Brandywine — Aged 1970 (USA, Blues Rock)br br 'Aged' is another one of those terrific late 60's albums that seemed to fall from the sky like colored rain back in the day and yet so few heard. The critics loved Brandywine - still do and these days their only album is rightly considered a cult classic. Formed by Albert Miller, a onetime member of The Critters; a smart New Jersey pop combo who scored two hits with 'Younger Girl' which was an even bigger single for The Lovin' Spoonful and The Beach Boys influenced 'Mr. Dieingly Sad'. With the end of The Critters, Miller moved on to form a band and secure a development deal with an MGM subsidiary as Men Working. At least one single followed as well as concert dates with The Cowsills, The Lemon Pipers and The Rascals but the relationship didn't last. With a name change to Brandywine, the group signed to Brunswick Records releasing just one album before breaking up in 1972.br br I don't want to say something cringe worthy to the effect 'like a fine wine this album has 'aged' well' but hey, it really has. From the acoustic opener 'Stay Here' to the rocking 'Ridin' Through The Rain' which reminds me a lot of The Who by the way, this is one cool piece of plastic. I like the spacey flute on The Band styled 'Somebody', but it's the kick ass guitar work from Edward Stasium that separates Brandywine from the usual fuzzy, blues based guitar bands of the day. Yes, there is some of that Woodstock folksy hippie vibe that crept into so much music back then but these guys were no Creedence Clearwater Revival, owing much to the British which can be heard on The Kinks influenced 'Mr. Johnson' and again picking up on The Who sound with album closer 'True To You'. I've no doubt that if 'Aged' was released a couple years later, Brandywine would have shown the slew of Beatles and Badfinger copyists the door in no time.br br Tracksbr br 1. Stay Here - 0:00br br 2. Ridin' Through The Rain - 3:14br br 3. Somebody - 7:06br br 4. Happiness Won't Buy A Bed (Ed Stasium, Leonard Schiavi) - 11:55br br 5. Look Around (Albert Miller, Ed Stasium, Ernest Miles) - 16:08br br 6. Searchin' (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 19:56br br 7. Mr. Johnson (Albert Miller, Ed Stasium, Ernest Miles) - 25:09br br 8. Humble John (Ed Stasium) - 30:18br br 9. True To Me - 34:38br br All songs by Albert Miller except where notedbr br Brandywinebr br *Mike Caruso - Bassbr *Chip Miles - Drums, Percussionbr *Albert Miller - Keyboards, Vocalsbr *Ed Stasium - Guitar, Vocalsbr Additional Musiciansbr *Pasquale Salerne - Trumpetbr *Billy Howell - Trombonebr br ⚠ If there are any copyright issues please contact me. I will remove the video.