Description
With printed innersleeve
German born Karl Gebhardt moved to the States in early years and toured and recorded with several bands over there like The Gremlins, Something Wild and The Wedge, often under his stage name Kal X or Kal X Blue. When Kal X and Jason LaVerne Miller comes to Sweden in 1973 they form a Swedish version of The Wedge. Wedge were based in Stockholm and they were contacted by Michael B Tretow who wanted to record the group and invited them to Europafilms studios were they recorded an album called Booze Blues. The album however remains unleashed. A single was also planned for 1975 but that never happened either. The only recordings that ever made it to the public was when the band performed in the Swedish Radio show called Tonkraft on the 4th of December 1974. Kal X went under the nickname Linus by his band members so his new band went under the name of Linus And His Band and they toured Sweden and Denmark and were suppose to record an album for Augie Meyers record label Texas Re-Cord Company but that was another project that never went through. So it would be the Swedish newly born record label Larm that finally released Linus debut EP in 1977. The EP featured three own songs; “Isabella,” “Naked In The City” and “Bernadette” together with a Ray Prices classics “I’ll Be There”. The four songs represents the musical breadth that is characteristic of Linus. The opening rockabilly track “Isabella” with Hallquisth guitar work and the furious saxsolo in the end. While “I’ll Be There” is a charming country tune and “Naked In The City” evokes the Ducks Deluxe. The Tex-Mex flavored “Bernadette” is a neat ending to a magnificent vinyl debut for both Linus And His Band. A debut that left you wanting more. His debut full length album Take It Or Leave it was one side with studio material while the b-side featured a live recording. Teh allbum says it was recorded and mixed at Bellatrix studios in 1978 but guitarist Janne Halkan Hallquisth says the studio side actually was recorded at the same time as the debut EP. The live recording were done at Dads Dancehall in Malmö (previoius Klubb 54 and Lejonsalen), where Linus were living at the time. It was in the 70s that it became a rock club and renamed Dads Dancehall. Several English punk and new wave bands made it to this club. Bands like The Jam, Elvis Costello, The Clash played here and also Swedish bands like Nationalteatern and Dan Hylander and Raj Montana Band. A now legendary time in Malmös musical history. The material on Take It Or Leave It features some personal interpretations of tasteful covers such Thems “Here Comes The Night”, Link Wray’s “Falling Rain”, Big Sambo & The Housewreckers “The Rain Came,” Bo Diddley’s “Mona”, Barrett Strong’s ” Money (That’s What I Want) “and Ray Prices” I’ll Be There “. Linus own songs are also worth mentioning; “Bernadette”, “Do not Trouble Trouble (’til Trouble Troubles You) and “Do not Call Me Nigger” which is a trash blues, the Detroit punk song “Doctor Doctor”, “Slow Train” and “Here Comes That Song Again” that sounds like a sprawling Tyla Gang. Linus was known for hard partying and producer Lennart Persson said about the recording of the album: “I was five years older in the week it took to record his album, but the minute he set in front of the mike and sang Link Wray ‘Falling rain’ … well, then all the problems and all the nervous breakdowns vanished! He is a genius, when he wants “. Linus And His Band then turned into Linus And The Losers in 1979, a band that released several singles up to 1983.
Track list:
1. Here Comes The Night
2. Bernadette
3. Falling Rain
4. The Rains Came
5. Don’t Trouble Trouble
6. Here Comes That Song Again
7. Missing Link
8. Money
9. Don’t Call Me Nigger
10. Slow Train
11. Mona
12. I’ll Be There
13. Doctor Doctor