One of the legendary bands to come out of the mid-60's UK. Considered by many to be the "first Supergroup", The Steampacket boasted a roster that would eventually become a who's who in UK Rock. Rod Stewart, Julie Driscoll and Long John Baldry all contributed vocals, while Brian Auger, Mick Waller. Vic Briggs and Rick Brown provided the instrumentals.

But their fame and legend was more connected with live appearances, as they never actually got in the studio to really record anything. Contractual problems not permitting that to happen. Nonetheless, Manager/Impresario Giorgio Gomelsky (think: Yardbirds), regularly recorded rehearsal sessions. So what there is, comprises a lot of recordings that give "some idea" of how potentially great the band were, but sadly leaving you with that feeling you may have missed out on the truly memorable stuff.

Tonight it's a track recorded during rehearsal at The Marquee Club in December 1965, featuring Brian Auger on Organ. It's Jimmy Smith's Back At The Chicken Shack and gives some idea of how far reaching this band were with regards to material.

Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll would eventually leave and form The Trinity. While Rod Stewart would join The Jeff Beck Group before hitting the jackpot with The Faces. Long John Baldry would continue on as a solo artist, releasing one album on Warner Bros in the early 1970's. Everyone landed somewhere and made huge contributions to music in the meantime. But it's these early recordings that offer some glimpse into just how great a unit like The Steampacket were.

Coming along at the pinnacle of the Glam-Rock movement, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band cut a rather unique figure in the annals of 70's rock n' roll. Like many bands of the period, you really had to see them live in order to appreciate them.

Led by former Blues singer Alex Harvey, who already had a career in the early 1960's as a solo artist and later, as a member of Simon Dupree Big Sound, Harvey added a dose of the lunatic fringe to his stage persona and acquired a large a loyal following as the result.

Tonight it's a track off his 1973 album Next. The Faith Healer is a timeless bit of writing, just as apropos now as it was when it first came out.

And if you've never heard The Sensational Alex Harvey Band before tonight, I would take a little time and check them out if I were you. You might be missing something.