Albert Lee - ...and on guitar (1974)

Albert William Lee was born on 21 December 1943 Lingen, near Leominster, Herefordshire, but grew up in Blackheath, London, as a member of a Romani family. He inheritied his father's interest in music, and studied piano from the age of seven, during which time he became a fan Jerry Lee Lewis and rockabilly in general. When he was 15 he took up guitar, leaving school the following year to play music full-time, and from 1959 onwards he was with a variety of bands, playing mostly R&B, country music and rock and roll. In the early 60's he joined the stable of musicians working for manager Larry Parnes, playing behind Dickie Pride, among other stars on Parnes' roster, and his first experience of the recording studio was backing Jackie Lynton. A couple of the bands that Lee played in during this time were groups led by Mike Hurst and Neil Christian, and in both cases he replaced a departing Jimmy Page, with Ritchie Blackmore taking over from him when he left Christian to join Chris Farlowe And The Thunderbirds. He spent four years with the Thunderbirds, who became known in British musical circles as one of the best R&B bands in England, finally leaving in 1968 as he was feeling bored playing R&B, and over the next two years he passed through several bands playing behind various visiting American country stars, such as George Hamilton IV, Skeeter Davis, and Bobby Bare, and this cemented his love of country music. He passed through several groups in the late 60's, including Country Fever and Poet & The One Man Band, and after the latter's sole album was released in 1969 Lee left with Tony Colton, Ray Smith, and Pete Gavin and they formed Heads, Hands & Feet, a progressive country outfit who were England's answer to the Flying Burrito Brothers. 

It was with Heads, Hands & Feet that Lee achieved his most positive critical praise, although this didn't translate into commercial success for the band. They split up after two years, and Lee made his living as a session guitarist for the next couple of years, playing on albums by Joe Cocker, Mike d'Abo, Steve Gibbons, and David Elliott. In 1971, Lee performed with Deep Purple's keyboard player Jon Lord on the studio recording of Lord's 'Gemini Suite', as although Ritchie Blackmore had played the guitar at the first live performance of the suite in September 1970, he declined the invitation to appear on the studio version. In 1975 he was offered the chance to record a solo album with A&M Records, but a gig playing and recording with Emmylou Harris (supplying mandolin and backing vocals to her 'Luxury Liner' album, delayed the completion of his own record for a couple of years, and 'Hiding' eventually appeared in 1979. He then signed to Polydor as a solo artist, but by that time the session work was coming in fast and furious, and Lee was seemingly everywhere, playing with everyone from Jackson Browne to Bo Diddley to Herbie Mann. Lee's own solo career continued into the late 80's with 1987's 'Speechless' and 1988's 'Gagged But Not Bound' both achieving critical successes. He was also later a member of Gerry Hogan's bluegrass group Hogan's Heroes, and toured and recorded with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, but the busiest period of his career was undoubtably the early 70's, adding his distinctive country licks to a myriad of recordings, a selection of which are here for your enjoyment. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 Two-Timing Baby (single by Carter-Lewis And The Southerners 1961)
02 Stormy Monday Blues (Part 2) (from 'Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds' by 

                                                                               Chris Farlowe And The Thunderbirds 1966)
03 One Long Kiss (from 'Burn Up!' by Gerry Temple 1969)
04 Ride Out On The Morning (from 'Poet And The One Man Band' by 

                                                                                           Poet And The One Man Band 1969)
05 In Our Own Sweet Time (single by The Derek Lawrence Statement 1969)
06 Marjorine (from 'With A Little Help From My Friends' by Joe Cocker 1969)
07 Woman In My Life (from 'd'Abo' by Mike D'Abo 1970)
08 Guitar (from 'Gemini Suite' by Jon Lord/London Symphony Orchestra 1971)

Disc Two
01 Alright Now (from 'Short Stories' by Steve Gibbons 1971)
02 Down To My Last Dime (from 'David Elliott' by David Elliott 1972)
03 I'm A Free Man (from 'Green Bullfrog' by Green Bullfrog 1972)
04 Falling Sky (from 'Jackson Browne (Saturate Before Using)' by Jackson Browne 1972)
05 Mellow Man (from 'Balloon' by Marc Wirtz 1973)
06 Make It With You (from 'B.J. Arnau' by B.J. Arnau 1973)
07 I Waited For You (from 'E.H. In The U.K.' by Eddie Harris 1974)
08 Jack Daniels Old No. 7 (from 'Sunset Towers' by Don Everly 1974)
09 Memphis Spoon Bread And Dover Sole (from 'London Underground' by Herbie Mann 1974)
10 Whatever Mood You're In (from 'Whatever Mood You're In' by Les Walker 1974)

If anyone has a better quality copy of 'Make It With You' that they could let me have then that would help improve this album considerably. 

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. 

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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.