TOMMY FLANDERS- The Moonstone
One of the first album-oriented "underground" groups in the United States
was the Blues Project, who offered an electric brew of rock, blues, folk,
pop, and even some jazz, classical, and psychedelia during their brief heyday
in the mid 1960s. It's not quite accurate to categorize them as a blues-rock
group, although they did plenty of that kind of material. They were more
like the American equivalent to British bands like the Yardbirds, who used
a blues and R&B base to explore any music that interested them. The Blues
Project was formed in Greenwich Village by guitarist Danny Kalb; Steve Katz
(a guitarist with The Even Dozen Jug Band); flutist/bassist Andy Kulberg;
drummer Roy Blumenfeld, and singer Tommy Flanders. Al Kooper joined after
sitting in on the band's Columbia Records audition, although they ended
up signing to Verve, an MGM subsidiary. Early member Artie Traum (guitar)
dropped out during early rehearsals. Tommy Flanders departed the group after
their first LP, "Live At The Cafe Au-Go-Go". In 1969 he released this, his
own Solo Debut LP, The Moonstone, featuring: J. Bruce Langhorne (Guitarist
with Bob Dylan; Joan Baez, etc); Dennis McCarthy, Michael Botts (Drummer
with Hoyt Axton, Karla Bonoff, etc); Dick Rosmini (Guitarist with Hoyt Axton;
Doug Dillard; etc); and Jerry Scheff (Bass with Hoyt Axton; Marc Benno;
The Association). The folksy 'Dylanesque' selections are: Since You've Been
Gone; Blue Water Blue; Morning Misty Eyes; A Detective Story; Purple and
Blue; Sleepin'; By the Mailbox We Stood; Angel of Mercy; She's My Love;
Boston Girls; and the title track, The Moonstone. Engineered by Jerry Hockman,
this is one of the most difficult LPs to add to your Blues Project collection,
and does not appear on any CD. This is an original 1969 pressing on VERVE
/ FORECAST RECORDS (3075), and appears with a PROMO label. Promo records
are the first few to be pressed from the freshly cut masters, and therefore
sound the best. They are distributed only to selected radio stations, thereby
making them desirable to collectors. The record jacket has a punch hole
to the lower right corner. Everything appears in Very Good to EXcellent
condition.
