Kosmik Radiation Radio - Aug 12, 2011 Playlist

R. I. P.
Akira "Joe" Yamanaka (right front)
1946 - 2011

CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Kuni Kawachi & Friends (Flower Travellin' Band) "Kirikyogen" 1970 (Japan)

Akira "Joe" Yamanaka passed away from lung cancer this August 7, less than a month shy of his 65th birthday. Joe is something of a superstar in Japan, being known in recent years as a "tough guy" actor (mostly playing villain roles in crime dramas), but also for his maudlin 1977 ballad "Proof Of The Man" (a big hit in Asia) and for leading a Japanese reggae band (he also sang with The Wailers!) But during the psychedelic era, he was the lead singer and frontman for Flower Travellin' Band. FTB was not just Japan's greatest heavy band of the early 1970's, they were one of the most unique and brilliant hard rock groups of all time from "Anywhere" (the title of their debut album). Even with outstanding lead guitarist Hideki Ishima (Japan's Jimmy Page) and a terrific rhythm section (Jun Kobayashi & "George" Wada), it was "JOE" who was always the Flower who grabbed the most attention. Having been fathered by an African-American GI (whom he never knew), Yamanaka's tall, lanky frame and glittering Afro always created a sensation in homogenous Japanese society -- but it was his totally unique singing style which melded a somewhat "operatic" Japanese musical tradition with "that blues feeling" which made him truly special. Kirikyogen is one of the more obscure records in Flower Travellin' Band's discography, originally credited to "Kuni Kawachi & Friends" (Kawachi had been the piano player in a group called The Happenings Four, and the "friends" were FTB). It is certainly the most laid-back and not-heavy record the Flowers were involved with, but the jazzy and acoustic sounds of this album provide a unique context for Yamanaka's extraordinary voice.
I don't believe there's any performance video of FTB from their early days, but here is some rare 8mm footage from their final concert (with non-synched audio) and a Japanese TV documentary featuring Joe (even before joining FTB he had been one of the stars of the Japanese stage production of the "tribal love rock musical" Hair). The group reunited this decade with impressive results -- here's Joe singing Flower Travellin' Band's "Satori part 2" in 2004, and the classic quartet performing "Hiroshima" in 2009. Although I haven't heard it yet, they also put out a reunion album called "We Are Here" in 2008.

(N) = New Release

Artist	Song	Album	Year (label)	Country
Lunar Dunes	Oriental Pacific	Galaxsea (N)	2011 (4Zero)	UK
GLÕW	Myndstorm	Sessions (N)	2011 (provided by artist)	UK
Cheer-Accident	This Is The New That	No Ifs, Ands Or Dogs (N)	2011 (Cuneiform)	USA
White Hills	Monument	H-p1 (N)	2011 (Thrill Jockey)	USA

Kuni Kawachi & Friends (Flower Travellin' Band)	Graveyard Of Love	Kirikyogen CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1970	Japan
Kuni Kawachi & Friends (Flower Travellin' Band)	Time Machine	Kirikyogen CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1970	Japan
Flower Travellin' Band	The House Of The Rising Sun (trad./The Animals)	Anywhere	1970	Japan
Flower Travellin' Band (Yuya Uchida & The Flowers)	How Many More Times (Led Zeppelin)	From Pussies To Death In 10,000 Years Of Freakout	rec. 1969	Japan

Oneida	Shahin's Bong	Collisions 02 (N - split album with Mugstar)	2011 (Rocket)	USA
Annapurna Illusion	I Can See Me Through Your Devil's Eyes	Life Is An Illusion (N)	2011 (Rocket)	France

Daughters Of The Sun	Ghost With Chains	Ghost With Chains (N)	2011 (Not Not Fun)	USA
Jackie-O Motherfucker	Bring It To Me	Earth Sound System (N)	2011 (Fire)	USA
Implodes	Meadowlands	Black Earth (N)	2011 (Kranky)	USA
Battles	Wall Street	Gloss Drop (N)	2011 (Warp)	USA

Sun Ra	Somewhere In Space	Out There A Minute (compilation CD)	rec. 1960's	USA
The Jimmy Castor Bunch	L. T. D. (Life Truth & Death)	It's Just Begun	1972	USA
Santana	Incident At Neshabur	Abraxas	1970	USA/Mexico

The Strawberry Alarmclock	Paxton's Backstreet Carnival	Incence & Peppermints	1967	USA
Man	Bananas	Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day	1972	UK (Wales)
Curved Air	Back Street Luv	Second Album	1971	UK
Silver Apples	Velvet Cave	Silver Apples	1968	USA
The Stark Reality	Comrades (Hoagy Carmichael)	The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop (Now compilaton CD)	rec. 1970	USA
Os Mutantes	Ando Meio Desligado	A Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado	1970	Brazil

Hatfield & The North	Shaving Is Boring	Hatfield & The North	1974	UK