Thursday, May 01, 2008

The Great Scots - The Great Lost Great Scots Album !!!

Mp3\ 55Mb
***************
England had the Stones, Beatles and Kinks...the Pacific Northwest had the Raiders, Kingsmen and Sonics...Canada had the Great Scots...the most kick-ass garage band ever to don kilts. The Great Scots drifted from Halifax, Nova Scotia to California, where they hooked up with producer/mastermind Richard Delvy. The Great Scots twin albums find them rampaging through ultra-cool Brit-beat-infused material, and feature liner notes by Chesterfield King Greg Prevost and legendary Caribou, Maine deejay Wally Berk, who never, ever stopped believing himself to be "the sixth Great Scot"!
Rick McNeil (vocals)
Bill Schnare (guitar)
Wayne Forrest (guitar)
Gerry Archer (drums)
Dave Isner (bass)
This actually has only five of the dozen cuts the group released officially; the rest of the 16-song disc is filled out by unreleased tracks recorded by the band in May 1966. It's tight mid-'60s rock with a wide range, but not much personality, although executed fairly enjoyably. "Show Me the Way" (included in the Pebbles series) is here and is an obvious highlight, though they sound a lot like Manfred Mann on Goffin-King's "Honey and Wine" and "What Am I to Do," and "Lord, I'm So Lonely" (an obscure Billy Vera composition) is pretty fair White soul in the Animals mold. Barely any of the songs were written by the group themselves, which prevents this from being a notable effort even for '60s collectors, although they most likely could have been stars if they'd been picked up by big-time producers and given commercial material, a la Paul Revere & the Raiders. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
While determining just who was America's or Britain's greatest rock & roll band will forever be in doubt, the list gets whittled down to one name when figuring out who was the biggest group from Nova Scotia: the Great Scots. From Halifax, the Scots cut three singles of wild punk music, loaded with solid playing and great screaming vocals.
The group began officially in 1963 as the Shadows, changing their name to the Beavers (all wearing Mohawk haircuts) the following year and finally becoming the Great Scots by December 1964. The original lineup consisted of guitarist Bill Schnare, singer Rick McNeil, bassist Dave Isnor, drummer Gerry Archer and guitarist Wayne Forrest. Hailed in the Canadian press as "Canada's answer to the Beatles," the group flew down to California in 1965, looking for bigger horizons to conquer. Working out of Hollywood during that time period, the group capitalized on their Scottish heritage and wore Nova Scotian tartan kilts onstage, causing quite a stir everywhere they played. Hooking up with producer (and Challengers drummer) Richard Delvey, the Scots hit the charts with "Run For Your Life," "The Light Hurts My Eyes" and "Miracle Worker," also issuing sides under the name Free For All. No teenage primitive fuzz box and Farfisa organ garage band, the Scots sported solid harmonies and a wide musical palette that embraced everything from blues to rock & roll to a smattering of jazz. Their fame in California grew by leaps and bounds, doing guest shots on both American Bandstand and Shindig!, being featured in various teen magazines, working big package shows and receiving the key to the city from the mayor of Santa Barbara, California. But the good times came to a quick end by 1967 because of the Vietnam War. The members had permanent visas, meaning they were all eligible for the draft. When Dave Isnor was plucked from the group and spent two years in the American Armed Forces, the others members called it a day and moved back to Canada. With all the members still living close to each other, the band still reunites every Labor Day to play and reminisce about their short-lived heyday. The Great Scots' ride on the show business rocket may have been a short one, but for a self described "bunch of virgin kids from Halifax," it was the ride of a lifetime. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
INFO :
**************

No comments:

Post a Comment

RULES :
1. ANONYMOUS REQUESTS WITHOUT ANSWER ! If you take the time to write a message, take a few seconds to sign it with your name, please.
2. If you think that the post was made in violation of your copyright, just report it in the comments and we will delete the material.
3. You can report of about dead links, but please don't make more than one - two repost request per week.