ROCK-A-RAMA

HEAVY ORGAN: BACH LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO - Virgil Fox (Decca):: Virgil Fox accomplishes the rather unexpected feat of turning Bach into the Roller Derby. Which is probably what needed to be done all along.

HOPE (A&M):: Produced by Jack Richardson of Alice Cooper, Guess Who and Mitch Ryder fame, this Canadian group specialises in balladic panaceas with a strong Jesus-rock slant, inflated with full string orchestra which fails to hide the fact that they can’t write at all, though they don’t have to prove their instrumental chops much.

HONKY TONK ANGEL - Ellen Mcllwaine (Polydor):: If Grace Slick singing “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” with congas is your bag, this is where to find it. She used to be in a one-album band called The Fear Itself, if even the archaeologists are interested.

FORGOTTEN SONGS & UNSUNG HEROES - John Kay (Dunhill):: Not half as macho obnoxious as before, Kay has mellowed to the point of treading the aprons of folkiedom, and become merely dull.

HOT THANG - Eddie Senay (Sussex):: Yes, that’s right, Sherri is hot-to-trot. But not exactly the way you’re thinking: she’s an instructress in a Miami Dance Studio, and her favorite step is the fox trot! Sounds a bit oldfashioned for such a hip-looking chick? Let’s ask her: “Why do I have to like bump-andjerk dances, just because they’re popular?” Sherry says, “I don’t even like the new rock music. Give me a good Frank Sinatra record, or a Tommy Dorsey big-band arrangment any day. I’m not old enough to really remember them, ‘cause I grew up to Pat Boone, Elvis Presley, swingers like that. But I almost wish I had been around for the real ‘swing’ era.” Don’t be misled by Sherry’s “nostalgia” philosophy, she’s really quite a swinger — it’s just that, well, she’s sure no hippie! But come to think of it, did you ever see a hippie chick with a body like that?

GUNS & BUTTER (Cotillion):: Another hype. Liner notes by New York Times writer: “Their compositions, from songs to symphonies, flow easily into rock, into jazz, into classical moments.” Record sounds like a cross between Ars Nova and this week’s superslick Chicago entry, with-occasional overtones of The Ten Commandments soundtrack. Lyrics: “I am a man/ You’re a woman/ Please don’t stop me/ Don’t even try,...”

INVITATION TO OPENNESS - Les McCann (Atlantic):: Like a funkier Weather Report

with certain overtones of Herbie Mann in his better days, this is perfect, gorgeous, mesmerising jazz muzak. The large ensemble also features Yusef Lateef at his most oboe-exotic.

LOOSE — Crazy Horse (Reprise):: They were a hype in the first place, and now, sans Nils Lofgren, they’ve sunk to even slacker levels.

DR. HOOK & THE MEDICINE SHOW (Columbia):: The lead singer wears an eyepatch, most of the songs were written by that old jive artist Shel Silverstein, and the band as : a whole manages to carry the familiar mojo goulash to new nadirs.

SITTIN’ IN — Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina (Columbia):: A super-slick collage of readymades as diverse as Elton John, Van Morrison, Caribbean music, Winnie the Pooh and kitsch of varying currency, pristinely constructed and aimed straight at the heart of hip MOR radio.

THE MUSIC PEOPLE - Various Artists (Columbia):: Columbia only does this once or twice a year, but when they do it, they go big. Samplers must be selling well, or something: this is three records for the price of one. There’s an interesting, but not particularly astounding, Dylan (with the Hawks) cut, “Grand Coulee Dam,” Johnny Winter’s “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” Grin’s “White Lies,” some Santana, Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Blue Oyster Cult, Grootna, R.E.O. Speedwagon and Ten Years After doing “Baby Let Me Rock and Roll You.” There’s also Genya Ravan, Blood Sweat and Tears {and a David Clayton Thomas cut), Poco, It’s A Beautiful Day and the Chambers Brothers just to remind us that Columbia is after all, CBS, which used to mean Ed Sullivan.

BUZZY LINHART (Buddha):: Boy, does he yodel a great raga! If Tim Buckley had enough sense of humor to turn himself into a cartoon he would be Buzzy Linhart.

60,000,000 BUFFALO — Nevada Jukebox ' (Atco):: Actually I haven’t figured out yet whether the group is named Nevada Jukebox and the album title, all them bison or vice versa, but anyway all the Judy Roderick fans (she used to be a folk singer with wire rim glasses before it got hip to rock an’ skol) oughta know that she’s still alive and kickin’, still pays dues to Charlie Patton thank the good lord, and despite being a “Maid of Constant Sorrow” has the balls to actually record a song called “Cocaine Shuffle.” Good show!

UPS & DOWNS — Len Barry (Buddah):: With the drug problem we’ve got in this country

today this man should be ashamed of himself. And the humanist flapdoodle of his compos don’t help. Which would you rather hear, “One Two Three” or “Diggin’ Life”?

BOBBY WHITLOCK (Dunhill):: Murph the Surf should only be around to see this. Bobby Whitlock apparently just got married or fell in love or saw Long Ago, Tomorrow, ’cuz most of his songs are about how much he loves his lover and only a masochist would wanta count the ways. Van Morrison he ain’t when it comes to connubial bliss, and besides there really is something to be said for people keeping some of their romantic joys to themselves,

ULTRA VIOLET’S HOT PARTS - The Sound Track Album (whoever they are) (Kama Sutra):: Democracy, the abolition of slavery, and the abhorrence of cruelty are all only very recent innovations, more or less of the last 100 years.

“BABBACOMBE” LEE — Fairport Convention (A&M):: Fairport does a rock opera? I winced. I read the story in the little booklet that came with it, and it was a good story. But the music is so thin as to be British folkMuzak. It is unconvincing, and sounds like a slapdash effort kept afloat only by Swarbrick’s enthusiasm, which must be boundless. Fairport is currently going through troubles again, and if this is indicative of what they intend to do from now on, maybe ‘twould be better to let the ship sink.

KEITH EMERSON WITH NICE (Mercury):: Nice fans (there are such things?) beware: what Mercury’s done here isn’t apparent from looking at the cover, and you’ll see this record in the store and be tempted to buy it, but don’t. Because when you open it up, you’ll see this: “SRM-2-6500 consists of 2 records: SR-61295 THE FIVE BRIDGES and SR-61324 ELEGY” and, farther down the page, “These arrangements & recordings have not been previously released by The Nice.” Confused? You’re supposed to be. What it means is that some of these cuts are outtakes from those two albums. It’s a cheap trick, and one wonders if the Truth in Packaging Act might hold here...

RIO GRANDE MUD - Z.Z. Top (London):: A power trio from Texas, with strong influence of the Stones, Johnny Winter and probably the Allman Brothers, these dudes aren’t exactly a new sensation, will hand you no surprises, but they should be far more popular than they are, and anyone with a real craving for blues-derived metal mania will find sustenance here.

GERALDINE - Flip Wilson (Little David):: You know, ol’ Flip just gets better and better at this stuff all the time. I mean, wouldja look at those legs! Did I hear somebody say Tom? You decide.