LP - Joe Prichard and Gibraltar - Joe Prichard and Gibraltar (DIAMOND-IN-THE-ROUGH COLORED VINYL)
FIRST EVER FULLY LICENSED VINYL REISSUE!
DIAMOND-IN-THE-ROUGH COLORED VINYL LIMITED TO 400 COPIES!
READ AN EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW AND SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE
Originally released in 1974 in an edition of 1000 copies, this eclectic epic recorded in Cape Girardeau, Missouri has mostly flown under the radar of even the most serious collectors and has never been recognized for the magnificent work of art that it is...UNTIL NOW!
Permanent Records' owner and Missouri-native, Lance Barresi, teamed up with RidingEasy Records, to get the first ever authorized reissue of this rare Private Press 1974 long-form Hard Rock banger from the Gateway to the West out just over half a century after it was originally dropped. OG copies of the LP have sold for over $400!
Over the course of 4 long tracks this album takes you on a journey that starts with a quiet-loud-quiet existential belter, goes into a (very) long-form blues rock JAM, into a relatively short (5:30) heartfelt Hard Rock banger, off into a Zappa-esque Jazz-Rock ripper, and is topped off with a 2-and-a-half-minute instrumental synth/sax comedown coda. The guitars are soaring, the drumming is frenetic and bombastic, and the singer could take any of his peers to the mat. Had the vision been more commercial, this band could have become a household name!
"The band played with or opened for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Gregg Allman’s Cowboys, Styx, Ted Nugent, Bob Seger. They played on the same bill with Blue Oyster Cult and Black Oak Arkansas at the Kiel Auditorium in 1977." And as a matter of fact, “On Nov. 28, 1970, Mainline (pre-Gibraltar) was scheduled to open for Black Sabbath at the Rainy Daze Club in St. Louis,” he recalled. “Black Sabbath called about an hour after the show was scheduled to start and canceled. We never found out exactly why.” That show could have changed the course of history.
How could you not want to hear this album after a description like that?!?!
"Pro-sounding 1970s rarity with a ballsy rock sound and songs ranging from ambitious prog over bluesy bar-rock into macho FM rock postures. It’s solid across the board with excellent guitar leads, soulful vocals, and a versatile band.
Keyboards, woodwinds and elaborate arrangements provide a prog-AOR vibe that may turn some off, although there’s enough groove to keep one’s attention throughout the four long tracks." – Patrick Lundborg (Acid Archives)
