20052014 - Martha Veléz "Fiends & Angels"

I had no idea this woman even existed, and all of a sudden - THIS! An album with so much blues, so much soul and so much attitude that I'm equal parts ashamed for missing out all these years and thrilled about finally discovering this gem! How cool is this 1969 album, you ask? It's so cool that her backing band includes Brian Auger, Jack Bruce, Christine McVie, Stan Webb and Paul Kossoff! Plus some guy named Eric Clapton... And they don't even steal the show, no siree! When you have a voice like Veléz, you are the star of that show! I'm not entirely sure about the operatics of "A Very Good Fandango" though, but I guess it's a joke, and it probably seemed like a good idea at the time. The rest is pure groovy blues rock bliss!