Elvis Presley - Duets (1969)

Someone recently posed an intriguing question, and that is 'Did Elvis Presley ever record a duet on any of his albums'? I can't say that I was surprised that the answer was no, as I certainly couldn't recall one, but it was pointed out that he did record quite a few duets in his films, and some of them then appeared on the subsequent soundtrack albums. I might be a bit cynical here, but could it be that Colonel Tom thought that if Elvis recorded a duet then he'd have to split the royalties? Whatever the reason, you won't find any duets on his official albums, and so I thought that I should gather up the best of them from the films so that we can hear him sharing the spotlight with a variety of male and female artists. Not every duet from a film is worth more than one hearing, so this isn't a comprehensive collection, but all of these songs are good enough that you won't need to skip any when listening to what turned out to be a very enjoyable album. Three of the best tracks are those with Ann-Margret (who also features on the cover) from 1964's 'Viva Las Vegas', and you can just feel the chemistry between them. His duet with Kitty White from 'King Creole' is the earliest track here, from 1958, and we go right through to his penultimate film in 1969, with 'The Trouble With Girls'. Ray Walker features a couple of times from 1966 and 1967, while the duet with Nancy Sinatra from 1968's 'Speedway' is excellent as well, even though she only appears at the end. So enjoy this album of the best of these rarely heard songs from Presley's 60's films. 

Track listing    

 
01 Crawfish (with Kitty White from 'King Creole' 1958)
02 Pocketful Of Rainbows (with Juliet Prowse from 'G.I. Blues' 1960)
03 Aloha Oe (with The Surfers from 'Blue Hawaii' 1961)
04 How Would You Like To Be (with Vicki Tiu from 'It Happened At The World's Fair' 1963)
05 Happy Ending (with Joan O'Brien from 'It Happened At The World’s Fair' 1963)
06 Mexico (with Larry Domasin from 'Fun In Acapulco' 1963)

07 You’re The Boss (with Ann-Margret from 'Viva Las Vegas' 1964)

08 Today Tomorrow And Forever (with Ann-Margret from 'Viva Las Vegas' 1964)
09 The Lady Loves Me (with Ann-Margret from 'Viva Las Vegas' 1964)
10 Spring Fever (with Shelley Fabares from 'Girl Happy' 1965)
11 Frankie And Johnny (with Eileen Wilson & Ray Walker from 'Frankie And Johnny' 1966)
12 Scratch My Back (with Marianne Hill from 'Paradise Hawaiian Style' 1966)
13 Who Needs Money (with Ray Walker from 'Clambake' 1967)
14 There Ain't Nothing Like A Song (with Nancy Sinatra from 'Speedway' 1968)
15 Signs Of The Zodiac (with Marilyn Mason from 'The Trouble With Girls' 1969)

Katy Perry - (A) Katy Perry (2005)

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, a.k.a. Katy Perry, started her career in music at a very early age, briefly having music lessons in facilities rented from the Music Academy of the West, where her singing caught the attention of rock artists Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp from Nashville, Tennessee. They took her to Nashville to improve her writing skills, and it was there that she started recording demos, while learning how to write songs and play guitar. She signed with Red Hill Records and recorded her debut album, a contemporary Christian record titled 'Katy Hudson', which was released on 6 March 2001. The album received mixed reviews from critics and was commercially unsuccessful, selling an estimated 200 copies before the label ceased operations in December, so Perry transitioned from gospel to secular music, and started working with producer Glen Ballard, moving to Los Angeles at age 17. In 2003 she briefly performed as Katheryn Perry, to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson, and later adopted the stage name 'Katy Perry', using her mother's maiden name. In 2004, she signed to Ballard's label, Java Records, which was then affiliated with The Island Def Jam Music Group, and she began work on a solo record due for release in March 2005, under the working title of '(A) Katy Perry'. The music was to have been much more "rock" than her first album, but the record was shelved after Ballard severed ties with the parent company. He then introduced Perry to Tim Devine, an A&R executive at Columbia Records, and she was signed as a solo artist writing and recording material over the next two years for her Columbia debut. She worked with songwriters including Desmond Child, Greg Wells, Butch Walker, Scott Cutler/Anne Previn, The Matrix, Kara DioGuardi, and Max Martin and Dr. Luke, and the song 'Simple' was used on the official soundtrack for the 2005 film 'Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants', but was not included on her debut album 'One Of The Boys' when it eventually appeared in 2008, even though it had the publicity of being used in a film. This means that none of these recordings from 2005 have officially seen the light of day since they were recorded, and so this can be viewed as a brand new, real debut 'rock' album from the singer, from a time before she 'kissed a girl'.  

Track listing

01 Agree To Disagree
02 Diamonds 
03 Hook Up 
04 Nothing Like The 1st Time 
05 Speed Diallin'
06 Long Shot
07 It's OK To Believe 
08 In Between 
09 Simple 
10 Takes One To Know One 
11 Wish You The Worst
12 The Better Half Of Me 
13 Weigh Me Down 

Embrace - Brothers And Sisters (2000)

After releasing the'Hooligan' single in 1999, Embrace followed this with their second album 'Drawn From Memory' in March 2000, which reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart. Although the album was supported by a tour with the then-fledgling Coldplay, its sales were relatively low, although critical reception was good, with NME in particular praising the album.  They covered Bob Dorough's '3 Is A Magic Number' on the B-side of 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You', and they also released two other Christmas cover versions of the traditional song 'Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire' and Greg Lake's 'I Believe In Father Christmas'. Three more singles were released from the album in 2000, and as before the b-sides of 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You', 'You're Not Alone', and 'Save Me' were exclusive to the those releases, and so here they all are for a non-album collection from 1999 and 2000. 

Track listing

01 I've Been Running (b-side of 'Hooligan' 1999)
02 I Can't Feel Bad Anymore (b-side of 'Hooligan' 1999)
03 3 Is A Magic Number (b-side of 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You' 2000)
04 Top Of The Heat (b-side of 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You' 2000)
05 The First Cut (b-side of 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You' 2000)
06 I Know What's Going On (b-side of 'I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You' 2000)
07 Get On Board (b-side of 'Save Me' 2000)
08 Still So Young (b-side of 'Save Me' 2000)
09 Brothers And Sisters (b-side of 'You're Not Alone' 2000)
10 Happy And Lost (b-side of 'You're Not Alone' 2000)
11 Come On And Smile (b-side of 'You're Not Alone' 2000)
12 A Tap On Your Shoulder (b-side of 'You're Not Alone' 2000)

Ollie Halsall - ...and on guitar (1992)

Peter John "Ollie" Halsall was born on 14 March 1949, and began his musical career in 1964 playing drums with various local bands such as Pete and the Pawnees, the Gunslingers, the Music Students and Rhythm and Blues Incorporated. In 1965 he taught himself to play the vibraphone and was invited to London to join fellow Southport musicians bassist Clive Griffiths and keyboardist 'Professor' Chris Holmes in pop rock outfit Take Five, which became Timebox, and in 1967 Halsall took up guitar, while the band was augmented by adding Mike Patto on vocals and 'Admiral' John Halsey on drums. Timebox released a number of singles in 1968 and 1969 on the Deram label, but never managed to record an album, and in 1970, following the departure of Holmes, Timebox evolved into the progressive rock band Patto, featuring Halsall on both guitar and vibraphone. Patto were a well-respected band, and released three albums between 1970 and 1972, but in 1973 Halsall left to join Jon Hiseman's Tempest. Tempest were one of the very best jazz-rock fusion bands of the 1970's, and released two superb albums in 'Tempest' (1970) and 'Living In Fear' (1971), but after less than a year he quit, and became an in demand session guitarist, playing on a track for Kevin Ayers' 'The Confessions Of Dr. Dream' album in 1974 which led to a permanent position in Ayers' band the Soporifics. Halsall's UK session work included concerts and recordings with the Scaffold, GRIMMS, Neil Innes, Centipede, Andy Roberts, Mike de Albuquerque, John Otway, John Cale and Vivian Stanshall, and he was even briefly considered as a possible replacement for Mick Taylor following his departure from the Rolling Stones in December 1974. In 1975, Patto staged a brief reunion comprising just three benefit gigs, but the reuniting of Halsall and Patto sparked the formation of Boxer during 1975, and they released two albums on the Virgin label before Patto died of lymphoid leukemia in 1979. 

In 1978 he was invited to join Neil Innes and Eric Idle's spoof Beatles project The Rutles, recording their debut eponymous album in 1978, which reached the top 20 in the UK. He plays many of the instruments on the songs, and provides lead and backing vocals – most notably on the tracks 'Doubleback Alley', 'With A Girl Like You' and 'Get Up And Go'. Eric Idle was cast in his place in the accompanying film and Halsall only featured in a very minor cameo role as Leppo, the fifth Rutle who got lost in Hamburg. During 1976 Halsall had rejoined Ayers with whom he stayed for the next sixteen years, and for much of that time he frequented the town of Deià in the north of the Spanish island of Mallorca, commuting to Madrid on the mainland to produce and play for numerous Spanish artists, including El Primer Tercio, Ronni Urini, and his final work with pop rock bands Radio Futura and Hombres G. In the 1980's he was part of a Spanish synth-pop band Cinemaspop with vocalist Zanna Gregmar, and they released two studio albums, 'Cinemaspop' in 1983, which was a collection of synth-pop covers of classical movie tunes, and 'A Clockwork Orange' in 1984, which included some compositions and vocals by Halsall, as well as a bizarre electronic version of The Troggs' 'Wild Thing'. Halsall died in Madrid from a drug-induced heart attack on 29 May 1992 at the age of just 43. He has been described as an influence by a number of respected guitarists, including Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe, Allan Holdsworth, Kee Marcello of Europe and Cheap Trick's guitarist Rick Nielsen. XTC's Andy Partridge cites Halsall as one of his top three influences, saying "He made the guitar sound more like Albert Ayler or John Coltrane, more like a sort of fluid piano player". The final word has to go to his friend John Halsey, who said "Ollie may not have been the best guitarist in the world, but he was certainly among the top two." 

Track listing

Disc One
01 If Your Love Don't Swing (b-side of 'Midnight Confessions' by Pete Kelly's Solution 1968)
01 Lover's Prayer (with Duffy Power 1970)
02 Speed Well (from 'Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede' by Andy Roberts 1973)
03 Take It While You Can (from 'Rockin' Duck' by GRIMMS 1973)
04 That Girl's Alright (b-side of 'Teenage Love Song' by John Hetherington 1973)
05 Nuclear Band (from 'Fresh Liver' by Scaffold 1973) 
06 Singing A Song Is Easy (from 'How Sweet To Be An Idiot' by Neil Innes 1973)
07 Keep On (from 'Manor Live' by Steve York's Camelo Pardalis 1973)
08 Sweet Mirth (from 'We May Be Cattle But We've All Got Names' by Michael de

                                                                                                                       Albuquerque 1973)
09 Overture (from 'Jesus Christ Superstar' film soundtrack by Rice/Lloyd Webber 1970)
10 This Is The Time To Get Merry (from 'Two Faced' by Bruce Epstein & Jack Fischer 1973)
11 Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought Of You (from 'The Confessions Of Dr. Dream' by 

                                                                                                                        Kevin Ayers 1974)

Disc Two
01 Shouting In A Bucket Blues (from 'June 1, 1974' by Kevin Ayers/John Cale/Eno/Nico 1974)
02 Itchy Feet (from 'Fatsticks' by Terry Stamp 1975)
03 The Elf Sires (from 'Some Things Never Change' by David Kubinec 1979)
04 It's A Pain (from 'Where Did I Go Right?' by John Otway 1979)
05 Bum Love (with John Halsey, from 'Miniatures' by Various Artists 1980) 
06 Don't Run Away (single by Zanna Gregmar & Ollie Halsall 1981)
07 Everyday, I Have The Blows (from 'Teddy Boys Don't Knit' by Vivian Stanshall 1981)
08 Sailship (single by Ronni Urini 1983)
09 Ely (from 'Teixido' by Teixido 1989)
10 Instrumental (from 'Veneno En La Piel' by Radio Futura 1990) 
11 Encima De Ti (from 'Historia Del Bikini' by Hombres G 1992)

Thanks to Auran for the suggestion.

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.

Billie Eilish - Another Stupid Album (2019)

Following the recent collection of singles from Billie Eilish, here's an album of rare demos, cover versions, and out-takes from the young singer/songwriter. The covers show her eclectic musical tastes, including songs from Michael Jackson, The Strokes, Drake, and Rob Dickinson, while the out-takes were recorded during the sessions for her albums between 2016 and 2019. It also includes the legendary '6.18.18', which is a tribute to rapper XXXTENTACION, who was shot and killed on the 18th of June 2018. It was originally supposed to be on Eilish's debut album, but didn’t make it onto the tracklist, and in the end she performed the song just a single time in Oakland, on the first night of her sold-out 1 By 1 Tour. The song was then permanently removed from the setlist, supposedly due to the controversy surrounding the late rapper. Luckily that performance was taped, although it does have some annoying screams at the end of the intro, so I've managed to edit those out so that you can fully appreciate the raw power of the song. I must admit that I'd never really paid much attention to her before, thinking she was just another flash in the pan teen popster, but hearing these songs has given me an understanding of why she was popular enough to top the bill at this year's Glastonbury festival, and become their youngest ever solo headliner.  

Track listing

 
01 Maybe Don't Leave Me (previously unreleased 2016)
02 Another Stupid Song (previously unreleased 2016)
03 Ride (previously unreleased 2017)
04 You're Stoned (previously unreleased 2017)
05 True Blue (previously unreleased 2017)
06 Ex Files (previously unreleased 2017)
07 6.18.18 (live 2018)
08 Bad (Michael Jackson cover for Australian radio 2018)
09 Call Me Back (Strokes cover on 'The Tonight Show' 2018)
10 Hotline Bling (Drake cover 2018)  
11 Lyin 2 Ya (with CHASETHEMONEY, Valee and 10k.Caash) (previously unreleased 2019)
12 The End Of The World (Rob Dickinson cover for Radio 1 Piano Sessions 2019) 
13 Bad Company (previously unreleased 2019)

Embrace - Blind (1998)

Brothers singer Danny McNamara and guitarist Richard McNamara started creating songs with the aid of a cassette recorder in Bailiff Bridge, West Yorkshire in 1990. Soon a drum machine was added, and an initial set of Goth-influenced songs was written and recorded, but ultimately scrapped, before a second set of songs was written. They recruited Mickey Dale to play keyboards, and after various auditions, drummer Mike Heaton joined the band. A period of consolidation of existing songs and writing of new ones followed, but it proved hard to settle on a name, so gigs were initially performed from 1992 onwards under one-off names, such as Curious Orange, Christianne F, Shimmer, Lady Bum, and Mesmerise. Eventually they settled on 'Embrace', and although he was familiar with the American band Embrace, Richard thought it was a good name, despite it having been used already. The band wrote a letter to seek approval from Ian Mackaye who replied that it was alright for the English band to use the same name, though he said that it could possibly cause some confusion. Steve Firth joined the quartet in 1996 to add bass to the group, and their current and permanent line-up was in place. In 1996 the band recorded a three track demo in a recording studio in Huddersfield, which was sold at concerts in cassette form, and this now extremely rare demo consisted of the songs 'Overflowing', 'Say It With Bombs' and 'Sooner Than You Think'. 

A second spell in a Manchester recording studio yielded some rough mixes, one of which was deemed good enough to be released on a cassette attached to the Leeds fanzine The Expression She Pulled. In October 1996, the group signed with the Virgin subsidiary Hut Recordings, but eager to establish indie credibility, they released their debut single 'All You Good Good People' on the hip indie label Fierce Panda in February 1997. Over the next few months, it was followed by the singles 'Fireworks' and 'One Big Family', which were both released on Hut, and although those two singles were successful, it was the re-release of 'All You Good Good People' on Hut in October that proved to be their breakthrough, entering the charts at number eight. After building a following through the release of the singles, their debut album 'The Good Will Out' was released on 8 June 1998 and went to number 1 in the UK Albums Chart. The album achieved critical acclaim as well as success in terms of sales, going gold on its first day of release, becoming one of the fastest-ever-selling debut albums by a British artist, and going on to sell over 500,000 copies domestically. Right from the start the band were extremely prolific in the recording studio, and their early EP's included a number of songs that were not included on that debut album, so this first in a series of posts gathers up all those non-album songs from 1997 and 1998 into one place.  

Track listing

01 Blind (from the 'Fireworks' EP 1997)
02 Dry Kids (from the 'One Big Family' EP 1997)
03 You've Only Got To Stop To Get Better (from the 'One Big Family' EP 1997)
04 Butter Wouldn't Melt (from the 'One Big Family' EP 1997)
05 You Don't Amount To Anything - This Time (from the 'All You Good Good People' EP 1998)
06 The Way I Do (from the 'All You Good Good People' EP 1998)
07 Free Ride (from the 'All You Good Good People' EP 1998)
08 Feelings I Thought You Shared (b-side of 'My Weakness Is None Of Your Business' 1998)
09 Don't Turn Your Back On Love (b-side of 'My Weakness Is None Of Your Business' 1998)
10 Love Is Back (b-side of 'Come Back To What You Know' 1998)
11 If You Feel Like A Sinner (b-side of 'Come Back To What You Know' 1998)
12 Perfect Way (b-side of 'Come Back To What You Know' 1998)

Ruby Winters - Try Me (1969)

Ruby Forehand was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and from the age of five she was raised in Cincinnati by her grandmother following her mother's death. Her grandmother encouraged her singing, first expressed in church at age four, and by the age of 16 - by then a wife and mother - she was singing professionally. By 1966 she was singing in the Charlie Daniels band, as both she and Daniels were managed by Bill Sizemore, who also managed singer Ronnie Dove. and was able to interest Dove's label Diamond Records in offering Winters a record deal. Her debut single as Ruby Winters, 'In The Middle Of A Heartache' was a Charlie Daniels composition, and was released in July 1966, reaching the Top 30 on the hit parade for WAKY 790-Louisville. The regional interest in Winters' debut single led Diamond Records A&R head Phil Kahl to oversee Winters' next recording session himself, and before he left New York to join the sessions in Nashville early in 1967, label president Joe Kolsky suggested that Kahl record Winters and another Diamond artist Johnny Thunder as a duo. Kahl recorded Winters and Thunder as a duet remaking the 1950's pop hits 'Teach Me Tonight' and 'Make Love to Me', and the latter was released as the A-side of their February 1967 single, reaching #96 on the Billboard Hot 100. After Winters reached the national R&B chart in autumn 1967 with her third solo release 'I Want Action', Diamond Records brought her to New York City to work with George Kerr, who had recently produced R&B hits for the O'Jays and Linda Jones. With his regular collaborator/arranger Richard Tee, Kerr re-teamed Winters with Johnny Thunder for 'We Have Only One Life', which was released in February 1968. Kerr also had Winters record 'A Last Minute Miracle', which he'd recorded with the Shirelles, and also with Linda Jones, and all three versions apparently share a common backing track, although Winters' version remains unreleased. In 1969 she made a strong comeback with four R&B hits, beginning with her highest ranking U.S. solo hit, a remake of the 1961 Chuck Jackson hit 'I Don't Want to Cry', and then following that with two more remakes, of Jimmy Clanton's 'Just A Dream' and Jesse Belvin's 'Guess Who', plus the original 'Always David'. After this flurry of singles her recording schedule slowed, with no releases until January 1971 when her take on the hymn 'Great Speckled Bird' was issued by Certron, who had purchased Diamond Records in early 1970. Winters then had her first single release in almost three years in October 1973 when Polydor Records issued her version of 'I Will', which proved to be her most significant recording, reaching the R&B Top 40. She had one further single release on Polydor with 'Love Me Now', and she also issued a one-off Playboy Records version of the #1 1972 Nilsson hit 'Without You'. In the mid-1970's Winters in effect withdrew from recording, relocating in 1973 from Tennessee to Brevard County in Florida, and establishing herself as a top-rated Space Coast nightclub performer. However in 1977 the London-based independent label Creole Records re-released Winters' recording of 'I Will', which reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1977, prompting a reunion with producer Stan Shulman. This resulted in Winters recording and releasing the 'I Will' album, from which a follow-up single 'Come to Me' reached #11 on the UK chart. The 'Baby Lay Down' album followed in 1979 on Creole, and she was now enjoying the biggest success of her career, after releasing her music to little commercial success during the 60's. Winters died on 7 August 2016, as the age of 74, and this collection of those fine soul tracks that she recorded during the first half-decade of her career is a fitting tribute.

Track listing

01 In The Middle Of A Heartache (single 1966)
02 Act Three (b-side of 'In The Middle Of A Heartache')
03 Make Love To Me (single 1967, with Johnny Thunder)
04 Teach Me Tonight (b-side of 'Make Love To Me', with Johnny Thunder)
05 The Bells Of St. Mary's (single 1967)
06 Try Me (b-side of 'The Bells Of St. Mary's')
07 I Want Action (single 1967)
08 Better (b-side of 'I Want Action')
09 We Only Have One Life (Let's Live It Together) (single 1968, with Johnny Thunder)

10 A Last Minute Miracle (unreleased acetate 1968)
11 I Don't Want To Cry (single 1969)
12 Just Like A Yo Yo (b-side of 'I Don't Want To Cry')
13 Just A Dream (single 1969)
14 I Don't Want To Hurt Nobody (b-side of 'Just A Dream')
15 Always David (single 1969)
16 We're Living To Give (To Give To Each Other) (b-side of 'Always David')
17 Guess Who (single 1969)
18 Sweetheart Things (b-side of 'Guess Who')

Michael McDonald - ...featuring (2022)

Time for another post from Mike S, and this time he's been trawling his record collection for recordings that feature one particular vocalist, so over to Mike...

Michael Solof back with you for another round of fun tunes. I was inspired this time by pj's wonderful '...and on guitar' series. I was listening to an old Steely Dan album the other day and I followed it with Christopher Cross’s first album and realized that Michael McDonald was on both albums singing background vocals (and almost co-lead at times) and that got me thinking about how many songs I loved that he'd contributed to over the years. McDonald is known for his distinctive, soulful voice and was a member of two of the biggest bands of the 70's/80's, with stints in the Doobie Brothers from 1975–1982, and Steely Dan during 1973 and 1974. He wrote and sang several hit singles with the Doobie Brothers, including 'What A Fool Believes', 'Minute By Minute', and 'Takin' It To The Streets', and his solo career consists of nine studio albums and a number of singles, including the 1982 hit 'I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)'. However, it's his session work that we're looking at here, as during his long career he's collaborated with a huge number of other artists, including James Ingram, David Cassidy, Van Halen, Patti LaBelle, Lee Ritenour, the Winans, Aretha Franklin, Toto, Grizzly Bear, Joni Mitchell, and Thundercat, and unlike almost all other background vocalists who literally do "disappear into the background", McDonald's voice always broke through that haze and became a unique, distinctive and very important part of each song he contributed to. His beautiful tone just added a lushness to the harmonies that you couldn’t help but notice. I therefore started going through his entire musical catalog and pulling out two different ways that he'd helped many wonderful fellow musicians throughout the years. One way was just as a background vocalist and the other was as a co-lead or guest vocalist (and often times songwriter), and then I broke up the collection accordingly. The first volume is his guest vocals on other artist's songs, while the other two volumes feature his backing vocals for a wide variety of artists over an extra-ordinary 46-year career. 

Track listing

Volume 1
01 Let Me Go, Love (from 'In The Nick Of Time' by Nicolette Larson 1979)
02 I've Got My Mind Made Up (from 'Together?' soundtrack with Jackie DeShannon 1979)
03 Heart To Heart (from 'Heart To Heart' by Kenny Loggins 1982)
04 Arcade (from 'Swing Street' by Patrick Simmons 1983)
05 Let's Stay Together (from 'Tribute To Jeff Porcaro' by Paulette Brown & David Pack 1997)
06 Moondance (from 'Nathan East' by Nathan East 2014)
07 Long Haul (from 'Unfinished Business' by Robben Ford 2014)
08 Night Of Our Own (from 'Someday, Somehow' by Steve Porcaro 2016)
09 Love In The World (from '2' by CWF 2020)
10 Higher Ground (mixed by Tomey Maguarfield, feat. McDonald/Red Hot Chilli Peppers 2022)

Volume 2
01 Any World (That I'm Welcome To) (from 'Katy Lied' by Steely Dan 1975)  
02 See What You Done (from 'Chunky, Novi And Ernie' by Chunky, Novi And Ernie 1977)
03 Strengthen My Love (from 'White Shadows' by Tim Moore 1977)
04 Red Streamliner ('Waiting For Columbus' out-take by Little Feat 1978) 
05 Losing Myself In You (from 'Bish' by Steven Bishop 1978)
06 I Really Don't Know Anymore (from 'Christopher Cross' by Christopher Cross 1979)
07 This Is It (from 'Keep The Fire' by Kenny Loggins 1979)
08 Please Don't Leave (from 'Lauren Wood' by Lauren Wood 1979)
09 Young Blood (from 'Rickie Lee Jones' by Ricky Lee Jones 1979)
10 One Fine Day (from 'Satisfied' by Rita Coolidge 1979)
11 Steal Away (from 'Robbie Dupree' by Robbie Dupree 1980)

Volume 3
01 Why You Givin' Up (from 'Arcade' by Patrick Simmons 1983)
02 I Just Can't Let Go (from 'Anywhere You Go' by David Pack 1985)
03 I'll Be Over You (from 'Fahrenheit' by Toto 1986)
04 A Fool And His Money (from 'Mosaic' by Wang Chung 1986)
05 Never Give Up (from 'Outrageous Temptations' by Tim Weisberg 1989)
06 Same World (from 'Same World' by Henry Kapono 1991)
07 Where Words End (from 'Just Across The River' by Jimmy Webb 2010) 
08 Some Children (from 'Holy Ghost!' by Holy Ghost! 2011)
09 The Best Of Me (from 'Starting Now' by Toad The Wet Sprocket 2021)

McDonald has one of the finest, smoothest, most mellow voices in All of Music. It’s the reason he is still in such high demand over 40 years after his debut.

I hope you like this collection as much as I do.

Mike S

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.

Billie Eilish - Come Out And Play (2021)

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell was born on 18 December 2001, and is better known by her stage name Billie Eilish. At age eleven she began writing and singing her own songs, taking after her brother Finneas, who was already performing his own songs with his band. In 2015, the siblings released 'sHE'S brOKen' and 'Fingers Crossed' on Soundcloud, just for fun, and for their friends to listen to. In October 2015, Finneas informed his sister of a song he had been playing with his band called 'Ocean Eyes', and after recording it, she released it as her debut single on SoundCloud in 2016, and it was a viral hit. Next she released 'Six Feet Under', which was not nearly as successful as 'Ocean Eyes', but got attention from listeners and was a success among the small fanbase that Eilish had earned. Following the success of an EP of 'Ocean Eyes' remixes, she released the single 'Bellyache' in 2017, which was produced and co-written by her and Finneas, and just over a week later she released the track 'Bored' as part of the soundtrack to the television series '13 Reasons Why'. On June 30th she released the single 'Watch', followed just two weeks later by another single 'COPYCAT'. Each Friday in July, Eilish would issue further singles, and the four tracks were then compiled into the 'Don't Smile At Me' EP, which was officially released on 11 August 2017. In July, she released the first single from her debut album, 'You Should See Me In A Crown', and followed this with a stand-alone single 'Bitches Broken Hearts'. Two more singles were released as teasers for the album, with 'When the Party's Over' coming out in October 2018, and 'Bury A Friend' appearing in January 2019. At the same time she issued the single 'Come Out And Play' for Apple's animated Holiday short 'Share Your Gifts', and 'When I Was Older' was included on the album 'Music Inspired By The Film "Roma"'. Her first album 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' was released on 29 March 2019, and debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart - becoming the youngest female artist ever to have a number one album in the United Kingdom. In January 2020 it was announced that she would be writing the theme song for the new James Bond movie 'No Time To Die', and the song was released in February 2020, but it was over a year before she announced via her Instagram that she would be releasing her second album 'Happier Than Ever' on 30 July 2021, and five singles were released from it over the next few months. A new album is on the cards for 2023, but in the meantime this post collects together some of those stand-alone singles that have been released over the past few years, plus a couple of collaborations, and both of those early Soundcloud uploads from 2015. 

Track listing

01 Fingers Crossed (Soundclud 2015)
02 sHE's brOKen (Soundcloud 2015)
03 Six Feet Under (single 2016)
04 Ocean Eyes (single 2016)
05 Bored (single 2017)
06 Come Out And Play (single 2018)
07 Bitches Broken Hearts (single 2018)
08 Lovely (single with Khalid 2018)
09 Everything I Wanted (single 2019)
10 When I Was Older (single 2019)
11 No Time To Die (single 2019)
12 Lo Vas A Olvidar (single with Rosalia 2021)

The New Faces - Shake Up The Party (1969)

The New Faces was a British vocal trio that regularly appeared on British TV in the 1960's and 1970's, and was founded by Charles McKay in Glasgow in 1961, along with Barry Greenway and Marie Gordon-Price. In the 60's they appeared regularly on the TV show 'The Saturday Crowd', and they released a number of singles in the UK on the Pye and Decca record labels. Barry Greenway and Marie Gordon-Price married in the early 1970's and left the group, while McKay found replacements and continued with various line-ups, appearing on various TV shows throughout the rest of the 70's. With the band consisting of McKay, Sue Morgan and Ian Grant, they recorded two singles on the Ember label before changing their name to Mahogany, and under this name they entered the Thames TV series 'Opportunity Knocks' in 1976. A re-recorded version of a New Faces Ember single 'Where Would I Find Another You?' was issued under their new name, followed by one on DJM Records in 1977. They then reverted back to The New Faces brand and toured the US east coast, before one last change of personnel, with Judy Raye and Paul Bennett replacing Morgan and Grant. They disbanded in 1991, when Charles McKay retired to spend more time with his family, but in their long career they recorded a number of excellent tracks, and although they might have veered towards the middle of the road in the late 60's, their early work features some fine folk and pop recordings. The b-side to their 1968 single 'Someday' might in fact be familiar to you already, as 'Biscuit Coloured Overcoat' featured of the mysterious 'Rainbow Skies' cassette that I posted a couple of years ago. This albums collects together everything that the band recorded between 1965 and 1969, and for an outfit that languished in relative obscurity for most of their career there's some really great stuff on here. 

Track listing

01 So Small (single 1965)
02 Blue Mist (b-side of 'So Small')
03 Never Gonna Love Again (single 1965)
04 You'll Be Too Late (b-side of 'Never Gonna Love Again')
05 Like A Man (single 1966)
06 Shake Up The Party (Myra) (b-side of 'Like A Man')
07 Lace Covered Window (single 1967)
08 The Life That I Lead (b-side of 'Lace Covered Window')
09 We Can Get There By Candlelight (single 1968)
10 The Yellow Road (b-side of 'We Can Get There By Candlelight')
11 If You Love Me (single 1968)
12 The Road And The Miles To Dundee (b-side of 'If You Love Me')
13 Someday (single 1968)
14 Biscuit Coloured Overcoat (b-side of 'Someday')
15 Grandfather Dugan (single 1969)
16 Carnival Day (b-side of 'Grandfather Dugan')
17 Happy The Heart That I Own (single 1969)
18 There Is An Island In The Sun (b-side of 'Happy The Heart That I Own')
19 Come And See The Roses Bloom (single 1969)
20 Danny Boy (b-side of 'Come And See The Roses Bloom')

The Beatles - Now And Then (1993)

I stumbled on an interesting compilation on Youtube the other day, consisting of various unreleased songs from all four members of The Beatles from their solo careers. There were demos, out-takes, and rejected recordings spanning the years from 1970, through the 80's, and ending in 1993, and while it was great to hear songs that even I, as a massive Beatles fan, was unfamiliar with, the difference in the sound quality of the demos compared to the studio recordings was somewhat grating. While researching one of the songs to find the year that it was recorded, I found that someone had posted a version of it online with a full band backing over-dubbed onto the piano and vocal demo, and as it sounded pretty good, it prompted me to try to find out if there any more of these fan-made recordings. It turns out that there are, and so I was therefore able to upgrade the solo demos to band versions of a number of the tracks, and when slotted into the studio recordings it made for a much better listen. They are mostly the John Lennon demos that have been augmented in this way, and in some cases more than once, so I've picked what I think are the best versions for this album. 

One McCartney track was given the treatment as well, but the recordings by George Harrison and Ringo Starr were all studio quality and needed no enhancement. The only demo that I've left as it was is Lennon's 'Sally And Billy' from 1970, because as well as the piano and vocal, it also had a click track on it, and so by boosting the bass it gave the whole song a bit more depth, and then I just added a fade to it (which sounds like it was his intention anyway), and it sounded fine.  All of Ringo's contributions are from his aborted sessions with Chips Moman in Memphis in 1987, where he recorded around 14 retro rock covers and original tunes, with Bob Dylan even joining him on harmonica on 'Wish I Knew Now (What I Knew Then)'. With no sign of the album appearing, Starr finally kicked his debilitating alcohol dependence eighteen months later, and he formed the All-Starr Band, touring for the first time since the Beatles quit the road. Moman had bankrolled the aborted sessions to the tune of $146,239 and had nothing to show for his investment, so he decided to issue the LP on his own CRS Records. Starr got wind of the news and offered him $100,000 to halt manufacturing, as he considered the recordings substandard, but Moman refused, believing that he stood to lose $3.5 million, a fanciful figure upon survey of Starr's moribund record sales. Starr therefore sued Moman, and the Court ruled that Starr owed him $74,354, but that the master tapes would the be turned over to Starr, and yet despite him now owning the original copies, five tracks have circulated on bootleg for some years. They certainly don't sound the result of some drunken recording sessions as was claimed in court, and so I've included three of them here. 

George Harrison's contributions mostly come from out-takes that were recorded during his 'Somewhere In England' studio sessions, where four songs were rejected by his record company as being too un-commercial. A re-recording of 'Lay His Head' eventually appeared on the flip of the 'Got My Mind Set On You' single, while two of the songs have only ever appeared on the CD which accompanied the second volume of the book 'Songs By George Harrison'. The fourth song 'Tears Of The World' was originally included on the CD that came with the first volume of the book, along with another out-take 'The Hottest Gong In Town', but that eventually turned up on the soundtrack to the film 'Shanghai Surprise', while 'Tears Of The World' was added as a bonus track to the re-issue of Harrison's 'Thirty Three And A Third' album. Paul McCartney's tracks are a couple of out-takes, an augmented demo, and a live performance of a song that was originally written in 1991, but which was only performed the once at The Liverpool Sound concert in 2008, to celebrate the city's year as the European Capital Of Culture. Although the album is bookended by one song from 1970 and one from 1993, the bulk of the tracks date from 1978 to 1987, and so the album flows nicely through the various musical styles, and if you've already heard the Lennon demos in their original form, then do check out these versions, as they've all been done with much love and respect.   

  
Track listing

01 Now And Then (1978 John Lennon demo augmented by Paul Newell)

02 Sat Singing (George Harrison out-take 1980)
03 Your School (1993 Paul McCartney demo augmented by Octavio Cavalli & Max Gonzales)
04 Hard Times (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
05 Hottest Gong In Town (George Harrison, from the soundtrack to 'Shanghai Surprise' 1986)
06 Help Me To Help Myself (1980 John Lennon demo augmented by Carlos Zabai)
07 Yvonne's The One (Paul McCartney out-take 1986)

08 Sally And Billy (John Lennon demo 1970)
09 Lay His Head (George Harrison out-take 1980)
10 I've Changed My Mind (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
11 In Liverpool (1991 Paul McCartney song played live once in 2008)
12 Grow Old With Me (1980 John Lennon demo augmented by Anton Popov & Vitaly Flippov)

13 Cruisin' Ahead (Paul McCartney out-take 1979)

14 Wish I Knew Now (What I Knew Then) (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
15 Flying Hour (George Harrison out-take 1979)

Soulseek hint - now then aiwe

UPDATES

I've been listening to some of my old albums through headphones over the summer, and I've spotted a few things that weren't as noticeable as when listening through speakers, so I've fixed them and updated the files. 

Penetration - Movement (1979) - The track V.I.P. was only audible through the left channel, with the right just having an intermittent thumping noise, so I've replaced the whole track.

Red Noise - Wonder Toys (1979) - The beginning of 'Substitute Flesh' was slightyl louder than the rest of the track, so I've reduced the volume to match the rest of the recording.

Truly Yours - Truly Smith (1968) - 'I Love Him' was ripped from a very scratchy vinyl single, so I've run it through that de-clicking programme that I found - twice!

...and on guitar - Albert Lee (1974) - 'Make It With You' by B J Arnau was also ripped from a scratchy record, so I've run that through the de-clicking programme as well. 

Redemption Songs - Stevie Wonder (2010) - The ending to the track '(You're My) Dream Come True' was quite sudden, and odd that it changed tempo for just a few seconds before the end, so I've faded it to make it sound better.  

Medicine Jack - The Waterboys (1984) - When I put this album together, for some reason I sequenced all three instrumentals one after the other, whereas it would have been better to have them spread out through the album, which is what I've now done.    

All files are updated, so Soulseekers can download the individual tracks as usual, and the whole Waterboys album if you can't re-tag the tracks yourself, and for people who use Yandex there is a new folder with all of these updates in it, so just take what you want and dump the rest. 

pj

Mercury Rev - The Dream Is All (2001)

Mercury Rev formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York, as a wildly chaotic, avant-pop sextet. Originally, the psychedelically-inclined group consisted of vocalist David Baker; vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter Jonathan Donahue; guitarist and clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackiowiak); flutist Suzanne Thorpe (who also played other woodwind instruments); bassist Dave Fridmann; and drummer Jimmy Chambers. The band's first recordings evolved simply as a means of creating soundtracks for their individual student films, and to occasionally make tapes for friends. However, encouraged to expand their musical pursuits by academic mentor Tony Conrad, a fabled minimalist composer and multimedia artist who had performed with John Cale, LaMonte Young, and Faust, the band started to take shape. Meanwhile, Fridmann was enrolled in the musical engineering program at SUNY-Fredonia, some 50 miles to the southwest of Buffalo, giving him free access to the college's studio from midnight until six in the morning, and it was here that the band recorded their first demo tape as Mercury Rev. At the same time as Mercury Rev began recording, Donahue worked as a local concert promoter, and befriended a band called the Flaming Lips, joining them as a guitar technician and soundman. Ultimately, under the alias "Dingus," he worked his way up to lead guitarist for the Flaming Lips and recorded with the band on 1990's 'In A Priest Driven Ambulance'. The album was co-produced by Dave Fridmann, who went on to produce other albums for the Flaming Lips, including 'Hit To Death In The Future Head' in 1992, and the four-CD set 'Zaireeka' in 1997.
With the members scattered across the country and involved in various other projects, the future of Mercury Rev seemed uncertain, but an early demo tape came into the hands of officials at the Rough Trade label in Britain, who approached Baker about signing the band. After securing the record deal, Mercury Rev entered the studio to record their debut album, 'Yerself Is Steam', while at the same time Fridmann and Donahue continued to work with the Flaming Lips. Released in 1991, 'Yerself Is Steam' was largely overlooked in the United States, but became a hit in the United Kingdom, and the band toured Britain to promote the album, though not without incident, as these early live shows tended to be performed without practice sessions or predetermined set lists, and saw the band Rev on the verge of disintegration. On stage, the band was at once fascinating, volatile, and unpredictable, with Baker frequently leaving the stage in the middle of songs to grab a drink, and reports circulated that they were banned from air travel after Donahue and Grasshopper had a brawl during a flight. A second album 'Boces' followed in 1993, and again garnered favourable reviews from the critics, but the tour in support of it fared no better than the previous one, with concert security removing the band during the Lollapalooza 1993 stop in Denver. In late 1993, Baker departed from the band after months of conflict, with the rest of the group continuing to record as a quintet, and they defied speculations again with the release of 1995's 'See You On The Other Side', an album marking Donahue's role as an unchallenged leader. More accessible than prior efforts, the album featured echoes of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds', New Orleans brass band sounds, and acid jazz, and was a huge leap forward for the band. 

Touring the album exposed conflicts within the band, with drummer Chambers quitting several times, and after returning to New York, Donahue took refuge at his house in the Catskills, while Grasshopper retreated to a Jesuit monastery near Saratoga for several weeks. When Donahue and Grasshopper reconvened at their homes in Kingston, New York, in 1997 to record a new Mercury Rev album, they called upon their two famous neighbors Levon Helm and Garth Hudson (both lived in nearby Woodstock) of the legendary group the Band to perform on some songs. The resulting 'Deserter's Song', released in 1998 on the group's new label V2, was the breakthrough album for the group, going gold in England and Ireland, and as of the fall of 1999 it had sold over 250,000 copies. 'All Is Dream' was issued in 2001 and became the band's highest charting album in the UK to date, and included three successful singles, of which 'The Dark Is Rising' reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart. 'Deserter's Song' and 'All Is Dream' remain the band's most popular records, and so it was great to find that when 'All Is Dream' was reissued in 2019, it was bolstered by a second disc of b-sides, out-takes and radio sessions. While most of these tracks are well worth a listen, even their takes on 'Nocturne In C# Minor' and 'Prelude In E Flat Minor', there were a couple of obvious demo's which weren't up to the quality of the rest, and a couple of the cover versions didn't really fit, so I've pruned it back to include just the very best songs for a superb 46-minute companion album to 'All Is Dream'.   

Track listing

01 Serpentine (b-side of 'Nite And Fog' 2001)
02 Cool Waves (b-side of 'Nite And Fog' 2001)
03 Streets of Laredo (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
04 Nocturne in C# Minor, Opus 27, No.1 (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' 2001)
05 Observation Crest (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
06 Blue Skies (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' DVD EP 2004)
07 Mascara Tears (Outtake)
08 Prelude In E Flat Minor, Opus 48, No 4 (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' DVD EP 2004)

09 The Brook Room (Outtake)

10 I Keep A Close Watch (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
11 Silver and Gold (Outtake)
12 Gymnopedies #3 (John Peel Session)
13 Mr. Moonlight Will Come (Outtake)
14 Back Into the Sun (You're the One) (Outtake)

Barbara Kay - Yes I'm Ready (1971)

Barbara Kay started her musical career as a band singer, before joining Embassy Records in the early 60's under the name of Kay Barry, with the label specialising in releasing budget covers of chart hits on 7" singles, sometime with different artists on each side of the record. They managed to keep this enterprise going right into the 70's, when Embassy albums of sound-alike recordings were big sellers. She stayed with the label until 1965, but the year before she left them she joined up with former Vernon's Girls singers Betty Prescott and Lyn Cornell to form The Carefrees, and they had a novelty hit single with 'We Love You Beatles' in 1964. They followed this with 'The Paddy Whack' a few months later but then broke up, with Kay embarking on a solo career under her real name. She released 'That's What Angels Are For' in 1965 to little success, and then followed that with the novelty song 'Chips With Everything', although the b-side 'A Lot About Love' was taken more seriously. Her next single was a commendable take on Barbara Mason's 1965 U.S. hit 'Yes, I'm Ready', with the more up-tempo 'Someone Has To Cry' gracing the flip. In 1966 she issued the Cook/Greenaway song 'The Power And The Glory', delivering this peppy tune with zest, to a slick rhythmic arrangement, and the flip side is a quasi-novelty number on which Kay sings in falsetto and is joined on the track by an un-named male vocalist, who is believed to be Roger Cook. With this last flop single she gave up on a solo career and became much in demand as a session singer. In 1968 she provided a version of 'Hello Heartaches' for a tribute album to Rod McKuen, and then in 1971 she topped the charts with the novelty song 'Johnny Reggae', on which she was the un-credited lead vocalist of The Piglets. Following this she joined Mike Morton in the Mike Morton Congregation, which was a group that released albums of their own versions of chart hits, taking her right back to her beginnings with Embassy Records. For this overview of her career I've included recordings from her Embassy period where both sides of the single were her songs, the hit record with The Carefrees, all of her solo singles from 1965 and 1966, the Rod McKuen cover, and an example of her work with Mike Morton. I've included 'Johnny Reggae' as a bonus track at the end, as it doesn't really fit with the more mainstream pop of most of the rest of the main album, but it was her biggest chart success, even if no-one knew it was her vocals, so it deserves to be here.   

Track listing

01 It Might As Well Rain Until September (Embassy single 1962)
02 It Started All Over Again (b-side of 'It Might As Well Rain Until September')
03 Bobby's Girl (Embassy single 1962)
04 James (Hold The Ladder Steady) (b-side of 'Bobby's Girl')
05 We Love You Beatles (single with The Carefrees 1964)
06 Terry (Embassy single 1965)
07 Girl Don't Come (b-side of 'Terry') 
08 That's What Angels Are For (single 1965)
09 What's The Good Of Loving (b-side of 'That's What Angels Are For')
10 Chips With Everything (single 1965)
11 A Lot About Love (b-side of 'Chips With Everything')
12 Yes I'm Ready (single 1965)
13 Someone Has To Cry (b-side of 'Yes I'm Ready')
14 The Power And The Glory (single 1966)
15 I Wanna Walk In Your Sun (b-side of 'The Power And The Glory')
16 Hello Heartaches (from 'Love's Been Good To Me - The Songs Of Rod McKuen' 1968)
17 These Things Will Keep Me Loving You (with The Mike Morton Congregation 1971)

Bonus track
18 Johnny Reggae (single with The Piglets 1971)

White Clover - Not In Kansas Anymore (1971)

In 1969, Don Montre (keyboards) and Kerry Livgren (guitar) were performing in a band called the Reasons Why in their hometown of Topeka, Kansas. After leaving to form the band Saratoga with Lynn Meredith and Dan Wright, they started playing Livgren's original material, with Scott Kessler adding bass and Zeke Lowe coming in on drums. In the meantime drummer Phil Ehart was playing with his band White Clover, alongside Ferdy Baumgart on keyboards, Forrest Chapman on bass, Greg Gucker and Bill Fast on guitars, and Greg Allen on vocals. Ehart contacted Livgren about joining him in his band after hearing that Livgren's band Kansas (a renamed version of Saratoga) had recently disbanded. Livgren, along with vocalists Lynn Meredith and Greg Allen, keyboardists Don Montre and Dan Wright and saxophonist Larry Baker, joined Ehart and bassist Dave Hope in White Clover, recording some of their rehearsals in November 1968 for a demo tape, and then performing at the New Orleans Pop Festival in 1969. In 1970 they changed the band's name to Kansas, and this band (sometimes called Kansas I) lasted until early 1971 when Ehart, Hope and some of the others left to re-form White Clover. In 1972, after Ehart returned from England, where he had gone to look for other musicians, he and Hope re-formed White Clover with Robby Steinhardt (vocals, violin, viola, cello), Steve Walsh (vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, percussion) and Rich Williams (guitars). In early 1973 they recruited Livgren from the second Kansas group, which then folded, and in February 1973 this new line-up of White Clover recorded a $300 six-song demo tape, which, after winning fleeting interest from the Grunt label of Jefferson Airplane fame, was picked up by Wally Gold of Kirshner Records, who signed them to the label for £10,000.00. After signing with Kirshner the group decided to return to using the name Kansas (now referred to as Kansas II), and they rush-recorded their eponymous debut at New York's Record Plant over a few days in July 1973, kick-starting a 50 year career as one of the best US progressive rock bands of all time. Both sets of demos have surfaced over the years, and of the two I much prefer the 1968/1970 ones, as the 1973 session consists mostly of covers from Steppenwolf, Cream, The Doors, The Beatles, and The Bee Gees, whereas the earlier demos included a lot of original material. So here is some great music from the first version of White Clover, including one final track from the 1971 incarnation of the band, which, after some convoluted line-up changes, eventually morphed into the Kansas that we know and love today. 

   
Track listing

01 (Keep Your People) Dancin' 
02 Color Rise
03 Instrumental #1
04 I Will Be The One
05 Imaginary Woman
06 If I Were Free
07 The Organ Plays For Me
08 Bongo Queen

Norma Jenkins - One Girl Too Many (1973)

Norma Jenkins began her recording career in 1965 on the Maltese label as lead vocalist with a girl group billed as Norma Jenkins And The Dolls. The group released two singles for Maltese, 'This Is Our Day' and 'A Lover's Stand', before Jenkins left to start a solo career. Her first solo single was for Carnival Records, with 'Need Someone To Love' b/w 'Me Myself And I' coming out in 1967, and the Joe Evans-produced record earned her a mention in the May 1967 issue of Billboard magazine, in the R&B Spotlight column. Later that same year she recorded a duet with Troy Keyes for the ABC label, which was to be her last recording for five years. 1973 saw the release of a string of 45's on George Kerr-owned labels Jean Records and Kerr Records, including 'Go Home To Your Wife', which was written by George Clinton, and in 1976 she recorded her first full length album, the aptly titled 'Patience Is A Virtue'. This was a fine collection of soulful songs, and the vinyl has become highly coveted among collectors of rare soul music, especially in the UK where Jenkins still gets a lot of play on the Northern Soul scene. Nearly all the tracks from the album were released a singles and b-sides, and they are all worth checking out, but this post collects together all her 60's recordings, plus a couple of tracks from 1973 which were not released at the time, and a rare acetate of a song that was later recorded by The Sparkels in 1964.   

Track listing

01 This Is Our Day (single 1965, with The Dolls)
02 What's Next (b-side of 'This Is Our Day')
03 Try Love (One More Time) (unreleased acetate 1963)
04 A Lover's Stand (single 1966, with The Dolls)
05 The Airplane Song (b-side of 'A Lover's Stand')

06 His Love Is Amazing (unreleased acetate 1966?)
07 Need Someone To Love (single 1967)
08 Me Myself And I (b-side of 'Need Someone To Love')
09 I Can Wait My Turn (Single 1968, with Troy Keyes)
10 A Good Love Gone Bad (b-side of 'I Can Wait My Turn', with Troy Keyes)
11 One Girl Too Many (single 1973)
12 Go Home To Your Wife (b-side of 'One Girl Too Many')
13 Coward's Way Out (previously unreleased 1973)
14 Where Does The Love Go (previously unreleased 1973)
15 Puzzle Man (Figure Me Out If You Can) (single 1973)

Snoop Dogg - Heat Rocks (2007)

In 2007 Snoop Dogg made a number of recordings available on his Myspace page, and before long they'd been compiled into an album which is a contemporary of 'Tha Blue Carpet Treatment' and 'Ego Trippin''. The tracks feature a number of guest rappers, including Flava Flav, Nate Dogg, and Richie Rich, and are pretty good for officially unreleased recordings. Not much more information is available about the album, so just enjoy it as a bonus disc from a very prolific artist.   

Track listing

01 West Side (feat. J. Black)
02 West Side All Starz (feat. JT The Bigga Figga, MC Eiht, Jojo, Kam, Goldie Loc)
03 Wanna Bz (feat. Jeezy, Nate Dogg)
04 Territory (feat Brotha Lynch Hung)
05 I Fuck With You (feat. Richie Rich)
06 New York
07 Love Don't Live Here
08 Looking For A Bad Bitch (feat. Flava Flav)
09 Look Around (feat. J. Black)
10 Long Gone (feat. Denaun Porter)
11 Gangstaz Due (feat. J Black)  
12 I Got My Own (feat. Swizz Beatz)
13 Do It, Do It 
14 Blastin (feat. MC Eiht)