Jon Bartel
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1966-71) as Johnny Bartel and the Soul Masters - Alan Blasingame -- drums, percussion - Jon Bartel (aka John Petrie Bartel) (RIP 2006) -- vocals, keyboards - Jeff Martin -- - Larry O'Brien -- vocals, lead guitar, strings - Lou Stellute -- horns
line up 2 (1971) as Bartel - Alan Blasingame -- drums, percussion - Jon Bartel (aka John Petrie Bartel) (RIP 2006) -- vocals, keyboards - Larry O'Brien -- vocals, lead guitar, strings - Lou Stellute -- horns
line up 2 (1972) as The Jon Bartel Thing - Alan Blasingame -- drums, percussion - Jon Bartel (aka John Petrie Bartel) (RIP 2006) -- vocals, keyboards - Larry O'Brien -- vocals, lead guitar, strings - Lou Stellute -- horns
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- Johnny Bartel and the Soul Masters - Larry Bryan (solo efforts)
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Genre: rock Rating: *** stars Title: Bartel Company: Perception Catalog: PLP 20 Year: 1971 Country/State: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Grade (cover/record): -- Comments: -- Available: not available Catalog ID: not available Price: not available
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A couple of references indicate this was nothing more than a tax scam effort undertaken with a group of faceless studio musicians. Well, there was a Jon Bartel (aka John Bartel) and these guys were a real band.
Raised in Pennsylvania, namesake Bartel was bitten by the rock and roll bug while a kid. By the mid-1960s he was playing keyboards and fronting Johnny Bartel and the Soul Masters (Jeff Martin, Larry O'Brien and Lou Stellute). 1967 found Bartel and company living in Southern California where they released a pair of collectable soul-garage tinged 45s for the United Artists associated Solid Smoke label:
- 1967's 'I Waited Too Long' b/w 'If This Isn't Love' (Solid State catalog number SD 2514) - 1967's 'More Than Ever Before' b/w 'State of Mind' (Solid State catalog number SD 2519)
Bartel and company then signed to Jimmy Curtiss' newly formed Perception label. Produced by a young Patrick Adams, 1971's "Bartel" offered up an eclectic mix of genres including soul, funk, pop, rock and jazz. Showcasing a mixture of original tunes and re-imagined popular covers,
"Bartel" track listing: 1.) Intro - 1:30 2.) Naturally Good (instrumental) (Jon Bartel - Larry O'Brien - Lou Stellute - Alan Blasingame) - 5:20 rating: *** stars The first of two group compositions, the instrumental 'Naturally Good' offered up a nice funk groove. Each member got a moment in the spotlight with Bartel's Hammond and O'Briend's guitar providing the standout performances. 3.) On the Road (Larry O'Brien) - 2:50 rating: *** stars Nice blue-eyed soul performance with sax player Lou Stellute adding a touch of jazz influence to the mix 4.) Green Black (Lou Stellute) - 10:20 5.) Yesterday (John Lennon - Paul McCartney)- 4:43
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2) As much as I love the Lovin' Spoonful original, this version might be even better. That's due in large part to the slightly ominous edge Bartel and company brought to the song, along with Larry O'Brien's growling vocal. Who knows how or why, but the track was released as a single in France:
- 'Summer In the City' b/w 'On the Road' (America catalog number 17 034) 2.) Meat Cleaver (Larry O'Brien) - 5:50 3.) Boogie (instrumental) (Jon Bartel - Larry O'Brien - Lou Stellute - Alan Blasingame) - 4:50 rating: *** stars The group penned instrumental 'Boogie' was an interested jazz-funk mash-up with each member getting a chance to display their considerable chops - particularly sax player Stellute and guitarist O'Brian. 4.) You've Just Been Bitten (Jon Bartel) - 3:20 rating: **** stars 'You've Just Been Bitten' found the band stepping back into funk - Booker T & the MG's meet War ... Nice. 5.) Freak Show (Philips) - 2:35 rating: **** stars Imagine The Young Holt Trio decided to dip their toes into psych and you'd have a feel for 'Freak Show'. The combination of Bartle's stabbing organ; O'Brien's blue-eyed soul voice, Stellute's sax and Blasingame's rock steady drumming made this an album highlight. One of the funkiest psych tunes you'll ever hear and probably not a tune you wanted to hear if you were too stoned. The song was rerecorded for their follow-on album.
Curiously the album was also released in France (Perception catalog number PE 21 502) with the America label releasing a single:
Thanks to Roland Bourgeaud for taking the time to provide photos of the French LP and single. Amazing what the web is capable of doing !
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: The Jon Bartel Thing Company: Capitol Catalog: ST-274 Year: 1969 Country/State: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Grade (cover/record): VG +/VG+ Comments: cutout hole top right corner Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5381 Price: $50.00
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1969 found JImmy Curtiss and his small Perception records label having signed a distribution deal with Capitol. It also saw the release of "The Jon Bartel Thing" - same personnel line up as on the earlier "Bartel" album, but this time out the group had a different, cooler name ... Co-produced by Curtiss and Terry Philips, the results made for one weird record. Showcasing a mixture of Curtiss-penned numbers (co-written with Ralph Green and Marcia Hillman), the album offered up a strange mixture of hard rock ('Where Can I Hide'), pop ('This Girl In Springfield'), conventional soul ('No Doubt About It (He's Your Man)'), psych touches ('There's Gotta Be Something Better'), and conventional jazz (the instrumental 'So What') . Those diverse genres occasionally collided within the same composition (check out the totally bizarre 'Listen To the Silence'). Like the odd cover art, this was a hard album to accurate describe (which may explain the absence of much info on the web), but if you were to imagine early Blood, Sweat and Tears with a singer who was better than David Clayton Thomas and a band with a harder rock orientation and you'd be in the right aural neighborhood. Given the liner notes didn't provide a great deal of information, I'm going on the assumption that namesake Bartel handled the lead vocals (turns out it was Larry O'Brien - see below). If so, he had a great soul-influenced voice which made you wonder why producers Curtiss and company hadn't opted for a more conventional collection. To underscore how good O'Brien's voice was, I've never been a big fan of the T-Bone Walker classic 'Stormy Monday', but these guys turned in a killer version of the track. I even liked the scatting section of the performance. Geez, never thought I'd say something like that!
For those of you really into this kind of stuff, the tune 'Freak Show' also showed up on the Curtiss Velvet Night project.
"The John
Bartel Thing" track listing: 1.) Where Can I Hide (Marcia Hillman - Jimmy Curtiss - Ralph Green) - 2:43 rating: **** stars The opener 'Where Can I Hide' found an intersection between rock, soul and jazz influences. Normally the mixture of those ingredients made for a haphazard stew. This time it worked with Larry O'Brien's powerful voice simply blowing it out of the water. 2.) Listen To the Silence (Marcia Hillman - Jimmy Curtiss - Ralph Green) - 4:30 rating: *** stars The combination of Lou Stellute's discordant sax, somewhat dated "happening" lyrics and the studio effects slapped on O'Brien's voice gave the ballad 'Listen To the Silence' a distinctive lysergic edge. Interesting, but not something that was going to stick around in your head for a long time. 3.) No Doubt About It (He's Your Man) (Michael Gayle) - 2:54 rating: **** stars Even with Stellute's Canturbury-flavored horns in the mix, 'No Doubt About It (He's Your Man)' unveiled the band's affection for commercial soul moves. And damn, if O'Brien couldn't sing. 4.) Stormy Monday (T-Bone Walker) - 6:26 rating: **** stars As mentioned above, I've never been a big fan of the T-Bone Walker classic 'Stormy Monday', but these guys turned in a killer version of the track. YouTube has a live version of the song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vmBG7tOBH8 5,) Freak Show (Terry Philips - Jimmy Curtiss - Marcia Hillman) - 2:32 rating: **** stars Imagine The Young Holt Trio decided to dip their toes into psych and you'd have a feel for 'Freak Show'. The combination of Bartle's stabbing organ; O'Brien's blue-eyed soul voice, Stellute's sax and Blasingame's rock steady drumming made this an album highlight. One of the funkiest psych tunes you'll ever hear and probably not a tune you wanted to hear if you were too stoned. The song reappeared on the follow-on "Bartel" album.
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2) 'Headin' On' was another of the album's more commercial performances - in this case a smooth, slightly jazzy ballad. Kind of a jazzy Classics IV vibe going on here. In addition to more Stellute sax you also got to hear some of O'Brien's tasty jazz guitar leads. I even liked OBrien's scat segment. Would have made a nice single, though Capitol seemingly didn't release a 45. 2.) There's Gotta Be Something Better (Jimmy Curtiss - Steve Kanyon) - 3:02 rating: *** stars Once again Stellute's horns gave 'There's Gotta Be Something Better' a Canterbury-styled jazz flavor. Actually the tune also had kind of a Stevie Winwood and Traffic vibe. Certainly strange to hear from a band who called Pennsylvania home. 3.) Time Machine (Terry Philips - Mark Barkan) - 2:40 rating: *** stars The ballad 'Time Machine' displayed the group's nice backing harmonies - almost an Association feel on this one. 4.) This Girl In Springfield (Marcia Hillman - Jimmy Curtiss) - 3:40 rating: ** stars The ballad 'This Girl In Springfield' was the first song that I found totally forgettable ... 5.) So What (instrumental) (Miles Davis - Chris Hall) - 5:12 rating: *** stars If you doubted the band's jazz chops and wanted to hear their instrumental prowess, there was always their cover of Miles Davis' 'So What'.
By the early 1980s Bartel was out of music. He returned to his native Pennsylvania where he set up a document destruction company. Sadly he died of lung cancer in November 2006.
O'Brien quit the band in 1974 and became a commercial sign painter.
So out of the blue I got the following email ...
Hi, I saw your Bartel posting and thought I'd contact you. My name is Larry O'Brien. I was the guitarist and lead singer on all the recordings. John was a fantastic organist and the originator of the group. He was a strong leader and kept us on the right track. In '74 I left the group, retired from music, moved to Oregon, married and raised a family. Glad to say all the members of the band survived those years and are living very middle class domestic lives. Sadly, after becoming very successful in the document shredding industry, John was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in '06. We were able to reunite for the funeral and talk about old days. Sincerely , Larry O'Brien July 2008
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