OLYMPIC - Jedeme, jedeme - CZE Supraphon Remastered Press - LISTEN

"Still in September 1970, in just three days, the band recorded all the material for its third and last classic album titled Jedeme, Jedeme, although the number 3 also appeared on the cover. Released in a gatefold sleeve, the record showed the band as artists fascinated above all by the work of the late The Beatles, and also showed a palpable fascination with the then very popular and fashionable progressive rock. It is worth mentioning that several compositions were created as early as 1969 - during a French escapade. The whole thing opened with the sounds of a locomotive setting off, that is the 5-and-a-half-minute Pět Cestujících - a decidedly rock, slightly swaying piece recalling a little the influences of Ten Years After, Traffic and (gentle) Jimi Hendrix, thanks to the interplay of piano, organ and slightly jazzy guitar. Unfortunately, the one that followed, Když Jsem Bejval Tramp, was admittedly a likeable, but on a rock record rather superfluous piece harking back to the Dixieland era. Good that it is only 2 minutes... Third on the record, the balladic Mr. Den A Lady Noc, sung in a warm voice, could have appeared on a Cat Stevens album of that time, but the surprisingly rock, Beatles-like ending could not! The next on the record, the excellent Brouk, was a mixture of the rock sounds of the Beatles, the melodies of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and a good pinch of Jethro Tull that looks rather improbable on paper - also thanks to the charming flute part by Jiří Stivín (of Jazz Q Praha)! That is exactly how catchy, ambitious, British rock sounded in the autumn of 1970! A revelation! The first part was closed by the as much as 6-minute Danny - quite a pretty, ballad-rock, majestic and gently progressive piece (with another attractive part by Stivín - this time as a saxophonist) recalling some recordings of Procol Harum and The Beatles and right at the end almost quoting Donovan's Atlantis, sung by Janda literally personifying McCartney! The second side opened with the gently psychedelic, melodic Elixír - another strongly McCartney-like, rock piece that would have gained still more without the a cappella ending. Built on the sound of organ and electric guitar, the slightly swaying Bláznivej Kiki was a likeable, at moments slightly jazzy, progressive piece, and after it came Bon Soir Mademoiselle Paris, sung in Czech with a slight French mannerism - a beautiful, melancholic piece sung by Janda accompanied by charmingly mixed parts for flute, accordion, acoustic guitar and violin. The penultimate track on the second side, the cheerful and catchy Strážce Majáku, was another track on Jedeme, Jedeme proving that The Beatles' albums of 1968-1969 (and the single Hey Jude) must have been played to death by the main composer Petr Janda. The whole thing was closed by the 5-minute Tobogán - a slightly swaying, dense, almost hard-rock number that draws attention with excellent drumming and aggressive vocals." A REVIEW BY JACEK LEŚNIEWSKI FROM A BOOK ON ROCK IN THE FORMER EASTERN BLOC, BEGUN BUT ABANDONED AFTER HALF A YEAR (2021). A remastered 2021 reissue, in a gatefold sleeve, sealed.