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ILMO SMOKEHOUSE

Formed in 1969 by the Tieken brothers from Quincy, Illinois. They'd previously been in the long-lived Freddy Tieken and The Rockers who'd been going at it since the late '50s. As The Gonn disintegrated in 1968, first Slink Rand and then Craig Moore joined 'The Rockers. Craig:- "Fred changed the name to The American Music Band, stealing it sort of from The Electric Flag. We played EVERYWHERE... Then when the horn guys all quit, we became Ilmo Smokehouse, heavy as hell, anti-war, pro-drug hippie all the way. When that eventually ended Dennis Slink and I became 'Smokehouse' as a really heavy progressive trio. Later on we had Micki Free on guitar (later with L.A. soul group Shalamar). We wore glitter and make-up before Kiss, but they made it we didn't. It's all nuts, convoluted, insane, I can't believe I did all of this crap!" Their album was recorded in Memphis at 'Beautiful Sound' Studio, owned by Dan Penn of Box Tops etc fame (as a songwriter producer). He engineered part of the session, with his partner Jim Johnson...(Fuzz Acid & Flowers)

"ILMO SMOKEHOUSE"

1970     LP     BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS RECORDS     STEREO LA1200

PRINTED IN USA   ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING

[Limited quantities in 1970 on Beautiful Sounds label, later release on Roulette label]

GATEFOLD COVER + INSERT

THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode: none

LABEL: BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS - YELLOW LABEL w/LOGO on TOP- BLACK TEXT

Catalog on cover: (rear & spine) LA1200  

Catalog on labels: LA-1200-A (JH-412) / LA-1200 (JH-413)

Matrix / Runout (Side A, Etched): JH-412 RE

Matrix / Runout (Side B, Etched): JH-413 RE

On labels: STEREO

On back cover: All selections ITCO Publishers BMI except "Johnny B. Good"

Produced by Greg Everston

Recorded at Beautiful Sound Studios, Memphis, Tennessee

tracklisting

Side A: DEVIL TAKE MY GRANDMA - ARE YOU HAPPY - MOVEMENT 1 AND 13

Side B: JOHNNY B. GOOD - MEYER GOLD - HAVE YOU EVER HAD THE BLUES

PINE NEEDLE BED - WATCH JIMMY CRASH

  grading

RECORD NEAR EX but (please, read above description)

SLEEVE VG(+) but (please, see pictures and read above description)

While it's not unusual for a new band to form from the ashes of other collapsing, simpatico groups, it's rare for one to emerge from the funeral pyres of two distinctly different musical units, but thus was begotten Ilmo Smokehouse. Freddie Tieken & the Rockers was the more established of Ilmo's parents, a smoking R&B band that had been burning up Midwestern stages since the late '50s. With an obvious penchant for bluesy rock and soul, the band boasted one of the best horn sections in the region. In contrast, Gonn came on the scene in 1966, dragging behind them their British beat influences, following the herd into psychedelia and even space rock a few years later. Smokehouse had a ferocious live reputation, but this set did that little justice, with only "Johnny B. Good" and "Pine Needle Bed" hinting at their stage potential. What the record does do, however, is showcase precisely why this band was born to die. The nearly seven-minute long "Have You Ever Had the Blues" is an example of talking blues, a sound Freddie Tieken had perfected years before. Elsewhere, jazz and prog rock collide on "Are You Happy," while jazz, soul, and rock smack straight into each other on "Movement 1 and 13," while "Pine Needle Bed" pulls in so many directions, you expect the whole tree to splinter apart. And splinter the band quickly did, in the end, becoming three different bands. There was just too much experience and quality musicianship in the ranks, all pushing too hard for their own preferred style. For some bands, eclecticism is a badge of honor, for Ilmo it sounds more like a bone of contention...(AllMusic)