Sunday, July 27, 2008

Hanson - Rocking Horseman - Magic Dragon




Ok, i know what you are thinking....

No!



Not that Hanson, but a great group of Funky Rocking Hendrix worshipping
dudes who were blurring lines between funky and rocking....Junior Hanson may not be Hendrix or even Frank Marino but he comes in pretty close...

"Unapologetic and hard-funkin', this supergroup released two sundry albums in the mid-70s for Manticore:

Now Hear This (1973, MC66672 - US, K43507 - UK)
Magic Dragon (1974, MC66672 - US)

Formed by Junior Hanson (real name: Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards Jr.; was a member of Bob Marley & The Wailers, Steve Winwood, Keef Hartley Band), it's simply criminal that this outfit was overlooked by the British press and record buying public alike (note "Magic Dragon" being possibly a US-only release!); the only way I've personally found out about it is the same way most of today's "heavy rock archaeologists" are finding out about it: via the inclusion of bassist Neil Murray.

Both albums featured a star-studded cast. On "Magic Dragon" - Glen Le Fleur (Murray Head, Gonzalez, Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance, Olympic Runners, Gerry Rafferty), Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Gilgamesh, Colosseum II, Black Sabbath, Gary Moore, National Health). On "Now Hear This" - Rebop Kwaku Baah (Can, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Free, Traffic, Steve Winwood), Clive Chaman (Jeff Beck, Hummingbird), Delisle Harper (Graham Bond Organisation, Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Ginger Baker, David Coverdale, Freddie King, Olympic Runners), Conrad Isadore (Olympic Runners, Joe Cocker, Hummingbird, Paul Kossoff, Manfred Mann, Terry Reid, Stephen Stills, Vinegar Joe), Jean Roussel (Joan Armatrading, Elkie Brooks, Atlantis, Joe Cocker, Donovan, Roger Glover, Keef Hartley, Alan Hull, Tim Hardin, Juicy Lucy, Paul Kossoff, Linda Lewis, Osibisa, Robert Palmer, Wilson Pickett, Police, Cat Stevens, Mick Taylor, 10CC, Thin Lizzy, Ron Wood), Bob Tench (Jeff Beck Group, Roger Chapman & Shortlist, Boxer, Peter Green, Humble Pie, Hummingbird, Freddie King, Van Morrison, Linda Lewis, Streetwalkers).

http://www.alexgitlin.com/

I'm going to give you the opening track and the closing track and i'm pretty sure you can get an idea of what is in the middle!

Enjoy some cool Hendrix inspired funky guitar rock!!!

Hanson - Rocking Horseman

Hanson - Magic Dragon

5 comments:

NewJerseyJesus said...

Wow. Can't believe you're documenting all this! Great work.

Anonymous said...

Yet another Hendrix-related gem I had no idea about.

Thanks for the great detective work...

JJ Moneysauce said...

Hanson was awesome. I was thrilled to find this record as Glen Lefleur was on drums...check out his stellar work on the song "Gonzalez" by Gonzalez off their album Gonzalez. That may sound confusing until you see the album.

Anonymous said...

Excellent site I will be visiting often.

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