1970 ORIG PROMO "CHELSEA" Pre- KISS CCR SKYNYRD HARD ROCK rare

$

100

   RARE "DECCA" 1970 HARD ROCK COLLECTIBLE

                                Pre - KISS

TOP MINT COPY

VERY RARE Original 1970 first pressing on the old DECCA label of the obscure long lost hardrock band CHELSEA...who contained pre-KISS drummer Peter Criss with guest John Cale post Velvet Underground...making for an interesting, highly collectible hardrock album.... 

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It’s well known to pretty much everyone that KISS (and its prehistoric incarnation, Wicked Lester) were the first “real” band for most of its members. Gene Simmons had had Bullfrog Bheer in college, and Ace Frehley had played in a few local bands, but both for them and Paul Stanley, KISS was the first time they had been in a “real”, true-blue band. Not so for Peter Criss. When he joined the foursome, the drummer was already an accomplished and experienced musician, having left semi-professional recordings with at least two bands: power-trio Lips and its embryo, five-piece Chelsea.

Chelsea was a short-lived rocker band whose only album, released in 1970 by Decca and bootlegged extensively in latter decades, is one of the rarest finds any KISS band could make. Short of the Bullfrog Bheer tapes, this is one of the Holy Grails of KISS collectors, and even on the Internet, it’s a really hard to find ...

Chelsea rotated around lead singer Peter Shepley and guitarist Mike Brand, responsible for most of the material in the group’s eponymous debut. Accompanying the two leaders were Peter Criss (then Cris) on drums, Stan Penridge on guitar and talented bass player Michael Benvenga .

This was the group that set about making a record that mixed and matched the best of the ending decade with the best of the dawning one. In fact, Chelsea’s sound can best be described as a mixture of blues, psychedelic-rock and a whole lot of southern hardrock boogie. The influence of groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Animals is clearly identifiable throughout the album, being mixed with touches of blues and poprock for an appealing sound.

The songs go from the rural hoedown of Good Company to the straight-out hardblues of Grace, through hard rockers like Rollin’ Along, trippy mid-tempos a la Hard Rock Music and  poprock ballads like Let’s Call It A Day. However, it is undeniable that Chelsea are at their best when they’re performing straightforward rockers like Rollin’ Along, Long River or Good Company. Then there are the more layered songwriting works, like on the interesting backing vocals of All American Boy, but it’s always the boogie-rockers that assert themselves as the real standouts, making your feet tap and our throat hum contentedly.

In fact, the main standouts on the album all fall into the fast rocker category. The two best songs are arguably the bookends, with Rollin’ Along making for a nice introduction to Chelsea’s sound and Good Company being an absolutely delightful rural poprocker gem, which seems too short at only 01:44. Rounding up the trio of standouts is Long River, a southern-rock song of the period which charms us with a nice chorus and catchy beat. Other highlight includes Silver Lining, where the shades of early Creedence Clearwater Revival are stronger than ever amd the hippie-trippy coda in Hard Rock Music. Overall, an interesting affair by the obscure Chelsea. All of the musicians are competent, but only Benvenga’s interesting bass runs really shine (imagine a talented Gene Simmons and you’d be close). The guitarists are competent, both in rhythm and solo duties, and Criss, even buried in the mix as he is, shows that his mediocrity was already there before his time at KISS. As for Shepley, he successfully emulates the singers from Eric Burdon to John Fogerty.

The mix is extremely primitive and another main attraction is the presence of John Cale (yes, that John Cale) playing the viola on two tracks.