WELCOME

Here is found some nice & groovy soulful easy prog rock with nice rhythms and pretty album covers. Sadly the music is not so very interesting for me due my own tastes, but is certainly well done, is the style is appreciated. My own associations were Humble Pie, Snafu and the later records of Beatles, which is quickly referred in one part of this record. The best moments are in the long "Slipping" song slipping over eight minutes, and some shorter chamber music pastoral elements which were used maybe little too scarcely. Also when listening this record from the northern hemispheres of Finland, I can't escape the familiarity of sounds and melodies of late 1970's Wigwam. A pleasant nugget for the fans of easier psych-flavored artistic popular vintage rock.

This is going to sound a bit condemning, but there's simply some swell music on this album. This is pretty much the epitome of a crossover prog release: slightly idiosyncratic time shifts, shimmery organ swirls, occasionally unusual lyrical motifs...but it's all so dang *listenable.* If anything, they are just barely too odd to find their niche as a straightforward pop-rock band, but not odd enough to warrant exclamations over breathtaking compositions and musical virtuosity. This is prog-pop, with a tip of the musical hat to the atmospherics of psychedelia: lots of great hooks, too. I'm adding on the extra star for lyrical content, which is pretty impressive overall, as well as for the occasional tasteful intrusion of a classical theme. If you decide to go hunting down a copy, be certain to get the bonus track remaster. It comes with a great, compact prog epic called Sweet Medusa that is not to be missed.

'Welcome' is the mildly interesting 1970 debut of an obscure New England funk-rock band whose progressive tendencies are evident from the opening strands of "Punchin Judy" through the extended tempo-shifting closing track "Slipping". The band would disappear shortly after recording an aborted second album, but the songs here are quite good for the time period in which they were recorded and all the members of this fledgling group went on to moderately successful music careers.

Bead Game (named I assume for the odd Herman Hesse novel 'The Glass Bead Game') was formed by a quite young John Sheldon, an aspiring kid from the Boston area who was among other things a childhood friend of the great American folk singer James Taylor. Sheldon in fact purchased his first electric guitar from Taylor. Sheldon had toured the East Coast as a member of Van Morrison's band while in high school, and scored a record deal while still a teenager. This album was the result of that deal.

The band also featured a young Jim Hodder on drums. Hodder would go on to form Steely Dan with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and appears on that band's first three albums including providing the lead vocals for the smooth jazz hit single "Midnight Cruiser". Interestingly enough keyboardist Bobby Gass's organ work on this album sound a bit like Fagen's light jazzy style that would so endear fans to that band in their early days, particularly on "Wax Circus" and the rambling "Slipping".

In addition to a noticeable New England jazz-funk pop sound on the first few tracks, the band seems to have dabbled a bit in the country-rock sound that was somewhat popular in the United States at the time with the trio of tunes "Natural Song", "Country Girls" and "Amos & Andy". These come in the middle of the record and are decidedly more earthy and languid than the guitar/organ heavy front side of the album.

For a closing number the band shows strong progressive leaning in their song construction with the wandering, eight-minute plus and heavily instrumental "Slipping" which features some excellent guitar breaks from Sheldon and complex drum work courtesy of Hodder. This particular song is quite distinctive from the rest of the album.

The Fallout label CD reissue includes three bonus tracks that feature flute and what sounds like a spinet. These are more instrumental and folksy than the original album, all decent but none exceptional except the closing instrumental "My Life in Review" which provides an inspiring and emotive ending to the record.

Although the band did tour some in the New England area following this release, the group and their album found little success and disbanded after laying down tracks for a second album. That record wouldn't be released until 1996, more than two decades after the members of the band had all moved on to other pursuits. The five members also released another record in 1970 under the band the Freedom Express, along with an obscure funk single fronted by Buddy Miles.

Sheldon would later tour with Linda Ronstadt and take on sporadic session work and songwriting after returning to Boston to study music theory. He also released at least three albums with Blue Streak, another band he founded, and has recorded several solo albums (Bead Game guitarist/lead vocalist Ken Haag appears on some of these recordings). Hodder would depart Steely Dan in 1974 for a career doing session work including sessions with Sammy Hagar's band before drowning in 1990. Bassist Lassie Sachs became a studio engineer.

This is an obscure album and certainly not a lost classic, but the music here is quite good and professionally delivered. I'll say it is at least a three (out of five) star effort, but not quite four. Well recommended to fans of early seventies American music.

peace

Punchin Judy: A nice Jazz/Blues tune that I wouldn't categorize as prog. The Jazz elements are enough for it to be experimental, without losing its mainstream appeal. The first band that came to my mind while listening to it is the Allman Brothers. A fun song!

Lady: Mid-tempo song with keyboards and polyphony in the style of the Beatles, but with more doses of prog to keep your attention. Be sure to give it a listen if you're a Beatlemaniac!

Wax Circus: Very close to Jethro Tull in "This Was", if someone told me it was an outtake from that album I would have believed them! Suddenly, shortly after the third minute mark, the tempo picks up and we enter a section with a frenetic guitar solo that reminds me once again of the Allman Brothers. Delightful, I wish it lasted longer!

Mora: These guys have great ideas. This song is a little Psychedelic Blues gem, with shifts in rhythms and tones, and an ethereal, traveling atmosphere that captivates you. I'm starting to think the album is a lost 70s treasure!

Mora: Jethro Tull could easily have written this song for "Benefit". Although it probably is the least interesting song so far, it strikes a chord as JT is my favorite group.

Country Girls: Just when I was starting to think this song was boring, these gorgeous keyboards came in and saved it. Short and sweet!

Amos & Andy: The most Country song so far, the closest thing to Credence Clearwater Revival on this record. Groovy and danceable, with a completely different last minute and a half, dominated by guitar improvisations. It didn't excite me much.

Slipping: If there really is Prog on this album, it's here! With a duration of 8:40, it condenses what we listened to earlier, like a review of the band's musical identity. John Sheldon's dreamy guitar solo that dominates from the middle of the song onwards is truly brilliant, and is the perfect end to the record. Bravo to them!

Rating:

A record that I really liked, and entered my Discogs wantlist. It's relation to prog is relatively small, but it contains beautiful music and I would like to listen to it many times more! The short careers of the band members (except for Jim Hodder who played in Steely Dan) are in no way justified from what I hear, and I consider the band a big missed opportunity. I give it 4 stars with all my heart!