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

Tangle Edge - Emerald Mound: The Best Of Tangle Edge (2006)

One of the lesser known bands of the 80's Norwegian underground, the ethno-psychedelic prog band Tangle Edge emerged alongside similarly minded bands such as Ozric Tentacles, Violeta de Outano and Djam Karet, only these bands emerged worlds apart and presumably totally unaware of the other's existence. The band formed in the small of Narvik, Norway in 1981 when Ronald Nygård and Hasse Horrigmoe discovered the world of psychedelic music to be the perfect outlet for escaping the vast Arctic wilderness which kept the long sunless days in northern Norway from becoming insufferable. Over the years the duo released a few cassette-only releases, but after adding Rune Forselv, as a trio they recorded and released their debut 'In Search Of A New Dawn' in 1989 on the band's own Mushroom Productions label. This all-instrumental psychedelic delicatessen of a debut showcased the band’s diverse delivery of psychedelia throughout the ages, ranging from guitar driven rock to keyboard saturated Krautrock, Indo-raga rock and extended jams. With nine tracks that add up to over 48 minutes of playing time, it showcased a veritable blend of developed progressive rock techniques in the context of ethnically tinged space rock. In 1992 they released the double CD 'Entangled Scorpio Entrance', which was recorded live in concert in their home town of Narvik in Northern Norway on 1st November 1991, and which was issued exactly as it was recorded, with no overdubs. It captures a very different sounding Tangle Edge than a year before, as former member Svein Hugo Bergvik had left, and with the loss of his flute and sax there was a change of focus to a more flowing and spacious style. 

The following year they released 'Eulogy' on Demi Monde Records, and this was quite different musically to their debut, due to its more elaborate compositions and richer range of styles and sounds, which included progressive, jazz-rock, Arabic folk, psychedelic, pastoral, and space-rock. Consisting of just three tracks, it shows a distinct progression in their music, and contains what would become one of their best-known tracks, 'Walk Of The Frozen Ones'. Four years later saw the appearance of 'Tarka', which included synths and electronics as well as the usual rock instruments. The three parts of 'Yatantah' are the highlights of the album, with 'Yatantah Part 1' including some powerful guitar, and 'Yatantah Part 3' featuring some fine guitar melody. 2002's 'Sumerian Kings And Joyful Doubts' is another live album, recorded in Norway and Denmark in 1994, and 'Cormorama' from 2004 was recorded live at two Italian gigs in 1991. Their first studio album for nearly a decade was 'Serpentary Quarters' in 2006, and the centre-piece was a two part, 33 minute jam called 'Transcendental Virtue', which locked into a serious groove over which the guitar laid down some intense solos. Tangle Edge continue to release music to this day, often consisting of downloads of live recordings through Bandcamp, but for a time in the early 90's they were one of Norway's best-kept secrets, known only to readers of the Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine and aficionados of underground psychedelic space-rock. I hope that this sampler of their work brings them to a new audience some thirty years later. 

Track listing

01 The Cryptic Empire And The Principal Sanctuary (from 'Entangled Scorpio Entrance' 1992)
02 Caesar's Integrated Flaw (from 'In Search Of A New Dawn' 1989)
03 Yatantah - Part I (from 'Tarka' 1997)
04 Yatantah - Part II (from 'Tarka' 1997)
05 Yatantah - Part III (from 'Tarka' 1997)
06 Harem Shuffle (from 'Eulogy' 1993)
07 Isis At The Invisible Frontispiece (from 'In Search Of A New Dawn' 1989)
08 The 7th Heaven O, The 11th Floor (from 'Radio Stroganoff' cassette 1986)
09 Emerald Mound (from 'Serpentary Quarters' 2006)
10 Later Than The Pinworm-Era (from 'In Search Of A New Dawn' 1989)

Darlene Paul - Act Like Nothing Happened (1967)

Darlene Paul started her music career singing with the female trio The Sof-Tones, made up of Paul, Trudy Hancock and Irene Diaz. Their vocal harmony accomplishments include winning a talent contest at West Coast Theater and being featured on Al  Jarvis television show, and they released the 'I Failed' single on Young Recorders in 1958. Later that same year they moved to Los Angeles, California and signed to Specialty Records, where they released three singles in 1958 and 1959 as The Stewart Sisters, as well as adding backing vocals to other Speciality acts of the period, including an appearance on Little Richard's 'The Fabulous Little Richard' album from 1958. At the end of the 1950's Paul decided to go solo, and released her first single on Lute Records in 1960, comprising two self-composed songs, with 'In Darkness, In Daylight' being backed with 'You're Just You'. In 1961 she signed with Kapp Records and released another original song, with her 'On The Other Hand' being backed with a cover of Irving Berlin's 'Say It Isn't So', and this led to a one-off deal with Atlantic Records for her 'All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings' single in 1962. After a two year hiatus she signed with Capital Records, who released her final three singles, with her June 1964 recording of 'All Cried Out' being covered by Dusty Springfield six months later, and providing her with a huge hit single. Paul's swansong was singing the theme song of the 1967 movie 'Tell Me In The Sunlight', after which she bowed out of the music business. It's a shame that she isn't more well-known, as she was writing her own songs from the early 60's, which was very unusual for a female singer of the time, and so in order to try to bring her name into the public arena, here is a collection of all of her recordings, including some with the Sof-Tones and The Stewart Sisters.

    

Track listing

01 I Failed (single by The Sof-Tones 1958)
02 Canadian Sunset (b-side of 'I Failed')
03 The Witness (single by The Stewart Sisters 1958)
04 Movie Magazine (b-side of 'The Witness')
05 Shine On Me, Moonbeam (single by The Stewart Sisters 1958)
06 Comes Dawn (b-side of 'Shine On Me, Moonbeam')
07 In Darkness, In Daylight (single 1960)
08 You're Just You (b-side of 'In Darkness, In Daylight') 
09 On The Other Hand (single 1961)
10 Say It Isn't So (b-side of 'On The Other Hand')
11 All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings (single 1962)
12 Shimmy (b-side of 'All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings')
13 Act Like Nothing Happened (single 1964)
14 A Little Bit Of Heaven (b-side of 'Act Like Nothing Happened')
15 All Cried Out (single 1964)
16 This Is My Prayer (b-side of 'All Cried Out')
17 I'll Get Over You (single 1965)
18 Are You Getting Tired Of Your Little Toy (b-side of 'I'll Get Over You')
19 Tell Me In The Sunlight (theme song from the film of the same name 1967)

Yes - Works (1976) **UPGRADE**

I've been listening to a lot or progressive rock recently, especially Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes, since I discovered a Youtube channel called This Is Angelica. I'm not usually that interested in "reaction" videos, where you watch someone listen to a piece of music for the first time, but I was drawn in when I saw that the track that she was going to listen to was one of my all-time favourites - 'The Gates Of Delirium' by Yes. It turns out that she has only just discovered 70's progressive rock, and it is enjoyable to see her listen to songs that I've known for the last 50 years, and to realise that this music can still find new fans even after all this time. After listening to a few of her Yes videos it reminded me of a project that I've had on the back-burner for a while, and that's an upgrade to one of my early posts, where I used tracks from the members of Yes's solo albums from 1976 to make an equivalent to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 'Works' album from the same period. When I first put it together I hadn't started to edit music tracks like I do now, and so I didn't cross-fade the tracks but just joined them together, and I always wanted to re-do it with crossfades rather than just one track after another, and so that's what you now have. Each of the six sides of music is now a suite rather than individual tracks, and hopefully this makes it flow much better than the previous version, so give it a try and see what you think. There are no drastic differences, other than re-arranging the running order of 'Suite 5' for a better listening experience, but I feel that the small changes are an improvement to the original post. And if you are into progressive rock then do check out Angelica's Youtube channel. 

Track listing

Suite 1:

a) Ocean Song  b) Impressions (The Dream)  c) Spring - Song Of Innocence  d) Avakak 

Suite 2:

a) Hold Out Your Hand  b) Solid Space  c) The Nature Of The Sea  d) To The Runner 

Suite 3:

a) Impact > Warmer Hands > The Storm  b) Moon Ra / Chords / Song Of Search

Suite 4:

a) Beginnings  b) Silently Falling

Suite 5:

a) Qoquaq Ën Transic / Naon / Transic Tö  b) Break Away From It All  

                                                            c) Symphony In The Space  d) Marching Into A Bottle

Suite 6:

a) Doors Of Sleep  b) Safe (Canon Song)  c) Ram

BBC Concert Orchestra - Prog Rock: A Fanfare For The Common Man (2026)

The BBC Proms season is underway again, and Saturday 18th July's Prom was titled 'Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man'. Back in the heady days of the late 1960's and early-to-mid 70s, Prog(ressive Rock) was music unconstrained by established forms and conventions of blues, rhythm and blues, or folk music, although it often contained elements of these – and other genres including jazz. Indeed, a number of Prog Rockers had a background in jazz music, and like most musicians in these bands, they could really play. Much of the Prog Rock canon is difficult stuff involving unconventional time signatures, complex structures and harmonies and requires virtuosic playing and singing to pull it off. In a packed Albert Hall, the audience were treated to an aural tour of Prog Rock Land, rather like one of those old LP samplers which gave you tracks from many different bands. On this occasion, the variety of the music was cleverly guaranteed by having enlisted no fewer than seven different arrangers for the twenty songs performed by the always excellent BBC Concert Orchestra. One orchestrator, no matter how skilled, would have given us something more akin to a Prog Rock suite, which would have been less varied and not as interesting. Perhaps inevitably, the concert opened with Emerson, Lake and Palmer's re-working of Aaron Copland's 'Fanfare for the Common Man', arranged by Robert Ames for orchestra and rock band, and he also conducted the whole show. He proved ideal in leading proceedings, as he has a passion for the music and a masterful ability to keep the orchestra on track through tricky changes of tempo, dynamics and time signatures. As a nice touch, Carl Palmer played drums, and has lost none of his impressive ability. Ames then took us through pieces which had been first recorded by Jethro Tull, Genesis, Renaissance, The Moody Blues, Van der Graff Generator, Yes and Mike Oldfield. All were well played and nicely sung by the orchestra and singers Gruff Rhys, Guy Garvey, Jane Weaver, Peter Hammill and The Staves. 

A high point of this first half was Soft Machine’s 'Out-Bloody-Rageous', which lived up to its title with some fiendishly difficult rhythms and a top of the range, largely improvised sopranino sax solo by Andy Findon, while Peter Hamill was another surprise guest, taking lead vocal on his own 'Refugees'. Part two gave us music by Keith Emerson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, The Incredible String Band and Supertramp, and a highlight was a medley of non-UK tracks from Focus, Osibisa and Frank Zappa, all very skilfully orchestrated by Christian Balvig. Fiona Brice's arrangement of three King Crimson songs was equally brilliant and superbly sung by Guy Garvey and Gruff Rhys. As the concert moved towards its conclusion there had to be a taste of Pink Floyd, and there was, with 'The Great Gig In The Sky'. Still poignant and full of longing, the original improvised female vocal part was sung with heart and great skill by Vanessa Haynes. Again arranged by Fiona Brice, the orchestra’s masterful control made for a memorable musical experience for everyone listening. The evening ended appropriately with 'The Great Gates Of Kyiv' from Mussorgsky's 'Pictures At An Exhibition'. The original orchestration of this piano piece was by Ravel, before Keith Emerson arranged it for his rock band, and Robert Ames adapted it further. There’s no doubting the evening’s success, and the programme rightly earned several encores, and brought many in the audience to their feet to deliver rapturous applause. Here is the full concert, with just the announcements removed for a smoother flow, and although I felt that a couple of the tracks didn't work as well as others, it was an innovative idea, and is well worth a listen if you're a prog rock fan. 

Track listing

01 Fanfare For The Common Man - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Copland arr. Robert Ames)
02 Living In The Past - Jethro Tull (arr. Sam Gale)
03 Out-Bloody-Rageous - Soft Machine (arr. Sam Gale)
04 I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - Genesis (arr. Sam Gale)
05 Northern Lights - Renaissance (arr. Christian Balvig)
06 Nights In White Satin - The Moody Blues (arr. Fiona Brice)
07 Refugees - Van Der Graaf Generator (arr. Adam Dennis)
08 And You And I - Yes (arr. Peter Riley)
09 Tubular Bells, Part One (excerpts) - Mike Oldfield (arr. Adam Dennis)
10 Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (arr. Robert Ames)
11 Sylvia - Focus (arr. Christian Balvig)
12 Komfo - Osibisa (arr. Christian Balvig)
13 Peaches En Regalia - Frank Zappa (arr. Christian Balvig)
14 21st Century Schizoid Man/I Talk to The Wind/Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson                                                                                                                              (arr. Fiona Brice)
15 Entangled - Genesis (arr Fiona Brice)
16 On Reflection - Gentle Giant (arr. Sam Gale)
17 Maker Of Islands - The Incredible String Band (arr. Christian Balvig)
18 Great Gig In The Sky - Pink Floyd (arr. Fiona Brice)
19 Crime Of The Century - Supertramp (arr. Christian Balvig)
20 The Great Gates Of Kiev - Emerson, Lake & Palmer - (Mussorgsky arr. Robert Ames)

Performers:
Guy Garvey vocals
Jane Weaver vocals
Gruff Rhys vocals
Carl Palmer drums
Peter Hammill vocals
Vanessa Hayes vocals
The Staves vocals
BBC Concert Orchestra
Robert Ames conductor

Charli Baltimore - The Diary (You Think You Know) (2003)

Following the cancellation of her 1999 debut album 'Cold As Ice', Charli Baltimore left Untertainment Records, and in 2001 she signed to Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, where she hoped to be more successful. After appearing on records by Ja Rule, Christina Milian and Ashanti, she recorded her second album 'The Diary (You Think You Know)', and released the title track as a single. Despite making no impact on any of the Billboard charts, the song was surprisingly nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, but the lack of success of the other four singles released from the album meant that her second album suffered the same fate as her first, and it was consigned to the vaults, never to see the light of day. For anyone who tried 'Cold As Ice' and wants to hear more from the rapper, then here is her second shelved album, 'The Diary (You Think You Know)'.

Track listing

01 Hey Charli
02 Diary
03 Get It Right, Part II (feat. Caddillac Tah & Ronnie Bumps)
04 Days Like This
05 Charli, Charli
06 Philly's Finest (feat. Eve)
07 I Still Don't Give A Fuck (Interlude) 
08 No One Does It Better (feat. Ashanti)
09 Ghetto Fabulous (feat. Jewell) 
10 Showdown (feat. Caddillac Tah, Black Child & Crooked I)
11 Get At Me Dawg (G-Unit Diss) 
12 You Want Me Dead 
13 Ill Bitch (Lil' Kim Diss)
14 Niggaz Ain't Shit (feat. Quarter & Nina)
15 Down 4 U (feat. Ja Rule, Ashanti & Vita)

Prince - Prince Plays Hendrix (2011)

Jimi Hendrix has long been cited a major creative influence on Prince, but in his early career, Prince brushed aside comparisons between him and Hendrix, saying in 1985 that his style was far closer to the 'prettier' flare of Carlos Santana, and that it was only because Hendrix was black such comparisons were drawn. Prince believed being compared to anybody was an accusation of ripping them off. That aside, he was no doubt flattered by the comparison, and performed Hendrix’s 1967 track 'Red House' in concert on a number occasions from 1986 right up to 2008. In 1999 he recorded his version of the track in the studio and renamed it 'Purple House', after his Kiowa Trail home, which was indeed painted purple. The song is a bluesy cover played in Prince’s inimitable style, captured at Paisley Park Studios alongside Larry Graham on bass. In November 1998 Hendrix's 'Machine Gun' was the inspiration behind Prince's instrumental 'Habibi' - the name given to his new purple symbol shaped guitar - but fearing the comparison was too close to the 1970 original, he edited the track before eventually releasing it on the NPG Music Club on 22 April 2001. He instead reached out to the Hendrix Estate to offer them a cover of 'Machine Gun' free of charge, and then in 2004, the Hendrix estate contacted Prince, and he sent them 'Purple House' for inclusion on the 'Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix' album. Prince has also played a number of other Hendrix songs in concert over the years, and so this post collects together live and studio versions of the best of them, so that we can now hear Prince playing Hendrix. 

Track listing

01 Who Knows
02 Red House
03 Machine Gun
04 Villanova Junction
05 Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
06 All Along The Watchtower
07 Purple House
08 Spanish Castle Magic
09 Habibi
10 Foxy Lady

Havana Mena - How Much You Want Me (2000)

Havana Mena is a Latin musician born in Miami, Florida, who signed to Arista Imprint Heat Records in 2000 and released her first single 'How Much You Want Me', which reached #11 on Billboard's top 100 rap singles. It was produced by Cool and Dre, who also produced the majority of the tracks on her debut album of the same name, and which boasted guest features from the likes of ex-labelmates Joe Hound, Rob Brizo, and Sly Kat, alongside previously unsigned acts Dirtbag and Pitbull. It included the single 'Sleep Tight', which was used in 2000 in the 'Dark Angel' episode 'Flushed', and another single 'I'll Die For U', which was featured on the 2002 'Source Youth' compilation album. Two buzz singles were issued from the record, 'Chunk Swang' and 'Get The Champagne', and the official single 'How Much You Want Me' even received visual treatment, with its music video making steady rounds on now-defunct video channel 'The Box', but it wasn't enough to secure the release of Mena's debut album, which was briefly issued on Heat Records but was soon withdrawn and has seldom been seen since. If you recall the banging 'Get The Champagne' and want to hear more then here is Havana Mena's debut long-player from 2000.

Track listing

01 Intro 
02 How Much You Want Me?
03 Live Wire (feat. Sly Kat)
04 My World 
05 Thug & Amprack (Skit)
06 None of This 
07 Pop Life
08 Chunk Swang (feat. Sly Kat & Joe Hound)
09 Sleep Tight
10 Success (feat. Dirtbag)
11 It's O.K. (feat. Joe Hound & Rob Brizo)
12 Cuban Cigars 
13 I'll Die for U 
14 We Don't Play (feat. Sly Kat)
15 Get the Champagne 
16 Ridin' It Raw (feat. Pitbull)