Canned Heat - Blues (1970)

When I put together my recent Canned Heat post, I wasn't trying to find rare recordings or non-album singles, as what I wanted to hear was an authentic blues album from the band, who were primarily known as the foremost exponents of blues/boogie. They did do straight-forward blues on their albums, but these were usually limited to just one song per record, and so it was actually quite difficult to find enough music to make up a blues album from them. By delving further back into their recordings I found that their aborted 1966 album contained some good stuff, so I was able to complete my project, and the result is a great pure blues album from Canned Heat, with nary a hint of the boogie.   

Track listing

01 Louise 
02 Nine Below Zero
03 TV Mama 
04 Going Down Slow 
05 Story Of My Life 
06 Marie Laveau
07 Mean Old World 
08 Terraplane Blues 
09 Sandy's Blues
10 Down In The Gutter, But Free 
11 London Blues 

Dodgy - Colour Me With Paints (1995)

1994 was Dodgy's breakthrough year, with their 'Homegrown' producing two memorable singles in 'Staying Out For The Summer' (a hit when reissued in 1995) and 'So Let Me Go Far', and despite lacking any discernible image, aside from that of three wide-eyed and unspoiled souls with a fondness for dressing down, their eminently hummable songs meant that they were now welcome guests in both the charts and the pop press. The third post from the band contains b-sides from 1994 and 1995, taken from the singles that were extracted from 'Homegrown', and once again it's astonishing at how many exclusive tracks were gifted to their fans on the b-sides of the many and various editions of their singles.

Track listing

01 A Summer's Day In Mid January (b-side of 'Staying Out For The Summer' 1994)
02 Don't You Think (b-side of 'Staying Out For The Summer' 1994)
03 Back To Life (b-side of 'Staying Out For The Summer' 1994)
04 Colour Me With Paints (b-side of 'Staying Out For The Summer' 1994)
05 The Snake (b-side of 'Melodies Haunt You' 1994)
06 Watch Out Watcha Doin' (b-side of 'Making The Most Of (New Version)' 1995)
07 This Is Ours (b-side of 'Making The Most Of (New Version)' 1995)
08 (Get Off Your) High Horse (b-side of 'Making The Most Of (New Version)' 1995)
09 Spent All My Time Running (b-side of 'Making The Most Of (New Version)' 1995)
10 All The Time In The World (b-side of 'Making The Most Of (New Version)' 1995)
11 (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher (b-side of 'Staying Out For The Summer '95' 1995)

Clifford T. Ward - Intends To Please (1968)

Clifford Thomas Ward was born on 10 February 1944 in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, and was the fifth child in his family, with one older sister and three older brothers. In 1962, shortly after leaving school and supporting himself with a series of clerical jobs, Ward formed a beat band called Cliff Ward And The Cruisers, which won the 1963 Midland Band of the Year contest in Birmingham. They were popular in Birmingham and also in demand at American Army bases in France, and it was during this time away from his family that Ward wrote 'Home Thoughts From Abroad, which would later appear on his second solo album in the 70's. The Cruisers recorded one single before they opted for a name change to Martin Raynor And The Secrets, with Ward in the role of the elusive Raynor. Another single was released under this name, before the fictitious name was dropped and the band continued on as Raynor's Secrets, Simon's Secrets, or just The Secrets, and they went on to tour around Britain and France, achieving moderate success. More singles followed, with three from The Secrets and two from Simon's Secrets, with Ward penning most of the songs himself. In 1967, following the demise of The Secrets, Ward decided he needed to get a real job, and enrolled at Worcester Teacher Training College, subsequently teaching English and Drama at North Bromsgrove High School. In his spare time he continued songwriting, and under the pseudonym of Pat Rollings (using his wife's maiden name) he wrote 'Path Through The Forest', which was later recorded by The Factory, and is now regarded as one of the best UK psychedelic singles of all time. In 1972 he recorded his first solo album 'Singer Songwriter', which was released on John Peel's Dandelion Records just before it went into liquidation. It was exactly as the title stated, and the r'n'b of his early bands had been replaced by a collection of introspective and personal songs, one of which, 'Gaye', went on to sell over a million copies worldwide when released as a single, and reached number 8 in the UK chart in July 1973. 

Ward's second album followed the success of the single, and 'Home Thoughts' was named after the song that he'd written while on tour in Europe in the early 60's. At this point he gave up teaching so that he could concentrate on music full-time, and he released a further nine albums over the next 25 years. He remained a very private person, consistently refusing to tour and perform live gigs, while interviews, photograph sessions, and television appearances were made only when absolutely necessary. In 1984 Ward was diagnosed as suffering from multiple sclerosis, which he kept from his fans for a number of years, until the symptoms could no longer be disguised. In 1992 a stage musical, 'Shattered World', was produced as a tribute to him, based on his life and his battle against MS, with half the songs being his own, and the rest being numbers written by others about him. In November 2001 Ward contracted pneumonia, and died in Tenbury Community Hospital a few weeks later on 18 December. He was a gifted songwriter from the very beginning, which is often overlooked as people tend to think that he only started writing in the early 70's for his solo albums, but this collection shows that the talent was there from the start, and includes all the singles from his various bands, plus his own demo of 'Path Through The Forest'. 

Track listing

Cliff Ward And The Cruisers

01 Rachel (single 1964)

02 No Money Down (b-side of 'Rachel')

03 Ooh Wee Baby (previously unreleased)

Martin Raynor And The Secrets

04 Candy To Me (single 1965)

05 You're A Wonderful One (b-side of 'Candy To Me')

The Secrets

06 I Suppose (single 1966)

07 Such A Pity (b-side of 'I Suppose')

08 Infatuation (single 19670

09 She's Dangerous (b-side of 'Infatuation') 

10 I Intend To Please (single 1967)

11 I Think I Need The Cash (b-side of 'I Intend To Please')

12 Coathanger (demo)

Simon's Secrets

13 Naughty Boy (single 1968)

14 Sympathy (b-side of 'Naughty Boy')

15 I Know What Her Name Is (single 1968)

16 Keeping My Head Above Water (b-side of 'I Know What Her Name Is')

Pat Rollings

17 Path Through The Forest (demo) 

P. P. Arnold - First Cuts (1970)

Patricia Cole was born in Los Angeles, California, on 3 October 1946, and grew up singing gospel songs in the local church. At 15 she became pregnant and went on to marry the child’s father, but the marriage was not a happy one and after being offered an audition to become a member of the Ikettes in 1964, she won a place in the girl group and promptly left her abusive husband and began touring the US with Ike and Tina Tuner. When Ike and Tina Turner's now-classic 'River Deep, Mountain High' flopped in the States but became a top-three hit in the UK in the summer of 1966, the band and their backing group were offered a slot as support act for the Rolling Stones in Britain. During the tour Pat (as she was then known) became friendly with Mick Jagger, who arranged a meeting with his manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, who had just set up a record label with Tony Calder. Cole was signed up with little delay, and it was at this point that she was given the stage name P.P. Arnold. Her first duties at Immediate included supplying backing vocals for Chris Farlowe, but she also went into the studio to cut her own material, and 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright' became her debut solo single in February 1967. Written by Oldham and David Skinner, the song was a soul gem, and though it failed to chart its pounding beat has subsequently made it a favourite on the Northern soul dance scene. While on tour in a package that included Roy Orbison and the Small Faces, her second single was released in April 1967, and the Cat Stevens-penned 'The First Cut Is The Deepest' became her first hit, reaching number 18 in the UK charts.

For promotional appearances she enlisted the backing of another Immediate signing, and so The Nice were her backing band until their success meant that they needed to focus their own efforts, and they were replaced by TNT. 'The Time Has Come' was selected as the follow up single, but if fared less well that its predecessor, just scraping into the UK top 50 charts. In 1968 '(If You Think You’re) Groovy' was issued as her next single, being written by The Small Faces' Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, and the group also performed the musical backing, but it didn't help propel the record into the charts, not being helped by distribution problems with Immediate. Three months later her first album was released, the prophetically titled 'The First Lady Of Immediate', which included her singles to date and a few new tracks, including several that she'd written herself. In July 1968 her version of 'Angel Of The Morning' saw her return to the UK charts, but once again Immediate's distributions problems meant that it only reached number 29, whereas it should have registered much higher. Nonetheless, a second album 'Kafunta' was released in August 1968 on the back of the single’s success, with this one being more ambitious than its predecessor, but perhaps including a few too many cover versions, plus one notable self-penned song 'Dreamin''. Following a surprising decision to re-issue 'The First Cut Is The Deepest' in 1969, Immediate folded the following year, after which Arnold signed to Polydor, where Barry Gibb took over production on 'Bury Me Down By The River' and 'Give A Hand, Take A Hand'. She spent much of the 70's as a backing singer, and in the early 80's she appeared in a number of TV series, including Dallas spin-off 'Knot's Landing', as well as performing in the musical 'Starlight Express', but for fans of a certain age she will always be remembered as 'the first lady of Immediate'.

Track listing

01 Everything's Gonna Be Alright (single 1967)
02 Life Is But Nothing (b-side of 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright')
03 The First Cut Is The Deepest (single 1967)
04 Speak To Me (b-side of 'The First Cut Is The Deepest')
05 The Time Has Come (single 1967)
06 If You See What I Mean (b-side of 'The Time Has Come')
07 (If You Think You're) Groovy (single 1967)
08 Though It Hurts Me Badly (b-side of '(If You Think You're) Groovy')
09 Angel Of The Morning (single 1969)
10 Bury Me Down By The River (single 1969)
11 Give A Hand, Take A Hand (b-side of 'Bury Me Down By The River')
12 Would You Believe (single 1969)
13 Am I Still Dreaming (b-side of 'Would You Believe')
14 A Likely Piece Of Work (single 1970)

Strangers - The Last Glimpse Of Sunlight (2020)

Strangers are a three-piece alternative indie band from Cheshire, who formed in 2017 and have been developing their unique sound ever since. Following the release of 'The Demo Tape' on Soundcloud in 2017, which was where I first heard their great heavy indie rock sound, two further self-produced singles followed over the next two years, where you can hear the band maturing and honing their sound. These were collected onto a mixtape in 2019 and offered on Bandcamp, and this disc adds a further four songs to stretch that out to album length, so that we can hear what an full record from this fine indie rock band could sound like.

Track listing

01 The Last Glimpse Of Sunlight
02 Hibernate
03 Nocturnal
04 Icarus
05 Big Sleep
06 2am
07 Cry Baby
08 Apollo
09 Morning
10 You And I
11 Jaded
12 Hollows/Highways
13 Lonely Animals

The Specials - Rat Race (1984)

To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the classic 'Ghost Town' single, here is a collection of some of The Specials' rare tracks from the first five years of their existence, bookending all three songs from the 'Ghost Town' 12" single. The band, also known as The Special AKA, formed in 1977 in Coventry, and after some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. The band began around the same time as Rock Against Racism, which was first organised in 1978, and Dammers' vision was that this was intrinsic to the formation of The Specials, with the goal of integrating black and white musicians. They were first called the Automatics, then the Coventry Automatics, and finally settled on The Special AKA, under which name they released their first single 'Gansters', on their own 2 Tone Records label.  After 'Gangsters' became a top 10 hit in the summer of 1979, the band dropped the 'AKA' to become The Specials, and they recorded their eponymous debut album in 1979, produced by Elvis Costello. As well as containing original material, the album also featured covers of classic ska tunes, such as Dandy Livingstone's 'Rudy, A Message To You' (slightly altering the title to 'A Message To You, Rudy'), and songs by Prince Buster and Toots & the Maytals. In 1980, the 'Too Much Too Young' EP was released under the name of The Special A.K.A., and was a No. 1 hit in the UK singles chart, despite controversy over the song's lyrics, which referenced teen pregnancy and promoted contraception. Reverting once again to the name of The Specials for their second album, 'More Specials' was not as commercially successful, and was recorded at a time when conflicts had developed within the band. In the first few months of 1981, the band took a break from recording and touring, and then released 'Ghost Town', which again topped the singles chart, although despite this success, relationships had become so strained within the group that Staple, Hall and Golding announced they were leaving the band, later forming The Funboy Three. For the next few years, the group was in a seemingly constant state of flux, and in 1982 they released 'The Boiler' with Rhoda Dakar on vocals, Dammers on keyboards, Bradbury on drums, John Shipley (from the Swinging Cats) on guitar, Cuthell on brass and Nicky Summers on bass. The single was credited to Rhoda With The Special AKA, and the track describes an incident of date rape, with its frank and harrowing depiction meaning that airplay was severely limited. After going on tour with Rodriguez, the band recorded 'Jungle Music' as Rico And The Special AKA, although this failed to chart when released. After two further mildly successful singles, in 1984 the band finally issued a new full-length album 'In the Studio', once again reverting back to the name The Special AKA. The record was both critically and commercially less successful than previous efforts, although the single 'Free Nelson Mandela' was a No. 9 UK hit, and helped contribute to making Mandela's imprisonment a cause célèbre in the UK, but it wasn't enough to hold the group together, and Dammers dissolved the band to pursue political activism. The Specials were without doubt at the forefront of the whole ska/bluebeat resurgence of the late 70's, and helped bands such as Madness, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, The Selecter, and even Bad Manners onto their own chart success, and for that they fully deserve this retrospective.   

Track listing

01 Rat Race (single 1980)

02 Rude Boys Outta Jail (b-side of 'Rat Race')

03 Maggie's Farm (b-side of 'Do Nothing')

04 Sea Cruise (John Peel session 1980)

05 Ghost Town (single 1981)

06 Why? (b-side of 'Ghost Town')

07 Friday Night, Saturday Morning (b-side of 'Ghost Town')

08 Raquel (from the free NME cassette 'C81' 1981)

09 Jungle Music (single by Rico And The Special A.K.A. 1982)

10 Rasta Call You (b-side of 'Jungle Music')

11 Easter Island (b-side of 'Jungle Music')

12 Theme From The Boiler (b-side of 'The Boiler' by Rhoda With The Special A.K.A. 1982)

13 Can't Get A Break (b-side of 'What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend' 1984)

Canned Heat - Poor Moon (1970)

Canned Heat was started by a community of blues enthusiasts who used to meet up to trade blues records, and in 1965 they decided to form a jug band. The original line up was Bob Hite as vocalist, Alan Wilson on bottleneck guitar, Mike Perlowin on lead guitar, Stuart Brotman on bass and Keith Sawyer on drums. Perlowin and Sawyer dropped out within a few days, so guitarist Kenny Edwards (a friend of Wilson's) stepped in to replace Perlowin, and Ron Holmes agreed to sit in on drums until they could find a permanent drummer. Another of Hite's friends, Henry Vestine asked if he could join the band and was accepted while keeping Edwards on temporarily. Soon Edwards departed and at the same time Frank Cook came in to replace Holmes as their permanent drummer. Producer Johnny Otis recorded the band's first album in 1966 with the ensemble of Hite, Wilson, Cook, Vestine, and Brotman, but the record remained unreleased until it was issued in 1970 under the title of 'Vintage Heat'. Over a summer hiatus in 1966 Brotman effectively left Canned Heat after he had signed a contract for a long engagement in Fresno with an Armenian belly-dance revue, so he had to be replaced, with Mark Andes taking over for a couple of months before he returned to his former colleagues in the Red Roosters (later adopting the new name Spirits Rebellious, which became shorten to Spirit). Canned Heat finally found a permanent bassist in Larry Taylor, who joined in March 1967, and this line-up started recording their first album for Liberty Records in April 1967, taping a collection of old blues songs. They released 'Rollin' And Tumblin'' backed with 'Bullfrog Blues' as their first single, followed by the album later in July 1967. Frank Cook then left the band, to be replaced by Adolfo de la Parra, completing the classic and perhaps best known Canned Heat lineup. Their second album 'Boogie With Canned Heat' included 'On The Road Again', an updated version of a 1950's composition by Floyd Jones, which was a worldwide success when it was released as a single. The album also included a twelve-minute version of 'Fried Hockey Boogie', credited to Larry Taylor, but rather obviously derived from John Lee Hooker's 'Boogie Chillen' riff, and which allowed each member to stretch out on his instrument while establishing them with hippie ballroom audiences across America as the 'kings of the boogie'. 

In October 1968 the band released their third album 'Living The Blues', which included 'Going Up The Country', another huge hit single and perhaps their best-known song. The album also included a 19-minute experimental track 'Parthenogenesis', which was a nine-part sound collage of blues, ragas, jaw-harp sounds, guitar distortion and other electronic effects, all pulled together under the direction of manager/producer Skip Taylor. Longer still is 'Refried Boogie', clocking in at over 40 minutes, and recorded live at the Kaleidoscope club. In July 1969, just prior to their appearance at Woodstock, they released their fourth album 'Hallelujah', enforcing their reputation as the most convincing of the white electric blues groups. This time most of the material was original compositions, with lyrics relating to the band such as Wilson's 'Time Was', but within days of the album's release, Vestine left the group after an on-stage blow up at the Fillmore West between himself and Larry Taylor. The next night both Mike Bloomfield and Harvey Mandel jammed with the band, and both were offered Vestine's spot in the line-up, with Mandel accepting. The new lineup played just two dates at the Fillmore before appearing at Woodstock in mid-August, where they played their most famous set at sunset on the second day of the festival. Before their European tour in early 1970, the band recorded 'Future Blues', an album containing five original compositions and three covers, with 'Let's Work Together' being chosen as the first single from the record, and with a guest appearance of Dr John on piano. Some controversy was sparked by the moon landing/Iwo Jima album cover, and the upside down American flag, which was Wilson's idea, and was a response to his love of nature, growing environmentalism and concern that humankind would soon be polluting the moon as well as the Earth. Material from their 1970 European tour provided the tracks for 'Canned Heat '70 Concert Live in Europe', later retitled 'Live In Europe', but on returning home from the European tour Larry Taylor left the band to join John Mayall, and was followed later by Mandel. With Taylor and Mandel gone, Vestine returned on guitar, accompanied by bassist Antonio de la Barreda who had played with de la Parra for five years in Mexico City, and the band went on to release another dozen albums over the next 40 years, but for me their best period was between 1967 to 1970, and during that time they recorded a number of tracks which didn't see the light of day until added to deluxe re-issues of those early albums. As well as these rare recordings they also released a few non-album singles and b-sides, so to remind us of what a great band they were, here is a collection of hard to find recordings from their classic period. 

Track listing

01 The Hunter (previously unreleased 1968)
02 Christmas Blues (single 1968)
03 Whiskey And Wimmen' (previously unreleased 1968)
04 Shake, Rattle And Roll (previously unreleased 1968)
05 Fannie Mae (previously unreleased 1968)
06 Gotta Boogie (The World Boogie) (previously unreleased 1968)
07 Human Condition (early version - previously unreleased 1970)
08 Poor Moon (single 1969)
09 Low Down (And High Up) (b-side of 'Time Was' 1969)
10 It's All Right (previously unreleased 1970) 
11 Wooly Bully (single 1970)

Dodgy - Sylvia's Bedroom (1993)

Despite the fact that 1993's 'The Dodgy Album' was filled with buoyant 60s-styled pop tunes, it nevertheless failed to sell, though The Dodgy Club was now being exported as far afield as Amsterdam and Scandinavia. It's one of those albums that has been re-evaluated over the years, and although it's reputation is still as a second cousin to their breakthrough album 'Homegrown', it does contain some fine songs from Clarke, and remains a favourite with me. This second post contains only songs released in 1993, and bearing in mind that they'd used their best dozen or so for the album, it shows just how prolific they were even at this early stage in their career.

Track listing

01 Don't Go Back (To The Beaten Track) (from the 'Homegrown' EP 1993)

02 Let's Wait Until We Get There (from the 'Homegrown' EP 1993)

03 It's Been So Long (b-side of 'Water Under The Bridge' 1993)

04 She Wants My Loving (b-side of 'Water Under The Bridge' 1993)

05 Valuable Fool (b-side of 'Water Under The Bridge' 1993)

06 Big Brown Moon (b-side of 'Lovebirds' 1993)

07 Sylvia's Bedroom (b-side of 'Lovebirds' 1993)

08 Smashed Up In A Flat (b-side of 'Lovebirds' 1993)

09 Never Again (Campfire version) (b-side of 'I Need Another' 1993)

0 If I Fall (b-side of 'I Need Another' 1993)

11 Hendre-DdU (b-side of 'I Need Another' 1993)

Donovan - One Night In Time (1993)

After receiving a poor reception in the UK and US for his 1983 album 'Lady Of The Stars', Donovan retired from the recording studio, although he did continue to perform live concerts. However, as the new decade dawned he found that his 60's hit albums were being released on CD for the first time, and this, along with the release of the live album 'Rising' in 1990 and the box-set compilation 'Troubadour' in 1992, helped renew and increase his fans' interest in new material from him, despite him having no label in the UK or US to issue an album. His manager, Patrick Hehir, who had already invoked Donovan's wrath by selling unreleased albums, such as 1990's 'Celtia', through the 'Donovan's Friends' fanzine that he ran, did it again around 1993/1994 by making the shelved 'One Night In Time' available on cassette through this source. It was reportedly due to the fact that this album was cancelled that Donovan decamped to Ireland in February 1990 to record the 'Celtia' album, although that timeline doesn't seem to add up if 'One Night in Time' was recorded in 1993. Whatever the order they were recorded, 'Celtia' was very much a 'back to the roots' folk effort, whereas 'One Night In Time' is a very different beast altogether, with Donovan being ably assisted by Steve Jones on guitar, Jim Keltner on drums, Matthew Seligman on bass, and Robbie Blunt on slide guitar, and the result is a much more 'rock' sound than we'd heard for a while. It's a shame that this wasn't released when it was recorded, as it might well have kick-started the next phase of his career, whereas we had to wait until 1996 for his next official album 'Sutras'. 

Track listing

01 One Night In Time
02 Dear Heart
03 You Got Me Reeling (Only For You)
04 The Sensitive Kind
05 Runaway
06 When All The World Is Young
07 What's A Girl
08 Forever Your Love
09 You Do Belong (Teenage Suicide)
10 There Are No Roads

IV League - Varsity (2019)

Melbourne-based rockers IV League are Bella Venutti and Lachie Gilmour, a pair of collaborators who are very much still in their formative years, but who possess a deep understanding of music. Kneeling at the feet of 90’s-era heroes like Pixies and The Breeders, they still manage to make music that not only draws from their influences, but also creates something that is refreshingly new and unique, meeting the grunge ferocity with low key and tender moments. They've released three singles, as well as posting songs on Soundcloud since 2016, and their combining of alt-rock and garage-pop-infused fuzz creates big harmonies in a shimmering upbeat style. Bella Venutti launched a solo project in 2019, and the band haven't posted on Soundcloud since then, so it could be that they've now broken up, but they do leave behind an album full of fine indie rock as their legacy. 

Track listing

01 Bleached
02 Varsity
03 Lit Screen
04 Change My Mind
05 Sylvia
06 Superstar
07 Comedown Sensation
08 Lose Me
09 Echo
10 Cola Tooth World

Jackie Lee - Lonely Clown (1967)

Jacqueline Flood was born in Dublin, Ireland on 29 May 1936, and by the age of 14 she was singing on Irish radio and with various dance bands. After moving to London in the early 50s' she worked as a hospital lab technician until joining singing group Ronnie Aldrich’s Squadronaires, performing frequently on BBC radio with them. After changing her professional name to Jackie Lee, she left the group in April 1955 and made her recording debut for Decca Records, but 'I Was Wrong' and her subsequent single were not successful. In 1959 she joined the group The Raindrops as lead singer, but their first single 'Along Came Jones' fared no better than her solo material, and further releases suffered the same fate. In 1962 Lee took part in A Song For Europe to find the UK's entry for the Eurovision song contest, but she lost out to Ronnie Carroll's 'Ring-a-Ding Girl'. in 1963 she recorded her first German-language single 'Tschau, Tschau, Amigo', which was aimed at the lucrative German market, but that also failed to sell, and so she rejoined The Raindrops to appear in the film 'Just For You', performing their version of Little Eva's 'The Locomotion'. Within a year she'd quit the group and released 'I Cry Alone', written by up and coming songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but it did no better than any of her other records, as did her next two singles. The quality of her records definitely increased, even if this didn't translate into commercial sales, and both 'The Town I Live In' and 'You Too (Can Have Heartaches)' were strong songs. For her next single she was renamed Emma Rede, but 1967's 'Just Like A Man' also disappeared without trace, although the b-side 'I Gotta Be With You' has since found favour on Britain’s Northern soul scene. Due to the lack of success of 'Just Like A Man', a planned second single, a recording of 'Window Cleaner', only reached acetate stage, and later that year she reverted to the Jackie Lee name for the strident 'Born To Lose', from the film 'Robbery!', to the same response as all her other releases. Undespondent, she kept busy with a variety of engagements as leader of two groups of session singers, Tears Of Joy and the Jackie Lee Singers. In January 1968, under the name Jacky, she released 'White Horses', which was the theme to a Czech children’s TV programme, and she finally got the hit single that she'd spent so long trying to achieve, spending three months in the UK charts in early 1968, peaking at number ten. Even though the follow-up single 'We’re Off And Running' didn't emulate that success, she was able to release the 'White Horses' album off the back of her hit single. She carried on recording and releasing singles well into the mid-70's, but this collection is to highlight the fact that despite their lack of commercial success, her 60's singles are all worth hearing, and as a special bonus there's also an E.P. from her alter ego Emma Rede.  

Track listing

01 There Goes The Lucky One (single with The Raindrops 1962)
02 There's No-One In The Whole Wide World (single with The Raindrops 1962)
03 (I Was The) Last One To Know (b-side of 'There's No-One In The Whole Wide World')
04 The End Of The World (Ended When You Said Goodbye) (single 1963)
05 Goodbye Is Such A Lonely Word (b-side of 'The End Of The World')
06 Down Our Street (single with The Raindrops 1963)
07 My Heart Is Your Heart (b-side of 'Down Our Street')
08 Come On Dream, Come On (single with The Raindrops 1963)
09 Here I Go Again (b-side of 'Come On Dream, Come On')
10 I Cry Alone (single 1964)
11 Cause I Love Him (b-side of 'I Cry Alone')
12 Lonely Clown (single 1965)
13 Love Is Gone (b-side of 'Lonely Clown')
14 I Know Know Know I’ll Never Love Love Love Anyone Else (single 1966)
15 So Love Me (b-side of 'I Know Know Know I’ll Never Love Love Love Anyone Else')
16 The Town I Live In (single 1966) 
17 You Too (Can Have Heartaches) (b-side of 'The Town I Live In')
18 It's A Big Mistake ‎(acetate 1966)
19 Till You Come Back To Me ‎(acetate 1966)
20 Your Other Love ‎(acetate 1966)
21 Born To Lose (single 1967)

Bonus E.P. by Emma Rede

Track listing

01 Just Like A Man (single 1967)
02 I Gotta Be With You (b-side of 'Just Like A Man')
03 Ever Or Never At All ‎(acetate 1967)
04 Window Cleaner (acetate 1967)
05 Someday You'll Love Me (acetate 1967)
06 For The Last Time (previously unreleased)
07 This Is My Love (previously unreleased)
08 When He Wants A Woman (previously unreleased)

Airbag - Speed Of Light (2007)

Norwegian progressive rockers Airbag have been around since a group of friends with similar musical tastes got together in 1994 and formed a band, with the current line-up stablising in 1999. Bjorn Riis is the lead guitarist and main songwriter, with Asle Tostruo on vocals, Jorgen Hagen on keyboards, Anders Hovdan on bass and Joachim Slikker on drums. They spent their early years playing infrequent gigs around Norway, in particular in Oslo, from where there is a live album available from a 2001 concert, and they didn't record their first demo until 2004. They released their first EP 'Sounds That I Hear' in 2007, which blended influences from acts such as a-ha, Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd, managing to create a sonic expression defying normal genre conventions. They allowed the release to be freely downloadable from their website, and within a few months more than 10,000 people had downloaded it, establishing a good-sized, international fanbase in a very short space of time. A second EP was issued the same year, with 'Safetree' also being freely downloadable, and it further extended their popularity among an internet-savvy fanbase. 2007 also saw Airbag's debut as a proper live outfit, opening for acts like Pineapple Thief, Gazpacho and Riverside, and in 2009 they were signed by Karisma Records, with their debut album 'Identity' being issued the same year. It included three re-recorded songs from the 'Safetree' EP, but not the title track which remains exclusive to that release. Since then they have released four more albums of absolutely outstanding progressive rock, and they are currently my favourite prog-rock band alongside Porcupine Tree. If you like Steven Wilson and PT then you really have to hear Airbag, and this collection of the songs from their early EP's which weren't re-recorded for 'Identity' is a great place to start. While putting this together I discovered that Bjorn Riis has also released four solo albums, and they are every bit a good as those from his day job, and so for any fans of Porcupine Tree or Pink Floyd who have never heard of Airbag, then you're in for a real treat.  

Track listing

01 Come On In (from 'Come On In' demo EP)
02 Moon Song (from 'Come On In' demo EP)
03 Take Me (from 'Come On In' demo EP)
04 Crying Out (from 'Come On In' demo EP)
05 Speed Of Light (from 'Sounds That I Hear' EP 2007)
06 Sounds That I Hear (Parts I & II) (extended recording from 'Sounds That I Hear' EP 2007)
07 Safetree (from 'Safetree' EP 2007)

The Rolling Stones - Hillside Blues (1971)

For the final post of Rolling Stones rarities, I removed the duplicate songs that had already appeared on the 'Necrophilia' and 'Travelin' Man' albums from the 'Hillside Blues' bootleg, and that left over an hour of prime Rolling Stones out-takes to complete the trilogy.

Track listing

01 Jiving Sister Fanny (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1969)
02 I'm Going Down (Los Angeles, Elektra Studios 1969)
03 I Don't Know Why (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1969)
04 Downtown Suzie (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1969)  
05 Blood Red Wine (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1968)
06 Family (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1968)
07 Still A Fool (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1968)
08 Dancing In The Light (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1970)    
09 Who Am I? (London, Olympic Studios 1970)
10 Trident Jam (London, Olympic Studios 1970)    
11 Hillside Blues (Los Angeles, Sunset Sound Studios 1969)   
12 Highway Child (Redlands 1968)    
13 I Ain't Lying (Villefranche sur-mer, Villa Nellcote 1971)

Dodgy - Summer Fayre (1993)

Dodgy started out as a trio from Bromsgrove and Redditch called Purple, comprising Nigel Clark on bass, Mathew Priest on drums and David Griffiths on guitar. They moved to London in 1998, gaining Frederic Colier as the bass guitarist, with Clark providing vocals, and this new formation first settled in Battersea, using their living quarters as a rehearsal space. The quartet then relocated to a semi-detached house in Hounslow, where they turned the garage in the back garden into a sound proofed rehearsal room, and playing in local pubs and small venues until cracks started to appear when Clarke and Priest's direction clashed with that of Colier and Griffiths. Dissension led to the dismissal of Griffiths and Colier, with Clark and Priest going it alone for the time being, although they soon realised that they needed a guitarist, so they placed an ad in the magazine Loot, and invited Australian Ben Lurie to join them, only to see him leave them less than a week later to join The Jesus and Mary Chain. Shortly afterwards they discovered guitarist Andy Miller, who came from Neasden, and with a new line-up came a new name - Dodgy. Miller moved in with the rest of the band in Hounslow in the early part of 1990, and from then on the three of them were constantly in the garage, piecing songs together through Clarke's songwriting. While out one night, Priest became engrossed in a conversation with a guy who happened to manage bands, and he surreptitiously popped a demo cassette into the guy's jacket pocket without him realising. When he found it he played it and then straightaway rang the number included within the cassette case, and Dodgy now had Andrew Winters as their manager. The band started The Dodgy Club in Bacchus Wine Bar in Kingston Upon Thames in late 1990, and by playing there every two weeks for eight months, they built up a loyal following of fans, and had also drawn interest from major recording and publishing labels. This led to them signing a six album deal with A&M Records in 1991, and as well as a publishing deal with BMG. The band's debut album was produced by The Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie, and as well as the jaunty indie-pop of their music, they concerned themselves with social issues by supporting The Serious Road Trip, War Child, the Liverpool Dockers' Strike, Charter 88 and youth democracy campaigns. This first post contains their early singles and their b-sides, released before the appearance of their first album in 1993, plus their contribution to a 1993 Bob Dylan tribute album. 

Track listing

01 Easy Way (single 1991)
02 Seems Like A Bad Day (b-side of 'Easy Way')
03 Smeasy Way (b-side of 'Easy Way')
04 Summer Fayre (single 1991)
05 St. Lucia (b-side of 'Summer Fayre')
06 The Elephant (from 'The Black And White Single' 1992)
07 Worth The Blood (full version) (from 'The Black And White Single' 1992)
08 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (from 'Outlaw Blues Vol. 2 - A Tribute To Bob Dylan' 1993)

Christine Quaite - Guilty Eyes (1966)

Christine Quaite was born in Leeds, Yorkshire on May 11th, 1948, and although both her grandfather and uncle were professional dancers, they didn't influence her musically. She began singing at the age of eight, when she entered a seaside talent contest in the Yorkshire resort of Bridlington, and finding that she enjoyed it, she went on to enter many similar competitions. She later joined the Judean Club, a Jewish youth club in Leeds, where other members included future pop singer Julie Grant, and Jeff Christie, who would later have a major international success with his group Christie's 'Yellow River' single. The club would put on a show every couple of weeks, and Quaite was one of the singers, while pianist Paul Conway also directed the shows. At one of her competitions Quaite came second, receiving a recording contract from Oriole Records as a prize, and as the b-side for her second single she used a song that Conway had written for one of their shows. She was only 13 at the time, but her powerful voice belied her tender years, and her first record 'Oh My', backed with 'Guilty Eyes', was released in 1962, followed by a cover of Johnny Crawford's 'Your Nose Is Gonna Grow', with the original 'Our Last Chance' on the flip. Her third single 'Whisper Wonderful Words' borrowed the tune from Bizet's 'Habanera' from 'Carmen', with lyrics added to make it a pop song. Being a recording artist in her early teens, her life was very complicated, and her school would never allow her time off to visit the recording studio, so she had to play truant to make her records. Despite some minor commercial success in the US with 'Tell Me Mama', none of her singles charted in the UK, and her contract with Oriole ceased when the label went bankrupt in 1964. She continued doing TV, radio and cabaret work around the country, and in June 1965 she signed with manager-producer-songwriter Bunny Lewis, with Lewis' Ritz Productions company signing her to a new recording contract with Laurie Records of New York, in the expectation it would guarantee her further releases there. Her first record under the new deal was a Bobby Goldsboro song, 'If You've Got A Heart', which reached acetate stage in the US but was never released, and this was followed by Bacharach/David's 'Long After Tonight Is All Over'. Both singles were, however, issued in the UK on the Stateside label, but these were to be her last recordings. At the time of her last single she was still only 18 years old, and it seems unbelievable that her recording career was over at such a young age, but she did leave behind a clutch of excellent singles, especially the later soul-influenced ones, and so hopefully this collection will bring her to the attention of an appreciative new audience.

Track listing

01 Oh My! (single 1962)
02 Guilty Eyes ‎(b-side of 'Oh My!')
03 Your Nose Is Gonna Grow (‎single 1962)
04 Our Last Chance (b-side of 'Your Nose Is Gonna Grow')
05 Mister Heartache ‎(single 1963)
06 Whisper Wonderful Words (b-side of 'Mister Heartache')
07 Tell Me Mama (single 1963)
08 In The Middle Of The Floor (b-side of 'Tell Me Mama')
09 Here She Comes (single 1964)
10 I Believe In Love (b-side of' Here She Comes')
11 Mr. Stuck-Up (single 1964)
12 Will You Be The Same Tomorrow (b-side of 'Mr. Stuck-Up')
13 Huggin' My Pillow (acetate 1964) 
14 If You've Got A Heart (single 1965)
15 So Near, So Far (b-side of 'If You've Got A Heart')
16 Long After Tonight Is All Over (single 1966)
17 I'm Hoping (b-side of 'Long After Tonight Is All Over')

Sons Of Zöku - Sleepless (2020)

Sons Of Zöku are an Adelaide-based hybrid tribe of Portuguese-born Ricardo Da Silva and Ica Quintela, and Australian-born Jordan Buck, Oscar Ellery, and Eddie Hannemann, who've been around since about 2018. By 2019 they'd slimmed down to a trio of Da Silva, Quintela and Buckm and released a couple of singles and an EP. Their music is a kaleidoscopic onslaught of psych-rock, thunderous drums, seductive grooves, colossal riffs, wailing guitars and vocals, but tempered by rich and alluring melodies, eastern touches and the beauty of pastoral folk too. They've have found a perfect balance between thunderous noise and subtle sweetness, delivering modern psych-rock that harks back to Revolver-era Beatles and the radiant euphoria of Screamadelica. The nine tracks on this album are their total recordings released to date, but the band are tempting us by letting slip that they actually recorded thirteen songs for their EP, of which only five were included, so we can be sure that there is more great music to come from this exciting new band. 

Track listing

01 Monk And The Serpent
02 Mauvaise Foi
03 Big Rich Man
04 In Furs
05 Wild Eyes
06 Sleepless
07 Dead Poets
08 Luz
09 Paralysed

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Down South Jukin' (1977)

In 1964, Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, and Gary Rossington became acquainted while playing on rival baseball teams in Jacksonville Florida, and they decided to jam together one afternoon after Burns was injured by a ball hit by Van Zant. They set up their equipment in the carport of Burns' parent's house and played the Rolling Stones' then-current hit 'Time Is On My Side', and liking what they heard they immediately decided to form a band. They approached guitarist Allen Collins to join them, and after he agreed, they rounded out the line-up with bassist Larry Junstrom, naming themselves My Backyard, although this was later changed to The Noble Five, before becoming The One Percent by 1968. Van Zant sought a new name after growing tired of taunts from audiences that the band had "1% talent", and at Burns' suggestion the group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, which was in part a reference to a character named 'Leonard Skinner' in Allan Sherman's novelty song 'Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh' and in part a mocking tribute to P.E. teacher Leonard Skinner at Robert E. Lee High School. Skinner was notorious for strictly enforcing the school's policy against boys having long hair, causing Rossington to drop out after constantly being hassled about his hair, and they adopted the distinctive spelling of the name as early as 1970, by which time they had become a top band in Jacksonville, headlining at some local concerts, and opening for several national acts. The band continued to perform throughout the South in the early 70's, further developing their hard-driving blues rock sound and image, and experimenting with recording their sound in a studio, crafting a distinctively 'Southern' sound through a creative blend of country, blues, and a slight British rock influence. During this time, the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time, with Junstrom leaving and being briefly replaced by Greg T. Walker on bass, and Rickey Medlocke joined as a second drummer and occasional second vocalist to help fortify Burns' sound on the drums. In 1972, the band were spotted by musician, songwriter, and producer Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who had attended one of their shows at Funocchio's in Atlanta, and Kooper signed them to his Sounds of the South label, and produced their first album. 

The band released '(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)' on 13 August 1973, with it selling over one million copies, and it contained the hit song 'Free Bird', which received national airplay, and eventually reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, and their 1974 follow-up album 'Second Helping' cemented their breakthrough, and its single 'Sweet Home Alabama', a response to Neil Young's 'Southern Man', reached number 8 on the charts that August. By 1975, personal issues began to take their toll on the band, and in January drummer Burns left the band after suffering a mental breakdown during a European tour, and was replaced by Kentucky native and former US Marine Artimus Pyle. The band's third album 'Nuthin' Fancy' was recorded in 17 days, but Kooper was unhappy with the band's lack of preparation for the album's recording, and so they parted ways by mutual agreement after the tracking was completed. Though the album fared well, it ultimately had lower sales than its predecessors, and midway through the promotional tour, guitarist Ed King abruptly left the band after a falling out with Van Zant. Collins and Rossington both had serious car accidents over Labor Day weekend in 1976, which slowed the recording of the follow-up album and forced the band to cancel some concert dates, and Rossington's accident inspired the ominous Van Zant/Collins composition 'That Smell' – a cautionary tale about drug abuse that was clearly aimed towards him and at least one other band member. When the 'Street Survivors' album appeared in 1977 it turned out to be a showcase for guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band just a year earlier and was making his studio debut with them. Publicly and privately, Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would all be in his shadow one day, even allowing Gaines an unprecedented lead vocal on his own bluesy 'Ain't No Good Life' on the album. 

Following a performance at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 20, 1977, the band boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they were scheduled to appear at LSU the following night. After running out of fuel the pilots attempted an emergency landing before crashing in a heavily forested area five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were killed on impact. Other band members Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins, tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew members suffered serious injuries. The accident came just three days after the release of 'Street Survivors', and following the crash and the ensuing press, it became the band's second platinum album and reached No. 5 on the U.S. album chart. The original sleeve for 'Street Survivors' had featured a photograph of the band amid flames, with Steve Gaines nearly obscured by fire, and out of respect for the deceased, MCA Records withdrew the original cover and replaced it with the album's back photo, a similar image of the band against a simple black background, waiting nearly thirty years before restoring it for the deluxe CD version of the album. Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the tragedy, reuniting only on one occasion to perform an instrumental version of 'Free Bird' at Charlie Daniels' Volunteer Jam V in January 1979, with Collins, Rossington, Powell, and Pyle being joined by Daniels and members of his band. The surviving members did eventually reunite in 1987, but it's the first incarnation of the band that has provided these demos, out-takes, and a hard to find b-side, for a rarely heard overview of their formative years. 

Track listing

01 Mr. Banker (demo 1973)

02 Down South Jukin' (demo 1973)

03 Tuesday's Gone (demo 1973)

04 Gimme Three Steps (demo 1973)

05 Was I Right Or Wrong (demo 1974)

06 Georgia Peaches (previously unreleased 1977)

07 Take Your Time (b-side of 'Sweet Home Alabama' 1974)

08 Sweet Little Missy (previously unreleased 1977)

09 Jacksonville Kid (previously unreleased 1977)

Dodgy - The Dodgy Club (1998)

I've always considered Dodgy to be one of the very best bands to emerge during the Brit-pop era of the early 90's, with their infectious humour and knack for a memorable melody earning them the title of the clown princes of the genre. While putting together an exhaustive collection of their non-album b-sides and rare recordings I found that they sometimes handed over control of their music to remixers such as Jah Wobble and Tranceglobal Underground, with the results being a far cry from the classic indie-pop that we know and love. As a foretaste of the future posts, here are all the dance remixes on one album, titled as a tribute to the club that they started in 1990 at the Bacchus Wine Bar in Kingston Upon Thames, where they gained their first fans, and got their foot on the ladder to international success. If you have fond memories of the band then you are in for a treat, with a four-post series to collect all their hard-to-find recordings, and in the meantime, enjoy this quite superb album of their remixes, which I think hangs together extremely well as a dance album in its own right.   

 

Track listing

01 See The Way (promo 12" single as D-Club 1991)
02 So Let Me Wobble Jah (b-side of 'So Let Me Go Far' 1994)
03 The Elephant (The Balafon-A-Bing-Bong Immigrant Mix) (b-side of 'So Let Me Go Far' 1994)
04 Out Clubbing (b-side of 'In A Room' 1996)
05 Jungle UK (No Rest In Peace) (b-side of 'In A Room' 1996)
06 Nutters (b-side of 'Good Enough' 1996)
07 Lovebirds On Katovit (b-side of 'Good Enough' 1996)
08 Look Up (b-side of 'Every Single Day' 1998)
09 Mostar Keep Shining (b-side of 'Every Single Day' 1998)

The Mars Volta - Landscape Tantrums (2021)

The Mars Volta have just released the 'La Realidad De Los Sueños' box set of all their albums, and the highlight for fans like me is a collection of out-takes from their 2003 debut album 'De-Loused In The Comatorium'. The only thing letting it down is the very minimal and basic artwork, so if you get the album and want to jazz it up a little then you can replace the black and white cover with this one. This is only the artwork and I'm not posting the album on Soulseek, so just save it from this page if you want it. 

The picture is the work of an innovative photographer called Elena Jo Melanson, and you'll be seeing more of her work in future posts. 

Ry Cooder - ...and on guitar (1971)

Ryland Peter Cooder was born on 15 March 1947 in Los Angeles, California, growing up in Santa Monica, California, and graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1964. He began playing the guitar when he was three years old, and a year later he accidentally stuck a knife in his left eye and has had to wear a glass eye ever since. As a youngster he performed as part of a pickup trio with Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, in which he played banjo, but although the band was not a success, it did inspire him to apply banjo tunings and the three-finger roll to guitar instead. He first attracted attention playing with Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, notably on the 1967 album 'Safe As Milk', after previously having worked with Taj Mahal and Ed Cassidy in the Rising Sons. At a warm-up gig shortly before the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Don Van Vliet froze, straightened his tie, then walked off the 10 ft stage and landed on manager Bob Krasnow, later claiming he had seen a girl in the audience turn into a fish, with bubbles coming from her mouth. Cooder decided that this unprofessionalism was the final straw in an already strained relationship, and that he could no longer work with Van Vliet, effectively starting his career as a session musician. In 1968 he played with Randy Newman on his '12 Songs' album, as well recording sessions with The Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969, with his contribution on mandolin appearing on 'Let It Bleed' and his slide guitar on 'Sticky Fingers', and later teaming up with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and longtime Rolling Stones sideman Nicky Hopkins to record the 'Jamming with Edward!' album. Cooder also played bottleneck guitar on the original version of Little Feat's 'Willin'', and contributed slide and bottleneck guitar to a vast array of US singer/songwriters in the early 70's, including Marc Benno, Arlo Guthrie, Scott McKenzie, Ron Elliott, Mark LeVine and Gordon Lightfoot, and in particular on the truly stunning version of the Dionne Warwick/Cilla Black classic 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' by Eve. Throughout the 70's, Cooder released a series of albums that showcased his guitar work, starting with his eponymous debut in 1970, and releasing an album every year until the late 80's. These records explored bygone musical genres and found old-time recordings which he then personalized and updated, and on his breakthrough album 'Into The Purple Valley' he chose unusual instrumentations and arrangements of blues, gospel, calypso, and country songs. During the 80's he moved into film soundtracks, and his contribution to Wim Wnders' 'Paris, Texas' is regarded as some of his best work, but for this collection we're just looking at his session-work on albums from other artists in the early 70's. As Cooder is recognised as one of the foremost exponents of the slide and bottleneck guitar, I've chosen just tracks which feature those instruments, and have still managed to fill two volumes from just four years of recordings..

Track listing

Disc One
01 Sure 'Nuff 'N' Yes I Do (from 'Safe As Milk' by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 1967)
02 Richard Lee (from 'Pilgrim's Progress' by Mark LeVine 1968)
03 Heavy On My Mind (from 'LA, Memphis & Tyler, Texas' by Dale Hawkins 1968)
04 Don't Talk Now (from 'Longbranch/Pennywhistle' by Longbranch/Pennywhistle 1968)
05 Smokey Joe's Cafe (from 'The Anders & Poncia Album' by Anders & Poncia 1968)
06 Struttin' Down Main Street (from 'Border Town' by Fusion 1969) 
07 Something Better (single by Marianne Faithfull 1969)
08 Soft Soundin' Music (from 'Harpers Bizarre 4' by Harpers Bizarre 1969)
09 Teach It To The Children (from 'Marc Benno' by Marc Benno 1970)
10 Natural Magic (from the soundtrack of the film 'Performance' 1970)
11 Look In The Mirror (from 'Stained Glass Morning' by Scott McKenzie 1970)
12 Deep River Runs Blue (from 'The Candlestickmaker' by Ron Elliott 1970)
13 Go Back Upstairs (from 'Salty' by Alex Richman 1970)

Disc Two
01 Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (from '12 Songs' by Randy Newman 1970)
02 Me And Bobby McGee (from 'If You Could Read My Mind' by Gordon Lightfoot 1970)
03 Anyone Who Had A Heart (from 'Take It And Smile' by Eve 1970)
04 Willin' (from 'Little Feat' by Little Feat 1970)
05 Fence Post Blues (from 'Washington County' by Arlo Guthrie 1970
06 Don't Drink The Water (from 'Don Everly' by Don Everly 1970)
07 Song For Judith (from 'Living' by Judy Collins 1971)
08 The Blues (All Night Long) (from 'Stories' by David Blue 1971)
09 Mr. Money (from 'Possum' by Possum 1971)
10 Born Under A Bad Sign (from 'Rita Coolidge' by Rita Coolidge 1971)

11 Sister Morphine (from 'Sticky Fingers' by The Rolling Stones 1971)
12 Dirty, Dirty (from 'Crazy Horse' by Crazy Horse 1971)

Thanks to whoever it as who suggested Ry Cooder (sorry I can't find your name) but it's a great addition to the series. 

search cooder aiwe

For MAC users

Press command+shift+period (to show hidden files) and a grayed out folder '...and on guitar" will appear and the mp3s will be inside. Either drag those to another folder OR rename the folder without any periods at the beginning. Press command+shift+period to once again hide the hidden files.

Elkie Brooks - Hello Stranger (1974)

Elaine Bookbinder was born on 25 February 1945 in Salford, north west England, and raised in nearby Prestwich, coming from a musical family, with her father being a local bandleader and one of her brothers, Tony, going on to become the drummer for Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas (under the name Tony Mansfield). After leaving school in 1960, she headed for London, where she performed with the Eric Delaney Band and jazz musician Humphrey Lyttelton, for a while using the stage name Elaine Mansfield, before finally deciding on Elkie Brooks. After passing an audition, Don Arden became her manager, and he saw her as a kind of Mancunian answer to Brenda Lee, though her voice had yet to develop the husky tones she would later be known for. In 1964 she landed a recording contract with Decca, and one of the first things that label bosses did was to send her off to Belgium, to take part in the Knokke Cup, competing against the likes of Germany's Ria Bartok and the Netherlands' Rita Hovink and Trea Dobbs. Back in the UK, she recorded her fist single 'Something's Got A Hold On Me', which was issued in June 1964, but as the gospel into of the song - a cover of a two-year-old single by US soul singer Etta James - was not a sound that British record buyers were overly familiar with, the record sank. 'Nothing Left To Do But Cry' was issued as the follow-up in September, with Brooks promoting the single in earnest, including making her debut television appearance, and although it wasn't a hit, the track has gone on to become a Northern soul dance favourite. She gained further live experience by appearing on pop package tours alongside groups such as The Animals, and in late 1964 she supported The Beatles on tour, with The Yardbirds, Freddie and the Dreamers and others. 

In 1965 Decca released a version of The Temptations' 'The Way You Do The Things You Do', but when this didn't provide the hoped-for breakthrough hit she was dropped by Decca and moved to the HMV label. Her first record for the new label was 'He's Gotta Love Me' in early 1965, and it's generally considered one of her finest recordings of the period, with this being followed by a cover of the Leslie Gore tune 'All My Life' in October. In February 1966 'Baby Let Me Love You' became her final single for HMV, leaving the label after feeling that the material she recorded for them was meaningless and having no depth. Her disappointment when she joined Brian Epstein’s NEMS record label in 1969 must therefore have been palpable, with a third-placed song in that years A Song For Europe being chosen as the A-side of her first single for the label. 'Come September' was certainly a change in style, but it was better than performing in cabaret in a succession of northern clubs, which is what she'd been doing between leaving HMV and signing with NEMS. Just one further single was issued on NEMS in 1969, with 'Groovie Kinda Love' being credited to Elki And Owen And The Rim Ram Band, before she met and married Pete Gage the following year, and the two of them formed the rock-fusion band Dada. With the addition of Robert Palmer they changed their name to Vinegar Joe, and achieved a certain notoriety for the sexual chemistry they displayed in their live performances, with the band also going on to record a number of well-received albums. After Vinegar Joe split in 1974, Brooks signed with A&M Records, and in 1977 she finally scored her first international hit single with 'Pearl's A Singer', and she hasn't looked back since. To see how she got there, just listen to these early singles and hear that the talent was always there, if only the public had taken notice a little sooner.

Track listing

01 Something's Got A Hold On Me (single 1964)
02 Hello Stranger (b-side of 'Something's Got A Hold On me')
03 Nothing Left To Do But Cry (single 1964)
04 Strange Tho' It Seems (b-side of 'Nothing Left To Do But Cry')
05 The Way You Do The Things You Do (single 1965)
06 Blue Tonight (b-side of 'The Way You Do The Things You Do')
07 He's Gotta Love Me (single 1965)
08 When You Appear (b-side of 'He's Gotta Love Me')
09 All Of My Life (single 1965)
10 Can't Stop Thinking Of You (b-side of 'All Of My Life')
11 Baby Let Me Love You (single 1966)
12 Stop The Music (b-side of 'Baby Let Me Love You')
13 Groovie Kinda Love (single with Owen And The Rim Ram Band 1969)
14 Come September (single 1969)
15 Rescue Me (single 1974)
16 Lady Of The Rain (b-side of 'Rescue Me')

Ganser - Pyrrhic Victory (2016)

Ganser have been kicking around the Chicago DIY scene since around January 2014, when Nadia Garofalo and Alicia Gaines were both students at the School of the Art Institute, bonding over their shared love of The Residents, outsider communities, and transgressive filmmakers like John Waters and David Lynch. In the summer of 2015 Charlie Landsman responded to a Facebook ad, and with the addition of Brian Cundiff, the band started rehearing and recording. Songs soon started to appear on Soudcloud and Bandcamp, and in 2016 one of them alerted me to the band, and their dark-post-punk-wave sound, particularly the spikey guitars of 'Sunk', which reminded me of the much-loved The Gang Of Four. They released their debut LP 'Odd Talk' in 2018, which was full of dissonant guitar, abstract lyrical segues, bassline hooks, and drumbeat sinkers, and they followed last year with their second album 'Just Look At That Sky', both of which are available from Bandcamp. Their sound is born of bands such as Joy Division, Mission of Burma, The Birthday Party, Savages, Priests, and while there’s no shortage of outfits with similar influences, Ganser manages to craft a sound familiar and refreshing at the same time, each member adding their own twisted bent to their songs where needed. Amazingly, neither album included a single one of the songs they'd posted to Soundcloud, and so this collections of those tracks could be classed as their real debut album, and superb stuff it is too.

Track listing

01 Smelling Salts
02 Losing Light
03 Audrey
04 Battery
05 Sadwerk
06 Pyrrhic Victory

07 Sunk
08 (what are you doing here?)
09 Machine Men
10 Candor
11 Strategies For Living

Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry - Two Teen-Agers (1967)

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in the 1940's and 1950's in their predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York, three blocks away from one another. They attended the same schools, and were both fascinated by music, listening to the radio and being taken with rock and roll as it emerged, particularly the Everly Brothers. Simon first noticed Garfunkel singing in a fourth grade talent show, which Simon thought was a good way to attract girls. He hoped for a friendship, which started in 1953, when they appeared in a sixth grade adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, after which they formed The Peptones, a streetcorner doo-wop group with three friends, learning to harmonize along the way. In 1956 they wrote their first song, 'The Girl for Me', and then, while trying to remember the lyrics to the Everly Brothers song 'Hey Doll Baby', they wrote 'Hey Schoolgirl', which they recorded for $25 at Sanders Recording Studio in Manhattan. While recording, they were overheard by promoter Sid Prosen, who signed them to his independent label Big Records after speaking to the 15-year old's parents. Under Big Records, Simon and Garfunkel assumed the name Tom & Jerry - Garfunkel named himself Tom Graph, a reference to his interest in mathematics, and Simon chose Jerry Landis, after the surname of a girl he had dated. Their first single 'Hey Schoolgirl' was released with 'Dancin' Wild' on the b-side in 1957, and after Prosen bribed DJ Alan Freed $200 to play the single on his radio show, it attracted regular rotation on nationwide AM pop stations, leading it to sell over 100,000 copies and landing on Billboard's charts at number 49. Despite this early success, neither of their next two singles for Big Records got anywhere near the charts, and so after graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1958, the pair continued their education should a music career not unfold, with Simon studying English at Queens College, City University of New York, and Garfunkel studying architecture before switching to art history at Columbia College, Columbia University. 

While still with Big Records as a duo, Simon released a solo single 'True Or False' under the name True Taylor, which upset Garfunkel, who regarded it as a betrayal, and the emotional tension from the incident occasionally surfaced throughout their relationship. They continued recording as solo artists while together as Tom & Jerry, with Garfunkel's own 'Private World' and 'Beat Love' being released under the name of Artie Garr, while Simon recorded with the Mystics and Tico & The Triumphs, and wrote and recorded under the names Jerry Landis and Paul Kane. After graduating in 1963, Simon joined Garfunkel, who was still at Columbia University, to perform again as a duo, this time with a shared interest in folk music. By late 1963, billing themselves as Kane & Garr, they played at Gerde's Folk City, performing three new songs - 'Sparrow', 'He Was My Brother', and 'The Sound of Silence' — which attracted the attention of Columbia Records staffer Tom Wilson, and they were signed after auditioning 'The Sound Of Silence' for the label. Simon & Garfunkel's debut studio album 'Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.' was recorded over three sessions in March 1964 and released in October, and with five compositions by Simon, it heralded a new sound on the folk circuit. Simon was adamant that they would no longer use stage names, so the record was issued under the name of Simon & Garfunkel, and Tom & Jerry were no more. In 1967 the UK label Allegro released an album of Tom & Jerry singles, but attributed them to Simon & Garfunkel, and put a contemporary photo on the cover, with this attempt to portray the record as a new Simon & Garfunkel album so incensing Simon that he took legal action to get the album withdrawn on both sides of the Atlantic. The one odd thing about the Allegro collection was the inclusion of two instrumental tracks, the mournful 'Tijuana Blues', and the jazzy 'Simon Says', which were previously unheard, but unlike any of their other recordings. This short-ish album collects all the duo's tracks recorded as Tom & Jerry, as well as the afore-mentioned 'Beat Love' by Artie Garr, and an otherwise unreleased song by Jerry Landis as a bonus. 

Track listing

01 Hey Schoolgirl (single November 1957)
02 Dancin' Wild (b-side of 'Hey Schoolgirl')
03 That's My Story (single May 1958)
04 (Pretty Baby) Don't Say Goodbye (b-side of 'That's My Story')
05 Our Song (single February 1958)
06 Two Teen-Agers (b-side of 'Our Song')
07 Baby Talk (single June 1958)
08 Lookin' At You (single May 1959)
09 I'm Lonesome (b-side of 'Lookin' At You')
10 Surrender, Please Surrender (single August 1962)
11 Fightin' Mad (b-side of 'Surrender, Please Surrender')
12 Tijuana Blues (single October 1967)
13 Simon Says (b-side of 'Tijuana Blues')
14 Flame (recorded by Jerry Landis 1961)
15 Beat Love (single by Artie Garr October 1959)