clive calder

Description

SUCK - WARPIGS (ALBUM : "TIME TO SUCK") / 1970 HEAVY ROCK / HEAVY PSYCHEDELIC ROCK SOUTH AFRICA Tracks: Aimless Lady [3.12] originally by Grand Funk Railroad 21st Century Schizoid Man [4.51] originally by King Crimson Season Of The Witch [10.07] originally by Donovan and covered by Brian Auger Sin's A Good Man's Brother [3.35] originally by Grand Funk Railroad I'll Be Creeping [3.19] originally by Free The Whip [2.54] written by Suck Into The Fire [3.18] originally by Deep Purple Elegy [2.58] originally by Colosseum War Pigs [7.14] bonus track on CD, originally by Black Sabbath - first released on the Rock Today With The Big Heavies compilation album The album was produced by Julian Laxton, under the direction of Clive Calder. Musicians: Stephen Gilroy: Guitar (British Citizen) Saverio "Savvy" Grande: Drums (Italian Citizen) Louis Joseph "Moose" Forer: Bass (SA Citizen) Andrew Ionnides: Flute and Vocals (SA Citizen of Greek extract, died 16th October 2000) Release information: LP: 1970, EMI Parlophone (South Africa), PCSJ(D) 12074 LP: 1970, Mega Phone records (France), 2074 CD (unofficial): 1998, Never Never Land (Japan), 758036005 CD: November 2001, RetroFresh (South Africa), freshcd 118 Suck" was from South Africa and existed for less than 1 year. They managed to produce ONLY ONE album in 1971, but what an album! Cover versions of "Aimless Lady", "21st Century Schizoid Man", "Into the Fire", "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" and - as a bonus - "War Pig"; the only one composition was written by the band members - "The Whip". The musicians were absolutely top class and pretty close to Grand Funk Live Album, Blue Cheer Vincebus Eruptum, Black Sabbath, but mainly to early Funk and Cheer in their minimalistic approach. Definitely they do belong to the very narrow circle of proto-metal pioneers. Originally it was issued on "Parlophone" with the note: "This album must be played at maximum volume to be appreciated". The band: Stephen Gilroy (guitar), Saverio Grande (drums), Louis Joseph Forer (bass), Andrew Ionnides on vocals which are exceptional and sometimes more balanced than those of the original versions. Producer - Julian Laxton of Freedom's Children - Galactic Vibes. If you do appreciate classic hard rock you shouldn't miss this CD.Time to Suck. Suck were a part of the South African hard rock wave of the early '70s -- in fact, they were the heaviest of the "Big Heavies" (the term was coined for a 1972 compilation LP). Time to Suck was the sole LP the group recorded in its short eight-month run (1970-1971), a time during which the band, unlike fellow Big Heavies like Freedom's Children and Otis Waygood, didn't manage to rise from their cover band status. However, what they lacked in artistic development, they made up for in sheer power. Singer Andrew Ionnides was gifted with the perfect hard rock voice, pairing the screaming overtones of Robert Plant with the earthy, bluesy tone of a Paul Rodgers. Guitarist Steve Gilroy (a British citizen) had chops, and the rhythm section formed by Louis Forer and Saverio Grandi (an Italian) had a lot of muscle. The songs selected for this release offer a cross-section of early hard rock history, with one glaring omission... no Led Zeppelin! Still, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple, Free, Colosseum, Black Sabbath, even King Crimson's thundering "21st Century Schizoid Man" are represented... along with Donovan. -- What? Yep. And you better believe that Suck's ten-minute rendition of "Season of the Witch" has every right to be included alongside the aforementioned. If "Schizoid Man" is shaky (Gilroy turns in a nice and surprisingly fitting acid rock solo, but the singer clearly never heard the lyrics right and screws them up bad), "Aimless Lady," "I'll Be Creeping," and "Into the Fire" are all impressive. For non-South Africans, Time to Suck is a curiosity at most, but it documents a band that clearly had potential, fronted by a fired-up singer. And hard rock fans wil...