V.A. Love, Peace & Poetry: Asian Psychedelic Music (1967-1972 asian psychedelic compilation with 14 tracks - FLAC)

"Love, Peace and Poetry is a consistently high-quality series, with nine volumes to date covering almost all of the world.

The focus here is on psychedelia, with most of the recordings coming from the late sixties and early seventies.

These collections have very little overlap with any other series out there. Each volume is well documented and the tracks are varied and well chosen.

A particularly nice touch is that each volume includes information on obtaining original records or reissues, as well as other psych related contacts.

This collection of Asian psychedelic music, the third volume in the series, is perhaps the best of the lot – and that's saying quite a bit.

Perhaps the reason that this collection is so strong is that many of the artists on this compilation were stars in their homelands with long careers, despite being little known in the West.

As the liner notes point out, the combination of Asian musical traditions and the experimentalism of psychedelia often produced breathtaking results.

This is particularly true of the four Turkish artists on this volume of Love, Peace and Poetry. The chords and rhythms that drive these tracks are not rock and roll, but the guitar sounds featured on these tracks draw freely on Western influences in the late 1960s, from the fuzz guitar of Erkin Koray and Baris Manco, to the trippier guitar sound of Mogollar.

Japan is also represented by three artists on this collection, all of whom were no doubt listening to what was going on in the West in the late 1960s.

You Know What I Mean by Justin Heathcliff (apparently the band's name was an attempt to sound British) had the Beatlesque sound of I'm Only Sleeping, complete with backward guitar solo.

Blind Bird by the Mops could be mistaken for an American record (other than the Japanese lyrics) and Yuya Uchida & the Flowers cover the Jefferson Airplane's Greasy Heart.

That is not to say that these artists were just imitating Western music, but rather they were creating compelling hybrids.

And while British and American rock and roll bands were drawing on Indian music, the two Indian artists on Love, Peace and Poetry demonstrate that this was a two-way exchange.

The tracks by the Confusions and the Fentones are taken from the Simla Beat collections, which came from «battle of the bands» competitions in India where the winner was determined by who could play the best garage rock.

Though the title Voice from the Inner Soul by the Confusions would suggest a psych freak-out, this track is straightforward garage rock.

The other Indian entry in this collection, Simla Beat Theme by the Fentones, is one of those transcendent tracks that stays with you long after you hear it.

It's ironic that the Fentones achieved that «eastern» sound with a guitar-bass-drums arrangement that so many American garage bands were trying to achieve by adding a sitar to their sound.

The two tracks from Korea (It Was Probably Late Summer by San Ul Lim and Korean Titel A2 (huh?) by Jung Hyun and the Men are latecomers, having been originally released in the 1970s but they each have a sixties light psych sound.

Also represented on this collection are artists from Hong Kong (the trippy Magic Colours by Teddy Robin and the Playboys), Singapore, and Cambodia (the best track from the comp Cambodian Rocks).

In fact, every track on this compilation is interesting." (Turnmeondeadman).


A2 (60's Asian Psychedelic):


Track List:
01."Magic Colours" (Teddy Robin and the Playboys) – 3:28
02."Istemem" (Erkin Koray) – 2:50
03."It Was Probably Late Summer" (Sanullim) – 5:19
04."You Know What I Mean" (Justin Heathcliff) – 2:16
05."Derule" (Barış Manço) – 2:10
06."A2" (Ros Sereysothea backed by an unknown band, from "Cambodian Rocks" compilation) – 3:43
07."Blind Bird" (The Mops) – 2:54
08."Greasy Heart" (Yuya Uchida & The Flowers) – 3:49
09."Gönül Savretke Sabreyle" (3 Hür-El) – 4:19
10."Simla Beat Theme" (The Fentones) – 4:11
11."Katip Arzvhalim Yaz Yare Böyle" (Mogollar) – 3:29
12."Voice From the Inner Soul" (Confusions) – 4:44
13."26 Miles" (The Quest) – 2:53
14."Korean Title A2" (Jung Hyun and the Men) – 9:56

Bands:
Teddy Robin and the Playboys, Istemem, It Was Probably Late Summer, You Know What I Mean, Derule, Ros Sereysothea, Blind Bird, Greasy Heart, 3 Hür-El, The Fentones, Mogollar, Confusions, The Quest, Jung Hyun and the Men


[ Rip and scans by OldrockerBR ]
CODE: 60172

V.A. - All Good Clean Fun: A Journey Through The Underground Of Liberty & United Artists Records (1967-1975 boxset with 3 CDs - MP3 320K and FLAC)

All Good Clean Fun – A Journey through the Underground of Liberty United Artists Records 1969–1975 was released by EMI (Liberty 8660902) in 2004.

This is a triple CD with 39 tracks from 25 artists although many of the artists are inter-related (The Bonzo’s, Roger Ruskin Spear and Neil Innes: Hawkwind, Motörhead and Robert Calvert: Man, Deke Leonard, Clive John and The Neutrons).

As with other EMI sampler re-issues, such as A Breath of Fresh Air, the CD release borrows the original title, albeit adding a long subtitle, and uses a variation on the cover art, but incorporates fewer than half the tracks included on the original album.

These tracks are augmented by other artists and additional tracks from some of the original artists, so this is a retrospective compilation, rather than a re-issue of the original promotional sampler (by wikipedia).

Disc 1:
01."The Intro and the Outro" – Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
02."The Birthday" – The Idle Race
03."Blue Narcissus" – Hapshash and the Coloured Coat
04."Father Cannot Yell" – Can
05."Mistreated" – The Groundhogs
06."Futilist's Lament" – High Tide
07."Hurry Up John" - The Idle Race
08."Be Yourself" (Excerpt) – Hawkwind
09."Country Girl" – Brinsley Schwarz
10."Daughter of the Fireplace" – Man
11."Street Songs" – Help Yourself
12."Blankman Cries Again" - High Tide
13."Velvet Mountain" – Cochise
14."Strange Town" - Groundhogs
15."Take Me Away" - Colin Scot

Disc 2:
01."The Seed" – B. B. Blunder
02."Here Comes Mr Time" – If
03."You Shouldn't Do That" - Hawkwind
04."Let Me Take You Home" - Gypsy
05."Our Captain Cried All Hands" - Allan Taylor
06."Little Boy" – Reg King
07."Manillo" - Man
08."Paperhouse" - Can
09."Cherry Red" - The Groundhogs
10."Eddie Waring" - Help Yourself, with Deke Leonard and B J Cole
11."The Strain" - The Bonzo Dog Band

Disc 3:
01."Bananas" - Man
02."You Had a Lesson" - The Groundhogs
03."Home Again" - Cochise
04."Reaffirmation" - Help Yourself
05."How Sweet to Be an Idiot" – Neil Innes
06."Razor Blade and Rattlesnake" - Deke Leonard
07."Ejection (Single Version)" – Robert Calvert
08."Living in the World Today" - Neutrons
09."Iron Horse / Born to Lose" – Motörhead
10."(What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding" - Brinsley Schwarz
11."The Psychadelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke)" - Hawkwind
12."Out of My Tree" - Clive John
13."Unusual" – Roger Ruskin Spear


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V.A. - Nuggets from the Psychedelic Underground (1966-2000 uk alternative rock, fusion, psychedelic, jazz and prog rock - 3 CDs - MP3 320K and FLAC)

3 CDs in jewelcasebox wrapped by a carton box; comes with a 16 - page booklet with introduction and credits.

CD1:
01.National Health - Portrait Of A Shrinking Man.
02.Jakko - The Hands Of Che Guevara
03.Dave Sinclair - The Piano Player
04.Richard Sinclair & Hugh Hopper - A Potted History
05.The Magick Brothers - Wise Man In Your Heart (Extract)
06.Robert Wyatt - Unmasked
07.Pip Pyle & Friends - Strawberry Fields Forever
08.Brian Hopper & Robert Fenner - Leeway
09.Hugh Hopper & Lisa Klossner - Pack Light
10.Gong - Pot Head Pixies
11.Pip Pyle's Equipe Out - Jocelyn
12.Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It Over You
13.Hugh Hopper Band - Golden Section
14.Wilde Flowers - Those Words They Say
15.Wilde Flowers - Memories

CD2:
01.Jakko, Dave Stewart, Hugh Hopper & Clive Brooks - As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still
02.Rick Biddulph - Lizard On A Rock
03.Brian Hopper - Sometimes It Is
04.Hugh Hopper & Robert Wyatt - Was A Friend
05.Soft Machine - Esther's Nose Job (Extract)
06.The Happy Accidents - When Your Love Falls Down
07.The Happy Accidents - Frankenstein
08.Pip Pyle's Equipe Out - Midnight Judo
09.Wilde Flowers - Time After Time
10.Elton Dean - Zep-Tepi
11.National Health - Arriving Twice
12.Gong - I Never Glid Before

CD3:
01.Phil Manzanera - A Million Reasons Why
02.Pip Pyle's Equipe Out - Foetal Fanfare Fandango
03.Jimi Hendrix & Robert Wyatt - Slow Walkin' Talk
04.National Health - Tales Of A Damson Knight
05.Jakko - I Wanted A Child
06.Dave Sinclair - Moon Over Man
07.Hugh Hopper - Seat Up A Tree
08.Hugh Hopper - Old Chrome Moon
09.Hugh Hopper & Lisa Klossner - I See You
10.John Greaves - Kew Phone
11.The Magick Brothers - Herbaceous Border
12.Wilde Flowers - The Big Show
13. Brian Hopper & Robert Fenner - It's Flotsam And Jetsam Foreshore

Nuggets from the Psychedelic Underground:
1-1: recorded 1981; from "D.S. Al Coda" - BP129CD
1-2: recorded 1994; from "Kingdom Of Dust" - RES101CD
1-3: recorded 1976; from "Moon Over Man" - BP119CD
1-4: recorded 1983; from "Somewhere In France" - VP133CD
1-5: recorded 1991; from "Live At The Witchwood" - BP107CD
1-6: recorded 1992; from "A Short Break" - VP108CD
1-7: recorded 1998; from "7 Year Itch" - VP198CD
1-8: recorded 1999; new & previously unreleased
1-9: recorded 1998; from "Different" - BP303CD
1-10: recorded 1994; from "Gong - The 25th Birthday Party" - VPGAS101CD
1-11: recorded 1985; from "Pip Pyle's Equipe Out" - VP213CD
1-12: recorded 1970; from "Canterburied Sounds - Volume 3" - VP203CD
1-13: recorded 1987; from "Alive" - VP150CD
1-14: recorded 1966; from "The Wilde Flowers" - BP123CD
1-15: recorded 1969; from "The Wilde Flowers" - BP123CD
2-1: recorded 2000; new & previously unreleased
2-2: recorded 1994; from "Second Nature" - VP178CD
2-3: recorded 2000; new & previously unreleased
2-4: recorded 1983 & 1993; from "Parabolic Versions" - VP209CD
2-5: recorded 1970; from "Live In Europe 1970" - BP290CD
2-6: recorded 2000; from "Scitatics" (new & previously unreleased)
2-7: recorded 2000; from "Scitatics" (new & previously unreleased)
2-8: recorded 1985; from "Pip Pyle's Equipe Out" - VP213CD
2-9: recorded 1966; from "The Wilde Flowers" - BP123CD
2-10: recorded 1997; from "The Mind In The Trees" - BP274CD
2-11: recorded 1981; from "D.S. Al Coda" - BP129CD
2-12: recorded 1994; from "Gong - The 25th Birthday Party" - VPGAS101CD
3-1: recorded 1988/89; from "A Million Reasons Why" - EXVP1-CD
3-2: recorded 1985; from "Pip Pyle's Equipe Out" - VP213CD
3-3: recorded 1968; from "Canterburied Sounds - Volume 3" - VP203CD
3-4: recorded 1981; from "D.S. Al Coda" - BP129CD
3-5: recorded 1996/97; from "Road To Ballina" RES127CD
3-6: recorded 1976; from "Moon Over Man" - BP119CD
3-7: recorded 1998; from "The Swimmer" - BP215CD
3-8: recorded 2000; new & previously unreleased
3-9: recorded 1998/99; from BP337CD
3-10: recorded 1993/94; from "Songs" - RES112CD
3-11: recorded 1991; from "Live At The Witchwood" BP107CD
3-12: recorded 1969; from "The Wilde Flowers" - BP123CD
3-13: recorded 1999/2000; new & previously unreleased

Bands:
National Health, Jakko, Richard Sinclair, Hugh Hopper, The Magick Brothers, Robert Wyatt, Brian Hopper, Robert Fenner, Gong, Pip Pyle's Equipe Out, Hugh Hopper Band, Wilde Flowers, Clive Brooks, Rick Biddulph, The Happy Accidents, Elton Dean, Jimi Hendrix, John Greaves, Phil Manzanera, Dave Sinclair, Pip Pyle, Lisa Klossner, Caravan, Dave Stewart, Soft Machine, CD musique National Health, Jakko, Richard Sinclair, Hugh Hopper, The Magick Brothers, Robert Wyatt, Brian Hopper, Robert Fenner, Gong, Pip Pyle's Equipe Out, Hugh Hopper Band, Wilde Flowers, Clive Brooks, Rick Biddulph, The Happy Accidents, Elton Dean, Jimi Hendrix, John Greaves, Phil Manzanera, Dave Sinclair, Pip Pyle, Lisa Klossner, Caravan, Dave Stewart, Soft Machine


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V.A. - What's Shakin' (1966 compilation with Lovin' Spoonful, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield, Tom Rush and Al Kooper - FLAC)

When the Elektra label started to record electric rock music in the mid-1960s, it did so with some baby steps. Really, it wasn't until the first Paul Butterfield Blues Band album (in 1965) that they did a full-length rockin' electric platter, and even that LP was at least as rooted in blues as rock'n'roll. It took Love's debut album the following year to mark Elektra's first all-out step into the rock'n'roll LP market (and, with the band's "My Little Red Book," into the Top Forty singles charts). And it would take the Doors' best-selling debut album, and #1 single "Light My Fire," to put Elektra rock on the top of the charts in 1967.

Along the way, however, the company accumulated a bunch of intriguing unreleased rock recordings by artists who never made an album for the label, as well as some interesting outtakes by artists who did. Rather than keep them locked up in a vault, Elektra generously made 14 of them available to the public with the 1966 compilation What's Shakin'. Every cut was by an artist of note -- in fact one of the acts, the Lovin' Spoonful, could have barely been hotter at the time of its release, though unfortunately for Elektra, their string of mid-'60s smashes was issued on another label. Also on board were Elektra's hottest group of the time, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, as well as a single track each by Tom Rush (then just beginning to move into folk-rock) and Al Kooper (then just beginning to make his reputation as part of the Blues Project). Add three recordings by an ad hoc British supergroup with Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Stevie Winwood, and lead Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones, and you had an LP of truly interesting odds and ends, even if they didn't match the best of what these musicians were putting onto their own albums.

Elektra founder and president Jac Holzman confirms that What's Shakin' was sparked in part by the recent success of the Elektra sampler Folk Song '65. That record had included one song, "Born in Chicago," from the sessions for the first Paul Butterfield album (a different version, incidentally, than the one that appears on the actual debut Butterfield LP). Elektra was expecting sales of about 25,000 copies, but ended up selling 60,000, in large part due -- as Holzman's phone calls to stores confirmed -- "Born in Chicago." That was a huge success for what was at that point still a fairly small independent record label, and one that, as previously noted, had only barely begun to record electric rock.

What's Shakin' did not dilly-dally around -- it was all electric rock, and if it wasn't the sensational sales success that Folk Song '65 was, as Holzman acknowledges, "it did fairly well. The recordings are from sessions that haven't been completed. In the Butterfield case, it was from the first iteration of [their first] album, which never got released. I had had a disappointment with the Lovin' Spoonful, a disappointment on not getting Clapton. These were things that were sort of made available to me because they liked me, and [the Lovin' Spoonful's] John Sebastian felt he owed me. Which he really didn't, but John's a good guy."

Admits Holzman, "This was an album that had no organic reason for being. Absolutely none. It was material that was available to us, which we tried to put a wrapper around that was reasonably transparent. I don't think we tried to fool anybody. We were just taking advantage of what we could get." But although it sold respectably, he adds, "There was so much great stuff coming out in those days, and everybody could tell what the great stuff was. And nobody sounded like anybody else, for the most part -- not true today. I think people were reserving their money for the really good things. And [What's Shakin'] was okay. It's not stellar."

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were prominently featured with five tracks, all of which, as Holzman notes, date from around the time they recorded their debut album. The production of that record was quite troubled, with the first set of studio recordings getting scrapped. A subsequent attempt at cutting a live album also failed before the group re-entered the studio to put down what became the actual The Paul Butterfield Blues Band LP. (The whole convoluted story is told in Holzman's autobiography Follow the Music (co-written with Gavan Daws) and the liner notes to the Butterfield CD The Original Lost Elektra Sessions, which contains material from the initial, failed attempt at making a studio album.) The Butterfield cuts on What's Shakin', however, hardly sound like inadequate rejects. Indeed they could have fit into The Paul Butterfield Blues Band LP comfortably, with the Butterfield original "Lovin' Cup" and a cover of Little Walter's "Off the Wall" being particularly outstanding. By the way, two of the five Butterfield songs on What's Shakin', "Off the Wall" and "One More Mile," do not appear on The Original Lost Elektra Sessions or The Paul Butterfield Blues Band in any guise.

The four Lovin' Spoonful tracks on What's Shakin' -- never to be included, in this form or as re-recorded versions, on subsequent releases by the band -- also took a circuitous route to commercial availability. The group had come close to signing with Elektra in early 1965, although they ultimately decided to go with Kama Sutra. The four cuts that made it onto What's Shakin' are, a little surprisingly, more roots rock'n'roll than folk-rock, including covers of the Coasters' "Searchin'" and Chuck Berry's "Almost Grown." Of the two John Sebastian originals, "Don't Bank on It Baby" shows a similarly heavy R&B influence. Only the self-descriptive "Good Time Music" really flashed the original brand of good-time rock that was the Spoonful's forte. (As a footnote, it subsequently scraped the bottom of the Top Hundred on a single by the Beau Brummels.)

As to why the Spoonful didn't stick with Elektra, various of the principals offered various explanations when interviewed for this writer's book Turn! Turn! Turn!: The Folk-Rock Revolution. Bassist Steve Boone: "Jac Holzman, obviously, was a friend of John's and Zally's [Spoonful guitarist Zal Yanovsky] and Erik's [Spoonful producer Erik Jacobsen]. I had a lot of respect for the Elektra label, just because of the artists that I knew to be on it at the time. But we as a group, and our management and production, all agreed that going with Jac Holzman and Elektra was risky in that we wanted to be clearly identified as a rock band. We wanted the benefits of being on Dick Clark, we wanted to be in Teen Beat magazine, we wanted to ride around in limousines and act like rock stars. We really felt that Elektra would be a label that would deliver the quality that we were looking for, [but] couldn't deliver the oomph in the rock'n'roll department."

John Sebastian: "If we had only gone with Jac, what a different world it would have been. I don't know if the music would have been that different. I think that part of our decision was that we didn't want to change horses in midstream. All of our little practice runs had been with Erik Jacobsen."

Erik Jacobsen: "I think the reason we did the four songs for him was because we felt a little bit guilty. We had kind of hung [Holzman] out to dry just a little bit on that somehow, and allowed him to have those sides."

Jac Holzman: "Nothing would have been different with the Lovin' Spoonful [if they'd signed with Elektra], except insofar as [Paul] Rothchild might have produced. I'm not sure whether Rothchild [who would go on to produce Love and the Doors] would not have been a bit too strong for them. I don't know whether Paul would have let John do what John did without there being some blood on the studio." What, then, would have been different? Holzman: "I ran into John Sebastian, he was performing at Central Park many, many years after I had left the business, probably the mid-'80s. I went backstage to see him, and he gave me a big hug, and said, 'What a mistake we made. We would have sold no fewer records on Elektra, and we would have been paid.'" Jacobsen confirmed that at Kama Sutra, "We were taken to the cleaners, like very few people were in the subsequent era."

As for the two artists represented by just one song apiece on What's Shakin', Holzman believes Tom Rush's cover of Fats Domino's "I'm in Love Again" is an outtake from the sessions for his 1966 album Take a Little Walk with Me. That seems logical as that record was split between one entire LP side of acoustic folk, and one LP side dominated by electric full-band covers of rock'n'roll oldies; "I'm in Love Again" could well have been recorded for consideration on the oldies side. As for Al Kooper's "Can't Keep from Crying Sometimes," it's been speculated that this was also recorded around the time of the Take a Little Walk with Me sessions, as Kooper had taken a prominent role on the LP's electric cuts as a pianist and guitarist. Kooper would record a tougher version of the same tune -- an adaptation of a Blind Willie Johnson number -- later in 1966 as part of the Blues Project, who made it the opening track of their second album, Projections. The What's Shakin' version is actually itself something of a Blues Project recording, as it was cut by the trio of Kooper (on vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Blues Project rhythm section Andy Kulberg (bass) and Roy Blumenfeld (drums), though the later Projections recording boasted a considerably fuller arrangement.

The most enigmatic recordings on What's Shakin' were the three tracks credited to Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse, subsequently revealed to be a studio-only supergroup of sorts. With Eric Clapton (then in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and months away from joining Cream) on lead guitar and Stevie Winwood (then in the Spencer Davis Group) on vocals, the band also included bassist Jack Bruce (then of Manfred Mann), Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones (on harmonica), pianist Ben Palmer (who had played with Clapton in a band during a brief interval in 1965 when Eric left the Bluesbreakers, and would later roadie for Cream), and Spencer Davis Group drummer Pete York. For contractual reasons, Winwood was credited under the pseudonym of either Steve Anglo or Stevie D'Angelo on the original LP. It wasn't hard for anyone with a decent knowledge of the British pop scene to recognize his voice, however, and in the October 29, 1966 issue of Melody Maker, Clapton admitted that "Steve Anglo" was indeed Stevie Winwood. (Winwood would also use the pseudonym of Steve Anglo on a November 1966 recording with John Mayall, "Long Night," which was issued shortly afterward on the various-artists Raw Blues compilation.)

Probably recorded in March 1966, the three Powerhouse songs on What's Shakin' include Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," which Clapton and Bruce would bring to rock audiences as two-thirds of Cream, and the instrumental "Steppin' Out," which Clapton recorded on his sole album as part of the Bluesbreakers (and which Cream would record in concert and for the BBC). The third item, "I Want to Know" (credited to "MacLeod," possibly a pseudonym for Paul Jones or the group, as Jones's wife was British author Sheila MacLeod) would not resurface in Cream's repertoire, although Ten Years After did it on their first album. That album, funnily enough, included two songs done by other acts on What's Shakin' ("Spoonful," which had been one of the Butterfield tracks, and "I Can't Keep from Crying Sometimes"), making one wonder if Ten Years After had been influenced by the Elektra compilation. Incidentally, in a March 1968 interview (printed in 1992 in the Eric Clapton issue of Best of Guitar Player), Clapton said that an unreleased fourth track, identified only as a "slow blues," was also recorded. "The slow blues was never issued, so they must have it on tape at Elektra somewhere," he revealed. "It was pretty good, too."

The Powerhouse cuts were recorded in London at the prompting of Joe Boyd, a young American who would soon go on to become a top producer, often in the British folk-rock field, for Fairport Convention, the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, and others. "Elektra had an 'electric blues project' in preparation and I was opening a London office for them," he told researcher Christopher Hjort when interviewed for Hjort's upcoming book on John Mayall. "I suggested that we include an English blues band in the project. Paul Jones came to see me at Elektra and I told him of my difficulty in finding an unsigned blues band for the project. He suggested putting together an all-star group, and we made out the lineup together in my office."

This original proposed lineup was the same as that used on the eventual session, Boyd continued, "only with Ginger Baker on drums. But he was away on tour, so we used Pete York instead. Jones approached them, then I worked with Clapton, Winwood, and Jones to choose repertoire -- a track to feature each one of them." This was, he added, his first recording session in the United Kingdom as a producer, "but Holzman showed up and insisted on taking the tapes to New York to mix, so I didn't get credit." Clapton and Bruce, of course, would within about three months be working together in Cream, a trio completed by the intended drummer for the Powerhouse project, Ginger Baker. Clapton would also play, though only briefly, with Winwood in another top-selling rock band, Blind Faith.

Hard as it might be to imagine today, Clapton and Winwood were not well known in the United States when What's Shakin' came out. Cream had only just formed and had yet to put out a record; Clapton had not toured in the United States; his pre-Cream band, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, were virtually unknown in America; and he'd left his pre-Mayall band, the Yardbirds, before they'd chalked up their first hit. As for Winwood, while the Spencer Davis Group were already huge in Britain, they wouldn't have their first significant Stateside hit until early 1967. Of course, had Clapton and Winwood already been international stars when What's Shakin' was compiled, they might not have even had the time or inclination to get together with other musicians for the Powerhouse session in the first place. Instead, they supplied one piece of the puzzle for this intriguing grab bag of tracks by present and future '60s stars, of which even many fans of the artists remain unaware (by Richie Unterberger).

Track List:
01."Good Time Music" (J. Sebastian) – The Lovin' Spoonful
02."Almost Grown" (C. Berry) – The Lovin' Spoonful
03."Spoonful" (W. Dixon) – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
04."Off the Wall" (W. Jacobs) – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
05."Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" (A. Kooper) – Al Kooper
06."I Want To Know" (S. McLeod) – Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse
07."Crossroads" (R. Johnson) – Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse
08."Lovin' Cup" (P. Butterfield) – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
09."Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (S. Williamson) – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
10."Steppin' Out" (M. Slim) – Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse
11."I'm In Love Again" (D. Bartholomew, F. Domino) – Tom Rush
12."Don't Bank on it Baby" – The Lovin' Spoonful
13."Searchin'" – The Lovin' Spoonful
14."One More Mile" (J. Cotton) – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Bands:
*The Lovin' Spoonful
*The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
*Tom Rush
*Al Kooper
*Eric Clapton and The Powerhouse (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Paul Jones, Stevie Winwood)


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Shades Of Blue - A Golden Classics Edition (1966-1967 us vocal group of blue-eyed soul and pop rock - MP3 320K and Wavepack image)

As part of Collectables' Golden Classics series, Shades of Blue are spotlighted on previously released material originally recorded for Impact in the '60s.

The 14 tracks include "Funny Kind of Love," "All I Want Is Love," "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," and their biggest hit, "Oh How Happy."

Considering the obscurity of CDs available by the vocal group, this affordable disc should please both casual fans and collectors.


Oh How Happy:


Track List:
01.Oh How Happy
02.Happiness
03.Lonely Summer
04.Little Orphan Boy
05.He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
06.Exception To The Rule
07.A Way To Love
08.The Night
09.With This Ring
10.You Gave Me Piece Of Mind
11.Millionaire
12.Penny Arcade
13.All I Want Is Love
14.Funny Kind Of Love


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Rip and scans made by Justme
CODE: 51312

V.A. The Essence Of Swedish Progressive Music - Pregnant Rainbows For Colourblind Dreamers (1967-1979 four CD boxset, 71 tracks, full artwork - FLAC)

[ Compilations Series # 88 ]

This 4-CD anthology on Swedish prog 1967-1979 is an excellent package in many ways. In fact, I don't know any similar attempt to give such thorough and precise picture of the prog scene of one particular country, in a particular time limit. Or if I have come across such things, surely none of them have been done so well.

Naturally many of them are very rare and have a limited output (sometimes narrowed down to a single single), but despite that fact, this box is a perfect thing for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the early Swedish prog.

Which indeed has a unique character. If that uniqueness is heard already by listening to just a few classics of Swedish prog, this compilation only deepens that idea.

I'm not going into details, here's just some of the more known bands: KAIPA, BO HANSSON, KEBNEKAJSE, MADE IN SWEDEN, SAMMLA MAMMAS MANNA, ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD...

What's very wise of this box, these "bigger" acts are not given more room than the rest. The goal clearly has been to give as full picture as can be given within four discs.

Any imaginable sub-genre is present, be it Psychedelia, Jazz-Rock, Symphonic... Take you pick. OK, one thing COULD be more user-friendly: one hears no notable differences between the CD's, whereas it would have been nice to try to categorize contents somehow.

It doesn't even run chronologically, which would also be a suitable way to do it. The texts are very inormative, and everything about the package is edited tastefully. This box is a sort of successor to a book on Swedish prog (by Matti).

CD-1:
01.Andreas Aarflot - Surayya – Part 1
02.Alexander Lucas - Svarta Skogen
03.Arbete & Fritid - Gånglåt Efter Lejsme Per Larsson, Malung
04.Ardy & Lasses Öronpaj - Black Sallad
05.Asoka - Tvivlaren
06.Atlantic Ocean - Take A Look Around You
07.Baby Grandmothers - Being Is More Than Life 08 Sten Bergman - Sorti
09.BIB Set - Pythagorean Child N:o II – Arrival In Time 10 Blond - The Lilac Years
11.Blåkulla - Drottningholmsmusiken, Sats 1
12.Bättre Lyss - Sagan Om Viggen
13.Charlie & Esdor - Två Mans Bridge Blues
14.Contact - Convulsions
15.Dice - Labyrinth
16.Doris - You Never Come Closer
17.Peter O Ekbergs System - Tills Nästa Gång
18.Energy - Metamorphosis
19.Cymbeline - Flicka

CD-2:
01.Fläsket Brinner - Gunnars Dilemma
02.Mats Glenngård - Kosterläge
03.Bo Hansson - Funderingar På Vinden – Uppehåll
04.Hansson & Karlsson - Tax Free
05.Hoola Bandoola Band - You And I
06.Ibis Blixtens - Gamla Buss
07.International Harvester - Sommarlåten
08.Björn J:son Lindh - Tuppa
09.Kaipa - Musiken Är Ljuset
10.Kebnekajse - Frestelser I Stan
11.Kornet - Skriket Från Vildmarken
12.Kvartetten Som Sprängde - Gånglåt Från Vallhallavägen
13.Lea Riders Group - Dom Kallar Oss Mods
14.Life - Sailing In The Sunshine
15.Lotus - Mac
16.Made In Sweden - Winter’s A Bummer
17.Friendship Time - Martins Lilla

CD-3:
01.Mecki Mark Men - Born
02.Mendoza - The Grateful Salesman & Co
03.Midsommar - Illusionen Av En Färdigskolad Akademiker
04.Motvind - Lära För Livet
05.Nationalteatern - Jack The Ripper
06.Nature - Mystery Brew
07.Norrbottens Järn - Flugornas Hage
08.November - Ta Ett Steg In I Sagans Land
09.Nynningen - Efterdyning
10.Opus III - I See The World From My Window
11.Outsiders - On My Magic Carpet
12.Pandora - Measures Of Time
13.Panta Rei - Five Steps
14.Pop Workshop - High Priest
15.Pugh & Nature - Slavsång
16.Resan - Solens Vän
17.Rävjunk - Inferno
18.Saga - Önskebrunn
19.Fruit - Kunskap

CD-4:
01.Samla Mammas Manna - Minareten
02.Janne Schaffer - Fillins Mignon
03.Scorpion - Red Queen Of The Underground
04.Shaggy - No Strings
05.Sogmusobil - Arabic In The Morning
06.Solar Plexus - Sköna Låten
07.Splash - Sunday Ride
08.Trettioåriga Kriget - Ur Djupen
09.Träd Gräs Och Stenar - Sanningens Silverflod
10.Turid - To The Children Of Song My
11.Monica Törnell - Öje Brudmarsch
12.Uppåt Väggarn -a Jag Hatar Politik
13.Vatten - Jag Är Trött
14.Vildkaktus - Jag Såg Din Stad
15.Älgarnas Trädgård - Saturnus Ringar
16.Ardy - The Painter Of Love: Pregnant Rainbows For Colourblind Dreamers


** Full scan boxset artwork includes 50 pages of booklet **


[ Rip and scans by MKRAEMER55 ]
CODE: 23328

V.A. - No Nukes (1979 us anti-nuclear live concert at Madison Square Garden Arena - MP3 320K and FLAC)

1979. That was a long time ago. We were more young. We were worried about nuclear power plants. This was months after Three Mile Island.

Now look where we are with Japan after the earthquake. It was a simpler time - Remember, the 60's mostly happened in the 70's, and the late 70's weren't the 80's yet, so we still thought we could change the world :)

I suppose just about anyone could find a reason to give a listen to the 'No Nukes' recordings. For many, some of the earliest and most blistering live tracks from Bruce Springsteen, still on his career ascent, which are offered here are reason enough to own these discs, even if he shares CD space with Chaka Khan.

Others may find their appeal in the workmanlike presence of Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and The Doobie Brothers, who perform solo and are all over the place singing duets and background for other performers willing to ante-up in the fight against fission.

Despite my own appreciation for Crosby, Stills and Nash, what really caught my eye here was what amounts to a cameo appearance by Gil Scott-Heron, offering up one of his finest moments (and as a Detroiter one I can readily identify with) on the ominous yet funkified 'We Almost Lost Detroit'.

Next to 'Johannasburg' this is my favorite Gil Scott-Heron composition. Unfortunately, it appears on a wonderful, but unreleased CD Scott-Heron produced in 1977 with Brian Jackson, 'Bridges'.

It tells a slightly overblown tale about a malfunction at one of the two Fermi nuclear plants near Detroit. While the mishap could have theoretically progressed into a full-blown meltdown, the generator was quickly shut down and catastrophe was readily averted. So while it didn't come close to producing a Chernobyl, it did produce one funky protest song, and Scott-Heron gives it an inspired treatment on 'No Nukes'

1979 was a strange, transitional year in music. Disco was all but dead, yet it's brief success had ushered in a retreat from the expansive progressive rock that had enshrined the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Something new had to be on the horizon, even with Bruce Springsteen assuming the role of heir apparent to those who would proclaim (along with Neil Young) that "rock and roll will never die".

No one could have predicted, however, that even for Neil Young, the 1980's would plunge rock and roll even deeper into an abyss of ill-employed synthesizers, and open the door for a reborn Michael Jackson and the birth of a Madonna as the dominant forces on vinyl and cassette.

So 'No Nukes' offers one last gasp for the faithful few from the golden age of rock and roll who had somehow weathered the disco storm.

Virtually all of the performers are in their prime, and some, such as Nicolete Larson, Raydio, Tom Petty, and even Bonnie Raitt, are able to truck in some pretty recent hit material.

The Doobie Brothers, who open and close the set presented here, are in top form as well. The Crosby, Stills and Nash tracks sound a bit dated, even though they are preceded by Springsteen's covers of four songs that pre-date anything CSN offer up.

There is more crowd noise on the softer tracks than one would wish (why would anyone even want to unleash a two-fingered whistle in the middle of a song like 'You Don't Have To Cry' anyway?).

But the boys do serve up an edgy 'Long Time Gone', whose lyrics settle well with the MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) theme.

Some of the tracks, such as CSN's closer, 'Teach Your Children', and Jesse Colin Young's Youngblood's classic 'Get Together' are marred by the dreaded audience sing-a-long... a nice one-time experience for the audience, but torture for the owner of the recording who must listen to a mass of amateurs singing like a tone-deaf choir over and over and over...

While everyone can find something to like on 'No Nukes', it's also likely that it's wide range of artists and genre's will guarantee there is something you won't like.

While most of the tracks were either hits (consider James Taylor and Carly Simon belting out a live version of 'Mockingbird') or the main attraction on studio LP's (Jackson Browne's 'Before the Deluge'), some out-of-the-mainstream material also appears, such as John Hall's 'Plutonium Is Forever', which lends a sarcastic twist of the knife into the nuclear power industry's back.

Predictably some tracks that look good on paper come across uninspired, such as the James Taylor-Carly Simon-Graham Nash take on Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin' and Ry Cooder's 'Little Sister', which you keep waiting to take off but just keeps circling the tarmac.

The liner notes are extensive, but oriented toward an indoctrination for the 'No Nukes' agenda rather than commentary and anecdotes surrounding these Madison Garden concerts.

If this was all the information you had, you would undoubtedly conclude Jimmy Carter was a fool for not installing a line of windmills along the Continental Divide, and a massive array of solar panels covering the southwestern U.S.

Oh, well, at least it gave some of these soon-to-be-out-of-work artists one last excuse to fuse their talents before they turned out the lights on the 70's (pun intended).

Four stars 'cause Stephen plays some wicked guitar, but I may be straining my credibility (by Don Schmittdiel).





CD1:
01."Dependin' On You" - The Doobie Brothers
02."Runaway" (Del Shannon, Max Crook) - Bonnie Raitt
03."Angel From Montgomery" (John Prine) - Bonnie Raitt
04."Plutonium is Forever" - John Hall
05."Power" - The Doobie Brothers, John Hall, James Taylor
06."The Times They Are A-Changin'" (Bob Dylan) - James Taylor, Carly Simon, Graham Nash
07."Cathedral" (Graham Nash) - Graham Nash
08."The Crow on the Cradle" (trad.) - Jackson Browne and Graham Nash
09."Before the Deluge" (Jackson Browne) - Jackson Browne
10."Lotta Love" - Nicolette Larson with The Doobie Brothers
11."Little Sister" - Ry Cooder
12."A Woman" - Sweet Honey in the Rock
13."We Almost Lost Detroit" - Gil Scott-Heron
14."Get Together" (Chet Powers) - Jesse Colin Young

CD2:
01."You Can't Change That" - Raydio
02."Once You Get Started" - Chaka Khan
03."Captain Jim's Drunken Dream" (James Taylor) - James Taylor
04."Honey Don't Leave L.A." (Danny Kortchmar) - James Taylor
05."Mockingbird" - James Taylor and Carly Simon
06."Heart of the Night" - Poco
07."Cry to Me" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
08."Stay" (Maurice Williams) - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band with Jackson Browne and Rosemary Butler
09."Detroit Medley": "Devil With a Blue Dress On"/"Good Golly Miss Molly"/"Jenny Take a Ride!"/"C.C. Rider" - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
10."You Don't Have to Cry" - Crosby, Stills & Nash
11."Long Time Gone" - Crosby, Stills & Nash
12."Teach Your Children" (Graham Nash) - Crosby, Stills & Nash
13."Takin' It to the Streets" (Michael McDonald) - The Doobie Brothers and James Taylor


[ Thank you COR for sending this post ]
CODE: 50313