Sunday, March 29, 2009

Next... - Dusty Shoes (1971)

Winnipeg's Next were an offshoot of regional heroes The Fifth. After a fairly successful run of singles in Canada, The Fifth split in 1970 with several members of the band defecting to other acts in the region. One such product of the split was Next. The band were quickly able to secure a contract with Warner Brothers and by late 1971, "Dusty Shoes" was released. With somewhat limited exposure and very poor distribution, the album sank without a trace and Next were history by the end of 1973. Members would later turn up in The Guess Who, Harlequin and The Litter.

"Dusty Shoes" is very much typical of the era from which it sprang. Overall, it's tastefully arranged organ/guitar driven pseudo hard rock that recalls Grand Funk Railroad quite a bit in places. With the soulfully gritty vocals of George Belanger, everything here has an edge which makes much of the material here sound harder than it actually is. That subtle dynamic is what carries most of this album and makes it a truly satisfying listen. Check out this obscure offering from Next, contributed by Orchman. Dig it...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's great to see this album being posted. I'm looking forward to listen to it.
Thanx.

Anonymous said...

Just 1 comment yet?
It is an excellent album! Absolutely no disappointment!
Thanx again!

Montreal, 6 A.M. said...

Thanks for this!
Do you have anything by Jericho, Creamcheeze Good-time Band, Sun Band, or any other Canadian bands?

Anonymous said...

For Jericho:

http://zosopat-zosopat.blogspot.com/

If it's the one you're looking for.

JKR said...

Good call, "anonymous". I was about ready to refer xxsaosinxx to the same place. Zosopat is running an EXCELLENT blog that has really raised the bar on consistently posting genuine rarities. One of the finest new blogs around :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the sharing. Any chance you or someone could locate Headstone's S/T and Bad Habits? ALso a 70's band called Manna that sounded like Bread, but with a slightly harder edge. Oh, and not to forget the album I would love to find by a band named Zazu. Would be nice. Thanks.

mandustrian said...

thanx ALOT for that post, I always wondered what this album was like - & as it is, it does NOT disappoint, for fifth's sake

some Fifth's tracks are available on 'WINNIPEG' comp released in that city in 1969 on Franklin label, however the comp itself seems dead unavailable, couldnt find it for love or money for 5 or so years..

--Headstone concerning. - s/t's a nice li'l record, had it when at school & used to play it dozen-times-a-day.. now I only have a 128kps shang-a-lang thing & here it is, together w/the first album:

http://rapidshare.com/files/223418257/HEADSTONE.rar

Zazu - '75 album?? had it once on a r/to/r tape.. never heard of it again since.. anybody??

mandustrian said...

Zazu - http://rapidshare.com/files/223704112/Zazu_1975.rar

mandustrian said...

I know its a comment section, not a forum..
I just thought that Zazu (at least) could somehow be just in place here

gotta control m'self better, say it every day

please dont put it up.. (but do I care?)
gotta start off my own place -
stay one of your real supporters, mandustrian aka michael r

John Sposato said...

Not to be confused with the '90s R&B group Next.

Anonymous said...

No need to post my mac or me comment. It was me. Today it downloaded fine. Thanks for uploading this and all the cool now rare recordings from the seventies.

Anonymous said...

thanks for this :o)

Anonymous said...

thank you thank you thank you I have been looking for this for years .. i was a teenager with they had a minor hit with only a friend of mine