P.M. 1970 Page One
There aren't a whole of lot of English rock bands from the late 60s and early 70s that are relatively unknown, but I think Nite People qualifies. It's a band that missed my personal radar all these years, and I'm not exactly new at this. In addition to this LP, Nite People released no less than seven 45s between 1966 and 1970.
OK yea, I can see how this one wasn't offered my way. P.M. is a type of psychedelic blues, of which many British bands had gravitated to from the late 60s on. It's not pure electric blues like Cream, Savoy Brown, or early Fleetwood Mac. Nor does Nite People have a full-time sax or flute player, so that fact also keeps the album from moving in a more progressive direction similar to peers like Raw Material, Hannibal, Aquila, and Diabolus. But in between these bookends, the sound of Nite People emerges. The distorted electric guitar, along with the Hammond organ, adds to the psychedelic aura. Another problem, if we are to call it that, is the album lacks original material. Only two tracks out of ten were penned by the band (A1 and A5). However, their covers are inspired choices, with Sandy Coast's 'North Canadian Paradise' being the most obscure, Curtis Amy's 'Native Land' the most creative, while Frank Zappa's 'Peaches en Regalia' arguably represents the highlight. The latter closes the album giving the impression the album is more progressive rock oriented than it truly is. And you can hear what Nite People would have sounded like with a stronger sax presence.
Page One was an interesting label. Most known for releasing the The Troggs, their best selling album was likely to have been Vanity Fare's Early In The Morning, a very common LP that was pressed everywhere including the States. But the label also released the holy grail An Apple a Day, as well as music from the Dutch beat group Sandy Coast that are highly sought after. P.M. was not only released in the UK, but also in France (with arguably the better cover), Australia, and New Zealand. Despite these multiple pressings, P.M. is another one of Page One's tough scores if in the market for an original.
Discogs does list a CD, but it lacks provenance, and is highly likely not to be licensed. So we'll add this review here.
Priority: 3
4/9/26 (new entry)
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