So Much More Not Less Dept. - Blue Ash

What a fantastic group! Don't stuff them in the power pop pigeonhole - this is pop/rock. Tough, melodic, an American spin on British influences that include the Stones and the Who as much as, if not more than, the Beatles. This is music made when psychedelic rock had whiplashed into rootsy country rock [see our Pulitzer prize-winning Curse Of The Kaftan series - Ed.] of which these guys none were having. Of. They wanted rock on the radio, not rocking on the porch, and they had chops and energy and songs out th' ass. But they were both anachronistic and ahead of their time, rather than of their time, and under-appreciated then and now. 

The blisteringly good debut [above - Ed.] shows they had deep catalog tastes - an unknown Dylan song, and a surprising Beatles cover, both of which they make their own. Second album, which should have broken them nationally, was issued on the already broken Playboy label.

The band formed in '69, naming themselves after their Ohio home town (it says here). Why the town called itself that is a mystery. Maybe it was after the band. A massive cache of unheard and good songs [left - Ed.] appeared in 2004.

This post funded thru endowments from The Potrzebie Foundation and the Peggy Guggenheim Estate.