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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is the one and only real "Wicked Lady", formed in 1968 in Northampton by Martin Weaver (guitars, vocals), "Mad" Dick Smith on drums and Bob (aka Motorist) Jeffries on bass. It's not some anemic girlies' act, or doom/gooth formation of the later days. And this is the same power-trio which made "Psychotic Overkill" (Psychotic Overkill - the same album, with minor changes, is around as "Blow Your Mind").
There are many roumours (unconfirmed mainly*) about "Wicked Lady", but obviously they were born out of the heaviest and darkest side of British R&B, and fast evolved into self-abusive riotous power trio, which blossomed in bikers' clubs and enjoyed that aggressive, violent and unlawful athmosphere. The reputation of "Wicked Lady" was as menacing as their music (trivia: the frontman beat to pulp an A&M man, the drummer threw the kit into the audience, and had to be dragged by his bandmates from stage after shouting "Pink Fairies are sh.."** for 15 minutes - gross exaggeration - anyone who toured with rock band or at least went to real live gig should remember that the roadies and the security men were not recruited from good Samaritans, and same concerns the audience - anyone who tried that kind of attitude would have been trashed to dust in to time; furious club owners had to pull the plug on the band after they kept playing on and on the same song being totally stoned and drunk).
"Wicked Lady" might lack some finesse of Black Sabbath, and Martin Weaver's voice doesn't fit properly a hard rock band (it's more on mainstream side and has no hypnotising power), but music is excellent - mesmerizing tribal beat, fuzzy guitars, lengthy psychedelic improvisations... Definitely, this band deserves to be called doom-pioneers, or fathers of stoner rock.
The sound of the recording is not great (rumoured to be done in home studio), but is more than impressive - the hypnosis of pure adrenaline & amphetamines (au par with the sound of Shiver). The debut album has tracks from 1968-1972 (before "Psychotic Overkill").
Original "Wicked Lady" split in 1970, to re-surface same year with the new bassist - Del "German Head" ("Deutschekopf") Morley, and to produce in 1972 "Psychotic Overkill" with sex'n' drugs saga of "Sin City" and 21 minutes epic of sheer madness "Ship of Ghosts". The album was further step into depressing dark psychedelia (it was re-released as "Blow Your Mind" - Swedish bootleg - with minor changes in the order of songs, minus immortal "Voodoo Chile" , plus cheap sexy photo of well-worn whore on the cover).
Both albums had been bootlegged heavily (recently on Kissing Spell = Erebus Records = Radioactive), with the leaflets spreading pathetic lies and outright stupidity - Martin Weaver becoming soldier of fortune in Africa (in fact, after "Wicked Lady" he moved to Round the Edges***, and then - to On the Threshold of Reality; Weaver and "Mad" Smith being members of the same chapter of Hells' Angels - brothers, we are talking about 1968! Angels were introduced to London by George Harrison in 1969 only; "Psychotic" been recorded in the basement on a stolen 2-tape open reel deck.
Yes, I have to admit that the quality of the sound is sub-standard to a certain point, but don't get discouraged by that - it's still there.
I wish that "Angel Air" or "Rockadrome" will take the task to re-issue both albums with proper sound and proper booklets - "Wicked Lady" really deserves it, and this homage is long overdue
___________________________
* I failed to find a source of information able to corroborate these stories
** "Wicked Lady" obviously was billed together with "Fairies", which was a rather heavy act too - Neverneverland
*** The story of "Dark" is a bit confusing - apparently it was founded in the same 1968 by Steve Giles, and both very very close at that time; on "Round the Edges" Weaver appears not as main member, and is absent on bonus tracks
There are many roumours (unconfirmed mainly*) about "Wicked Lady", but obviously they were born out of the heaviest and darkest side of British R&B, and fast evolved into self-abusive riotous power trio, which blossomed in bikers' clubs and enjoyed that aggressive, violent and unlawful athmosphere. The reputation of "Wicked Lady" was as menacing as their music (trivia: the frontman beat to pulp an A&M man, the drummer threw the kit into the audience, and had to be dragged by his bandmates from stage after shouting "Pink Fairies are sh.."** for 15 minutes - gross exaggeration - anyone who toured with rock band or at least went to real live gig should remember that the roadies and the security men were not recruited from good Samaritans, and same concerns the audience - anyone who tried that kind of attitude would have been trashed to dust in to time; furious club owners had to pull the plug on the band after they kept playing on and on the same song being totally stoned and drunk).
"Wicked Lady" might lack some finesse of Black Sabbath, and Martin Weaver's voice doesn't fit properly a hard rock band (it's more on mainstream side and has no hypnotising power), but music is excellent - mesmerizing tribal beat, fuzzy guitars, lengthy psychedelic improvisations... Definitely, this band deserves to be called doom-pioneers, or fathers of stoner rock.
The sound of the recording is not great (rumoured to be done in home studio), but is more than impressive - the hypnosis of pure adrenaline & amphetamines (au par with the sound of Shiver). The debut album has tracks from 1968-1972 (before "Psychotic Overkill").
Original "Wicked Lady" split in 1970, to re-surface same year with the new bassist - Del "German Head" ("Deutschekopf") Morley, and to produce in 1972 "Psychotic Overkill" with sex'n' drugs saga of "Sin City" and 21 minutes epic of sheer madness "Ship of Ghosts". The album was further step into depressing dark psychedelia (it was re-released as "Blow Your Mind" - Swedish bootleg - with minor changes in the order of songs, minus immortal "Voodoo Chile" , plus cheap sexy photo of well-worn whore on the cover).
Both albums had been bootlegged heavily (recently on Kissing Spell = Erebus Records = Radioactive), with the leaflets spreading pathetic lies and outright stupidity - Martin Weaver becoming soldier of fortune in Africa (in fact, after "Wicked Lady" he moved to Round the Edges***, and then - to On the Threshold of Reality; Weaver and "Mad" Smith being members of the same chapter of Hells' Angels - brothers, we are talking about 1968! Angels were introduced to London by George Harrison in 1969 only; "Psychotic" been recorded in the basement on a stolen 2-tape open reel deck.
Yes, I have to admit that the quality of the sound is sub-standard to a certain point, but don't get discouraged by that - it's still there.
I wish that "Angel Air" or "Rockadrome" will take the task to re-issue both albums with proper sound and proper booklets - "Wicked Lady" really deserves it, and this homage is long overdue
___________________________
* I failed to find a source of information able to corroborate these stories
** "Wicked Lady" obviously was billed together with "Fairies", which was a rather heavy act too - Neverneverland
*** The story of "Dark" is a bit confusing - apparently it was founded in the same 1968 by Steve Giles, and both very very close at that time; on "Round the Edges" Weaver appears not as main member, and is absent on bonus tracks
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Wicked Lady, Where Have You Been All My Life?
9 Nov 2009
Format:Audio CD
Wow! This group can jam. And jam some more. Somewhere between Buffalo's Volcanic Rock and early Blue Oyster Cult is perhaps the closest I can come to giving you an idea what this sounds like, but that's not to say Wicked Lady really sounds like anyone else. Lots of extendrd jamming that never comes close to being dull. The guitar playing is excellent, bass and drums are top notch.
I understand this was recorded in a basement on a 2 track recorder. Unbelievable! The sound is really good, and I'm thankful no producer or record company got the chance to sabotage these recordings. The band knows exactly what they're doing. This is early 70's rock at it's best. Great stuff for headphones, but sounds really great cranked up on the stereo for a party.
If you look around, there are affordable Russian copies available till someone else gets it together and issues this here. I highly recommend this.
I understand this was recorded in a basement on a 2 track recorder. Unbelievable! The sound is really good, and I'm thankful no producer or record company got the chance to sabotage these recordings. The band knows exactly what they're doing. This is early 70's rock at it's best. Great stuff for headphones, but sounds really great cranked up on the stereo for a party.
If you look around, there are affordable Russian copies available till someone else gets it together and issues this here. I highly recommend this.
Psychotic Freaks of Proto-doom
10 July 2011
Format:Audio CD
That's the first album of one and only real "Wicked Lady", formed in 1968 in Northampton (UK) by Martin Weaver (guitars/vocals), "Mad" Dick Smith on drums and Bob (aka Motorist) Jeffries on bass. The act emerged as power-trio inspired by the darkest and heaviest side of Brish R&B, and soon acquired a reputation of being riotous, violent, stoned and drunk - and attracting the similar crowd. The band was confined to perform in pubs and clubs, and college circuit too - but not top venues.
The music of "Wicked Lady" lacks the finesse of, let's say, Black Sabbath, of the later days, and the vocals of Martin Weaver have to hypnotizing power and are more on mainstream side, but the dark and menacing charm is there with mesmerizing manic rhythms and fuzzy guitars.It is really evilish concoction of raw hard rock with heavy psychedelia. The quality of sound might be considered as "sub-standard" by purists (au par with Shiver, for example), but don't get discouraged by that, it has powerful appeal and unusual appeal!
This album features original recordings from 1968-1972. In 1970 "Wicked Lady" split, to re-surface same year with another bassist - Del "German Head" ("Deutschekopf") Morley and to record second album - "Psychotic Overkill" (Psychotic Overkill, bootleg of the same was re-issued in Sweden as "Blow Your Mind", the difference is:minus immortal "Voodoo Chile", plus miserable cheap sexy photo of overused whore on the cover). Both albums had been bootlegged heavily, by Kissing Spell (=Erebus Records=Radioactive) mainly, which is responsible for spreading around some pathetic and silly rumours (see the booklets humbly signed "Kissing Spell") : Martin Weaver and "Mad" Smith were member of the same chapter of Hell's Angels (brothers, we're talking about 1969, while the Angels were introduced to London by George Harrison in 1969 only, and their impact couldn't reach Northampton that fast); Martin Weaver later became soldier of fortune in Africa - in real life he went further with "Dark" (Round The Edges (+ 4 Bonus-Tracks))** , and later joined "Mind Doctors" (Threshold of Reality).
Trivia: the drummer threw the kit into the audience, the frontman beat to pulp an A&M man, the same drummer had to be dragged off stage after shouting for 15 minutes "Pink Fairies are sh..." Neverneverland, and furious club owners had to pull the plug on the act after they played the same song on and on *(personally, I failed to locate any source able to corroborate these stories).
With the second album "Wicked Lady" moved further into dark depressive psychedelia, recording drugs'n'sex saga "Sin City" and 21 minutes madness epic "Ship of Ghosts".
I really hope (and wish) that either "Angel Air" or "Rockadrome" will produce legitimate re-issues of both albums - with proper sound and booklets, it is long overdue to "Wicked Lady"
_______________________________________________
* Anyone who had ever been with the band, or at the real live gig, knows that both stories are gross exageration - the roadies, event promoters and the audience were not good samaritans, and they would not stand such crap from anyone - even the band
** The story of Weaver's relationship with "Dark" is a bit confusing - is was formed in the same 1968 by Steve Giles, also in Northampton, and apparently both were in the same band. However on the legendary album of "Dark" recorded in 1972 (very hard psychedelia, striped to the bones, without niceties) Weaver appeared as guest musician, and is not on bonus tracks
The music of "Wicked Lady" lacks the finesse of, let's say, Black Sabbath, of the later days, and the vocals of Martin Weaver have to hypnotizing power and are more on mainstream side, but the dark and menacing charm is there with mesmerizing manic rhythms and fuzzy guitars.It is really evilish concoction of raw hard rock with heavy psychedelia. The quality of sound might be considered as "sub-standard" by purists (au par with Shiver, for example), but don't get discouraged by that, it has powerful appeal and unusual appeal!
This album features original recordings from 1968-1972. In 1970 "Wicked Lady" split, to re-surface same year with another bassist - Del "German Head" ("Deutschekopf") Morley and to record second album - "Psychotic Overkill" (Psychotic Overkill, bootleg of the same was re-issued in Sweden as "Blow Your Mind", the difference is:minus immortal "Voodoo Chile", plus miserable cheap sexy photo of overused whore on the cover). Both albums had been bootlegged heavily, by Kissing Spell (=Erebus Records=Radioactive) mainly, which is responsible for spreading around some pathetic and silly rumours (see the booklets humbly signed "Kissing Spell") : Martin Weaver and "Mad" Smith were member of the same chapter of Hell's Angels (brothers, we're talking about 1969, while the Angels were introduced to London by George Harrison in 1969 only, and their impact couldn't reach Northampton that fast); Martin Weaver later became soldier of fortune in Africa - in real life he went further with "Dark" (Round The Edges (+ 4 Bonus-Tracks))** , and later joined "Mind Doctors" (Threshold of Reality).
Trivia: the drummer threw the kit into the audience, the frontman beat to pulp an A&M man, the same drummer had to be dragged off stage after shouting for 15 minutes "Pink Fairies are sh..." Neverneverland, and furious club owners had to pull the plug on the act after they played the same song on and on *(personally, I failed to locate any source able to corroborate these stories).
With the second album "Wicked Lady" moved further into dark depressive psychedelia, recording drugs'n'sex saga "Sin City" and 21 minutes madness epic "Ship of Ghosts".
I really hope (and wish) that either "Angel Air" or "Rockadrome" will produce legitimate re-issues of both albums - with proper sound and booklets, it is long overdue to "Wicked Lady"
_______________________________________________
* Anyone who had ever been with the band, or at the real live gig, knows that both stories are gross exageration - the roadies, event promoters and the audience were not good samaritans, and they would not stand such crap from anyone - even the band
** The story of Weaver's relationship with "Dark" is a bit confusing - is was formed in the same 1968 by Steve Giles, also in Northampton, and apparently both were in the same band. However on the legendary album of "Dark" recorded in 1972 (very hard psychedelia, striped to the bones, without niceties) Weaver appeared as guest musician, and is not on bonus tracks
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