Shamrock -

Shamrock was an American instrumental jazz-funk combo that released a self-titled album on two-press Blake Company Records in 1977.

Members: –

Shamrock (1977)

Shamrock released their self-titled in 1977 on Blake Company Records (AW #14049), a label based in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

The album contains five instrumental co-compositions across its nineteen-minute A side and shorter (twelve-minute) flipside.

A1. “Gypsy” (4:12) bluesy slow-burn jazz-funk with crying, oozing guitar leads against a three-note ostinato (E♭→A♭→B♭), countered by roaming Fender Rhodes electric piano.
A2. “Shamrock” (5:25) windy opening heralds mid-tempo wah-wah chordal pattern — E→A→D→G with suspended 2nd and 6th notes — overlaid with slithering soprano saxophone and faint, staccato Fender Rhodes jogs.
A3. “Knotty Pine” (9:27) uptempo funk (in E) with picked/circular guitar figure, wah chordal accents, hard bottom-end bass, and scaling soprano sax. Tightened bridge (in B). Searing fuzzy guitar solo on second round.

B1. “Midnight” (5:59)
B2. “Its’s Not Forever” (6:02)

Sessions occurred at Quantum Recording Studio in Torrance, California; the site of 1976/77 recordings by Cold Blood, Candi Staton, Funk Factory, Rufus, and subsequent titles by Lisa Dal Bello and Shadow.

Shamrock appeared in a single sleeve with a green/black trail-effect photo of the rock guitarist and a large seated brass band. The backside shows credits beside a black/white version of the cover image, credited to the Foxworthy design firm of San Diego.

Shamrock was the first of two titles on Blake, which also issued a 1977 album by folk singer Willie Weatherly, a relation of producer Samuel Weatherly, a onetime Clique soundman who oversaw contemporary titles by singers David Cornwall and Johnny Dark. Blake titles were distributed by Album World, a taxscam IRDA subsidiary that released multiple 1977 albums attributed to fake names (Dirty Licks, Gold, Hard Luck, Salsa, Sunset, Sunshine), most with Foxworthy graphics, including one (The Fantastic Dena Carrol) that doctors the cover of Lou Reed‘s 1975 live release Lou Reed Live.

In 2013, Blake reissued Shamrock on vinyl.

Discography: