The"Sounds Like This" album had many songs on it that were originally covered in 1970 at the Boston recording session, however, there were a few written later, such as "A Day in the Life of a Preacher." We played an early recording from 1972 as "Preacher, otherwise known as the Squeeze," which was VERY different from later live renditions. It had a much slower hoe–down style, already with verses that were quite profound… containing not only the religious reference, but lawyers & politicians. Then came the real " Squeeze" section (my title BTW) which was the original designated jamming area within Preacher, having a loose segment for Taff and then Roye to play solos and improvise …and so it continued until the Hendrix influenced "Jimi–jam." It wasn't actually re–titled as "Mr.H" until those words were written, as the instrumental foundation was laid many years earlier… right after the news of Jimi's death on September 18th 1970. That night, we began by playing our cover version of "Hey Joe", then later in our set, Roye picked a "Band of Gypsys" riff to fill a segue and a long jam in Jimi's honor ensued, including "Little Wing."

Another song on this album was "Wings." Another Roye classic which he had first written as an acoustic song, thus his solo intro as Taff joins in quietly followed by Mo and finally Ronjoins in adding a heavier contrast to make this a real Nektar song on Sounds. "Wings" was retired for long periods of time after 1973, as it just seemed to get forgotten when compiling the live set lists. "New Day Dawning" is also a track from the Boston album, but with "Norwegian Wood" integrated, instead of the two other songs within the Boston version.

After its first appearance in September 1972 until semi–retirement in late 1974, "Cast Your Fate" was a musical cross over from the Boston style root into that side two of Tab era, which had a stronger lyrical content. The long introduction was often a tuning check as we took the stage, "Take your time and take mine too" or "Take my time and take yours too" were great interchangeable lines that opened this piece, depending which way Roye sang it. Then "I've got time for both of you" could even be a menage–a–trois. Thus it could almost be a love song, but for its abusive content… among other things, it seems to be about arguments within relationships! You can form your own conclusions about the meaning of it all, or, just concentrate on the musical foundation instead, you may hear its "KoT and D–jam" roots yet delivered with slightly different tempos!.

The visual slides for CYF became the angry father, the little boy with a saucepan on his head and the blue eyed girl sitting by the window… slides that I used later during "Listen" (when CYF wasn't played)… as I always tried to include my "good" visuals wherever possible. ONLY two tracks from that double album ever warranted a moving backdrop… and BOTH were in black & white! The "Good day" film (made in 1970) and the fighter planes crashing plus the Hindenberg ending used for "1 2 3 4." Six liquid, four slide projectors, four pinwheels, the horizontal mirror ball plus strobed cymbals and "floating slides" were usually enough.

"1 2 3 4" was a live show ender way back in 1971, thus it had been through the wringer many times before 1973, when it had grown into a 12:50 version which was recorded live on the Sounds album! When Bellaphon needed to release "1 2 3 4" as a "single," it contained only the original beginning where the sparse, but direct and to the point vocals exist, inspiration for which (I believe) came from the Woodstock anthem by Country Joe & the Fish with a twist of Hendrix. This first section immediately led to longer jammed sections being added which began with the "bubble & squeak" sounds from Roye's Epiphone. This is where the "sounds" of war began… A piece of Taff's Scottish heritage is depicted via his Hammond imitated bagpipes, one of the original marching instruments of war. War drums from Ron's kit and Mo (listen to his "fuzz bass" near the very end) in a rhythmic march brings us to where Roye could then wind into nifty sounds of machine guns and screaming dive bombers panned across the stereo PA between his solo riffs. All the tricks everyone used were a "Sounds" highlight, as they involved the instrumental creations which translated into ordered mayhem and carnage! "Nektar …Sounds Like This" as a title, could be read as a whole, or accented on any single word, because the instrumental sounds created via foot pedals, echoes, and ingenuity became parts of this album.

Although written during the Vietnam era, "1 2 3 4" is about the futility of hostilities in general, so I had some serious slides on my floating carousel… including a green tank, which often drove across the back–line amplifiers. I also had a central photo collage, showing a pen and ink picture of an anguished Asian dad holding his limp child on the planet Earth which was a peace sign in dripping blood! When "Journey" was dropped from the sets, the slide from the back cover of Sounds was also recycled into "1 2 3 4," thus nuclear war was also portrayed. Planes dived and exploded on the screens, I used a lot of red liquids, which pulsed with Ron and Mo throughout, until the Hindenberg crashed in red liquid flames over its B&W footage. A severely clipped version (the first 4 minutes) of "1 2 3 4" was released by Bellaphon as a single "45" coupled with "Do You Believe in Magic?," which was also clipped.

During part one of this series we covered.. "New Day Dawning," "Oddysee" "Do You Believe in Magic?," "Where Did You Go" /"Whatcha Gonna Do?," "Good Day," "1 2 3 4"/"Our Love Will Last Forever" and "Da da dum," so I'm trying NOT to repeat too many of those titles during this episode. "Sounds Like This" was our second chance to release these Boston songs properly,… plus by 1973, they HAD somewhat matured. The bonus CD on the Eclectic double CD remaster contained alternate mixes and takes from this live session, plus a medley called "Sunshine Down in the City", which included "Tomorrow" and a jam which was a precursor to RTF, then a different Preacher. Another jam "It's all in your Mind" contained an alternate "Candlelight" from the Boston era. …and that about summed up Part Four of the story. It's ironic that these pages have become MY notes on a screen, just like then,… "interpreting sounds". Mick.© 2009