Patto – Monkey’s Bum (Unreleased Album) (1973)

Patto was a progressive jazz-rock band formed in England in 1970 by vocalist Mike Patto with a lineup taken from Timebox consisting of vocalist Patto, drummer John Halsey, guitarist and vibraphone player Ollie Halsall and bassist Clive Griffiths.
In the Spring of 1973, the band headed back to the studios to record their fourth album titled “Monkey’s Bum”.  Muff wanted the band to take a different approach on this record and promoted the idea of emphasizing Mike’s songs, which were more commercial and accessible than the material on their previous albums.  Their previous albums had always focused on tracks written by Ollie or jointly by Ollie and Mike.

The idea of shifting the focus to Mike’s material created conflict between Ollie and the rest of the band. “Monkey’s Bum” still has never been officially released, which is a shame because there are some great songs on the album.  Indeed, the music is simpler, hinting at the type of music that Mike and Ollie would play in Boxer a couple years later — not a lot of time signature changes or jazzy chord progressions.  The band plays well, of course, and there are some brilliant guitar moments from Ollie, proving that he was there creatively for at least some of the the sessions.  Mike plays a lot more electric piano on this album. (by Gledix)

Alternate frontcovers

Personnel:
Clive Griffiths (bass)
John Halsey (drums, percussion)
Ollie Halsall (guitar, keyboards)
Mike Patto (vocals, piano)

Tracklist:
01. My Days Are Numbered (Patto/Halsall) 5.07
02. The Dream I Had Last Night (Newman) 1.50
03. Sugar Cube (Patto) 4.07
04. I Need You (Halsall) 3.27
05. Good Friend (Patto) 3.43
06. Get Up And Do It (Patto) 3.09
07. Sausages (Halsall)
08. Hedyob (Patto/Halsall) 5.08
09. Pick Up The Phone (Patto) 3.12
10. General Custer (Patto/Halsall) 3.19

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Patto ‎– Roll ‘Em Smoke ‘Em Put Another Line Out (1972)

Patto’s third album was released on Island Records.  Compared to the first two albums, “Roll ’em Smoke ’em…” is much looser.  On stage, the band was known for its humorous antics, usually referred to as “looning”, which you will read more about as you browse through this web site.  The band wanted to have fun with the album and have it reflect more of their humor.  The album starts off with the bizarre introduction to “Flat Footed Woman” to let you know straight away that this is going to be a different type of album from the band.  The looning is to the fore in John’s stage favorite “Mummy”, about a “grown-up subject,” and the twisted sea-chanteys in “Cap’n ‘P’ And The Atto’s”.

Another significant change from their earlier albums is Ollie opting to play a lot more keyboards — he plays guitar on less than half of the album.  This probably didn’t please the guitar fans much, but Ollie does play some of his most outrageous guitar ever on “Loud Green Song”.  In fact, Nick Saloman (Bevis Frond) ranks the solos in the song as his favorite of all time!  Ollie does plays some fine keyboards on the album, though.

The production on “Roll ’em Smoke ’em” was their most adventurous to date.  The rhythm section sounds great on this record.  The band experimented more with effects (reverb, echo) on many tracks.  Ollie’s keyboards really fill out the sound along with the backing vocals on “Flat Footed Woman” and “Turn Turtle”.  There’s an interesting guitar and electric piano blend on “I Got Rhythm”.  The middle section of “Singing The Blues On Reds” has beautiful, chiming double-track clean guitars that are complimented by Les Paul-esque runs achieved by recording with the tape slowed down. (by pattofan)

Personnel:
Clive Griffiths (bass)
Ollie Halsall (guitar, keyboards)
John Halsey (drums, percussion)
Mike Patto (vocals, piano on 06. + 07.)

Tracklist:
01. Flat Footed Woman (Halsall/Patto) 8.01
02.Singing The Blues On Reds (Halsall/Patto) 4.56
03. Mummy (Halsey) 2.17
04. Loud Green Song (Halsall/Patto) 3.51
05. Turn Turtle (Halsall/Patto) 6.07
06. I Got Rhythm (Patto) 4.46
07. Peter Abraham (Halsall) 6.14
08.Cap’n ‘P’ And The Atto’s (Sea Biscuits Parts 1 & 2) (Halsey/Halsall) 5.34

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