Dire Straits - The Long Highway (1995)

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in Blyth in the northeast of England, and with Leicester-based John Illsley and Pick Withers they formed Dire Straits in Deptford, south east London, in 1977. Withers was already a 10-year music business veteran, having been a session drummer for Dave Edmunds, Gerry Rafferty, Magna Carta and others through the 1970's, and he'd played with Mark previously in the pub-rock band Brewers Droop around 1973. The new band was initially known as the Café Racers, and the name Dire Straits was coined by a musician flatmate of Withers, allegedly thought up while they were rehearsing in the kitchen of a friend, Simon Cowe, of Lindisfarne. In 1977 the group recorded a five-song demo tape which included their future hit single 'Sultans of Swing', as well as 'Water Of Love' and 'Down To The Waterline', and after being turned down by MCA Records they sent a tape to DJ Charlie Gillett, presenter of Honky Tonk on BBC Radio London, and following the DJ playing 'Sultans Of Swing' on his show the band signed a recording contract with the Vertigo Records division of Phonogram Inc. In October 1977 the band recorded another set of demos, including two songs which have yet to make an appearance on record. The group's first album, 'Dire Straits', was recorded at Basing Street studios in Notting Hill, and was produced by Muff Winwood, coming out on Vertigo in June 1978. That same year, Dire Straits began a tour as opening band for Talking Heads, and after the re-released 'Sultans Of Swing' (backed with the 1977 demo 'Eastbound Train') started to climb the UK charts, the band were picked up by Warner Bros. Records for a US record deal, and this increased exposure resulted in the album topping the charts in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and going top 10 in every European country. 

Recording sessions for the group's second album, 'Communiqué', took place in December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and it was released in June 1979, peaking at No. 5 in the UK album charts. Featuring the single 'Lady Writer', it continued in a similar vein to their debut and displayed the expanding scope of Knopfler's lyricism on the opening track, 'Once Upon A Time In The West'. In July 1980, the band started recording tracks for their third album, to be produced by Jimmy Iovine along with Mark Knopfler, and 'Making Movies' was released in October 1980. During the recording sessions, tensions between the Knopfler brothers reached a point where David Knopfler left the band for a solo career, and the remaining trio continued recording the album with session guitarist Sid McGinnis on rhythm guitar. After the recording sessions, keyboardist Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes joined Dire Straits as full-time members for the On Location tour of Europe, North America, and Oceania. 'Making Movies' received mostly positive reviews and featured longer songs with more complex arrangements, a style which would continue for the rest of the band's career, and although a title track was recorded it was omitted from the record. Dire Straits' fourth studio album, 'Love Over Gold', filled with lengthy passages that featured Alan Clark's piano and keyboard work, was well received when it was released in September 1982, going gold in America on the strength of the FM rock radio single 'Industrial Disease'. The title was inspired by graffiti seen from the window of Knopfler's old council flat in London, with the phrase being taken from the sleeve of an album by Captain Beefheart. Love Over Gold was the first Dire Straits album produced solely by Mark Knopfler, and its main UK chart hit, 'Private Investigations', gave Dire Straits their first top 5 hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached the number 2 position, despite its almost seven-minute length. 'Love Over Gold' also featured the 14-minute 'Telegraph Road', which has since become a live favourite, and although Knopfler wrote 'Private Dancer' during this time, a Dire Straits recording of the song has never been discovered, eventually being given to Tina Turner for her comeback album of the same name. 

Shortly after the recording sessions of 'Love Over Gold', drummer Pick Withers left the band, and his replacement, Terry Williams, formerly of Rockpile and Man, played on their January 1983 EP 'ExtendedancEPlay'. It featured the hit single 'Twisting By The Pool', plus three new tracks, and reached the Top 20 in the UK and Canada. During 1983 and 1984, Mark Knopfler was also involved with other projects outside of Dire Straits, and expressing his interest writing film music, producer David Puttnam responded, and he wrote and produced the music score to the film 'Local Hero'. The album was released in April 1983, receiving a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Original Film Music the following year, and Clark, Illsley, Lindes and Williams all played on the track 'Freeway Flyer', while Gerry Rafferty sang lead vocals on 'The Way It Always Starts'. At the end of 1984 the band began recording tracks at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat for their upcoming fifth studio album, to be titled 'Brothers In Arms', and with the addition of Guy Fletcher as second keyboardist, he was able to add broader synthesizer tones to Clark's piano and organ. Released in May 1985, 'Brothers In Arms' entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1, spent a total of 228 weeks in the charts, and sold over 4 million copies. The album featured a more lavish production and overall sound than Dire Straits' earlier work and spawned several big chart singles, with 'Money For Nothing' reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and the other singles all breaking into the top 20 in the UK and US. 'Money For Nothing' was the first video to be played on MTV in the UK, and featured guest vocals by Sting, who is credited with co-writing the song with Mark Knopfler, although it was the inclusion of the melody from 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' that triggered the copyright credit, as no lyrics were written by Sting. After the Brothers in Arms tour, Mark Knopfler took a break from Dire Straits, and during 1987 he concentrated on solo projects and film soundtracks, and the following year he announced the dissolution of Dire Straits. 

In 1990, Dire Straits reunited, with Knopfler, Illsley, Clark and Fletcher being joined in the studio by saxophonist Chris White, steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings and guitarist Phil Palmer, with drums split between Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Manu Katché. The band released their sixth studio album, 'On Every Street', in September 1991, which turned out to be their final studio release. It was met with more moderate success and mixed reviews, as well as a significantly reduced audience, although it still went straight to number 1 in the UK Albums Chart. Several singles were released from it, achieving some success in Europe, Australasia and the US, although none charted in the UK. The group embarked on a world tour to promote the album, and this lasted until October 1992, but it was not as critically acclaimed nor as commercially successful as previous tours, and this proved to be too much for Knopfler, leading to the second and final break-up. During their 1992 tour they took time out to visit Timothy White's radio show, where they played a new song, 'The Long Highway', and they also performed 'I Think I Love You Too Much', a song written in 1990 but never recorded, on the 1992 tour. Similarly. 'Secondary Waltz' was also written around this time, but it's earliest recording is a demo by Mark Knopfler from 1995, which he later reworked for his 'Kill To Get Crimson' album in 2007. All of these songs are on this album, along with David Knopfler's 'Bernadette', sung by him in 1979, the missing 'Making Movies' title track from their 'Arena' film, a few live recordings of songs which never made it to the studio, a smattering of b-sides, and one surprise, with a recording of 'Private Dancer' by Laszlo Buring, done as he imagines it would have sounded had Dire Straits recorded it in 1982.    

Track listing

Disc I - 1977-1983
01 Eastbound Train (b-side of 'Sultans Of Swing' 1978)
02 Real Girl (Honky Tonk demo 1977)
03 Sacred Loving (Honky Tonk demo 1977)
04 What's The Matter Baby (live in Rotterdam 1978)
05 Me And My Friends (previously unreleased 1978)
06 Bernadette (live in Boston 1979)
07 In My Car (live in Boston 1979)
08 Making Movies (from the 'Arena' film 1980)
09 Private Dancer (recreation by Laszlo Buring)
10 The Way It Always Starts (from the soundtrack to the film 'Local Hero' 1983)
11 Freeway Flyer (from the soundtrack to the film 'Local Hero' 1983)

Disc II - 1983-1995
01 Twisting By The Pool (from the 'ExtendeDancEPlay' EP 1983)  
02 Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-Shirts (from the 'ExtendeDancEPlay' EP 1983)  
03 Two Young Lovers (from the 'ExtendeDancEPlay' EP 1983)  
04 If I Had You (from the 'ExtendeDancEPlay' EP 1983)  
05 I Think I Love You Too Much (live in Nimes, France 1992)
06 The Long Highway (from the Timothy White sessions 1992)
07 Millionaire Blues (b-side of 'Calling Elvis' 1991)
08 Secondary Waltz (demo from the Golden Heart sessions 1995)
09 Kingdom Come (b-side of 'Heavy Fuel' 1991)

Ali Love - Love Music (2007)

Ali Love was born Alexander Williams on 15 September 1979, and is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2006 he released his first two singles, 'K-Hole' and 'Camera On A Pole', on his own independent I Love Records label, but he mainly rose to fame when he provided vocals for The Chemical Brothers hit, 'Do It Again', for their 2007 album 'We Are the Night'. The song was later picked up and synced to the worldwide commercial for Paco Rabanne's "1 Million" and "Lady Million" fragrances. He recorded his debut album 'Love Music' in 2007, but it only got as far a promo CDr's, and remains commercially unreleased. In April 2009 he signed a record deal with Back Yard Recordings and Blue Mountain Publishing, and in February 2011 he signed to Dim Mak Records in the USA. Later that year he sang and co-wrote the new Justice single 'Civilization', which was picked up and used in the biggest Adidas commercial to date, 'Adidas All In', starring David Beckham, Katy Perry and B.o.B. In 2012 he became part of two new dance groups - Infinity Ink and Hot Natured, with the latter's 'Forward Motion' single becoming the seductive summer anthem of 2011. In 2010 he finally released his official debut album 'Love Harder' on Back Yard Recordings, but he certainly wasn't chilling out during that time as he's released nearly 40 singles from 'Do It Again' to date. To find out what he was up to back at the beginning of his career, here is his unreleased debut album 'Love Music' from 2007.

Track listing

01 Late Night Session
02 Secret Sunday Lover
03 Shangri-La
04 Rebound Lover
05 Rock N Roll Control
06 Love Cliché
07 Vincent Brain
08 K-Hole
09 Video Dream Girl
10 Golden Cage
11 Doin' The Dirty
12 Untitled    

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Sing Dylan (1998)

I've been listening to a lot of Manfred Mann's 60's output recently, and when I heard them again I fondly recalled their interpretations of the three Bob Dylan songs that gave them hit singles, with 'If You Gotta Go, Go Now' reaching #2 in 1965, 'Just Like A Woman' breaking the Top Ten in 1966, and 'The Mighty Quinn' hitting the top spot in 1968. That's not forgetting their version of 'With God On My Side' from their 'My Little Red Book Of Winners' album from 1965, and I wondered if they'd recorded any more Dylan songs that I wasn't aware of, After some investigation I found that those were the only four songs that they covered, but Manfred Mann's Earth Band were another story, with the outfit that Mann formed after the break-up of the jazz fusion-inspired Manfred Mann Chapter Three in 1971 releasing a Dylan cover as their very first single. Feeling that Chapter Three had suffered from too many self-imposed rules, being frustrated with mostly only playing Mike Hugg's compositions. and not being an economically feasible venture, Mann formed the new group with Mick Rogers on guitar and vocals, Mann himself on keyboards, Minimoog synthesizer and vocals, Colin Pattenden on bass guitar and Chris Slade on drums and vocals, and the quartet released a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Please, Mrs. Henry' as their debut record in 1971. An album, 'Stepping Sideways', was recorded but not released because the band's style was rapidly maturing, and the group felt it was not representative of their live act anymore. Their sound was very much grounded in the current progressive rock sound, and Mann's interest in English 20th century classical music saw him adapt Gustav Holst's Planets Suite and turn a version of the 'Jupiter' movement into a UK hit entitled 'Joybringer', while the accompanying 'Solar Fire' album included a cover of Dylan's 'Father Of Day, Father Of Night'. 

The title song to 1973's 'Messin'', was written by Mike Hugg and originally recorded by Chapter Three on their unissued third album, and it also included a rollicking take on Dylan's 'Get Your Rocks Off!'. Their 1974 album 'The Good Earth', tapped into ecological concerns, which was a recurring theme in Mann's music in later years, and it gave away a free piece of land in Wales with each album sold. The group's sixth album, 1975's 'Nightingales & Bombers', took its title from a World War II naturalist's recording of a nightingale singing in a garden as warplanes flew overhead, and the US edition included an extra track, which was a cover of Dylan's 'Quit Your Low Down Ways' sung by Mick Rogers. For 1978's 'Watch' album the band included a live version of their 1968 hit as Manfred Mann, and 'The Mighty Quinn' was also released as a single in a shortened version, while the following year, the 'Angel Station' album featured a cover of Dylan's 'You Angel You'. For their 1998 live album, 'Mann Alive', they included two new Dylan songs, with 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' and 'Shelter From The Storm' appearing for the first time on an Earth Band record, and so although my original idea of an album of Dylan cover by Manfred Mann came to nothing, this one of recordings by the later Earth Band is a perfectly acceptable replacement. 

Track listing

01 Get Your Rocks Off!
02 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
03 Please, Mrs Henry
04 Father Of Day, Father Of Night
05 Quit Your Lowdown Ways
06 The Times They Are A-Changin'

07 You Angel You
08 The Mighty Quinn
09 Shelter From The Storm

Mike Solof - Off The Beatle Track - Episode 46 (2019)

While we wait for Mike to deliver the fifth instalment of his 'Rarities Row' series, let's take another dip into his radio show, where he looks back at the career of those four lovable popsters, who were at their very peak in the mid-to-late 1960's, examining how their songs were written, looking into their prowess in the live arena, and listening behind the scenes at the recording of one of their best albums. There's also a look at some of their solo work, examples of their off-beat humour, a critique of their film career, and songs showing their social conscience .........oh, wait.....it was all a dream.....

Track listing 

01 Episode 46 - Monkees-A-Rama

A gift from PowerPopTom - Part 10

PowerPopTom has been busy again with the graphic designing, and has sent me another batch of CD covers for you to download if you fancy burning some of these albums to CD. 

This batch includes:

Eric Clapton - Higher Power (interior)

Dylan & The Dead - Dead Man, Dead Man (interior)

Genesis - Abacab

George Harrison - Cloud 9

GTR - Nerotrend (interior)

Peter Gabriel - After The Flood

Peter Gabriel - I/O

Peter Gabriel - And...

Peter Gabriel - The Non Album

Prince - Plays Hendrix

Robin Trower - Earth Below Blues

Tears For Fears - Music For Tables

Thomas Dolby - Salsa Picante (1989)

Thomas Morgan Robertson (known professionally as Thomas Dolby) was born in in London on 14 October 1958, and at school in London he was good friends with Shane MacGowan of The Pogues, and used to sit with him in the back row of the English Literature class. The stage name Thomas Dolby originated from a nickname "Dolby" that he picked up in the early 1970's, when he was "always messing around with keyboards and tapes", and he adopted the stage name "Thomas Dolby" to avoid confusion with British singer Tom Robinson, who was popular when he began his career. In the late 1970's Dolby formed the Camera Club with Bruce Woolley, and after leaving them he joined Lene Lovich's band as keyboardist, and wrote her hit song 'New Toy'. In 1981 he launched his solo career with the release of the single 'Europa And The Pirate Twins, followed in 1982 by 'Airwaves' and 'Radio Silence'. His debut album, 'The Golden Age Of Wireless', appeared in 1982, but didn't include the signature hit 'She Blinded Me with Science', although after that track hit the charts the album was re-released with the single included. While much of the album's instrumentation is synthesisers and samplers, it does credit a long list of guest musicians as well, with instruments ranging from harmonica and violin to guitar and percussion. Beginning in 1983, Dolby collaborated with a number of artists in an occasional studio-bound project called Dolby's Cube, which was essentially a forum for him to release material that was more dance-oriented. In 1984 he released his second LP, 'The Flat Earth', which peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 35 on the Billboard album chart in the US. 

With a wide range of influences including nostalgic jazz, funk-tinged Motown R&B, and world music, and including guest vocals from Robyn Hitchcock, Bruce Woolley, and others, 'The Flat Earth' further established Dolby's wide range of talents as musician, songwriter, and producer. In 1988 he released his third album, 'Aliens Ate My Buick', which was strongly funk and dance influenced, and included the single 'Hot Sauce', which was a cover of the George Clinton song. For 'Astronauts & Heretics' in 1992, Dolby expanded even further stylistically, starting the song-writing process at the piano, then again collaborating with a variety of guest musicians. Both Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia played guitar on 'The Beauty Of A Dream', and Eddie Van Halen plays on 'Eastern Bloc' and 'Close but No Cigar'. Following the release of this album Dolby took a lengthy hiatus away from recording, founding the Silicon Valley interactive audio technology company Beatnik, which took up his time until 2006, when he returned to his musical career. During his first dozen years of making music he kept extremely busy, releasing music under aliases, and collaborating with other musicians, and so it is relatively easy to collect a good selection of non-album tracks, including both side of the 'Field Work' single by Ryuichi Sakamoto, on which he is featured, as well as his 1981 cover of Joni Mitchell's 'The Jungle Line' as Low Noise. We also have one of his earliest singles, in 'Urges'/'Leipzig', some demos from the '...Wireless' era, and an exclusive mix of both sides of the 'Dissidents (The Search For Truth)' 12" single.   

Track listing

01 Therapy/Growth (b-side of 'Europa And The Pirate Twins' 1981)
02 Urges (single 1981)
03 Leipzig (b-side of 'Urges')
04 Sale Of The Century (demo 1982)
05 Pedestrian Walkway (demo 1982)
06 Jungle Line (single as Low Noise 1981)
07 Urban Tribal (b-side of 'Jungle Line')
08 Puppet Theatre (bonus track on the 2009 reissue of 'The Flat Earth' 1984)
09 Dissidents (The Search For Truth, Parts I & II) (single 1984)
10 Field Work (London Mix) (single by Ryuichi Sakamoto featuring Thomas Dolby 1986)
11 Field Work (Tokyo Mix) (b-side of 'Field Work (London Mix)')
12 Fantasmagoria (from the soundtrack to the film 'Gothic' 1987)
13 Salso Picante (b-side of 'Hot Sauce' 1988)
14 Ravivar Fiore (b-side of 'My Brain Is Like A Sieve' 1989)

Walkingseeds - Peter's Trip: The Best Of Walkingseeds (1992)

Frank Martin (vocals), Bob Parker (guitar), Martin Dempsey (bass), and John Neesam (drums) had met while students at Liverpool Art School in 1984, and formed a band called The Mel-o-Tones, releasing a mini-album and an EP on Liverpool label Probe Plus. After appearing as The Corinthians for a few months, and following Dempsey's departure, they recorded a seven-track demo, and decided on another change of name to Walkingseeds. Still signed to Probe Plus, they released their debut single in June 1986, with the sound of the 'Know Too Much' EP being characterised as "psychedelic grunge". When Neesam departed, the others drafted in former Marshmallow Overcoat guitarist Barry Sutton and drummer Tony Mogan. After the 'Mark Chapman' single on their own Moral Burro label, they returned to Probe Plus with their 1987 debut album, 'Skullfuck', with the title being influenced by a Grateful Dead album cover, and the album was later cited by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain as an influence. The band worked with Kramer on their second album, 'Upwind Of Disaster, Downwind Of Atonement', which was released on Glass Records in 1989, after which Sutton departed to join The La's and was replaced by Andy Rowan for the 'Shaved Beatnik' EP. When he left, the band drafted in Nick Saloman (aka The Bevis Frond) and brought in Lee Webster as a replacement for Rowan. 

The 'Sensory Deprivation Chamber Quartet Dwarf' mini-album followed in 1989, and was their last release for Glass, following the closure of the label. They then recorded 'Gates Of Freedom' for new label Paperhouse Records,  which included a b-side cover version of Pink Floyd's 'Astronomy Dominé', and this coincided with their next album, 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball', a more considered but still aggressively garage-like effort. They tore through Bevis Frond’s 'Reflections In A Tall Mirror', backed by his interpretation of the band's 'Sexorcist' on a split single, but by this point the band were despondent about their lack of success, despite recruiting ex-Dinosaur Jr guitarist Don Fleming. A swan-song was offered in 'Earth Is Hell' on the Snakeskin label, housing live material recorded in Germany earlier that year, but the band disintegrated when Parker and Mogan set up The Del-Bloods, and issued the 'Black Rabbit' EP in 1991. The pair also surfaced in White Bitch for 'Animal Woman', and teamed up with Martin for Batloaf's 'Meat Out Of Hell' parody project. In their prime Walkingseeds proffered a fusion that combines the swirling, distorted guitars and raw intensity of 1960's psychedelia with the abrasive aggression of 1980's alternative rock, and if that appeals then give this collection of some of their best work a listen. 

Track listing

01 28If (from 'Upwind Of Disaster, Downwind Of Atonement' 1989)

02 Gates of Freedom (from 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball' 1990)

03 Marque Chapman (from John Peel session 1987)

04 Hairy Who? (from 'Dwarf L.P.' 1989)

05 Kill Kill, Kill For Inner Peace (from 'Skullfuck' 1987)

06 He Said She Said (from 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball' 1990)

07 Ocean Drain (from 'Upwind Of Disaster, Downwind Of Atonement' 1989)

08 Reflections In A Tall Mirror (from the split single with Bevis Frond 1989)

09 Obeying The Law (from 'Skullfuck' 1987)

10 Broken Cup (from 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball' 1990)

11 Imperius, Vain, Selfish & Willfull (from 'Upwind Of Disaster, Downwind Of Atonement' 1989)

12 Can't Seem To Figure It Out (from 'Dwarf L.P.' 1989)

13 Peter’s Trip (from 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball' 1990)

14 Night Of The Long Grass (from The Troggs tribute album 'Groin Thunder' 1992) 

The Byrds - The Great American Songbook (1968)

In a Hit Parader interview in 1968, Roger McGuinn explained that his proposed vision for the follow-up album to the brilliant 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' was to be a double album, chronologically structured, and featuring different musical styles on each side of the discs. Side One would be folk and bluegrass, Side Two would be modern country, Side Three would be rock morphing into psych, with some synthesizer, with a Side Four of spacey futuristic electronic music, which according to McGuinn would be "pure synthesizer". This concept would be an examination of American traditional music from the folk and bluegrass of the 40's and 50's, through to country music of the 50's and 60's, rock music of the 60's morphing into the psychedelic music which was emerging at that time, and then closing with what McGuinn considered to be the music of the future. We're not sure how "nearly" it actually came to existing, although McGuinn was a gadget geek, and already had a Moog synthesizer. He was never a keyboardist, so he could only use it to make weird sounds, which he did quite creatively on 'Space Odyssey', from the 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' album. Following Gene Clark's departure after a brief return to the group in 1967, the remaining members hired Gram Parsons to help with their live performances, and he soon began to assert his own musical agenda, in which he intended to marry his love of country and western music with youth culture's passion for rock. 

He and Chris Hillman convinced McGuinn to abandon the ambitious double album project, and instead to make a straight country album, which resulted in the classic country/rock of 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo'. Although nothing was recorded for the double album, you could almost re-create it by taking some of the 'Sweetheart'-era tracks, a few from the following year's 'Ballad Of Easy Rider' album (skipping the same year's 'Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde' as it didn't included much usable material), and some of the moog-y outtakes which have since appeared. However, you'd still come up short of a two record set, so I've also included some tracks from Dillard & Clark's 'The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark', which was released the same year, and also explores a similar country-based hybrid of styles, though with a greater emphasis on folk and bluegrass than rock. This recreation therefore assumes that Gene Clark didn't leave The Byrds in 1967, but stayed for one more album, contributing a number of songs to the record. The resulting album is split into the four sides that McGuinn envisaged, with folk and bluegrass dominating the first disc, country and country/rock on the second, a more rock-orientated third side, and a closing disc of instrumentals and moog experiments, but including a couple of straight-forward rock songs to make up the running time. 'Moog Raga' is the defining piece of side four, but it was quite short, so as a raga is based on repetition, I've extended it by repeating some sections, and it now clocks in at a tad under five minutes. As the album was conceived as a history of American music through the mid-20th Century, then the title reflects McGuinn's vision. 

Track listing

Side One (18:01)
01 I Am a Pilgrim
02 Pretty Polly
03 With Care From Someone
04 Blue Canadian Rockies
05 Pretty Boy Floyd
06 Git It On Brother (Git In Line Brother)

Side Two (20:50)
07 The Christian Life
08 Train Leaves Here This Morning
09 You're Still On My Mind
10 Tulsa County
11 You Ain't Going Nowhere
12 Hickory Wind

Side Three (18.39)
13 Don't Come Rollin'
14 Jesus Is Just Alright
15 Lying Down The Middle
16 Psychodrama City
17 The Radio Song
18 Fido
19 Gunga Din

Side Four (18.59)
20 Ballad Of Easy Rider
21 You Got A Reputation
22 Built It Up
23 Fiddler A Dram (Moog Experiment)
24 Flight 713
25 Moog Raga

Jimmy Powell And The 5 Dimensions - I've Been Watching You (1969)

Jimmy Powell was born in Selly Oak on 13 October 1942, and grew up in the West Heath area of Birmingham, where he attended Turves Green Boys School. After leaving school, he apprenticed as a lathe operator in Kings Norton, while at night he fronted a local band called The Detours, and his powerful vocal style soon began to attract attention. In 1961 he turned professional after joining an up-and-coming local group called The Rockin' Berries, who were one of the UK bands who had a residency at the Star Club in Germany, often sharing the stage with The Beatles. The following year, The Rockin' Berries were auditioned by TV pop producer/Decca Records talent scout Jack Good, who showed little interest in signing the band to a contract but indicated their vocalist Jimmy Powell had some potential. The rejected group went back to Germany to continue their bookings at the Star Club, but by the summer of 1962, Powell left and returned to Birmingham, where he contacted Good, who promptly signed him up to a recording contract. His first release for Decca Records label was an energetic cover of Buster Brown's 'Sugar Babe', after which two more singles followed, but by 1963 The Beatles were making a big impact on the British charts. and singing groups rather than solo performers were the new "in" thing. 

Powell went down to London where he became involved with the local blues scene at London's famous Marquee Club, and his manager introduced him to a hot blues act that he'd named The 5 Dimensions. Powell was soon given the position of lead vocalist, and about 6 months later they added a second vocalist/harmonica player called was Rod Stewart. Stewart stayed as part of the line-up for about a year, but rivalry between the two singers led to him leaving and taking some of the band with him to back Chuck Berry on a British tour. In 1964, The Dimensions were hired to provide backing for Jamaican singer Millie Small on her hit recording of 'My Boy Lollipop', and although it has long been thought that Rod Stewart played harmonica on the record, Powell claims that it was actually him who played on the session. The band signed to Pye Records in 1964, and their first single was the Powell original 'That's Alright', backed with Bo Diddley's 'I'm Looking For A Woman'. Due to changes in the group line-up, the second Pye single - a re-make of 'Sugar Babe' - had future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on guitar and bass, along with drummer Clem Cattini, and this version may be the definitive one, as it shows Powell in fine form. 

In 1966, Powell recruited an existing Manchester group called The Puzzle, consisting of Steve Bolton on lead guitar, Alan Stone on bass, Paul Smith on tenor sax and Mick Green on drums, and he renamed them Jimmy Powell and the Dimensions (dropping the "5"), but they soon split up, and Powell took over a Coventry band called 'Willy's Cult', comprising Dave Fulford on vocals, Rod Godwin on guitar, Willy Morris on bass, Alan Shepherd on sax and flute, Stan Byers on trumpet, and Tom "Duke" Russell on drums. They performed together regularly on the British club and university circuit until 1968, and released two singles for Decca, with 'Unexpected Mirrors' coming out in 1967 and 'I Just Can't Get Over You' appearing in 1968. The singles failed to register with the public, however, despite a high-energy sound strongly reminiscent of the early Stones, and Powell formed a new version of the Dimensions in 1968, with Ray Spiteri on guitar, Bob Spiteri on bass and Derek Bunt on drums. They performed in Germany and on the UK college circuit, releasing four singles on the Young Blood label between 1969 and 1970, again without success. Later in the 1970's, Powell worked as the part-time manager of a furniture company, while still performing in pubs with a band, the Survivors, but during his time with the various incarnations of the (5) Dimensions he had already recorded enough material to be able to produce an album by 1969, just before his actual debut solo record, and this post shows what it could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 I've Been Watching You

02 Sugar Babe
04 Time Mends Broken Hearts
04 That's Alright
04 I Just Can't Get Over You
06 Love Me Right
07 Unexpected Mirrors
08 Roosevelt & Ira Lee

09 I'm Looking For A Woman
10 Slow Lovin' Man
11 Real Cool
12 Nine Live Wire
13 Gonna Find A Cave
14 I Can Go Down

Tim Buckley - Troubadour (1968)

I enjoyed making the three Grateful Dead albums that could have appeared in 1972 so much that I though I'd see if there were any other artists who only had live recordings of their songs, and Tim Buckley jumped out at me. In February 1966, following a gig at It's Boss, the Mothers of Invention's drummer Jimmy Carl Black recommended Buckley to the Mothers' manager, Herb Cohen, and under his management, Buckley recorded a six-song demo acetate disc which he sent to Elektra records owner Jac Holzman, who offered him a recording contract. In August 1966, he recorded his self-titled debut album in three days in Los Angeles, and the album's folk-rock style was typical of the time, with critics taking notice of Buckley's distinctive voice and tuneful compositions. 'Goodbye And Hello' was released in 1967, and featured late 1960's-style poetry and songs in different timings, and was an ambitious release for the 20-year-old Buckley, who had been given free rein on the content of the album. Critics noted the improved lyrical and melodic qualities of Buckley's music, and his voice had developed since his last release, with the press appreciating both his lower register and falsetto in equal measure. After his song-writing partner Larry Beckett was drafted into the Army, Buckley developed his own style, and described the jazz/blues-rock with which he was associated as "white thievery and an emotional sham". 

Drawing inspiration from jazz greats such as Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Roland Kirk, and vocalist Leon Thomas, Buckley's sound became different from previous recordings, and in 1968 he 'Happy Sad', which reflected folk and jazz influences, and would be his best-charting album, peaking at No. 81. During 1969, Buckley began to write and record material for three albums, 'Blue Afternoon', 'Lorca', and 'Starsailor', and inspired by the singing of avant-garde musician Cathy Berberian, he integrated the ideas of composers such as Luciano Berio and Iannis Xenakis in an avant-garde rock genre. He selected eight songs for 'Blue Afternoon', which was similar in sound to 'Happy Sad', and it was released in 1969 to scathing criticism, being received as boring and tepid. 'Lorca' followed in 1970, and was a move away from traditional pop music forms, towards a free-form mix of jazz, avant-garde and folk. 'Starsailor' continued this change, and contained free jazz textures under Buckley's most extreme vocal performance, ranging from high shrieks to deep, soulful baritone, and although it included the now classic song 'Song To The Siren', the album was a critical and commercial failure upon release. Between the release of 'Hello And Goodbye' and the recording sessions for 'Blue Afternoon'/'Lorca'/'Starsailor', Buckley toured around Europe, including concerts in Denmark, The Netherlands, and the UK, and some of these performances were recorded, showcasing new songs that he had written which didn't subsequently appear on his albums. As well as those new pieces, he also recorded a number of songs for his 'Happy Sad' album which failed to make the cut, including a lovely cover of the classic 'Wayfaring Stranger', and so by combining these live and studio recordings from 1968 we have an album of new material which could have come out in that year. It's called 'Troubadour' not only after one of the songs, but also because Buckley was the epitome of a modern-day troubadour.   

 

Track listing

01 Troubadour
02 I Don't Need It To Rain
03 Wayfaring Stranger

04 The Father Song

04 The Earth Is Broken
06 I've Been Out Walking
07 Venice Beach
08 Hi Lily, Hi Lo

Cirdan - Echoes Of Tomorrow (2026)

On their fourth studio album 'Echoes Of Tomorrow', Dutch prog-rockers Cirdan plant their flag firmly in the lush, emotive terrain of neo-progressive rock, yet manage to avoid the genre's most common pitfall: sounding like a museum piece. Rooted in the tradition of bands inspired by classic '70's prog, but driven by melodic storytelling, atmospheric keyboards, and carefully composed structures , the album feels both reverent and quietly forward-looking. From the outset, 'The Darkness Meets The Dawn' leans into the genre's theatrical tendencies without overreaching. A brooding first half - anchored by minor-key synths and restrained percussion gives way to a radiant, almost triumphant finale. The contrast is stark but effective, embodying the album's recurring theme of tension between stasis and change. The instrumental 'Flora' is built around delicate piano lines and gradually expanding into a full-band crescendo, it evokes something almost cinematic. The absence of vocals allows the musicians to stretch out, particularly guitarist Lucas van der Meulen, whose phrasing feels lyrical in its own right. It's a reminder that progressive rock, at its best, can tell stories without words. 'Time Is Frozen' is full of shimmering synth pads and a slow-burning guitar motif that gradually blossoms into a soaring chorus. The vocals are earnest without tipping into melodrama, and they carry that distinctly neo-prog emotional weight, but with a modern restraint that keeps things grounded. There's a subtle interplay between analog warmth and digital precision, hinting at a band equally comfortable with nostalgia and innovation. 

The album's conceptual core continues with 'Into The Caverns', a labyrinthine piece that lives up to its name. Odd time signatures flicker in and out beneath a steady melodic spine, while recurring keyboard motifs create a sense of déjà vu - as if the listener, too, is wandering its ancient corridors. It's here that the band's compositional discipline shines; rather than indulgent noodling, every shift feels purposeful, reinforcing neo-prog's emphasis on structure over improvisation. 'Four Hundred Seasons' is a showcase for keyboardist Emma van Dijk, encompassing the many different styles that she has mastered, and closing track 'What Will It Take' brings things full circle, being more direct and song-oriented than what precedes it, and acting as a kind of emotional release. The chorus is one of the album's most immediate moments, suggesting the band understands that accessibility and complexity don't have to be mutually exclusive, which is a balance many neo-prog acts strive for but don't always achieve. If there's a criticism to be made, it's that 'Echoes Of Tomorrow' occasionally plays things a bit too safe. Some passages lean heavily on familiar genre tropes - echoing the long-standing critique that neo-prog can drift toward pastiche rather than innovation, a sentiment often echoed by fans themselves . But even here, the band's sincerity and craftsmanship carry them through. Ultimately, this is an album that doesn’t try to reinvent progressive rock - but instead refines it. Rich in atmosphere, strong in melody, and anchored by thoughtful composition, 'Echoes Of Tomorrow' feels like a quiet statement of intent: the past may echo, but it doesn’t have to define the future.

Track listing

01 The Darkness Meets The Dawn 
02 Emerald Thread 
03 Flora 
04 Time Is Frozen 
05 Echoes Of Tomorrow 
06 Into The Caverns
07 Four Hundred Seasons
08 What Will It Take

Grateful Dead - The Greatest Story Ever Told (1972)

In the last of this trilogy of imagined Grateful Dead albums from 1972, we use the final eight songs which were performed live on the band's US and European tours of 1972, but which were never recorded by the band in the studio. Like the last album, there is one exception to that, as 'Mason's Children' was laid down in the studio in 1970, while the group were recording 'Workingman's Dead', but it was left off the final version of that album. 'Mexicali Blues' is a Bob Weir song, which later appeared on his 1972 solo album 'Ace', alongside 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and 'One More Saturday Night', and similarly 'Sugaree' and 'Loser' were re-recorded for Jerry Garcia's album 'Garcia' from the same year, but as I said before, it's great to hear full band versions of these songs. 'Empty Pages' is another lovely Pigpen song featuring some understated organ, on which he take the lead vocal, while 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' earns its place as the title track of the album by including the stunning Garcia guitar solo, and 'One More Saturday Night' is a storming closer to the record. As before, the sound quality of these tracks is top-notch for live recordings, and I only had to do a little work on each song to bring it up to the equivalent of being recorded in the studio.     

Track listing

01 The Greatest Story Ever Told
02 Loser
03 Mexicali Blues
04 Mason's Children
05 Sugaree
06 Empty Pages
07 The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion)
08 One More Saturday Night

King Sunny Ade & His African Beats - The Master Guitarist Vol. 6 (1972)

We're up to Volume 6 of the Master Guitarist series from King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, and although this album once again only has two tracks, rather than being a number of songs segued together, these are two eighteen-minute pieces. Note the change of name of the band for this album, and so the track titled 'Our New Sound' was obviously a statement of intent. As the new line-up included a number of his previous Green Spot colleagues, the band are in their usual fine form, and so this joyous music follows on seamlessly from the previous volumes. 

Track listing

01 Ogun
02 Our New Sound