TOP 1972 PROMO PRIVATE PRESS BOOT HARD BLUES Psych

$

40

  RARE 1972 PRIVATE PRESS HARD ROCKIN' BLUES JAMS

                         B.O.O.T.

\                 USA - PRIVATE PRESS - AGAPE - 2601 (PROMOTIONAL COPY)

RARE "advance release PROMOTIONAL" 1972 first pressing vinyl of an obscure, highly rated hard rock / blues band who made the scene, and below, the story of their first and best Lp of two they were to released as "B.O.O.T."  

Their first album is rare and came out on a Texas label, though they hailed from New Port Richey, Florida, and had earlier recorded as The Split Ends. It's basically hard rock with some fine psychedelic guitar work.

Dan Eliassen - Vocals, Bass
Bruce Knox - Guitar, Vocals
Mike Mycz - Guitar, Vocals
Jim O'Brock - Drums, Vocals

BOOT drummer Jim O'Brock recalls: "Circa 1969, we changed names from The Split Ends to B.O.O.T., an anacronym for 'Blues Of Our Time'. We began playing 80% to 90% original material and began traveling more, playing larger venues. We played with Canned Heat, B.B. King, Neil Diamond, Detroit Wheels, etc. and at the Atlanta Pop Festival and Miami II Pop Festivals. Once we competed with the Allman Brothers in a contest at the University of Florida and won first prize! In Atlanta, Georgia we played with Lynyrd Skynyrd (they opened for us!) and stayed on the road for about four years. During this time we recorded our two albums in Nashville, TN. We seemed to stagnate about that time. I left the band and it broke up. A couple of years later, Mike and Bruce tried to resurrect the name with a couple of new guys, but it didn't last long".

With all four members contributing material the album offered up a mixture of blues-rock and hard-rock.  The band was blessed with three decent singers. Mycz seemed to have the tougher-rock voice in the group while Eliassen was gifted with more commercial chops.  Knox fell somewhere in the middle with a modest rock feel to his voice.  Knox also showed himself to be an immensely talented lead guitarist - check out his lead work on ''Hey Little Girl' which was probably the standout performance.  It wasn't the most original performance you've ever heard, but served to showcase the band's energetic boogie-rock base and Knox's impressive lead guitar.  Not sure who handled the lead vocals on this one, but he had a nice rugged tone that was well suited to the genre.  Easy to see why this one was tapped as a single.

back cover of album

left to right: Mike Mycz - Jim O'Brock - Bruce Knox - Dan Eliassen

- 'Danny's Tune' is a nice Allman Brothers-styled rocker.  Highlights included O'Brock's dynamite drumming, Knox's fuzz leads, and the ending segment that showcased some excellent Allmans-styled guitar work. 

- 'Liza Brown' is a more conventional electric blues numbers with some of the year's least subtle lyrics (... back door woman, back door man, etc.').  Once again the song highlights came in the form of the Knox's screeching lead guitar

- Opening with chiming acoustic guitars and a mildly sci-fi theme,  'Andromeda' is a somewhat unexpected change in direction.  Yeah the lyrics haven't aged all that well, but this had side one's prettiest melody and showcased some previously unheard group harmonies.   Excellent guitar solo here as well. 

- A pounding blues-rocker with an anti-bigotry lyric, 'Destruction Road' opened up with a tasteful guitar from Knox and some great slide work (overdubbed by Knox?).   

- Mycz's 'Reach Out' was probably the song that had the most commercial potential.  A tight and commercial rocker, it benefited from a strong melody, nice Mycz vocal, and some great fuzz and wah-wah work from Knox.  Would have been a killer track to hear live.  

- The group-penned 'What Are They Doing To Me' is actually a surprisingly effect anti-draft/anti-war statement.  The song also served to highlight the group's nice harmony vocals with a great 'I don't wanna go' a capella segment.    

- 'What You're Missing' closed the album with another tasty rocker.  Again, there wasn't anything particularly original here, but these guys deliver the formula with enthusiasm and pizzazz...

1.) Hey Little Girl    4:05

2.) Danny's Tune    5:25

3.) Liza Brown    2:47

4.) Andromeda   5:15

SIDE II

1.) Destruction Road   - 5:06

2.) Reach Out   - 3:14

3.) What Are They Doing To Me    3:34

4.) What You're Missing   - 4:03 

CONDITION: The Cover: Solid stiff all over M- clean = no split seams, no bends, no writing...PROMO sticker at top right only makes the item more rare as the limited advance pressing of an already rare private issue from 38 years ago...

The Vinyl: all clean, both sides M- with clean labels and play graded TOP level "nice" ...

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record