On 07-09-97 DENNIS MCCUNNEY wrote to KENNETH NEWMAN... 
 
 DM>  I was never a big Groundhogs fan 
 
        I wasn't until a couple of years ago when someone o n the 
        echo mentioned them. I picked up an anthology and was 
        blown away. Slowly but surely I've been adding their 
        albums one by one to my collection, but it isn't easy to 
        find them. I even tried unsuccesfully to buy some 
        specific Groundhogs albums in Birmingham which is where 
        they're from. 
 
 DM>  prefer folks like B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and the like to 
 DM>  da British Blooze 
 
        Kinda apples and oranges, though, eh? Groundhogs were 
        definitely blues based, but so were the Cream, neither 
        was really a blues band. Certainly some of the Groundhogs 
        stuff with mellotrons wailing could hardly be called 
        blues, however much it comes from the blues. 
 
 DM> and I loved the Yardbirds but never could stand Led Zep. 
 
        I only really started to grok Zep in the 1990's, once I 
        realized the drums were supposed to sound like that and 
        that the engineering of the band's sound was no drunken 
        accident. Also, having always dissed Page as sloppy I 
        began to appreciate indeterminacy in music. I saw Page 
        and Plant a couple of years ago, though, and they were 
        better than Zep, IMO. Great show, and I'd seen Zep a few 
        times in their heydey. Page was incredible. It was the 
        end of the tour, which is always when he's at his best. 
        The guy was a master of microtones. Few guitarists can 
        play like that, and even he can't do it right every time. 
        But when it works, as it did when I saw him, it's 
        absolutely mindblowing. 
 
 DM>  I do wonder if the Groudhogs couldn't be thought of as a 
 DM>  precursor to "grunge" bands, but that's another issue. 
 
        At first I dismissed the idea but having mulled ito over 
        for a few days I can sort of see it, though I think the 
        Groundhogs always took great care in textures and making 
        sure things sounded tight. Some of those guitar settings 
        are exquisite. 
 
 DM>  KN> So, if for example, you want to start a Blodwyn Pig 
 DM>  KN> thread, go right ahead. 
 DM> 
 DM>  I'll pass.  I never really cared for Blodwyn Pig. 
 
        Proto-Brand X, they were. I still like them. 
 
 DM>  Maybe a United States of America/Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies 
 
        This would be fine - all psych music is currently 
        on-topic here. We're having a special on that. Knock 
        yourself out. 
 
 DM> thread.  Or a Van Dyke Parks discussion. 
 
        Are they in the Bronx or Brooklyn? No, seriously, we're 
        overdue for a VDP discussion around here, and especially 
        something that goes beyond just talking about his 
        production work with the Beach Boys. Maybe an in-depth 
        discussion of Song Cycle or Visit America. 
 
        To be honest I wasn't terribly enamored of _Tokyo Rose_ 
        or _Jump_ or any of his later stuff, but the guy is a 
        genius, that's for sure. 
 
                                Cheers, 
                                Kenneth 
--- 
 * OFFLINE 1.58 * Gravity is a law.  Lawbreakers will be brought dow 
--- FidoPCB v1.4 [ff238/x]
---------------