The sad passing of John Du Cann on 21 September 2011 marked the end of a long association with specialist heritage label Angel Air for whom John would regularly raid his personal archives for releases that spanned his lengthy and diverse career. This latest compilation, fittingly titled The Many Sides Of, includes tracks from his various bands and solo projects starting with The Attack from 1967. Fans of 60's prog-psych would be well advised to seek out Andromeda which was where John really began to develop his distinctive style on his beloved Fender Telecaster.
John will, of course, always best be remembered for his tenure with Atomic Rooster and their timeless classics "Tomorrow Night" and "Devils Answer" and where he also had to contend with the unpredictable Vincent Crane (something which led to the dissolution of the classic line-up of Du Cann, Crane and drummer Paul Hammond). The blues-driven hard rock power trio Bullet / Hard Stuff saw Du Cann and Hammond working with bassist John Gustafson (later of the Ian Gillan Band) but a car accident brought about their dissolution after a promising start. John then toured with Thin Lizzy on their 1974 tour of Germany before scoring a novelty hit single as a solo artist with "Don't Be a Dummy", a song that gained exposure thanks to being used in a National TV ad for Jeans. With the onset of the NWOBHM Atomic Rooster reformed and were cited as an influence by many of the new bands. Despite recording some strong and commercial material they were victim of record company shenanigans and a deflated Du Cann departed for the final time and effectively quit the music industry. The song selection here provides only a taster of the wealth of material that Du Cann has been involved with over the years but is nevertheless a welcome overview of his career.
A fitting tribute to a much underrated talent – RIP.
Track Listing 1."Magic In The Air" The ATTACK 1967
2. "Mr Pinnodmy's Dilemma" The ATTACK 1967
3. "Too Old" ANDROMEDA 1969
4. "Return To Sanity" (3 parts)
a. Breakdown
b. Hope
c. Conclusion ANDROMEDA 1969
5. "Tomorrow Night" ATOMIC ROOSTER 1971
6. "Devils Answer" ATOMIC ROOSTER 1971
7. "Night Living" ATOMIC ROOSTER 1971
8. "The Soul That I Had" BULLET 1971
9. "Fortunes Told" BULLET 1971
10. "Millionaire" HARD STUFF 1972
11. "Jay Time" HARD STUFF 1972
12. "Roll A Rocket" HARD STUFF 1973
13. "She's My Woman" JOHN DU CANN 1977
14. "Don't Be a Dummy" JOHN DU CANN 1979
15. "Don't Lose Your Mind" ATOMIC ROOSTER 1980
16. "They Took Control Of You" ATOMIC ROOSTER 1980
Added: January 1st 2012 Reviewer:Dean Pedley Score: Related Link:Angel Air Hits: 2014 Language: english
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The sad passing of John Du Cann on 21 September 2011 marked the end of a long association with specialist heritage label Angel Air for whom John would regularly raid his personal archives for releases that spanned his lengthy and diverse career. This latest compilation, fittingly titled The Many Sides Of, includes tracks from his various bands and solo projects starting with The Attack from 1967. Fans of 60's prog-psych would be well advised to seek out Andromeda which was where John really began to develop his distinctive style on his beloved Fender Telecaster.
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