Remains to Be Heard

(2014/Not Bad Records) 10 tracks
British blues band the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation released four albums in a hectic three-year period between 1968 and 1970. Curiously by the time final effort 'Remains To Be Heard' saw the light of day, the Liverpool-born drummer who gave the group its name had left to form jazz-rockers Blue Whale; singer, keyboardist and frontman Victor Brox was the man behind this title. But if 'Remains...' sounds a dubious proposition, let your ears be the judge. British blues expert Harry Shapiro has lauded it as being 'not the makeweight odds and sods album on might have expected,' while anyone who has followed the band's career either at the time or via current reissues 'The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation' (BADCD002), 'Doctor Dunbar's Prescription' (BADCD001) and 'To Mum From Aynsley And The Boys' (BADCD004) will not want to miss out on the final chapter. The album owes its existence to the deal reportedly struck by manager Bryan Morrison with US record label Blue Thumb. While their music came out in Britain on the Liberty label, the Retaliation had caught the ear of Bob Krasnow, a Stateside mover and shaker who had been involved with the careers of Love's Arthur Lee and Captain Beefheart. He also had Dave Mason and the Pointer Sisters on his label as more marketable propositions, and saw Dunbar's crew as both commercial and credible. Krasnow it was who had altered the running order of the second Retaliation album and remixed lead track 'Change Your Lowdown Ways'. His deal with Morrison apparently obliged him to accept an album a year, the advances going up significantly each time. Unfortunately for the band, delivering the first two albums in the year of 1968 had effectively been a 'buy one, get one free' situation, so a fourth album w...