Grateful Dead - Bird Song (1972)

I was quite pleased at how well my recent Grateful Dead post turned out, with 'Jack Straw From Wichita' sounding like a long-lost Dead album from the early 70's. As I mentioned in the notes, the band didn't release a studio album between 'American Beauty' in November 1970 and 'Wake Of The Flood' in October 1973, preferring to embark on extensive tours of the US and Europe. Many of the songs that they wrote during this period were therefore only performed in concert, and became known to fans through the myriad of bootleg recordings that appeared regularly on vinyl and CD in the early days, and more recently on the internet. Since the band released the massive 'Europe 72' box-set, which included the recordings that they'd made of probably most of the concerts that they played in 1972, we now have superb quality recordings of many of these songs, but still no studio versions. Having now obtained a list of all the songs that were performed in concert during 1971 to 1973, and which do not have a studio version by the band themselves, I've done extensive research on various Dead-Head sites to find out what is generally regarded as the best recording of each of the songs, and then worked on them to bring them up to studio quality. In most cases there was not much that needed to be done, other than to remove extraneous crowd noise, and gently fade out the song if I felt that was better ending. There were a couple of tracks where I needed to boost the vocals or the guitar, but generally what you hear is what the audience heard when the songs were played live. The first of these albums features the lovely 12-minute 'Bird Song', which gives the album it's title, as well as a rare Pigpen vocal on his own 'Chinatown Shuffle'. The song 'To Lay Me Down' was actually recorded in the studio in the summer of 1970, and eventually appeared on the 'So Many Roads' box set, so there was no need for me play around with a live version of that one, and it fits so well into the album that it just emphasises the quality of the live recordings that surround it. Some of these tracks eventually ended up on band member's solo albums, such as a truncated 'Bird Song' on 1972's 'Garcia', but it's great to hear full band versions of them from the group at the height of their powers.  

Track listing

01 Looks Like Rain
02 Chinatown Shuffle
03 To Lay Me Down
04 Deal
05 Comes A Time
06 Black-Throated Wind
07 Bird Song

    

Feline - Ultraviolet (2000)

Singer Grog's first band, Flinch, attracted press interest as one of the UK's most promising bands of 1994, following the release of their debut EP 'A Dummy To Love', and winning Best New Act at that years In The City showcase. Two independent singles followed on Dilo! Records, with 'Ordinary (This Can't Be)' and 'Faking' leading to a live recording session in Maida Vale Studios for BBC Radio 1's John Peel at the end of 1994. Flinch submitted the demo for 'Days' for inclusion on the cult 'Volume 12' compilation magazine, alongside notable debut cuts from acts such as Garbage and Catatonia, and in 1995 they released a further two

 singles, 'Jamie D' and 'Skin Deep', as well as recording demos for their debut full-length release, provisionally titled 'Sincere', but they disbanded before it could be released. After the dissolution of Flinch, Grog recruited the band's manager Drew Richards to help write material and perform guitar for her on a solo project, but after adding a further two musicians at the end of 1995, Ted Garcia on guitar and Steve Drew on drums, this solidified the line-up for her next band Feline, whose sound was described by journalist Mike Pattenden as "new goth", a mix of Eighties bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure with contemporary acts like The Smashing Pumpkins. A handful of demos were recorded, and several record labels indicated interest in her new group, with Chrysalis Records winning out and signing Feline to a major worldwide deal. The band recorded the bulk of their debut album, 'Save Your Face', over three weeks in December 1996 at Olympic Studios in London, with producer David M. Allen, known for his work on The Cure's 'Disintegration' and 'Wish'. 

By mid-1997, Feline had procured a management deal with Sanctuary and had recruited a new drummer Mig in time for a summer tour as support act for label-mates Kenickie, and then back on the road headlining rock clubs throughout the UK. In August 1997 Feline's debut single 'Just As You Are' was released in the UK, backed with b-sides 'Highway', 'Shape Changing' and 'Two Minds', and it spent a single week on the Official Charts at No. 81. At the start of 1998, Feline recorded new material produced by Drew, and in March they toured the UK with Radiator in support of Catherine Wheel. In May 1998 a new mix of 'Sun In My Eyes' was released as a single, once again peaking at No. 81 on the singles chart. 'Drama Queen' was scheduled for single release on CD and 7" on 6 July 1998, however the single was cancelled after promos were distributed to the press, and by late 1998 Feline had been dropped by their label, following EMI's clear out of their roster. The band's management suggested changing the band's name to help get them re-signed with another label, and so taking their advice, Feline was duly renamed as Ultraviolet, and material for a second album was recorded by Drew Richards throughout 1999. Sanctuary issued 'Unknown' as a single and a six-track mini-album titled 'Memoirs Of A Psychopath' direct to indie stores during this time. A final four songs were recorded and mixed by Pat Collier before Feline officially disbanded, after which Grog, Drew and Al re-emerged as Die So Fluid, who continue to record throughout the following two decades. Grog became known to pop music fans when she guest performed bass guitar for Melanie C and Kelly Osbourne throughout 2003. As an introduction to this short-lived indie rock band here is Feline's unreleased second album 'Ultraviolet'.

Track listing

01 Alive
02 Unknown
03 Cold Inside
04 Memoirs Of A Psychopath
05 Wish You Were Dead
06 Making Hate
07 Versus
08 Advice
09 I Hope
10 Sever
11 Driven
12 Truth Will Out

The Truth - Nuthin' But... The Truth (1968)

The Truth was a duo, made up of Londoners Steve Gold and Frank Aiello, who both worked in the hair industry - Gold as barber and Aiello as hairdresser. The performed together as a folk outfit until one of Gold's customers, songwriter Jeff Cooper, had a conversation with him about music, and suggested the pair record a demo, primarily to showcase Cooper's songs. The result impressed Pye Records so much that the company signed Cooper and the duo, which took on the name The Truth from Aiello's favourite Ray Charles song. Their first single was the Cooper-penned 'Baby Don't You Know', which was released in September 1965, and while it and its follow-up 'Who's Wrong' failed to chart, their third single, a cover of the Beatles' album track 'Girl', made all of the national charts in February 1966, breaking the Top Twenty in the New Musical Express charts, the Melody Maker and Disc and Music Echo charts, and the Record Retailer charts. Consolidating of the success of a cover version, the band's next single was their version of Ray Davies' 'I Go To Sleep', and it worked, with the record peaking at number 38 in the Melody Maker listings in June 1966. The duo stuck with to cover versions for their other single releases, signing with Decca Records in 1966, who released their take on The Troggs' 'Jingle Jangle' on their Deram imprint, backed with Donovan's 'Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)'. Their final two records appeared on the Decca label, but neither 'Walk Away Renee' in 1967 nor 'Seuno' in 1968 troubled the charts, and so the duo broke up in the wake of their final release. Aiello stayed in the music business, appearing in musicals before becoming the vocalist for early heavy metal band The Beast, which later changed its name to Bedlam, and which featured Cozy Powell on drums. After Bedlam broke up, Aiello remained with Powell in Cozy Powell's Hammer, and they scored a top ten hit with their 'Na Na Na' single. Gold changed his recording name to Steve Jameson, and occasionally recorded under the name Nosmo King, under which he recorded a single whose b-side - 'Goodbye Nothing To Say' - caught on with the Northern Soul audience, resulting in Pye Records re-issuing it under the fake group name of The Javells, and it scored him a top 30 hit. Although much of the band's output consisted of covers, they did record a number of original songs, and an album made up primarily of them, along with some less obvious covers, would have been very welcome in 1968, so as they never got around to issuing a long-player, this is what it could have sounded like had they done so in the late 60's.

Track listing

01 Baby You've Got It
02 Who's Wrong
03 Fly Away Bird
04 She's A Roller
05 Jailer Bring Me Water
06 Baby Don't You Know
07 I Can't Make It Alone
08 Old Ma Brown
09 Come On Home
10 Jingle Jangle
11 Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)
12 Busker Bill
13 Sueno

Charli Baltimore - Cold As Ice (1999)

Tiffany Lane was born 16 August 1974, and is better known by her stage name Charli Baltimore, taken from Geena Davis's character in the film 'The Long Kiss Goodnight'. She began her musical career when she met the Notorious B.I.G. in the winter of 1995, and they became involved in a romantic relationship. Several months into their relationship, she left him a voicemail of a rap verse that she had written and he began encouraging her to pursue a career in rap music. Following the death of B.I.G., Baltimore continued her career in the industry, signing to Untertainment Records, which was part of the Epic/Sony roster, and also booking several modeling jobs. She created a number of hip-hop and R&B songs including 'Money', with Gamble and Huff, and 'Stand Up', both of which were released as singles in 1998, with 'Stand Up' rising to the top ten of the Billboard Magazine Hot Rap Singles Chart. Despite her moderate success on the charts, her first studio album 'Cold As Ice' was shelved, and she left the label. In 2001 she signed to Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, and her first appearance as a Murder Inc. signee was on Ja Rule's 'Down Ass Bitch', which peaked in the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single came from Ja Rule's third studio album, 'Pain Is Love', which sold over three million copies in North America, and the following year she appeared on the Murder Inc. compilation album, 'Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc.', making appearances on the songs 'We Still Don't Give A Fuck', 'No One Does It Better', and the album's lead single, 'Down 4 U'. 

'Down 4 U' was another success for Baltimore, peaking in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and she also appeared on 'The Last Temptation', as well as the Christina Milian track 'Spending Time', and Ashanti's 'Rain on Me'. In 2003, her single 'Diary' earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, which was intended as the title track to her album 'The Diary (You Think You Know)', and which was scheduled to be released in late 2002. The record suffered multiple postponements throughout 2002 and 2003, and in all, five promo cuts were released from the album as buzz singles, in a hopeful effort to generate strong awareness of its existence. Among them were 'Hey Charli', 'No One Does It Better', 'Philly's Finest', 'Charli, Charli' & the album's title track 'Diary', and amazingly this song garnered a Grammy nomination despite not impacting in any form on Billboard charts. Following the lack of success of most of these singles, her second album was also shelved, and Baltimore has yet to release a long-player on any label. In the first of two posts, here is that shelved debut album, 'Cold As Ice'. 

Track listing

01 Intro  
02 Angel's Dust  
03 Stand Up  
04 Keep It Real 
05 Pull The Alarm  
06 Everybody Wanna Know 
07 Welcome To The Tunnel (Interlude)  
08 Motherfuckers Don't Want It  
09 Pimp Da 1 U Love  
10 Feel It  
11 Money  
12 Thorough Sisters  
13 Infamous  
14 They 
15 Say Your Prayers (Interlude)  
16 Have It All 
17 NBC  
18 Making Love  
19 Wake Up Bitch (Interlude)  
20 30 Miles From Baltimore  
21 Anyway You Want It 
22 Outro

Robyn - Stripped (2010)

Robin Miriam Carlsson, known professionally as Robyn, was born on 12 June 1979 in Stockholm, the daughter of parents that led an independent theatre group, and so growing up in that environment influenced her sense of style. in 1989 she voiced the character of Miranda in the 1989 Swedish-Norwegian animated film 'The Journey to Melonia', and at age 12 she recorded 'Du an alltid bli nummer ett' ('You Can Always be Number One'), the theme song for the Swedish television show 'Lilla Sportspegeln'. She was discovered by Swedish pop singer Meja in the early 1990's when Meja and her band, Legacy Of Sound, visited Robyn's school as part of a musical workshop. Impressed by Robyn's performance, Meja contacted her management and a meeting was arranged with Robyn and her parents. At age 14, after completing middle school education in 1993, Robyn signed with Ricochet Records Sweden, where she collaborated with producers Max Martin and Denniz Pop, who gave the singer a gritty (but popular) sound. She began her pop-music career at age 15, signing with RCA Records in 1994 and releasing her debut single 'You've Got That Somethin'' in Sweden, but it was later that year that her Swedish breakthrough came with the single 'Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)'. The singles became part of the album 'Robyn Is Here', which was released in October 1995, and within two years she entered Sweden's pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 as co-writer and producer of 'Du gör mig hel igen' ('You Make Me Whole Again'), which was performed by Cajsalisa Ejemyr. 

Robyn's US breakthrough came in late 1997, when the dance-pop/R&B singles 'Show Me Love' and 'Do You Know (What It Takes)' reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Robyn's second album, 'My Truth', was released in Sweden in May 1999 and subsequently in Europe, and the single, 'Electric', was a commercial success and propelled 'My Truth' to the number-two position in Sweden. Despite her US success with 'Robyn Is Here', the autobiographical 'My Truth' was not released in that country, partly because it included two songs which referenced an abortion she had in her teens. In July 2001 she signed a worldwide deal with Jive Records, moving from BMG after she was "disillusioned with the lack of artistic control she had there". A year later Jive was acquired by BMG when it bought Zomba Records, and she was right back where she started. In October 2002, she released the album 'Don't Stop The Music' in Sweden, with the singles 'Keep This Fire Burning' and 'Don't Stop the Music' receiving airplay in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. The decade-long relationship between Robyn and her label ended in 2004, when Jive Records reacted negatively to 'Who's That Girl?'s new electropop sound, and so the singer decided to release music on her own. In early 2005, she announced that she was leaving Jive to start her own label, and Konichiwa Records was created to liberate her artistically. 

Robyn released the single 'Be Mine!' in March 2005, and her fourth album, 'Robyn', was her first number-one record in Sweden when it was released a month later. Influenced by electronica, rap, R&B and new-age music, Robyn was critically praised and it earned the singer three 2006 Swedish Grammy Awards. In December 2006 she released 'The Rakamonie' EP in the UK as a preview of her more-recent material, and this was followed by the March 2007 release of 'Konichiwa Bitches'. In 2009 she recorded 'The Cherrytree Sessions' EP, which consisted of live acoustic versions of three of her previous singles, and this stripped-back EP prompted visitor geofmcm to consider if there were any other acoustic versions of her songs out there. It turned out that she had done a number of radio sessions and live appearance where she performed acoustic versions of her material, and so this album showcases what a fine singer/songwriter she can be, even without the electro-pop backing that we are used to. I added one track, which was an orchestral version of 'Indestructable', where I removed all the instruments apart from the cello and viola, to give it a much more intimate sound, and Geof also added a couple of edited tracks with stripped-back instrumentation, giving a really nice 40-minute album, and also a title for the post. 

Track listing

01 Dream On
02 Eveane
03 Dancing On My Own
04 Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart
05 Be Mine!
06 With Every Heartbeat
07 Bum Like You
08 Show Me Love
09 Hang With Me
10 Indestructable
11 Stars 4-Ever

Thanks to geofmcm for the idea and the music.

El Hombre Trajeado - Moonunit Manual: The Best Of El Hombre Trajeado (2016)

Guitarist R M Hubbert co-founded the Glasgow-based band El Hombre Trajeado in 1995 alongside bassist Stevie Jones and drummer Stef Sinclair, with Hubbert serving as the primary guitarist and occasional vocalist. The group emerged from the city's vibrant DIY music scene, blending post-rock elements with experimental and lo-fi influences, to create a distinctive sound characterized by intricate guitar work and atmospheric textures. They first came to my attnetion with the inclusion of their 'Neoprene' on the 4-track 7" compilation EP 'Glasgow', which was one of a series of sampler records for various towns throughout the UK. That was just the start of the band's decade-long active period, during which they released three full-length albums that showcased their evolving style. Their debut, 'Skipafone', arrived in 1998 via Guided Missile Records, featuring raw, instrumental-driven tracks that established their post-rock foundation. This was followed by 'Saccade' in 2001 on Human Condition, which incorporated more dynamic rhythms and subtle vocal elements from Hubbert. The trilogy concluded with 'Shlap' in 2004 through Lost Dog Recordings, a release that refined their sound with greater emphasis on Hubbert's flamenco-infused guitar techniques amid the band's noisy, improvisational ethos. Hubbert's contributions as guitarist were central to the band's identity, often driving the compositions with looping, repetitive motifs that evoked both tension and release, hallmarks of the burgeonng post-rock genre, and the band built a dedicated local following through relentless touring and cassette releases in the mid-1990's, fostering a cult status within Glasgow's underground circuit. El Hombre Trajeado disbanded in 2005 after a final spate of performances, marking the end of their original run, although the band did later reunite for select gigs in 2015, which then led to them reforming and releasing their fourth album, 'Fast Diagonal', on Chemikal Underground Records. Although the band rarely toured, they supported artists such as Nick Cave, Sebadoh, Tortoise, Mike Watt and The Delgados around the UK, and they also recorded three radio sessions for John Peel on BBC Radio One between 1998 and 2001, and yet they are a completely unknown quantity to most people. I'm hoping that this sampler of some of their best work will introduce them to a new fanbase, who will then explore the rest of their catalogue. 

Track listing

01 Neoprene (from the 'Glasgow' EP 1998)
02 Dos (from 'Saccade' 2001)
03 Like Quicksand (from 'Skipafone' 1998)
04 Syncopatio (from 'Shlap' 2004)
05 Tracky B (John Peel session 2001)
06 Darkest Sea (feat. Ela Orleans) (from 'Fast Diagonal' 2016)
07 Logo (from 'Skipafone' 1998)
08 Warm Down (from 'Shlap' 2004)
09 Diary Extract (John Peel session 1998)
00 Dylar (from 'Saccade' 2001)
11 Do It Puritan! (feat. Sue Tompkins) (from 'Fast Diagonal' 2016)
12 Moonunit Manual (b-side of 'Logo' single 1997)
13 Skipafone (from 'Skipafone' 1998)
14 Redial (John Peel session 2001)
15 Saccade (from 'Saccade' 2001)
16 Kayak Building (from 'Shlap' 2004)
17 Sleep Deep (from 'Skipafone' 2001)
18 Double Blind (from 'Saccade' 2001)

Wendy & Lisa - Friendly Fire (1994)

In 1980, Lisa Coleman replaced Gayle Chapman in Prince's touring band on keyboards and piano, and she was also asked to contribute vocals to several tracks over his next few albums. In 1983, guitarist Dez Dickerson left the band over religious conflicts, and Prince invited Wendy Melvoin (Lisa's girlfriend at the time) into the band as they began to record the 'Purple Rain' album. The film and album turned Prince and the newly named Revolution into superstars, and his personal life also became intertwined with Melvoin's when he began dating her twin sister Susannah. After 'Purple Rain' was released in 1984, Prince and the Revolution recorded 'Around The World In A Day' in 1985, and then 'Parade' the following year, alongside the soundtrack to his film 'Under The Cherry Moon'. In interviews, Coleman and Melvoin felt they were not getting the recognition and credit they deserved, despite their growing contributions to Prince's work, and so feeling spurned and as a result of these comments, he had already decided he would dissolve the Revolution once the tour was complete, and so in October 1986, Melvoin and Coleman were dismissed by Prince. 

Signing to Columbia Records as a duo, the pair released their first album, simply titled 'Wendy And Lisa', in 1987, and although three singles were issued from it, neither 'Honeymoon Express', 'Waterfall' nor 'Sideshow' hit the top 40 on either side of the Atlantic. The follow-up album, 'Fruit At The Bottom', was released in 1989, and when 'Satisfaction' was issued as a single it gave them a top 40 single in the UK. In 1990, the duo signed with Virgin Records in the US (which was already their label in Europe)' and released 'Eroica', but this only achieved minor chart success, and so in 1991, Virgin UK released the remix album 'Re-mix-In-A-Carnation', a selection of club mixes from the first three albums as remixed by producers like the Orb, William Orbit, and Nellee Hooper. In the mid-1990's Wendy & Lisa worked on several movie projects with record producer Trevor Horn, and subsequently decided to record an album with him. The project was completed but famously shelved due to creative and personal disputes between the artists and the producer, which according to them revolved around Horn and his wife Jill Sinclair's alleged homophobia. As Horn retained the rights to the recordings, they have remained locked away in his valult, but because the album never saw an official release, it has circulated among Prince and Wendy & Lisa fan communities as a highly prized bootleg. Following the scrapping of the 'Friendly Fires' album - named by fans, as it was never given an official title - Wendy & Lisa's next solo effort was the the 1998 album 'Girl Bros.', which was independently released, as were all their subsequent albums. 

Track listing

01 The Guise Of Love 
02 Drive All Night  
03 I'm In Love Again  
04 Lower
05 Friendly Fire
06 Viste  
07 Diggin' To China  
08 I Wanna Get On  
09 The Give  
10 So High  
11 Madmen Swim Upstream

Babs Tino - Forgive Me (1963)

Babs Tino was a Brooklyn-born pop singer who had one unsuccessful single on Cameo in 1957, with 'My Honeybun'/'Sweet Cakes', after which she kept a low profile for four years before signing with Kapp Records in 1961. Owner Dave Kapp was a pillar of New York's musical establishment, a man with strongly held views on the linear alignment of musical notes in relation to pitch and tempo, and no-one got through the door at Kapp unless they could count bars and sing in tune. The best arrangers and songwriters were assigned to Tino's sessions, including Burt Bacharach and Leiber & Stoller, and she recorded six singles for the label between 1961 and 1963. 'Too Late To Worry' was a Bacharach/David offering, but failed to give her a hit, although her third release was the one that made a dent in the charts, with 'Forgive Me (For Giving You Such A Bad Time)' cracking the Billboard top 100 in 1962. This was another Bacharach/David song, backed with 'If I Didn't Love You So Much' from the pens of Gerry Goffin and Jack Keller, and after  'Call Off The Wedding' came out later in 1962, the b-side, 'Keep Away From Other Girls', was successfully covered in the UK by Helen Shapiro. Two more singles followed in 1963, but neither 'My First Love' or 'Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde' made any impact on the charts, and so Tino became disillusioned with Kapp Records, but instead of signing with another label she decided to leave the music business completely. We are therefore left with just these seven singles as a record of her career in the early 60's, making for a short, but very enjoyable, album.   

Track listing

01 My Honeybun (single 1957) 
02 Sweet Cakes (b-side of 'My Honeybun')
03 If Only For Tonight (single 1961)
04 What's Wrong With Me And You (b-side of 'If Only For Tonight')
05 Forgive Me (For Giving You Such A Bad Time) (single 1962)
06 If I Didn't Love You So Much (b=side of 'Forgive Me (For Giving You Such A Bad Time')
07 Call Off The Wedding (Without A Groom There Can't Be A Bride) (single 1962) 
08 Keep Away From Other Girls (b-side of 'Call Off The Wedding')
09 Too Late To Worry (single 1962)
10 My Heart Just Can't Say Goodbye (b-side of 'Too Late To Worry')
11 My First Love (single 1963)
12 Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde (single 1963)
13 Great Things (b-side of 'Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde')

The Outer Limits - The Dream (1968)

Around 1958 Jeff Christie and good mate Rod Brooks formed a band called Goliath And The Barbarians, along with Gerry Layton on rhythm guitar, Stan Drogie on drums and with Brooks on sax. Christie wasn't keen on the saxophone sound, so persuaded Brooks to get a bass guitar, and the group learned to play Shadows and Ventures instrumentals one after another. They later changed their name to The Tremmers, and began to make a name for themselves on the local circuit, even being considered innovators of the northern UK rock sound. Finding that they needed to expand beyond playing just instrumentals, the band decided Rod should become a singing guitar player, and eventually Paul Cardus replaced Rod on bass, leaving him free to be the vocalist. Following another name change to The Outer Limits, the band released a split single with 5 Man Cargo, with 'When The Work Is Thru' being a charity record for Leeds University, which was only released in Leeds for RAG (Raise-and-Give) Week. Thanks to help from Christie's father, The Outer Limits secured a recording contract with Deram, and 'Just One More Chance' was the first single, released in 1967, and bubbling under the Top 50 of the UK charts. The second single promised much more, as 'The Great Train Robbery' had a lavish musical arrangement and production, and such was the melody that it had a more instantaneous appeal than 'Just One More Chance'. Things were also looking rosy when the group was signed onto the Immediate label owned by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, and the song was chosen to launch Immediate's progressive rock label, Instant. However, luck was against them, as because there had recently been a real great train robbery in the UK, the BBC were very sensitive about playing anything that might be seen as glorifying the event, and so airplay was scarce. After this Layton left before the group accompanied Jimi Hendrix on a pop package tour in November 1967, and was replaced by Steve Isherwood, while Rod Palmer took over from Drogie, and this new line-up soldiered on until early 1969, gigging and recording demos of Christie's songs, until they finally broke up. The Outer Limits experience served as a good launching pad for Christie's song-writing and singing career, as he was a prolific composer, and after the group's break-up he vigorously pursued his song-writing ambitions, culminating in his biggest hit single 'Yellow River', with his own band Christie. Although The Outer Limits only released two and a half singles, they recorded so much material that they could easily have released an album in 1968, and so by taking the best of their demos and adding them to their professional recordings, here is what that album could have sounded like, named after a Procol Harum-inspired piece written by Christie and his father Michael.  

Track listing

01 The Dream
02 Days Of Spring
03 Stop
04 Sweet Freedom
05 Great Train Robbery
06 Epitaph For A Nonentity
07 Man In The Middle Of Nowhere
08 Just One More Chance
09 Dancing Water
10 Look At Me
11 It's Your Turn Now
12 Anyday Now

Public Nuisance - Backwoods Men (1968)

Public Nuisance formed in Sacramento in 1964 as an instrumental surf rock band called the Jaguars. After the British Invasion and folk rock movements of the mid-1960's they added vocals and changed their name to Moss & the Rocks, and at that time their line-up consisted of David Houston, their principal songwriter, on guitar, keyboards, harmonica, and vocals, Jim Mathews on guitar, Pat Minter on bass and vocals, and Ron McMaster on drums and vocals. Even while known as the Jaguars, the group were known for their stage antics, with Houston sometimes smashing his guitar on stage, and the group wore hairstyles that were considered long for 1964. The group's manager was Gary Schiro, who had connections in Los Angeles and managed two other local bands, the New Breed and the Oxford Circle, and when Moss & the Rocks won a battle of the bands contest they were able to gain free recording time at Ikon Studios, a small label in Sacramento, which hosted numerous garage bands in the area. They recorded the folk rock-influenced single, 'There She Goes' b/w 'Please Come Back', which was released on Ikon on 1965, and later that year they re-recorded both tunes for a single released on Chattahoochee Records. In 1967 the band changed their name to Public Nuisance, and in early 1968 they recorded a series of demos which for years remained unreleased. These recordings saw the group augment their raw garage rock sound with experimental psychedelic elements, and their lyrics saw the band engaging in social commentary that addressed topical concerns of the era. 

They became a popular live act throughout much of California during this period and opened for The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and Sonny & Cher, as well as for The Grateful Dead. Later in 1968, they taped several demos at Fantasy Records in San Francisco, but were not signed to the label, but eventually Schiro arranged a contract with Equinox records, a label run by producer Terry Melcher, who was noted for his work with The Byrds and Paul Revere & the Raiders. At the end of 1968 and the beginning of 1969, they commuted to-and-from Los Angeles, where they recorded an album's worth of songs, but like their previous outings, none of the recordings saw release. This was because producer Terry Melcher, who had sub-let houses to director Roman Polanski and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, became emotionally distraught after Polanski's wife Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson. Melcher chose to terminate recording commitments he had made with Wilson because he had socialized with the Manson family, and the result was that Melcher closed down the label, and all upcoming releases were cancelled. Public Nuisance soldiered on, playing several shows at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, but they disbanded in 1970. In 2012 Third Man Records finally released the shelved album as 'Gotta Survive', a decade after Frantic Records had compiled all the band's recordings and released them solely in Germany and the U.S. This album consists of the 1968 demos, and so could be considered their debut release, with 'Gotta Survive' being the follow-up album, which would have been released in 1969.   

Track listing

01 America
02 Time Can't Wait
03 Darlin'
04 Now I Think
05 Daddy's Comin' Home
06 Pencraft Transcender
07 Katie Shiner
08 Man From The Backwoods
09 One Man's Story
10 I'm Only Sleeping
11 Hold On
12 Going Nowhere

CCS - Tap Turns On The Water (1973)

Collective Consciousness Society, shortened to the band name of CCS, were formed in 1970, and are known for their unique blend of glam rock and jazz-infused arrangements. The group was spearheaded by Alexis Korner (vocals/guitar), a notable figure in the British blues scene, along with producer Mickie Most and arranger John Cameron. Key contributors included Peter Thorup (vocals), and a rotating line-up of prominent jazz musicians such as Harry Beckett, Henry Lowther, and Kenny Wheeler on trumpets, Herbie Flowers and Spike Heatley on bass, Roger Coulam on keyboards, Barry Morgan on drums, plus Don Lusher and Bill Geldard on trombone. This eclectic ensemble was characterized by a brassy, commercial sound, and they very quickly had a hit with their big band reworking of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love', which is instantly familiar to a whole generation of Top Of The Tops viewers, as it was the theme song of the show for most of the seventies. Technically, the TOTP theme was not by CCS, but was recorded by the TOTP orchestra one morning before the day's rehearsals. Nevertheless, the band was conducted by John Cameron on that occasion, and many of the musicians were CCS regulars. This enabled the production to tailor the tune to the correct duration and avoided the weekly payment of royalties to the record label. There were only ever two live performances by this group, unsurprising given the number of players involved, and also the fact that CCS was primarily a studio band. The first was at Ronnie Scott's, where they reportedly blew all the fuses while playing a benefit for the family of flautist Harold McNair, and the second was at The Royal Albert Hall. Their highest-charting singles were a cover of the Donovan song 'Walking', and their own 'Tap Turns On The Water', and on their three albums they also included their idiosyncratic versions of songs such as the old blues standard 'Boom Boom', Jethro Tull's 'Living In The Past', The Rolling Stones' '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction', The Kinks' 'Lola', and Cream's 'Sunshine Of Your Love'. However, as good as those covers were, I always preferred the band's own compositions, which I feel have been unfairly overlooked, and so I've compiled an album of Korner, Thorup and Cameron originals, which I think shows the band in a whole new light. When CCS broke up in 1973, Korner and Thorup went on to form SNAPE (Something Nasty 'Appens Practically Everyday) with Boz Burrell, Ian Wallace and Mel Collins, but for me CCS was Korner/Thorup's finest moment. 

Track listing

01 The Waiting Song
02 Running Out Of Sky (Sky Diver)
03 Hundred Highways
04 Brother
05 Sunrise
06 Misunderstood
07 The Band Played The Boogie
08 City
09 Maggie's Song
10 Tap Turns On The Water
11 Memphis
12 Salome
13 Hang It On Me

King Sunny Ade & His Green Spot Band - The Master Guitarist Vol. 5 (1972)

While I'm still coming down from my holiday in North Africa, here is the next instalment of the Master Guitarist series from King Sunny Ade & His Green Spot Band. 'Volume 5' once again has the songs segued together to make two long tracks. 

Track listing

01 Late Dr. Nkrumah / Ka Ma Buni Lọlẹ / I. S. Adewale / Ọlọlade Wilkey
02 Sunny Special / Owo Ko Nifẹ / Awọn Ti Wọn Yo / Alhaja Bintu

Holiday Time

I'm flying out to Tunisia for 10 days today, so Soulseek will be out of action, and there will be no new posts until July. There should be enough recent posts to keep you all busy, so normal service will resumed when I'm back.  

pj