Czesław Niemen – Sukces (1968)

1. Płonąca stodoła
2. Gdzie mak się czerwieni
3. Włóczęga
4. Narodziny miłości
5. Allilah
6. Najdłuższa noc
7. Sukces
8. Jeżeli
9. Spiżowy krzyk
10. Tyle jest dróg
11. Niepotrzebni
12. Klęcząc przed tobą

Musicians
- Tomasz Jaśkiewicz / guitar
- Marian Zimiński / piano, organ
- Tadeusz Gogosz / bass
- Tomasz Buttowt / drums
- Ryszard Podgórski / trumpet
- Zbigniew Sztyc / tenor saxophone
- Czesław Niemen / vocals, organ

CZESŁAW NIEMEN started out as a soul singer. This album is hardly prog as it it, however, it's got the elements he's best known of. I'm always amazed by his great voice.

The first song, Płonąca Stodoła, starts out groovy and keeps building up throughout the song. I could imagine dancing to this funky song, but I could also imagine myself listening to this in a quiet room alone. It's a powerful tune, very fast and groovy.

Gdzie się mak czerwieni is a bit slower, like he's taking a breath and a break. It's pretty basic soul, and one can spot some adapted influences to the africanamerican soul in the trumpet and the sax, or how they play. This carries on through the record.

The third song, Włóczęga is a gain a bit faster and is really entertaining. Not as groovy as the first song, but still a standout. One of my favourites.

Narodziny miłości has a nice piano that takes it forward. Soon the horns join, and though this isn't a fast paced song, the groove is apparent. The groovy, as we speak is the most obvious part of this album too, and his music throughout.

The organ in Allilah indicates more towards the style Mr. Niemen was going to adapt later on on his carreer. It's only an intro though, and the groove takes over again, with a very proggy guitar solo this time.

The songs are short and easy to listen to. They carry forward, and sometimes seem a bit repetitive, though each one has their hook with which to capture the listener. The best thing about songs such as Najdłuższa noc is that they don't need the other songs to sound good. each piece is good on their own. This one has a nice organ solo, something that's not so very usual to this funk-soul scenery. All in all a nice song.

Sukces is a success... haha, good? No? Ok then. Well, the title track is the first real ballad in a vague sense. It's slow and goes around the 3/4 timing, it's mostly carried around by the organ and singing. I still have to admire Niemen's voice and how he stretches it to give the song the depth it needs.

Jeżeli is more of a bluesy tune, with a nice guitar solo there too. The musical parts are, however, not something the artist boasts about. The music is mostly based on the groove made possible by the whole band and then the singing on it.

This shows in the next piece very well. The horns play a fill every now and then, and the bass drives a pattern that keeps the tempo up. Spiżowy krzyk is one of the outstanding songs of the album. It's very catchy and makes you wan to listen to it again. This album really makes you want to jam along, and I'd really love to be playing these songs with my guitar.

Well Niemen did well, keeping these songs short. Given, they're a bit repetitive, but each one has their own catch that really keeps them separate. I couldn't imagine light tunes like these stretched longer just for the sake of it. Good music to get high on, as they say. The touch is indeed very psychedelic, very much because of his brilliant singing and the organ that gives the music the original touch.

The next two songs remind me of the Blues Brothers in a sense. Especially Niepotrzebni. It kicks in with a nice groove, an I could imagine a whole hall full of people dancing and twisting. The other one is a bit slower and a bit less apparent however.

It's a shame Klęcząc przed Tobą has to be the last song on this record. I'm still waiting for that sunny day to put it on and turn it really loud, just to enjoy my life.

What can I say... I love this album. It's refreshing, it's extremely groovy and with a nice psychedelic touch. It's got great singing and coherent playing, the band plays very well together. But it's not really prog, perhaps on two occasions, as it was the way of the times back in 60s. It's more of the Woodstock nation music, something like Jefferson Airplane at times, especially on the blues parts. --- Passionist, progarchives.com

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