Hanson
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1972-73) - Clive Chapman -- bass - Junior Hanson (aka Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards, Jr., aka Junior Kerr, aka Junior Marvin) -- vocals, guitar - Conrad Isadore -- drums, percussion - Jean Roussel -- keyboards
supporting musicians: - Rebop Kwaku Baah (RIP) -- percussion - Ken Cuberbatch -- keyboards - Deslie Harper -- bass - Godfrey McLean -- drums - Bobby Tench -- guitar - Jimmy Thomas -- backing vocals - Chris Wood (RIP) -- flute
line up 2 (1973-74) - Junior Hanson (aka Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards, Jr., aka Junior Kerr, aka Junior Marvin) -- vocals, guitar NEW - Marlo Henderson -- guitar NEW - Brother James -- percussion NEW - Glen LeFleur -- drums, percussion (replaced Conrad Isadore) NEW - Neil Murray -- bass (replaced Clive Chapman)
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- Black Sabbath (Neil Murray) - Blue-Ace-Unit (Junior Kerr) - Colosseum II (Neil Murray) - Company of Snakes (Neil Murray) - Gilgamesh (Neil Murray) - Gonzalez (Glen LeFleur) - Hummingbird (Clive Chapman and Conrad Isadore) - The Keef Hartley Band (Junior Kerr) - Herbie Goins and The Nightimers (Junior Hanson) - Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance (Glen LeFleur) - Bob Marley and the Wailers (Junior Marvin) - Murray Head (Glen LeFleur) - National Health (Neil Murray) - The Olympic Runners (Glen LeFleur) - Salt and Pepper (Junior Kerr) - The Wailers (Junior Marvin) - White Rabbit (Junior Hanson) - Whitesnake (Neil Murray)
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Genre: rock Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Now Hear This Company: Manticore Catalog: MC 66670 Year: 1974 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: yellow promo tag on cover; gatefold sleeve; cut out notch on edge; radio station copy Available: 1 Catalog ID: 2339 Price: $20.00
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Today guitarist Junior Marvin is largely known for his work with Bob Marley. While there's nothing wrong with such recognition, it ignores a decade of work under a wide array of alias, supporting an impressive collection of groups with difference musical styles, as well as his work fronting this short-lived entity.
Marvin's discography is a hornet's nest and I'm not going to try to untangle it here, but Hanson was apparently a post Keef Hartley band project, as well as serving as the debut of his new stage name - Junior Hanson. The group's original line up consisted of Hanson, bassist Clive Chapman, drummer Conrad Isadore and keyboard player Jean Roussell. After being signed by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer's Manticore Records, the quartet survived long enough to release one LP - 1973's Mario Medious produced "Now Hear This". Anyone expecting to hear a continuation of Kerr's (nee Hanson's) blues-rock work with Keef Hartley was going to be surprised. There wasn't a single blues-rocker on this collection. Instead, on tracks like 'Traveling Like a Gypsy', 'Take You Into My Home', and 'Rain' Hanson unveiled his latent Hendrix influences. I won't go as far as describing these tunes as plagiarism, but the Hendrix sound was distinctive. On the other hand, don't let that turn you off. Hanson had a likeable voice, was a fantastic guitar player and the fact of the matter is there wasn't a bad tune on the album. Well worth tracking a copy down.
"Now Hear This" track listing: 1.) Traveling Like a Gypsy (Junior Hanson) - 6:15 rating: **** stars Imagine Jimi Hendrix having been raised in the Caribbean where he'd gained an affection for funk, and you'd get a feel for the slinky rocker 'Traveling Like a Gypsy'. Kicked along by Chapman's sultry bass and Hanson's sprawling guitar, this was a dynamite opener. Folks who had never heard Hanson's guitar should check this one out. Recorded several decades after the original studio version, YouTube has a live XM Radio performance of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5biPmjKvlxY 2.) Love Knows Everything (Junior Hanson) - 3:08 rating: **** stars With a lovely, breezy melody and some of Hanson's prettiest guitar work, 'Love Knows Everything' was the album's most conventional and radio friendly tune. To get a feel for this one, imagine the late Errol Brown and Hot Chocolate stripped of their pop sensibilities. The tune was also tapped as a single:
- 1973's 'Love Knows Everything' b/w 'Take You Into My Home' (Manticore catalog number MC 2001) 3.) Mister Music Maker (Junior Hanson) - 4:27 rating: *** stars 'Mister Music Maker' was a soothing, pastoral ballad exhibiting ind of a Traffic vibe. Coincidently the song featured the late Chris Wood on flute. 4.) Catch That Beat (Ken Cumberbatch) - 3:48 rating: *** stars Penned by guest keyboardist Ken Cumberbatch, 'Catch the Beat' was the album's only non-original. Nice mie-tempo rocker that gave Hanson an opportunity to stretch out on lead guitar. 5.) Take You Into My Home (Junior Hanson - Jean Roussell) - 3:11 rating: **** stars Slowing things down, the ballad 'Take You Into My Home' offered up a slinky Hendrix-esque number.
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2) Forget the title, this was straight-head funk-rock. Awesome tune with keybaordist Rousell getting some spotlight time. 2.) Rain (Junior Hanson) - 5:10 rating: **** stars The mid-tempo rocker 'Rain' was another track with a Hendrix flavor and high FM radio quotient. Nice melody and the Chapman/Isadore rhythm section was killer on this one. 4.) Smokin' To the Big "M" (instrumental) (Junior Hanson) - 9:53 rating: **** stars I suspect Jimi would have been proud to hear the squalling fuzz guitar on the closing instrumental 'Smokin' To the Big "M"'. Yeah, clocking in a almost ten minutes this closing jam was a bit long, but the basic melody was quite good and the four members generated quite a bit of energy on the track. In case anyone was curious, the title was a reference to Manticore President Mario Medious .
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Genre: rock Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Magic Dragon Company: Manticore Catalog: MC 66672 Year: 1974 Country/State: UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: yellow promo tag on cover; small cut out notch along edge Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4753 Price: $15.00 Cost: $2.00
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For an album released on the Manticore label (home to the always over-bearing Emerson, Lake & Palmer), this 1974 release came as a pleasant surprise. The fact that it features one of rock's true chameleons in the form of Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards, Jr.(aka Junior Hanson, aka Junior Kerr, aka Junior Marvin) was simply an added bonus.
The guy's discography is a hornet's nest and I'm not going to try to untangle it here, but Hanson was apparently a post Keef Hartley band project, as well as serving as the debut of his new stage name - Junior Hanson. The group's original line up consisted of Hanson, bassist Clive Chapman, drummer Conrad Isadore and keyboard player Jean Roussel. The quartet survived long enough to release one LP 1973's 'Now Hear This' (which I've never heard).
Prior to recording a sophomore album, namesake Hanson undertook a wholesale personnel shake up that saw him the only carryover member. The revised line up featured percussionist Brother James, drummer Glen LeFleur, and bassist Neil Murray.
Overlooking the butt ugly cover art (nice job there Bob Defrin), "Magic Dragon" was surprisingly good Hendrix inspired guitar rock with enough psych touches to make it interesting to folks collecting that genre. Hendrix wannabes are usually about as interesting as toenail clippings, but co-produced be namesake Junior Hanson and Manticore President Mario Medious, the album got off to a kick-ass start with the blazing 'Rocking Horseman' and seldom lets up. Virtually the entire album was worth hearing, but stand out tracks included 'Love Yer, Need You', 'Looking At Tin Soldiers' and the awesome title track. Okay, I'll add the funky 'Boy Meets Girl' to my list of favorites. While this one was a little more pop oriented than the rest of the album, it should appeal to all substance abusers in the crowd. You simply had to wonder how this one got lost. Hanson had everything needed to be a major star - great vocals, first rate chops and you had to wonder why he was criminally overlooked. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact he was a black Jamaican living in the UK.
1.) Rocking Horseman (John Burns) - 3:32 2.) Modern Day Religion (Junior Hanson - Ken Cumberbatch) - 3:10 3.) Down Into the Magic (Junior Hanson - Ken Cumberbatch) - 5:26 4.) Rock Me Baby (B.B. King - Joe Josea) - 3:55
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2) 2.) Boy Meets Girl (Cassandra Marhan) - 3:03 3.) American Beauty Rose (Junior Hanson - Ken Cumberbatch) - 3:05 4.) Looking At Tin Soldiers (Junior Hanson) - 3:44 5.) Magic Dragon (Junior Hanson - Ken Cumberbatch) - 2:58
The band apparently undertook a short US club tour in support of the album, but by the middle of 1974 were history. Hanson subsequently metamorphosed into Junior Marvin and ended up a member of Bob Marley and the Wailers. When Marley died in 1981, Marvin ended up fronting The Wailers for a couple of albums. He's released a slew of solo efforts and remains an in-demand guitarist.
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