The Tremeloes - The Singles (1966-75)

Singles (SP, UK) The Tremeloes:

1966 Blessed/The Right Time

1966 Good Day Sunshine/What A State I'm In

1967 Silence Is Golden/Let Your Hair Hang Down

1967 Be Mine/Suddenly Winter

1967 Even The Bad Times Are Good/Jenny's Alright

1967 Here Comes My Baby/Gentleman Of Pleasure

1968 As You Are/Suddenly You Love Me

1968 Helule Helule/Girl From Nowhere

1968 I Shall Be Released/I Miss My Baby

1968 My Little Lady/All The World To Me

1969 Hello World/Up, Down, All Around

1969 Number One/Instant Whip

1970 By The Way/Breakheart Motel

1971 Hello Buddy/My Woman

1971 Right Wheel, Left Hammer, Sham/Take It Easy

1971 Too Late/If You Ever

1972 Blue Suede Tie/Yodel Al

1972 I Like It That Way/Wakamaker

1973 Make Or Break/Movin' On

1973 Ride On/Hands Off

1973 You Can't Touch Sue/Story For The Boys

1974 Do I Love You/Witchcraft

1974 Good Time Band/September, November, December

1974 Say O.K./Pinky

1975 Be Boppin' Boogie/Ascot Cowboys

1975 Rocking Circus/Don't Let The Music Die

1975 Someone, Someone/My Friend Delaney

*****

Группа The Tremeloes была образована певцом Брайаном Пулом (Brian Poole) в 1959 году в маленьком английском городке Дегенхэм, графство Эссекс, и до 1966 года носила название Brian Pool & The Tremeloes. Пул был очень большим поклонником американского певца Бадди Холли, а потому даже заказал себе очки на его манер - в старомодной оправе, а потом повсюду в них ходил. Группа выступала по различным концертным площадкам и в очень скором времени привлекла внимание телевидения - в 1961 году состоялось ее первое телевизионное выступление на канале BBC. Годом позже группа подписала контракт с звукозаписывающей компанией Decca - компания предпочла их The Beatles. Факт, между прочим, очень интересный. В 1962 году вышел первый альбом группы, песня с которого заняла летом 1963 года четвертое место в британском хит-параде - называлась она Twist And Shout. Сразу после этого Пул решает сменить имидж и избавляется от очков в старомодной оправе, меняя их на контактные линзы. В сентябре 1963 британский хит-парад завоевывает песня Do You Love Me - Tremeloes становится одной из самых популярных групп в Англии наряду с Битлз. Следующие два сингла занимают шестое и второе место в хит-параде 1964 года.

Несмотря на бесспорный успех, сопутствовавший группе, Брайан Пул, бывший очень стеснительным и замкнутым человеком, покидает группу в 1966 году. Казалось бы, теперь все потеряно - Брайана любили поклонники, он обладал очень неплохим голосом, он был лидером коллектива; как продолжать без него? Тем не менее его товарищи не растерялись и пригласили на его место Лена Хоукса (он пел, а заодно играл на бас-гитаре, так как вместе с Пулом из группы ушел и басист Ховард). На волне всех этих неожиданных перемен группа переходит под крыло компании CBS. Все эти перемены, как оказалось позже, пошли только на благо: обновившись и сократив название до The Tremeloes, группа приступила к штурму британского хит-парада с удивительным энтузиазмом. В феврале 1967 года сингл Here Comes My Baby занимает четвертое место, а двумя месяцами позже сингл Silence Is Golden поднимается на первое место в хит-парадах по обе стороны Атлантики. Песня стала самой настоящей классикой шестидесятых.
В период с 1967 по 1971 года дела у группы идут как нельзя лучше. В январе 1968 песня Suddenly You Love Me, тоже ставшая классикой (советский и российский слушатель, с сожалению, больше знает ее в исполнении Джо Дассена на французском, и ВИА "Поющие Гитары" под названием "Песенка велосипедиста"), занимает шестое место. Вообще, всего за эти четыре года тринадцать песен группы The Tremeloes попали в TOP-40 британского хит-парада. В начале семидесятых группа решила отойти от прежнего стиля и стала играть прог-рок, что не было принято большинством поклонников. Лидер-гитарист Рик Вест покинул группу в 1970; в 1974, попав в серьезную автокатастрофу, группу покинул вокалист Хоукс - он переехал жить в Америку (в 1977 он выпустил один-единственный сольный альбом); а годом позже ее покинул гитарист Алан Блэйкли (он скончался в 1996 году). Таким образом, к 1975 году в группе остался только один музыкант из оригинального состава - барабанщик Дэйв Мэнден - с новыми музыкантами он попытался сохранить группу, и еще несколько лет она выступала в клубах.

Beau Brummels - North Beach Legends (1964-65) Vinil

A Beau Brummels bonanza! San Francisco's Beau Brummels cut a staggering amount of stellar material for Autumn Records. It made no difference whether they were demo reels or full-on band sessions: all are jammed with stunningly fine originals. We've assembled 14 of our favorites -- most of which have never before appeared on LP -- to create North Beach Legends.

While they only had two big hits, the Beau Brummels were one of the most important and underrated American groups of the 1960s. They were the first U.S. unit of any sort to successfully respond to the British Invasion. They were arguably the first folk-rock group, even predating the Byrds, and also anticipated some key elements of the San Francisco psychedelic sound with their soaring harmonies and exuberant melodies. Before they finally reached the end of the string, they were also among the first bands to record country-rock in the late '60s.

The key axis of the band was formed by guitarist/songwriter Ron Elliott, who penned most of the Brummels' moody and melodious material, and singer Sal Valentino, owner of one of the finest voices in mid-'60s rock. Spotted by local DJ Tom Donahue in a club in San Mateo (just south of San Francisco), the group was signed to Donahue's small San Francisco-based label, Autumn Records, in 1964. With Sly Stewart (later Sly Stone) in the producer's chair, they made the Top 20 right off the bat with "Laugh, Laugh." The melancholy, minor-key original sounded so much like the British bands inundating the airwaves that many listeners initially mistook the Brummels for an English act. The follow-up single, "Just a Little," was another excellent, melancholy number that became their biggest hit, making the Top Ten.
The Beau Brummels made a couple of fine albums in 1965, dominated by strong original material and featuring the band's ringing guitars and multi-part, mournful harmonies. The best of their early work is nearly as fine as the Byrds' first recordings, yet the band was losing ground commercially, partially because Autumn, being such a small label, lacked promotional muscle. "You Tell Me Why" was their only other Top 40 hit, though "Sad Little Girl" and the Byrds knock-off "Don't Talk to Strangers" were excellent singles. The band also shuffled personnel a few times, and Ron Elliott was unable to stay on the road because of diabetes. Autumn was sold in 1966 to Warners, who made the lunkheaded move of forcing the band to record an entire album of Top 40 covers -- ignoring the fact that original material was one of the Brummels' primary fortes.
Regrouping as a trio, the group recorded a critically acclaimed, more experimental album in 1967, Triangle. Their last Warners LP, Bradley's Barn, found the group branching into country-rock, a year or so before it became trendy. The Beau Brummels did re-form for an unimpressive reunion album in 1975, and although Ron Elliott and Sal Valentino continued to make music and work on various low-profile projects of their own, they've never made records on par with the Brummels' vintage work.

1. Just a Little (alternate version)

2. Sometime at Night (alternate vocal)

3. I'll Tell You

4. When It Comes to Your Love (alternate version)

5. Sad Little Girl (first version)

6. Fine With Me

7. Love Is Just a Game (demo)

8. Laugh Laugh (alternate version)

9. Woman (alternate instrumental version)

10. Dream On

11. It's So Nice (demo)

12. Still in Love With You Baby (first version)

13. Tomorrow Is Another Day (demo)

14. Pity the Fool (demo)

 

Thanks kukurukay NNM.RU

Brenda Lee - I'm Sorry: Complete (1995)

BRENDA...

One of the biggest pop stars of the early '60s, Brenda Lee hasn't attracted as much critical respect as she deserves. She is sometimes inaccurately characterized as one of the few female teen idols. More crucially, the credit for achieving success with pop-country crossovers usually goes to Patsy Cline, although Lee's efforts in this era were arguably of equal importance. While she made few recordings of note after the mid-'60s, the best of her first decade is fine indeed, encompassing not just the pop ballads that were her biggest hits, but straight country and some surprisingly fierce rockabilly.

http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BrendaLee1.html

Lee was a child prodigy, appearing on national television by the age of ten, and making her first recordings for Decca the following year (1956). Her first few Decca singles, in fact, make a pretty fair bid for the best preteen rock & roll performances this side of Michael Jackson. "BIGELOW 6-200," "Dynamite," and "Little Jonah" are all exceptionally powerful rockabilly performances, with robust vocals and white-hot backing from the cream of Nashville's session musicians (including Owen Bradley, Grady Martin, Hank Garland, and Floyd Cramer). Lee would not have her first big hits until 1960, when she tempered the rockabilly with teen idol pop on "Sweet Nothin's," which went to the Top Five.

The comparison between Lee and Cline is to be expected, given that both singers were produced by Owen Bradley in the early '60s. Naturally, many of the same session musicians and backup vocalists were employed. Brenda, however, had a bigger in with the pop audience, not just because she was still a teenager, but because her material was more pop than Cline's, and not as country. Between 1960 and 1962, she had a stunning series of huge hits: "I'm Sorry," "I Want to Be Wanted," "Emotions," "You Can Depend on Me," "Dum Dum," "Fool #1," "Break It to Me Gently," and "All Alone Am I" all made the Top Ten. Their crossover appeal is no mystery. While these were ballads, they were delivered with enough lovesick yearning to appeal to adolescents, and enough maturity for the adults. The first-class melodic songwriting and professional orchestral production guaranteed that they would not be ghettoized in the country market.

Lee's last Top Ten pop hit was in 1963, with "Losing You." While she still had hits through the mid-'60s, these became smaller and less frequent with the rise of the British Invasion (although she remained very popular overseas). The best of her later hits, "Is It True?," was a surprisingly hard-rocking performance, recorded in 1964 in London with Jimmy Page on guitar. 1966's "Coming on Strong," however, would prove to be her last Top 20 entry.

In the early '70s, Lee reunited with Owen Bradley and, like so many early white rock & roll stars, returned to country music. For a time she was fairly successful in this field, making the country Top Ten half-a-dozen times in 1973-1974. Although she remained active as a recording and touring artist, for the last couple of decades she's been little more than a living legend, directing her intermittent artistic efforts to the country audience.

 

 

BRENDA ! THE BEST !!!

Twice As Much - That's All( 1968)

One of the most anonymous-sounding acts of the British Invasion, Twice as Much was the duo of Dave Skinner and Andrew Rose, harmony singers who also wrote much of their own material. Signed to the Immediate label (run by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham), the pair recorded several singles and a couple of albums between 1966 and 1968. Most of these recordings were innocuous, pleasantly forgettable pop affairs in the Peter & Gordon/Chad & Jeremy mold, with light orchestral pop/rock arrangements that sometimes employed a touch of the Baroque. They had their only British Top 40 success with a cover of the Stones' "Sitting on a Fence"; although the Stones' version was one of their best cuts from the Between the Buttons era, the Twice as Much interpretation seems to miss the point completely, transforming it into a chipper, quasi-vaudevillian tune without a hint of ambiguity or sullenness.

wice as Much never got much more than a couple of dismissive comparisons to Simon & Garfunkel (to whom there's admittedly a slight vocal resemblance, although the U.K. duo's brand of lush psych-pop owes little to the New Yorkers' folk-rock roots) and a footnote in pop history for covering a Rolling Stones song on their first Immediate single ("Sitting on a Fence," the country-tinged opener here). This is a shame, because the vocal blend of Dave Skinner and Andrew Rose is simply gorgeous, and they were a dab hand as songwriters as well. Nothing on That's All is up to the level of "Night Time Girl," the album track from the debut, Own Up, that's among the loveliest songs of the entire psych-pop era, but this album is much more consistent than the patchy debut. Soft and gentle, along the lines of Chad and Jeremy's Of Cabbages and Kings, or perhaps Curt Boettcher's work, the album includes gems like a pair of Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane rarities, "Hey Girl" and the trippy "Green Circles," a dreamy take on the Dionne Warwick classic "You'll Never Get to Heaven," and an inspired medley of the ghostly original "Life Is But Nothing," with an oddly resigned version of Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance." That's All is second-string work to be sure, but it's certainly of interest to all sunshine pop and lite-psych fans.

The BLUE STARS - For Guitarfreaks Only (1980) Danemark

Entre 1980 et 1984, The BLUE STARS enregistrent trois albums pour DSR 'For Guitarfreaks Only', 'Strictly Instrumental' et The Blue Stars Third Album' (1984), le label qui etait le fer de lance du rock instrumental revival en Europe. Between 1980 and 1984, The BLUE STARS recorded three albums for DSR 'For GuitarFreaks Only', 'Strictly Instrumental' and The Blue Stars Third Album '(1984), the label that was the spearhead of instrumental rock revival in Europe.

1980 : For Guitarfreaks Only

- DSR LPS 8008 LP Vinyl bleu clair.

Face A : Ghost Walk, Django, Wagon Train, Rocking The Battle, Wiggle Beat, Love Birds, Theme From Wild Angels

Face B : Morgen, Deep In The Heart of Texas, My Bonnie, Mariane, Listen To My Heart, Cape Kennedy, Riders In The Sky

MEMBRES

Jens NIELSEN

Ole VINTER

 Lars Hymoller MADSEN

 Paul Erik RASMUSSEN

Formation 1990's :

 Jens NIELSEN

 Tom VINTER

 Ole VINTER

 Paul RASMUSSEN

 

 

Grandma's Rockers - Homemade Apple Pie & Yankee Ingenuity(1967)

From the beginning of our time together, the Rockers have been equal parts love of close friends and love of making music. Larry, Jim and Jamie have known each other since early childhood in Maquoketa, Iowa. Brian moved to town in 7th grade and immediately became part of the group. Chuck, two years younger, was always around, singing in a choir or playing in a band.

Jim Marousis - guitar

Jamie Farnum - drums

Larry Williams - guitar

Brian Haas - bass

Chuck Farnum - vocals

We began in 1963, when the folk hits Tom Dooley, MTA, Greenback Dollar and Four Strong Winds were playing on the radio. AM radio that is. Pre-Sputnik, pre-hippies and long hair, pre-Vietnam, pre-Beatles even! Two acoustic guitars, a banjo and yes, a washtub bass. We were called Brand X and then the Travelers, emulating the Kingston Trio sound and playing any chance we got for school assemblies and in nursing homes. When we started we were the only band in town for our generation.

When we turned electric we were first called The Shadows and we listened primarily to The Beach Boys, with a secondary influence of Paul Revere and the Raiders. We also did some Eric Burden and the Animals, the Dave Clark Five, and of course like everyone else alive at that time, the Beatles and Stones, although we never really had a lot of their music in our style. Pretty much Beach Boys.

For our first electric gig (see photo), in December of 1964, we borrowed guitars and amps, drove 40 miles one way, played 3 or 4 hours for a school Christmas dance in Anamosa, and got paid ten dollars! But from the start, the real pay was the excitement of playing in front of people that were dancing and having fun. Today, over forty years later, we still search out that rush and enjoy it just as much!

During our junior year in high school, Dave Lange became a Rocker, adding his keyboard and vocal talents. He is featured on our 1967 album Homemade Apple Pie & Yankee Ingenuity on Light My Fire and Dave's original song, Blue Peppers.

We continued to play together as an electric band through the summer following our freshman year in college. One highlight of those years was playing at a college frat party in Iowa City (see photo). Most of our dances, however, were far simpler in design. We would rent a hall in Maquoketa (usually the Youth Center) or some other small town in eastern Iowa, put out our own posters (Art Raz Productions), have a friend collect a buck a head at the door and keep the money in a cigar box. No alcohol or drugs, no security of any kind, and no problems. Ever. These were great times to be together, and both the music and the friendships continued to get tighter.

At the end of our high school years, as we prepared to go our separate ways, we recorded an album at FredLo Studios in the Quad Cities. ~  http://www.grandmas-rockers.com/home.html

***

Группа Grandma’s Rockers была сформирована в 1963 году, когда трое школьников из американского штата Айова, знакомые между собой с младых ногтей, озадачились созданием собственной рок-н-ролльной банды. В самом скором времени к группе присоединились еще двое участников – они были учениками той же школы. Школьные ансамбли существуют с одной единственной целью – развлекать своих сверстников во время школьных вечеринок и танцев. Пятеро американских подростков из Айовы пели, играли на акустических гитарах, банджо и самодельном басу. Ни на что не претендуя, они развлекались сами и развлекали своих друзей.

Через некоторое время квинтет сменил акустику на электрогитары, а за главные ориентиры принял творчество Beach Boys и Paul Revere & The Riders. Песни двух указанных коллективов составляли основу репертуара группы, в который входили также несколько номеров групп The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Dave Clark Five. Постоянное исполнение чужого материала, разумеется, не смогло не сыграть злую службу музыкантам: привыкнув исполнять «готовенькое», в 1967 году они записали свою дебютную «долгоиграющую» пластинку, скомпонованную целиком из песенного материала посторонних исполнителей (исключение составила лишь одна песня собственного сочинения – Blue Peppers). Не сказать, что по части исполнения кавер-версий музыканты Grandma’s Rockers были на высоте - отнюдь, качество исполнения оставляло желать лучшего. Так, например, известный рок-н-ролл Do You Wanna Dance они исполнили не в привычном быстром темпе, а в медленном, что сделали Mamas & Papas годом ранее. У последних исполнение оказалось в несколько раз удачнее. Квинтет записал песню You Babe, известную слушателю в исполнении группы The Turtles, - эта версия оказалась близкой к версии The Turtles, чуть ли не копией. Они записали Incence And Pepermints – один из главных хитов 1967 года от Strawberry Alarm Clock – она похожа на оригинал, однако ясно показывает, что музыканты квинтета из Айовы владеют инструментами весьма посредственно, а поют и того хуже.
Но ребята ни к чему не стремились, полностью удовлетворенные игрой на танцах и других школьных мероприятиях. К концу шестидесятых группа перестала существовать – записав вторую пластинку, так же мало чем примечательную, ребята разошлись. Вы можете спросить, почему? А ответ прост: они закончили школу, затем колледж, после чего предпочли заняться более важными, чем музыка, делами.
Джим Марусис стал учителем; нередко, в часы досуга, он выступает вместе со своей женой в акустическом дуэте, а время от времени играет в группе с коллегами-учителями. Джейми Фарнум, единственный из Grandma’s Rockers, кто продолжил занятия музыкой на профессиональном уровне, играл в нескольких группах, чьи названия, однако, не требуют отдельного упоминания, а в настоящее время является членом христианской группы, базирующейся в штате Миннесота при лютеранской церкви «Царя Царей». Ларри Уилльямс стал, как это принято называть, научным работником в области фармакологии.

Не могу не согласиться со товаришем: " Вполне заурядная группа, которая даст фору по колличесву информации о себе.... Хотя с другой стороны,именно такие группы воссоздают тот неповтримый саунд клубных танцев , школьных вечеринок... Короче,спасибо Fly-ю за архив и слушаем. Я советую.

The Shangri-Las - Myrmidons Of Melodrama

FROM JANCY

George "Shadow" Morton walked into the Brill Building, 1619 Broadway, New York City, one day in mid-1964.

In his briefcase was a demo record of a Song called "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" that he'd cut with a group of four girls called the Shangri-Las.

He took it up to the Office of Red Bird Records, and played it for the label's owners, three of the most important pop producers of all time: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stollen, and George Goldner.

They weren't slow to see the potential of what they heard. Leiber recalls that it affected him the same way as the Drifters' legendary "There Gees My Baby" had, five years earlier: "It was a very strange-sounding thing. It had this strange kind of 'swim' in the Sound, that kind of tension that was very attractive."

Morton was told that he could go ahead and re-record it, assisted in the studio by a pair of more experienced young producers, Jeff Barry and Artie Ripp.

When the record came out, on Red Bird 10-008, it had a tremendous Impact, reaching number 5 in the American Charts (and number 14 in Britain).

Besides its fine melody, superb two-part Chorus, and interesting arrangement, what made "Remember" different was its highly inventive use of sound effects - seagulls and rolling breakers were employed to strengthen the evocative qualities of the song. Here, the sounds evoke not only specific memories, but the state of memory itself.

The group's second record, "Leader Of The Pack" (RB 10-014), gave them their first and only American number one. Written by Morton, Barry, and Jeff's wife Ellie Greenwich, it has since earned a well-deserved reputation as one of pop's great mini-operas, on a par with the Coasters' epics of the Fifties ... which were, of course, produced and written by Leiber and Stoller.

It's a classic "death disc", with the sound of revving motor-bikes and tearing metal heightening the already considerable drama. Morton's genius is apparent in the way he pushes the lead girl's voice up front during her monologue, creating instant intimacy. It'was theatre on record, a strip from Valentine or Mirabelle Set to music, and its lasting Power is such that it became a Top Five hit in Britain in 1972 - oddly enough, it just failed to make the Top Ten here first time out in '65.

Morton had made the Shangri-Las Info the outstanding White girl group of their time. Betty Weiss (the lead singer) and her sister Mary, with Marge and Mary Ann Ganser, had captured the magic of the best black girl Outfits-the Chiffons, Crystals, Ronettes, for example - and they were ideal material for Morton's Svengali approach.

1965 and '66 were studded with their hits, many of which sound even better in retrospect. Morton's "I Can Never Go Home Any More" can be seen to tell the same Story as Paul McCartney's "She's Leaving Home" - but much more interestingly. Teenage heartache has never been more exquisitely expressed, unless it be in "Past, Present, And Future". Here, the emotional fug when the "Moonlight Sonata" piano breaks Info the "Shall We Dance ?" theme is intoxicating. This track, with its long, poignant monologue, is one of the most mysterious and moving in all of pop; intensely visual, it's somehow intangible ... you think you've touched the core of its meaning, and suddenly it's slipped from your grase. It also happens to be one of Pete Townshend's ten favourite singles.

Then there's "Out In The Streets", where Barry and Greenwich take up the story of the hero-figure from "He's A Rebel" two or three years further on; "Sophisticated Boom Boom", where a stood-up girl wanders Info a very strange scene ("The girls were wearing formals, and the boys were wearing fies"); the heartbreak of Mary and Jimmy, the runaway lovers in "Give Us Your Blessings"; and the straightforward but beautiful "Heaven Only Knows" and "Train From Kansas City".

It can honestly be said that they don't make records like these any more. The art of compressing action and emotion Info a seven-inch three-minnte disc is almost dead, but with Shadow Morton and the Shangri-Las it reached a particular peak of perfection. In their own context, these sides will never be bettered.~RICHARD WILLIAMS THE MELODY MAKER

 

 

 

01 - Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)

02 - It's Easier To Cry

03 - Leader Of The Pack

04 - What Is Love

05 - Give Him A Great Big Kiss

06 - Maybe

07 - Out In The Streets

08 - The Boy

09 - Give Us Your Blessings

10 - Heaven Only Knows

11 - Right Now And Not Later

12 - The Train From Kanses City

13 - Never Again

14 - I'm Blue

15 - What's A Girl Supposed To Do

16 - The Dum Dum Ditty

17 - You Cheated, You Lied

18 - I Can Never Go Home Anymore

19 - Bull Dog

20 - Long Live Our Love

21 - Sophisticated Boom Boom

22 - He Cried

23 - Dressed In Black

24 - Past, Present And Future

25 - Paradise

26 - Love You More Than Yesterday

27 - Wishing Well

28 - Hate To Say I Told You So

29 - Give Him A Great Big Kiss (Alt Take)

30 - Radio Spot #1 Revlon- How Pretty Can You Get

31 - Radio Spot #2 Revlon- Natural Wonder

32 - Radio Spot #3 Good Taste Tip- Gift Receiving

33 - Radio Spot #4 Good Taste Tip- Dating Courtesy

Donovan - Donovan-In Concert (1968)

This is a great record, with one important caveat -- anyone looking for the Donovan of AM radio and upbeat ditties like "Sunshine Superman" will have to go for more recent live albums. Donovan in Concert has been neglected over the decades by the fans, who apparently would have preferred a set that encompassed the hits, yet it presents a surprisingly vital side of Donovan's music, as well as excellent versions of some of his best album cuts and good versions of the two actual hits that are here.

In contrast to his studio sides, which often reflected the sensibilities of producer Mickie Most more than those of Donovan, the live material here, cut at the Anaheim Convention Center in early 1968, features Donovan doing his music, his way. One has to give Donovan credit for trying to use his pop music success as a basis to take his concert audiences to a somewhat different place; in addition to his own acoustic guitar, he's backed by flutist and saxman Harold McNair and percussionist Tony Carr, plus a bass and piano, in a pleasantly lean and lively set that shows him roaming freely between gently trippy psychedelia, folk-blues, and jazz (including some scatting). The result is a much more personal kind of show than one would have expected, closer to his folk roots than to the kind of performances that one associates with pop stardom. Most of the material is drawn from the For Little Ones, Mellow Yellow, and Sunshine Superman albums, done in neatly stripped-down arrangements. Apart from "Mellow Yellow" and "There Is a Mountain," the artist avoids his AM radio touchstones in favor of the lyrically more complex and musically more subtle joys of "Celeste" (which offers a beautiful showcase of McNair's flute playing, which is both spirited and elegant), "Young Girl Blues," "Isle of Islay," "Poor Cow," " "Guinevere," and "Fat Angel," interspersed with a handful of songs unique to his concerts, such as "Rules and Regulations," "Pebble and the Man" (which didn't have a name at the time), and "Preachin' Love," the latter easily the jazziest track that Donovan ever cut, complete with an extended sax break by McNair. Donovan is in excellent voice, the sound is state of the art, and the mood is a beguiling, very gently spaced-out playfulness, which slots in perfectly with the musical ambitions of the set.

***

http://globalrocklegends.blogspot.com/2009/11/donovan.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan_in_Concert_(1968_album)

Personnel

Donovan – Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Tony Carr – Percussion

Harold McNair – Flute

Original album

Side one

All tracks by Donovan Leitch.

"Isle of Islay" – 4:21

"Young Girl Blues" – 6:09

"There Is a Mountain" – 3:04

"Poor Cow" – 3:28

"Celeste" – 5:15

"The Fat Angel" – 3:24

"Guinevere" – 2:42

Side two

"Widow with Shawl (A Portrait)" – 3:34

"Preachin' Love" – 5:03

"The Lullaby of Spring" – 3:08

"Writer in the Sun" – 4:30

"Pebble and the Man" – 3:10

"Rules and Regulations" – 2:54

"Mellow Yellow" – 4:18

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Best Of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Founded in California during 1965, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has lasted longer than virtually any other country-based rock group of their era. Younger contemporaries of the Byrds, they played an almost equally important role in the transformation from folk-rock into country-rock, and were an influence on such bands as the Eagles and Alabama. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's beginnings lay with the New Coast Two, a folk duo consisting of Jeff Hanna (guitar, vocals) and Bruce Kunkel (guitar, washtub bass), formed while both were in high school in the early '60s. By the time the two were college students, they were having informal jams at a Santa Monica, CA, guitar shop called McCabe's. It was there that they met Ralph Barr (guitar, washtub bass), Les Thompson (vocals, mandolin, bass, guitar, banjo, percussion), Jimmie Fadden (harmonica, vocals, drums, percussion), and Jackson Browne (guitar, vocals). This lineup became the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in late 1965, and began playing jug band music at local clubs. At that time, Southern California was undergoing a musical renaissance, courtesy of the folk-rock movement and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fit in with these other folkies-turned-rockers. Browne left after a few months to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by John McEuen (banjo, fiddle, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals), the younger brother of the group's new manager, Bill McEuen. With Bill McEuen's guidance, the group landed a recording contract with Liberty Records and released their debut album, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, in April of 1967. Their first single, "Buy for Me the Rain," became a modest hit and got the band some television appearances.

A second album, Ricochet, released seven months later, was a critical success but a commercial failure. The group now found itself at an impasse over the issue of whether to go electric. During the dispute, Kunkel, who wanted to add an electric guitar to their sound, exited the lineup. He was replaced by Chris Darrow (guitar, fiddle). Ironically, by mid-1968 the group had gone electric, and also added drums to their sound. Their first electric album, Rare Junk, released in June of 1968, was also a commercial failure. The band was barely working, a far cry from their success of a year earlier. The band persevered, however, and released Alive! in May of 1969. The album was another commercial disaster, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band closed up shop soon after.
The members scattered for several months, but six months later the group was back for another try; the new lineup included McEuen, Hanna, Fadden, Thompson, and Jim Ibbotson (guitars, accordion, drums, percussion, piano, vocals). They returned to their record company with a demand for control over their recordings and the record company agreed. Bill McEuen became the group's producer as well as its manager. The first result of this new era in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's history was Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy, issued in 1970. Rooted tightly in their jug band sound, the album had a country feel but no trace of the vaudeville and novelty numbers that had appeared on their earlier records. The album yielded what is the group's best-known single, their cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles," and suddenly, the band had a following bigger than anything they'd known during their brief bout of success in 1967. Their next album, All The Good Times, released in early 1972, had an even more countrified feel.
By 1972, several rock bands, most notably the Byrds and the Beau Brummels, had gone to Nashville seeking credibility from the country music community there, only to be received poorly by that community and to have their resulting work ignored by the press and public. At the suggestion of manager Bill McEuen, however, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went to Nashville in 1972 and recorded a selection of traditional country numbers with the likes of Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, and other members of country and bluegrass music's veteran elite. Some of the veteran Nashville stars were skeptical and suspicious at first of the bandmembers and their amplified instruments, but the ice was broken when they saw how respectful the band was toward them and their work, and their music, as well as how serious they were about their own music. The resulting triple album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, released in January of 1973, became a million-seller and elicited positive reviews from both the rock and country music press. The band had, by now, eclipsed the competition as a "crossover" act, reaching country and bluegrass audiences even as their rock listeners acquired a new appreciation for musicians such as Acuff and Carter. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band succeeded with Will the Circle Be Unbroken because they were willing to meet country and bluegrass music on the terms of those two branches of traditional music, rather than as rock musicians.
During the year and a half that followed the success of Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Les Thompson left the group, reducing the Dirt Band to a quartet. Their next album, Stars & Stripes Forever, issued in the summer of 1974, was a peculiar live album, mixing concert performances and dialogue. Following one more original album, Dream (1975), the group received its first retrospective treatment, a triple-LP compilation entitled Dirt, Silver & Gold, issued late in 1976. Jim Ibbotson left the lineup at around this time, and was replaced initially by session player Bob Carpenter. The remaining trio of Jeff Hanna, John McEuen, and Jimmie Fadden shortened the band's official name to the Dirt Band. In this incarnation, the group became a much more mainstream, pop/rock outfit with a smoother sound, with Jeff Hanna guiding them as producer. Their records were far less eccentric, although they continued to be popular. The band's next albums were decidedly more laid-back than previous records, and didn't attract nearly as much attention. An American Dream, released in 1980, did relatively well, as did Make a Little Magic (1981). By 1982, however, they were back to their country roots, renamed the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Jim Ibbotson was playing with them again. Let's Go, released in the middle of 1983, heralded their return to country music, as a largely acoustic band. In 1984, after 17 years with Liberty/UA/Capitol, they switched labels to Warner Bros., and that same year made some headlines as the first American rock band to tour the Soviet Union. Their Warner albums sold well, but by the end of the 1980s the group was moving between labels.
In 1989, both as a reflection of the changing times, and as though to make sure that everyone got the point that the band was once again mining its country roots, they made Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2 for MCA/Universal Records, reuniting with surviving country and bluegrass veterans from the original album and adding a whole roster of new players, including Johnny Cash, Chris Hillman, and Ricky Skaggs. This album won the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance (duo or group) and the Country Music Association's Album of the Year Award in 1989. By this time, the Dirt Band was working in their field alongside any number of country/bluegrass crossover artists whose career paths were made easier by that first record, including John Hiatt, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Rosanne Cash. Their next several albums saw them never veering very far from their country/bluegrass roots. The group continued to record a new album every year or so, including a concert album, Live Two Five, celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band, and the self-explanatory Acoustic. In 1999, they returned with Bang Bang Bang. It was followed by the third installment of the Will the Circle Be Unbroken trilogy in 2002 and an album of all new material, Welcome to Woody Creek, in 2004. Ibbotson left after the record and tour, having had enough of the road. NGDB celebrated their 43rd anniversary with the stellar Speed of Life issued by Sugar Hill, recorded live in the studio with a few of Nashville's finest providing instrumental and vocal help, and the production assistance of George Massenburg and Jon Randall Stewart.

Sounds Incorporated - Studio Two Stereo (1966)

Continuation ...

1. Sounds Incorporated - Goldfinger (2:13)

2. Sounds Incorporated - Little Bird (1:57)

3. Sounds Incorporated - If We Lived On Top Of A Mountain (2:16)

4. Sounds Incorporated - Grab This Thing (2:31)

5. Sounds Incorporated - Yesterday (2:25)

6. Sounds Incorporated - Boil Over (2:42)

7. Sounds Incorporated - What Now My Love (3:11)

8. Sounds Incorporated - Zorba's Dance (3:20)

9. Sounds Incorporated - Bahama Sound (3:06)

10. Sounds Incorporated - On The Rebound (2:33)

11. Sounds Incorporated - The Old And The New (1:55)

12. Sounds Incorporated - Legend Of Lyndos (2:53)

13. Sounds Incorporated - Twilight Of An Empire (2:38)

Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - It's Been So Long (1971)

Spencer Davis (vocals, guitar), Peter Jameson (guitar)

Davis disbanded group in 1969. He immigrated first into Germany, then to California where he formed a trio with Peter Jameson and Alun Davies (even working with rural blues veteran Mississippi Fred McDowell at one point).......

1. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - It's Been So Long (3:01)

2. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - Chrystal River (2:41)

3. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - One Hundred Years Ago (3:53)

4. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - Balkan Blues (3:34)

5. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - Brother Can You Make Up Your Mind (2:32)

6. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - Mountain Lick (5:07)

7. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - Jay's Tune (3:28)

8. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - Thinking Of Her (3:06)

9. Spencer Davis & Peter Jameson - It's Too Late Now (5:37)

 

Thanks Рок -Раритеты
and
Bizarre Garden

Nick Garrie - The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas (1969)

Nick Garrie's rare pop-psychedelic album is reminiscent of the sunniest and frothiest such British music of the late '60s. In its match of pretty melodies and overtly romantic lyrics with Baroque pop production, it calls to mind the U.K. '60s band Nirvana in some respects, and perhaps fellow youthful singer/songwriter Billy Nicholls. In gutsier moments, you might also think of the very early Badfinger (or the Iveys, the band that evolved into Badfinger) or Thunderclap Newman.

Though his tunes are pretty, they can also veer toward blandness, and his vocals are callow and uncertain enough to make one wonder whether his compositions might have been better served by other singers. Some ill-advised forays into country-influenced material are the album's low points, but those are uncharacteristic. Most of the record is lite pop-psych with a definite Continental flavor, tinged with bittersweetness but never melancholic, evoking pictures of a sensitive late-19th century heir riding in a carriage over cobblestoned streets with top hat and petticoated girl beside him

1. Nick Garrie - The Nightmare Of J.B. Stanislas (5:03)

2. Nick Garrie - Can I Stay With You? (2:38)

3. Nick Garrie - Bungles Tour (2:52)

4. Nick Garrie - David's Prayer (2:46)

5. Nick Garrie - Ink Pot Eyes (2:44)

6. Nick Garrie - The Wanderer (2:52)

7. Nick Garrie - Stephanie City (2:47)

8. Nick Garrie - Little Bird (1:59)

9. Nick Garrie - Deeper Tones Of Blue (2:39)

10. Nick Garrie - Queen Of Queens (3:19)

11. Nick Garrie - Wheel Of Fortune (3:45)

12. Nick Garrie - Evening (2:06)

13. Nick Garrie - Close your eyes (bonus track) (2:45)

 

Nick Garrie is renowned in psychedelic collectors' circles for his 1970 debut, The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, a Baroque pop masterpiece effectively buried by nonexistent distribution and promotion. Born June 22, 1949, in Yorkshire, England, to a Russian father and Scottish mother, Garrie spent the majority of his adolescence at a French boarding school. He began writing songs while attending Warwick University, but his interests primarily lay in surrealist literature and poetry and he did mount a performing career until 1968, playing bars and restaurants while backpacking through the south of France.

After playing several high-profile Amsterdam gigs, Garrie returned to St. Tropez, where he signed to cut an LP in Brussels. The project remains unreleased, and in late summer of 1969 he finally returned to Warwick to resume his studies. A few months later a friend of his mother arranged for Garrie to meet with the Paris-based label DiscAZ, which extended a contract offer. After recording the never-released single "Queen of Spades" with American-born producer Mickey Baker (of "Love Is Strange" fame), he teamed with producer Eddie Vartan to begin work on The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas. Against Garrie's wishes, Vartan hired a 56-piece symphony for the sessions, and the artist (if not the record's admirers) later bemoaned the detrimental effects of such lush orchestration on his delicate, uncommonly literate songs. Far more damaging, DiscAZ president Lucien Morisse committed suicide within days of releasing The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, guaranteeing the album never even left the starting blocks.

A crestfallen Garrie returned to school, abandoning the music business for several years. Under the alias Nick Hamilton (a nod to his mother's maiden name), he resurfaced in 1976 with "Un Instant de Vie," a collaboration with Francis Lai, but again retired from performing to manage a ski resort in the Swiss Alps. Oblivious to the growing notoriety of The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, he retained the Nick Hamilton name for his 1984 comeback effort, Suitcase Man, recorded with former Cat Stevens sidemen Alun Davies and Gerry Conway. The album topped the Spanish pop charts, and earned its creator an opening slot on Leonard Cohen's Spanish tour later that year.

When the Stanislas track "Wheel of Fortune" appeared on Phil Smee's influential psychedelic pop obscurities compilation Circus Days, the legend of Nick Garrie grew, and with so little concrete information on his career the fanzine 117 published a fabricated biography as a prank. However, the gag was lost on many and the bio was accepted as fact in many quarters, further muddying the waters. While operating a ballooning company, he released a second Nick Hamilton LP, 1994's The Playing Fields, and in 2002 -- after returning to France to teach at a comprehensive school -- released Twelve Old Songs. Finally, in late 2005 the British reissue label Rev-Ola released The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas to much critical acclaim, adding the "Queen of Spades" single as well as several unreleased Belgian demos for good measure

Rainbow Ffolly - Sallies Fforth (1968)

Rainbow Ffolly were an English psychedelic pop band who released only one LP, Sallies Fforth, in 1968. Their only single, Drive My Car, failed to garner much success on the charts, and they disbanded shortly thereafter. A beautiful album with a great psych cover, painted by John Dunsterville (also the songwriter) with a little help from his wife jane.

The world of '60s psychedelia is filled with rediscoveries that might better have been left buried in the mists of time, except as artifacts -- it's possible to have shelves filled with the work of no-talent bands and of acts that weren't even psychedelic (what one wag at Bleecker Bob's in New York refers to as "lounge acts that dressed real cool"). Rainbow Ffolly wasn't one of those -- indeed, they're one of the bands and one of the records that is worth finding as a CD reissue (their original LP could run several hundred), and that goes double for anyone with a taste for British psychedelia.

Personnel

Jonathan Dunsterville - Guitar, Vocals

Richard Dunsterville - Vocals, Guitar

Roger Newell - Bass, Vocals

Stewart Osborn - Drums, Vocals.

 

Thirteen examples of pleasant, mid-tempo, mildly amplified psychedelic pop, most of them owing some considerable debt to the influence of the Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver (though not their production), with some of the nutsy brand of humor that Giles, Giles, & Fripp later traded in. This is basically Paul McCartney-influenced psychedelia, not only in the tone and texture of the lead vocals, but the retro style of songs like "I'm So Happy," with some vaguely progressive touches that make one think of the more ornate tracks off of Bee Gees' 1st. "Montgolfier" is a folky/trippy, deliberately antiquated cut that intersects somewhere midway between the early psychedelic Bee Gees and the early work of Amazing Blondel. The group also had the temerity to write and record a bouncy number called "Drive My Car" that sounds McCartney-esque (even anticipating the scatting on the latter's "Heart of the Country") without ever sounding at all like the Beatles' song of that name. Other cuts, such as "Goodbye," contain elements that anticipate Simon & Garfunkel's "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright." It's all under-produced, which makes the attempted guitar flourishes on "Hey You" seem a bit anemic, but imparts a nicely lean and trippy sound to "Sun Sing." Every track here was essentially a demo, a fact that may explain why the album never found an audience in an era when layer upon layer of overdub was the norm -- but it is pretty, in a minimalist sort of way. [The album was reissued by Rev-Ola in 2005 with the addition of two extra tracks: the mono single versions of "Go Girl" and "Drive My Car."]

 

1. Rainbow Ffolly - She's Alright (3:42)

2. Rainbow Ffolly - I'm So Happy (2:33)

3. Rainbow Ffolly - Montgolfier (2:37)

4. Rainbow Ffolly - Drive My Car (2:14)

5. Rainbow Ffolly - Goodbye (3:54)

6. Rainbow Ffolly - Hey You (2:05)

7. Rainbow Ffolly - Sun Sing (3:57)

8. Rainbow Ffolly - Sun And Sand (4:02)

9. Rainbow Ffolly - Labour Exchange (1:55)

10. Rainbow Ffolly - They'm (1:55)

11. Rainbow Ffolly - No (2:58)

12. Rainbow Ffolly - Sighing Game (3:06)

13. Rainbow Ffolly - Come On Go (2:57)

14. Rainbow Ffolly - Go Girl (mono single version) (2:40)

15. Rainbow Ffolly - Drive My Car (mono single version) (2:09)

 

http://naindien.com/spip.php?article433

Birmingham Sunday - A Message from Birmingham Sunday (1968)

Good sounding late 60's psychrock from USA.

Feat great organs + a wonderful female voice v/s male voice.

Ward Johns, Debbie Parks, John Kvam,

Jean Heim, Joe LaChewand Phil Gustafson.

Birmingham Sunday группа из Невады , Карсон - сити. Четверо из музыкантов учились в одной школе где и сформировали группу. Группа играла в местных клубах по всей северной Неваде и в Каролине . В 1968 году им удалось заключить контракт с продюсером Strawberry Alarm Clock Билл Холмс и его лейблом All American Record. Винил был издан как пробный , ограниченым тиражом ( 100 экземпляров )

Birmingham Sunday was a late 60's psychedelic/folk/pop band whose members hailed from northern Nevada -- primarily Carson City. The album back cover lists band members as: Ward Johns, Debbie Parke, John Kvam, Jean Heim, Joe LaChew and Phil Gustafson. Four of the band members (WJ, JK, JLa & PG) attended Carson High School during the late 60's and were the raison d'etre for this garage band's formation. Although Monty Johns (Ward's younger brother) does not appear on the back cover photo, he is listed as penning three of the album's 10 songs which clock in at 33:10. Joe LaChew, a 1967 Carson High School graduate, is credited with writing wholly or in part, the remaining seven songs and also takes over most of the male vocal duties.

The band played live in local venues throughout Northern Nevada and California (circa late 60's) and was lucky enough to land a contract in 1968 with Strawberry Alarm Clock's Producer, Bill Holmes, on his All American Records label. The vinyl album was originally released as a limited edition test pressing of just 100 copies. One of the dozen or so surviving copies recently sold on eBay for $1100, making it one of the rarest of all collectors' albums. I have a memory of walking into Mirabelli's Music City in the Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV shortly after the album's release and seeing a stack of these vinyl beauties on display -- now if I only had enough sense and/or money in 1968 to buy a few copies??? Fortunately, the CD version of this rare album was released in a digipak sleeve on the Akarma label (Italy) in 1998.

Although the band played a variety of styles "in the day", its emphasis on their only album was a folk based psychedelic pop sound with strong vocal harmonies, alternating between Joe LaChew's baritone and Debbie Parke's breathtaking high notes. The lyrics are set against a wall of sound utilizing guitars and wind instruments, intermixed with organ and synthesizer music. The overall sound quality is good, but could have been better, perhaps due in part to the irregular quality of the master tapes. The first track, "Egocentrik Solitude", written by Monty Johns is a beautiful introspective ballad that reminds me of a Moody Blues harmony but with a female vocal on the order of a Linda Thompson or better. Tracks 2 (Wondering What to Feel) and 3 (Prevalent Visionaries) are melodic harmonies that also could have jumped out of any of the Moody Blues albums. Track 4 (You're Out of Line) is a pure 60's psychedelic track with LaChew soloing against a screeching lead guitar -- alternately shouting and straining ala Jim Morrison. Track 5 will put you right back into those petulie oil laced black lit rooms, with period 60's lyrics like, "but I think I'll never come down". Track 6 (Mr. Waters) kind of starts off like the Seeds, "Pushing too Hard" and then calms down into an organ dominated vocal. During the song lead in, the fading sound quality is apparent. Track 7 (Fate and the Musician) sounds a lot like track 6 and is pretty much forgettable. Debbie Parke takes over on track 8 (Peter Pan Revisited) and her singing is definitely the high point of this track, but not nearly as good as in Track 1. The lyrics of this song sound ridiculously dated (sorry Joe, but these lyrics don't stand the test of time). "Time to Land" (Track 9) features Joe LaChew taking lead vocal responsibilities once again with background music containg twinges of Ray Manzarek-like organ rifts and Jorma Kaukonen-like guitar work - too bad the lyrics were not a bit more sophisticated, but this was the 60's and the band members were teenagers. Track 10 (Don't Turn Around) winds up the album with a very good cut - kind of soft and bluesy with the wonderful LaChew/Parke vocal interplay that was the strength of this 60's group.

Track List

01 Egocentric solitude 3:20

02 Wondering what to feel 2:36

03 Prevalent visionaries 2:52

04 You're out of line 2:56

05 Medieval journey 2:37

06 Mr. waters 2:53

07 Fate and the magician 1:59

08 Peter pan revisted 2:17

09 Time to land 3:04

10 Don't turn around 2:37

Apparently only ever released as a test pressing, a handful of original copies of A Message From Birmingham Sunday are in existence, making the odd volume fluctuation on the reissues a smaller deal than they might otherwise have been. I don't know anything about the band at all; in fact, all I can tell you about this is that it's fairly typical West Coast harmony pop with male/female vocals, operating at the lighter end of the Jefferson Airplane. Oh, and the Mellotron. Or, given the time, the Chamberlin, which seems far more likely in California in 1968.

http://www.planetmellotron.com/revb4.htm

Spirits & Worm - Spirits & Worm (1969)

Great Jefferson Airplane style band and Very rare album originally released in 1969 on A&M...an original rock sound with powerful female vocals (Adrianne Maurici) and some fine fuzz guitar work...for fans of Jefferson Airplane.

The talents of five young people pesented here as the SPIRITS AND WORM have cause others to define their music as a 'fresh young sound - very colorful and full of rhythm - a happy sound.' Making that 'happy sound' are Adrianne Maurici (vocals), Tommy Parris (bass guitar, vocals), Carlos Hernandez (lead guitar), Artie Hicks Jr. (drums) and Alfred Scotti (guitar/vocals). And these young people have worked hard to achieve their own sound. We believe in the near future that the music industry and the public will take notice of this group and recognize them as one of the more exciting and talented groups yet to hit the airwaves. (liner notes by Bob Garcia).

1. You and I Together 2:47

2. Every Little Bit of Love 2:38

3. She 3:17

4. Fanny Firecracker 2:38

5. Sunny Please Hold Me 3:41

6. Spirits and Worm 2:58

7. All I Need Is a Little You 4:02

8. She's the One 3:03

9. You're Dynamite 3:11

10. She's So Goo 3:55

All songs written by C. Hernandez except *(Hernandez/Parris)

An original SP 4229 version is among the rarest and highly collectable albums around; a copy sold on Ebay for $682 recently. It's distribution was limited to the NYC area, and the "legend" goes that it was pulled from stores quickly because of rumor that the goat-and-tombstone cover art was satanic. The sound is similar to Jefferson Airplane and Santana.

Reissues: Limited vinyl reissue by Water Serpent and Sweet Herb labels. In 2001 S&W was reissued on vinyl and CD, with original cover art, by Akarma label of Italy.

Sounds Incorporated - Sounds Incorporated (1964)

FROM JANCY

A six-man, all-instrumental rock & roll combo, Sounds Incorporated was one of the first British rock groups to do more than imitate Cliff Richard's backing band the Shadows, and wound up supporting a number of legendary artists while landing a few British hits in their own right. Formed in 1961 in their home area of northwestern Kent, the band included saxophonists/woodwind players Alan "Boots" Holmes and "Major" Griff West (born David Glyde), organist/pianist/baritone saxophonist Barrie Cameron (born Baz Elmes), guitarist John St. John (born John Gillard), bassist Wes Hunter (born Dick Thomas), and drummer Tony Newman (born Richard Anthony Newman).

They gigged extensively on a local basis and occasionally played London as well, where they quickly made an impression as one of the few British rock & roll bands led by a horn section. Early on, they backed visiting American rockers like Gene Vincent, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sam Cooke (among many others), learning the artists' repertoires before their arrival in the U.K. They soon got an opportunity to record with the legendary producer Joe Meek, and in 1963 released several singles on Decca. They also began traveling to Hamburg to entertain American servicemen; there they played the famous Star Club and met and befriended the Beatles. Late in 1963, Beatles manager Brian Epstein signed Sounds Incorporated to his company; the following year, the group not only became singer Cilla Black's regular backing band, but also toured the world as the Beatles' opening act, and released their self-titled debut album (plus several more singles, including an arrangement of "William Tell" that topped the charts in Australia) on Columbia.

During the mid-'60s, they augmented their own recordings with numerous gigs on the U.K. ballroom circuit and plenty of session work; they also landed a fairly sizable hit with an arrangement of "Hall of the Mountain King." A second album, also (confusingly) titled Sounds Incorporated, appeared on the Studio Two label in 1966; the following year, the Beatles invited Cameron, Holmes, and West to be the saxophone section on their Sgt. Pepper track "Good Morning, Good Morning." The same year, however, Newman left to pursue a full-time session career and was replaced by Terry Fogg; Cameron also departed to become an arranger and manager, and his place was taken by Trevor White, who gave the group its first vocalist. As the circuit for traditional-style rock & roll shifted from ballrooms to more upscale cabarets, Sounds Incorporated landed better-paying gigs and used the money to travel to Australia in 1969 and play extensively around Sydney. In 1971, they finally called it a career; some remained in Sydney, while others returned to England and took low-profile, music-related jobs.

01 - William Tell

02 - Fingertips

03 - I'm In Love Again

04 - Rinky Dink

05 - Bullets

06 - Last Night

07 - Sounds Like Movin'

08 - One Mint Julep

09 - Ready Teddy

10 - Crane

11 - Maria

12 - Light Cavalry