Flash

Yes, this is the band that Billy Gibbons rose to local fame with, a band that opened and/or played with such legendary acts as The 13th Floor Elevators, The Golden Dawn, Fever Tree, Shiva's Headband, Bubble Puppy, Doug Sahm, and the Winter brothers, just to name a few. They've probably become over-rated by enthusiastic ZZ Top fans, and over-stated by justly proud native Texans lucky enough to have had them play at their local clubs, bars and youth centers back in the day. But the basis of those over-ratings and over-statments was real: they were a fine combo who could cook with the best of the bands previously named.This LP features a nascent Billy Gibbons in his youth, already with many of the chops and licks he'd bring to ZZ Top a short while later. It's puro homegrown Texas Psychedelic Blues, specifically the genuine South Coast Sound of Galveston, (home of the Bali Room) and that muggy Baghdad on the Bayou, Houston Texas.Granted, it sounds a little dated--most Psychedelic bands of the 60's and 70's do. Granted, you'll only catch a studio portion of the live act that made them such legends, not unlike the 13th Floor Elevators in that respect--locals who saw them still rave about their shows to this day "you should have been there". But until such a time as some live Sidewalks CDs surface, those of us unfortunate enough as to have missed these cats in their heyday will just have to make do with this.P.S. (from 2011) Jinx Dawson, the lead singer for the *original* Occult/Rock band, "Coven" informs me that *all* of Akarma's releases are pirates, and that neither the performing artists or the copyright holders have ever seen a penny from their (admittedly small numbered run) CDs. She knows, they pirated all of Coven's releases too, and the band lost thousands in royalties and residuals.

This version has far wider dynamic range than the Rockbeat Records compilation "The Complete Moving Sidewalks" , which contains the same recordings but is noticeably more compressed.

In 1968, this was Billy Gibbons at his best; which isfantastic. If you already own the "Chrome Smoke & Barbecue"box set, which has 3 Moving Sidewalk selections, you may behesitant to get this CD...but I'd advise you to get it, becausethere are SEVERAL other excellent tracks, especially Flashback,No Good To Cry, Pluto, I Want To Hold Your Hand (!) 99th Floor, and others. The few tracks where Mr. Gibbons is not the mainperformer aren't so hot...but you can simply program them out.Also, there is no reason to criticize Billy for his out-and-outHendrix influences here (at one point he even says, "Are youexperienced?") Listen----Billy Gibbons had every rightin the world to groove off Jimi...after all, there were touringpartners and roommates on the road.

Great album. Billy Gibbons first band. You here why Hendrix was so enamored with him when the opened fire him. I highly recommend this. It isn't ZZ Top but you do here a little bit that lead to the first ZZ Top album a time or two.

Excellent CD.... Early Billy at his finest... Great Buy !!!!

Album received ahead of schedule And as advertised. All good!

This is classic psychedelic I bet you've never heard. So, what the hell are you waiting for? Punch the magic buttons and buy this sucker, right now!

Nowadays the Moving Sidewalks are more famous for the ZZ Top connection, and I got this expecting something interesting but not great. I was wrong! This is fantastic psychedelic rock that stands on its own regardless of the fact that Billy Gibbons plays on it. There's something about these songs, and Billy's guitar tone, that is strongly reminiscent of Hendrix's 'Are You Experienced?', and Billy even sings those words in one of the songs, Flashback I think. While Billy's playing improved a lot from these days, he's capable of a lot more than the average psych guitarist of that time, and it's not surprising that Hendrix admired or even jammed with the band when they supported him at some of his Texas shows. The bonus tracks are mostly worthwhile too, although the sound quality is inferior to the album itself. I can't imagine all ZZ Top fans liking this album, unless they like a lot of early 70s rock too, but I prefer this album to anything ZZ Top ever did. Put this on your 'must-have' list if you're a fan of quality psychedelic rock, or on your 'could have' list if you're a Top fan.

Excellent!

Il texano Billy Gibbson,forma il suo primo gruppo professionale a Houston,i Moving Sidewalks nel 1965.Houston,assieme a Austin e San Francisco,era la culla del grande fermento psichedelico che stava nascendo,movimento che in breve sarà completamente assorbito dalla west-coast californiana.I Moving Sidewalks,seguono la normale trafila,suonando alle feste studentesche,nei college,i primi contratti nei localini,nel frattempo due figure emergenti affascinano Gibbson,l'altro texano chitarrista Johnny Winter e in particolare la Experience di Hendrix,di cui diverrà un fanatico allievo.I Moving Sidewalks cominciarono a crearsi uno spazio con il loro suono blues-rock di stampo texano con influenze psichedeliche e la piccola etichetta locale Wand,li mette sotto contratto e fa incidere alla band due singoli nel 1967,99th floor/What are you doing to do che aumenta notevolmente la loro popolarità.99th floor è un piccolo gioiello anni '60 di psichedelia viscerale,densa di blues e rock,con i primi parossismi chitarristici,la voce arrabbiata e l'armonica stridente di Gibbson,grande uso di tastiere e ritmica insistente.Il secondo singolo,Need me/Everynight a new surprise,pubblicato a breve distanza,conferma la potenza dei Moving Sidewalks e la label Tantara li mette sotto contratto e pubblica un Ep contenente tutti e quattro i brani dei singoli,seguito dalla pubblicazione di un ulteriore singolo che rivoluzionerà le classifiche,un singolo definito da molti critici,come uno dei più rappresentativi degli anni '60,Joe's blues/I want to hold your hand(Lennon/McCartney).Il successo,porta in breve alla pubblicazione del primo e unico album dei Moving Sidewalks,Flash del 1968.Flash è inciso dalla line-up formata da Billy Gibbson alla voce,lead guitar e armonica,Dan Mitchell alla batteria,Don Summers al basso e Tom Moore alle tastiere.Flash crea un certo clamore,con le sue atmosfere legate al blues-rock,percorso dalle tastiere psichedeliche,usate sia come aggiunta ritmica che come strumento solista e come creatrici di melodia,la chitarra di Gibbson,comincia ad emergere con i suoi interventi corrosivi e fumiganti,la sezione ritmica aiuta la band nel creare un sound corposo da cui emergono gli interventi perfora timpani dei due strumenti principali,in alcuni brani,emergono ancora i retaggi beat,Flashback,con l'inusitato finale lento e la chitarra che imita i sitar,Scoun da be,No good to cry e Crimson witch.Il brano uscito precedentemente come singolo,Joe's blues,è un brano da antologia del rock,un lungo blues lento,sette minuti di allucinazioni blues,straziati dagli interventi della smagliante chitarra di Gibbson,tirate e grintose,dalle insistenze delle tastiere venate di acidità,trovano posto in Flash anche le anomalie strumentali di Pluto Sept 31st,molto hendrixiana e i due brani finali,all'insegna di "ogni sperimetazione è lecita",Eclipse e Reclipse,due brani che si perdono nella confusione che era tipica della sperimentazione di quegli anni,voci alterate,filtrate,spezzoni suonati,cacofonie di suoni slegati.Durante il 1968,i Moving Sidewalks,vennero scritturati per il tour americano di Jimi e della Experience,Gibbson apprese a più non posso dal suo idolo,i Moving Sidewalks acquìsirono una notevole popolarità ma già Gibbson aveva in animo di andare oltre,il futuro dei ZZ Top era all'orizzonte.Flash è una della tante piccole grandi opere del periodo fine anni '60,uno dei più importanti tra gli album del periodo psichedelico.Ottima versione inglese di Flash,chiaramente il suono più presente e pulito,va a discapito del caldo e corposo suono originale dell'album,per chi normalmente ascolta i vinili originali.L'album viene completato con la versione della Tantra dell'EP contenente i brani usciti come singoli e il lato B del terzo: 99th floor,What are you doing to do,I want to hold your hand,Need me e Everynight a new surprise.I brani originariamente erano in mono e sono stati riconvertiti in stereo,per quanto possibile.la resa sonora differisce tra i brani dell'album e quelli dei singoli,ma questo è normale.FlashbackScoun da beYou make me shakeYou don't know the lifePluto Sept. 31stNo good to crycrimson witchJoe's bluesEclipseReclipse99th floorWhat are you doing to doI want to hold your handNeed meEvery night a new surprise

This is some good music history and tone!