Check out:

RUSH ‘GRACE UNDER PRESSURE’

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, 2-Cd deluxe set

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The debut album featuring the legendary ARTHUR BROWN, 1968’s Crazy World Of Arthur Brown will be out (a re-press) in 2 CD deluxe version in April. The album, and it’s single “Fire” were both massive hits that year, with the single being #1 in the UK & Canada, and #2 in the US, and the album going top 10 in all 3. It also included a cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put A Spell On You”. On keyboards was Vincent Crane, who also co-wrote most of the songs, and would go on to perform ATOMIC ROOSTER. Arthur Brown still performs “Fire”, complete with his fire hat! The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown was produced by Who producer Kit Lambert, along with Pete Townsend. Original cover art by David King, who also designed covers for The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Badfinger.

For more info & pre-order – https://www.cherryred.co.uk/the-crazy-world-of-arthur-brown-2cd-deluxe-edition

DISC ONE
The Original Album Remastered
1. Prelude Nightmare 
2. Fanfare Fire Poem 
3. Fire 
4. Come And Buy 
5. Time Confusion 
6. I Put A Spell On You 
7. Spontaneous Apple Creation 
8. Rest Cure 
9. I’ve Got Money 
10. Child Of My Kingdom

DISC TWO
Bonus Tracks
1. Devils Grip 
2. Give Him A Flower 
3. Music Man (Stereo Mix) 
4. Fire (First Version Previously Unreleased) 
5. Prelude Nightmare (Alternate Mono Mix) 
6. Fanfare Fire Poem (Alternate Mono Mix) 
7. Fire (Alternate Mono Mix) 
8. Come And Buy (Alternate Mono Mix) 
9. Time – Confusion (Alternate Mono Mix) 
BBC Session April 1968: 
10. Brian Matthew Interview 
11. Fire Poem Fire 
12. Come And Buy 
13. Nightmare (From The Soundtrack Of The 1968 Film ‘The Committee’)

New tracks – John Corabi, Mount Mary, Kaasin, Zepter, Creye, Joel Hoekstra…

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Here’s a few excellent new tracks, from new (and upcoming) releases to check out!

After decades of fronting and collaborating with some of rock’s most iconic acts, JOHN CORABI steps fully into his own with ‘New Day,’ his first full-length solo album of original material…. “‘New Day’ is a positive, upbeat song with a message of enjoy life!!! Stop whining and complaining about how unfair life is, and enjoy the ‘little beautiful things, life offers’ and make the changes you need to make your life better!!! Change happens WITHIN…”

JOHN CORABI:
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Helsinki blues rock band MOUNT MARY has a new single, “Hallowed Ground”, co-written with legendary rock manager / producer Alan Niven (Guns n Roses, Great White…). “Eventually Maria sent me some of her music. It supported a remarkable voice. The character of the voice represented the character of her soul. When she asked if I might think to compose with her, it was an invitation that even an old recluse, like myself, could not refuse. As I sit atop my Arizona desert mountain, I am now connected to her spirit frequency- to a Queen of the Forest, a Finnish Mother Earth. I have something of a dubious past – Motley Crue, Don Dokken, Berlin, The Angels, Clarence Clemmons, Havana Black, Chris Buck of Cardinal Black, Great White, Guns n’ Roses – and Mount Mary is as inspiring as anyone to me. There’s magic in Mount Mary.”

Mount Mary : https://linktr.ee/mountmary

Norwegian Hard Rock group KAASIN will release the sophomore album The Underworld via Pride & Joy Music on April 24th. KAASIN was founded in 2020 by guitarist Jo Henning Kaasin, formerly of Come Taste the Band.  Kaasin is widely respected for his collaborations with internationally renowned artists such as Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow). Together with bassist Ståle Kaasin (Humbucker, 2020Vision), the foundation of KAASIN was laid with a clear ambition: to create contemporary hard rock with a classic spirit and a strong sense of identity. https://www.facebook.com/kaasinmusic

Austrian NWOBHM band ZEPTER have a new video for the single “The Lords”. Anyone interested in classic metal should check these guys out. “Some specific NWOBHM bands which have inspired us are early Maiden (everything from »The Soundhouse Tapes« up until »Killers«), Saxon, Witchfinder General, Dark Star, Raven, Saracen, Angel Witch and Satan.” MATTHIAS MADER

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585764231240

Joel Hoekstra’s 13 has a new album coming out at the end of the month titled From The Fade. About the album Joel commented: “The songs were built from the guitar riffs up.  Most of the riffs were written during the time I was filling in with Accept, so there is a heavier edge to this album overall.  That being said, the album still would be more accurately described as melodic hard rock, not straight-up metal”.

Hoekstra said: “’The Fall’ is built on riffs and melodies that stem from two early influences that I often fail to mention in Queensryche and Dokken. It’s a straight ahead melodic, hard rock track with a powerful foundation laid out by Vinny Appice and Tony Franklin, a killer keyboard solo from Derek Sherinian, a stunning vocal performance from Girish Pradhan and Jeff Scott Soto’s tastefully executed backing vocals!  Hope ya like it!”

JOEL HOEKSTRA’S 13:
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Swedish hard rock powerhouse CREYE have a new single “Left In Silence”, taken from the upcoming new studio album, IV Aftermath, to be release April 24, on Frontiers Music Srl. 

The band comments, “Left In Silence” is about what happens when people drift apart and stop truly speaking and listening to each other. The song captures that quiet aftermath, when communication fades and only silence remains. As the first release from our upcoming album, it kicks open a new chapter for the band – powered by fresh energy, driven by the original vision, and focused on pushing our sound forward without losing what made us who we are”.

CREYE:
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URIAH HEEP – Beautiful Dream, compiles albums and rarities from 1975-77.

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To be released April 24, HNE (Cherry Red) has compiled another bunch of URIAH HEEP albums, along with their extra tracks (see remasters), as they did with the previous release The Shadow And The Wind: 1973-1975. This one, titled after a Return To Fantasy track, features the last 2 to include original singer David Byron and bassist John Wetton, and the first 2 that feature replacements John Lawton (vocals) and Trevor Bolder (bass). A strange period for Heep, particularly in North America where their popularity and sales declined with each album, while in other parts of the world they had a few hit singles from the Lawton albums.

Return To Fantasy, from ’75 was a huge seller in the UK, perhaps in part to the addition of the well known John Wetton, and features the classic title track, as well as the favorites “Devil’s Daughter” and “A Year Or A Day”. The band undertook a major world tour at the time, but the album didn’t fare well over here. High And Mighty sold even worse, with the band self-producing. I really like this album, it sounded new and fresh, but it didn’t feature a global single, and the band toured it in North America well before it’s release. But songs like “One Way Or Another”, “Weep In Silence”, and “Can’t Keep A Good Band Down” are favorites among old fans, a shame this one came and went so fast, and often considered one of the band’s weakest. Heep carried on, with a long list of candidates to replace David Byron, before choosing John Lawton (Lucifer’s Friend) to record Firefly, released in early ’77. It was a solid album, featured the ballad “Wiseman”, a hit in Germany, as well as fan favorites “Sympathy” and “The Hanging Tree”. This was quickly followed towards the end of the year with Innocent Victim, a more varied album, which featured “Free Me”, a lighter pop song, which became a big hit in various European countries, as well as Australia, but that did not carry over to North America, with the album (in a different sleeve here) just breaking Billboard’s Top 200. Innocent Victim did feature a huge favorite in “Free N Easy”, the hardest & fastest rocker the band had done in years. It also featured a few fine tracks written by American writer Jack Williams (a friend of Ken Hensley’s), most notably “The Dance” and “Choices”. As with many Heep albums, particularly during this whole period (75-77), there were a number of good songs left over from each album session. Arguably, a few if these would’ve improved each album at the time (such as “River” from Innocent Victim), included here.

Even though I have everything here (as do many Heep fans), a collection of the rest of the Lawton era recordings (including, Fallen Angel, Live In Europe 1979, and the unreleased 4th album) would be a welcome collection, as would a set of the Peter Goalby era albums (along with perhaps the Live In Auckland recording?) But, oh well. An interesting (and odd) package cover, featuring a blend of the 4 album covers.

For more info and tracklisting –

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/uriah-heep-beautiful-dream-1975-1977-4cd-box-set

The Story Behind The Album Cover: MARK FARNER’s Closer To My Home, w/ John O’Brien.

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Here is another album cover, which was created by American artist John O’Brien. I’d featured John a few years ago discussing an April Wine cover, and again a few weeks ago, discussing the 2 Great White covers he was responsible for. Somewhere in there John mentioned a Mark Farner cover. And silly me for not even knowing Mark released an album in 2024, titled Closer To My Home. I loved Grand Funk, got the LPs, put together a little newsletter at some point in the 90s, and featured one of their album covers in a previous post a few years ago. So, upon John mentioning this latest album, I got a day later, and it is a great listen, and highly recommended to any Grand Funk fans; after all Mark wrote and sang most of the band’s greatest material in the 70s. *Check out John’s details of the Closer To My Home cover art, as well as the links below. *Thanks again to John for his time (and images) discussing his work and an excellent cover.

More recently you did the cover for Mark Farner’s Closer To My Home. How did that one come about? 

Marks manager, Obi Steinman recommended me for review. The previous year I completed a project with Obi for Felix Cavaliere, “THEN AND NOW”, it went quite smoothly from concept to completion. So thankfully he had faith in my creative process and final product, since we had never met personally.

Can you tell anything about the photo chosen for the front cover? Do you where it was taken, significance?

The image was based on the heritage of Marks roots in the Midwest to be a part of the communication.

I spent a lot of time researching the perfect barn and location which I could add the American Flag which was one of my concepts. I finally found it online in a series of personal images by Ken Heins. The barn angle was perfect and the sky went from an uplifting blue to having an overhanging ominous darker presence. While not being a professional photographer, he captured the location, mood and angle that I needed to modify and portray the communication. It is great to go direct to a photographer, especially someone who shoots for personal reasons. He was great to deal with on securing the image and all usage rights.

I love the big bright lettering of Mark’s name, the layout… a very patriotic cover. Did Mark have a lot of input or suggestions? 

Like many things the simplest direct communication is the best. In one sentence Obi stated the project was to reflect “Marks Heritage, Origin, Rock & Roll Legacy, Values and American Pride”. He is a true Rock & Roll Patriot. A variety of comps were proposed for discussion but, as discussed previously the Barn image with the flag summed it up visually. As far as typography chosen, I wanted to play off of Marks history and Rock & Roll energy. Some solutions related to GF to closely, but he gritty red type communicated the power and intensity he delivers. “Midwest American Rock & Roll” to be sure.

The American Eagle was used for some comps as well as for the record label direction. It was determined that it would best be utilized on the back cover as well as a label on one side of the album.

I submitted suggestions for limited release of the album in Red, White & Blue as well as classic Black.

The initial release is Red Vinyl and some were signed by Mark personally, which were available on his website listed below.

I assume this is the only Farner (Grand Funk) cover you’ve done(?)

Yes, the only one. Who would have thought I would get to work on Marks first solo studio album in 18 years, featuring the 55th Anniversary re-recording of “I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home).  The project produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Mark Slaughter, and co-produced by Mark Farner. A definite alignment in the stars for me to contribute to the visual communication.

It is also fun as I get to submit comps for merch such as T-Shirts for consideration. These are but a few versions with regard to the printing process of 3-5 Color for pricing considerations.

How familiar were you with him (and Grand Funk)?  

Any teenager in the 70’s was aware, as everyone was at the time of GF. Blasting “Grand Funk Live” in my bedroom and hearing various songs played live by cover bands at Junior High School dances. It was a very loud year in 1970 when that album released. Ironically, it was released on Capitol Records, the future company I was to work for from 1983-1989 in the Art Department. Some synchronicity to be sure.

A special thank you to Obi Steinman for his support on projects.

LINKS:

John O’Brien – www.artministry.com

Mark Farner website for updates and merch. – www.markfarner.com

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