Britney Spears - Original Doll (2005)

'Original Doll' was set to be Britney Spears' fifth studio album, and was due for release in 2005. It was to be a more personal album, with an organic, dark, intimate feel, but for reasons unknown it was cancelled at the last minute. The only song recorded for the album that was ever officially released was 'Mona Lisa', which was included on the 'Britney and Kevin: Chaotic' CD, but many other songs remained locked away, until in 2012, Britney fans sought out songwriter Michelle Bell and asked her point-blank about the project. Apparently Spears started writing songs for the album in late 2003, and she recorded some of them in 2004 whilst on The Onyx Hotel Tour. In December 2004, she made a surprise appearance on KIIS-FM radio in Los Angeles to premiere a new song she recorded, giving the DJ a rough demo of her song 'Mona Lisa', and also giving an interview in which she stated she was halfway through recording an album called 'The Original Doll', which could be released around the summer of 2005. Her label Jive Records were apparently furious that she'd premiered the song on the radio without their permission, and they stated she had only just started recording the album, and that it was not yet on the label's release schedule. The DJ who was presented with this exclusive evidently had his own misgivings about Spear's actions, commenting "No signed artist would ever do that [premiere a song on the radio without label's permission], because [Jive/Zomba Label Group President/CEO] Barry Weiss would cut them in half with a cleaver. If you don't have the record out yet, and you're going to find some radio guy who will ship it out half done, then the whole project will be trashed." This was exactly what happened, with Jive cancelling the project, and although various reasons have been suggested - Spears' pregnancy (Jive may have wanted Britney to concentrate on starting a family rather than releasing a new album), premiering unreleased material without Jive's permission, or simply that Jive didn't like the material set to appear on the album - none have ever been forthcoming from the record company. 

Michelle Bell was known to be involved in writing songs which were destined for 'The Original Doll', following collaborations with Spears in 2003, when three of her songs were recorded for the 'In the Zone' album, although none of them made the final cut, appearing later as bonus tracks on deluxe editions of the album. They co-wrote some of the songs intended for 'The Original Doll', although it's likely that Spears would also have written some of them on her own, in keeping with the more personal feel of the project. In March 2012, members of Britney Spears fan forum, Exhale, managed to get in contact with Bell on Twitter and Tumblr, on which she wrote about the experiences she had working with Spears on 'The Original Doll', and she later leaked snippets of two songs she said were recorded for the album: 'Money, Love & Happiness' and 'Peep Show'. She later leaked much longer snippets of the songs, but in April 2012 she revealed on her Tumblr blog that she'd been asked to stop leaking the songs by her management, before giving fans one last special treat by leaking 'Money, Love & Happiness' in full. Because of her actions, she was unable to leak 'Peep Show' or any other song recorded for 'The Original Doll' in full, although another source obtained 'Ouch' and leaked that later that month. Eventually all of the songs recorded for the album started to appear on bootlegs, with a 3CD set of remixes and out-takes being the latest to surface. For this reconstruction I've taken a proposed track listing from blackoutbrit's site universe.absolutebritney.com, as their running order seems to coincide with the generally accepted list of confirmed songs recorded for the project, so here is the album that could have slotted in between 'In The Zone' and 'Blackout', if Spears had just played by the rules and not pissed off the record company.  

Track listing

01 Welcome To Me
02 Money, Love & Happiness
03 Someday (I Will Understand)
04 Chaotic
05 Peep Show
06 Mona Lisa
07 Over To You Now
08 Look Who's Talking Now
09 Guilty
10 Dramatic
11 Baby Boy
12 Ouch

13 Strangest Love
14 Conscience

Mick Jagger & The Red Devils - Red Devil Blues (1993)

I found the original photo that was used for this cover, so have upgraded the rather blurry version that was on the original post.

Richard Thompson - ...and on guitar Vol. 2 (1982)

And now, the end is near, and so we face the final curtain....... After almost exactly a year, we come to the final posts in this series, and I think you'll agree that the it goes out in style. I was hoping to do another volume for Jerry Garcia, but about the time of his last collaboration on the first set, he stopped playing on other artist's records, just writing and producing for them. Similarly, Keith Richards only guested on four records in the 15 years after his first volume ended, so that wasn't on the cards either. The extra-curricular activities of most of the other artists in the series only covered one volume each, so for the penultimate post we have an artist who had no such qualms about spreading himself too thinly, with a decade's worth of guest appearance from the sublime Richard Thompson. 

Track listing

01 Went Down To The Sea (from 'Street Singer' by Mick Softley 1971)
02 The Widow Of Westmorland's Daughter (from 'Jump At The Sun' by John Kirkpatrick 1972)
03 Shady Lady (from 'Bright Phoebus' by Lal And Mike Waterson 1972)
04 Elaine (from 'Urban Cowboy' by Andy Roberts 1973)
05 Momamma Scuba (from 'Fear' by John Cale 1974)
06 Targets (from 'Fantasies From A Corner Seat' by Harvey Andrews & Graham Cooper 1975)
07 Tennessee Blues (from 'Having A Wonderful Time' by Geoff Muldaur 1975)
08 Embroidered Butterflies (from 'Vanishing Trick' by Brian Patten 1976)
09 I Can't Dance (from 'Julie Covington' by Julie Covington 1978)
10 Promises (from 'Slide Away The Screen' by Ralph McTell 1979)
11 Family Tree (from 'Night Owl' by Gerry Rafferty 1979)
12 Old Soho (from 'Voices' by Murray Head 1981)  
13 Wat Ye Wha I Met The Streen (from 'Smiddyburn' by Dave Swarbrick 1981)
14 Old Horse (from 'Out Of The Cut' by Martin Carthy 1982)

Vocal on 'Embroidered Butterflies' by Linda Thompson. 

UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming (1982)

UB40 are an English reggae/pop band, who were formed in December 1978 from friends who knew each other from various schools across Birmingham. The ethnic make-up of the band's original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish and Yemeni parentage, and the name was selected in reference to the UB40 (Unemployment Benefit, Form 40) issued to people claiming unemployment benefits from the UK government's Department of Employment. The origins of what would become UB40 began in mid-1978, when guitarist Ali Campbell, together with the rhythm section of drummer Jimmy Brown and bassist Earl Falconer, began rehearsing charting reggae songs in addition to some of their own original compositions. They were soon joined by several of their friends, firstly percussionists Yomi Babayemi and Norman Hassan, and then saxophonist Brian Travers and keyboardist Jimmy Lynn. Robin Campbell, although initially reluctant to commit to forming a band with the others, was invited to join once again by his brother and bought a guitar with which to do so in December of that year. Once Robin had joined the others in their jamming sessions, the eight musicians formed a band, deciding on the name UB40 after a friend suggested it was an appropriate name given the unemployed status of all of the band members. This lineup lasted long enough to play a couple of shows in early 1979, before the band underwent its first lineup change in the form of Babyemi and Lynn leaving and Mickey Virtue joining in place of Lynnand, and a month later the classic lineup was rounded out with the inclusion of percussionist and vocalist Astro. The band's first single 'King'/'Food For Thought' was released on local independent label Graduate Records, reaching No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, and this was followed by their debut album 'Signing Off' in 1980, with the title being a reference to them being able to sign off from claiming unemployment benefits. I've always thought the album was a superb piece of reggae, especially if you got it with the free 12" single, containing some outstanding extra tracks. These days, most people would know the band for their string of chart hits, many of them covers, such as 'Red Red Wine',' I Got You, Babe', and 'Can't Help Falling In Love', as well as self-penned songs like 'Here I Am' and 'Don't Break My Heart', but in their early days they took their music seriously and were up there with the best reggae bands of the early 80's, and as such they weren't averse to dubbing up their songs, even releasing the whole of their second album 'Present Arms' in a dub format. To show just how good they were back then, I've collected extended 12" versions of some of their early singles, and topped them off with an otherwise unreleased John Peel session track from 1982, 'Prince Baldhead Meets Gymslip And The School Girls At The Chemist'. If you only know the band from their pop/reggae chart hits then I think you'll be amazed at just how authentic they were when they started out. 

Track listing

01 The Earth Dies Screaming 
02 My Way Of Thinking
03 Food For Thought
04 Prince Baldhead Meets Gymslip And The School Girls At The Chemist
05 King
06 I Think It's Going To Rain Today
07 I Dream A Lie

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Truly Smith - Yours, Truly (1968)

Truly Smith was born Josephine Taylor in 1950, in Dallam in Warrington, in the North West of England, and her interest in music began when she worked behind the counter in Dawson's Record Shop. She also sang at the Club del Sol in Manchester, impressing the club's owner Harvey Livingstone, and in 1966 she auditioned for Noel Walker, who was an A&R man for Decca Records. Decca offered her a contract, and chose the name Truly Smith for her first recording with them, Tony Hatch's 'Love Is Me, Love Is You', which was backed with 'My Smile Is Just A Frown Turned Upside Down'. In June 1966 she released the Les Reed/Barry Mason ballad 'I Love Him', with the traditional 'Buttermilk Hill' on the flip, and this was followed by another ballad, this time from Italy, with 'You Are The Love Of My Life'/'The Merry-go-round Is Slowing You Down'. In 1966, the French Decca label decided to issue an E.P. of four songs, including both sides of her debut single, plus 'You Are The Love Of My Life' and 'He Belongs To Me'. This French release coincided with Smith having more exposure across Europe, including an appearance on 'The Dave Berry Show', which was screened on Belgian T.V. Her next UK single was in 1967, with Bacharach/David's 'Windows And Doors', coupled with 'Take A Broken Heart', and this was followed by another Motown song, 'I Wanna Go Back There Again', which was one of her finest records. Her final release on Decca was 'The Boy From Chelsea', with Goffin/King's 'Little Man With A Stick' on the b-side. Despite recording some fine records for the label, Decca didn't renew her contract, and so she signed to MGM Records for one final single in 1968, the Flett/Fletcher song 'This Is The First Time', backed with Mike Hurst's 'Taking Time Off'. This was to be her last single, after which she left the music industry to move into teaching, later becoming Headmistress of a school in Alnwick, Northumberland. As there isn't currently a comprehensive collection of the work of Truly Smith, then here it is. 

Track listing

01 Love Is Me, Love Is You (Single 1966)

02 My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down) (b-side of 'Love Is Me, Love Is You') 

03 I Love Him (single 1966)

04 Buttermilk Hill (b-side of 'I Love Him')

05 Windows And Doors (single 1967)

06 Take A Broken Heart (b-side of 'Windows And Doors')

07 You Are The Love Of My Life (single 1967)

08 The Merry-Go-Round Is Slowing You Down (b-side of 'You Are The Love Of My Life') 

09 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (single 1967)

10 I Wanna Go Back There Again (single 1967)

11 He Belongs To Me (b-side of 'Love Is Me, Love Is You' French EP 1967)

12 The Boy From Chelsea (single 1967)

13 Little Man With A Stick (b-side of 'The Boy From Chelsea')

14 This Is The First Time (single 1968)

15 Taking Time Off (b-side of 'This Is The First Time') 

For more information on the career of Truly Smith then check out this great site trulysmith.webs.com

The Shimmer Band - Sunkick (2017)

Bristol psyche-rockers The Shimmer Band were regarded as a must see live act in 2017, and were tipped for great things in 2018, with frontman Tom Newman going big on vocals, superb basslines, soaring melodies, euphoric guitars and a radio-friendly sound beloved by BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq. The band comprised Tom Newman (vocals), Babsy (lead guitar), Tom Kuras (bass), Tom Smith (synth, rhythm guitar), William Hatcher (drums), and were big fans of Creation Records and all of the artists involved with that label: Super Furry Animals, Ride, Primal Scream, Jesus And Mary Chain all had an influence on their sound, as well as a healthy dose of Madchester, with a Stone Roses vibe evident on some songs. They'd been around since 2014, and posted a few singles on Soundcloud in 2016 and 2017, but then everything went quiet, and nothing has been heard from them for three years now, so it looks like they didn't fulfill the promise that had been hoped for them. All we have left is this mini-album of the eight songs that they recorded during their lifetime, which is a shame because as you'll hear from these tracks, they had the potential to be a great band. 

Track listing

01 Sunkick
02 Shoot Me (Baby)
03 Jacknife And The Death Call
04 Freedom
05 What Is Mine
06 Freak City
07 Shadow Of The Shake
08 Ya Ya (Uh Oh)

Soulseek update

For some reason the Kinks post has had the most issues with people being unable to download from Soulseek, and yet I've seen loads of downloads by people who have managed it. KINKS AIWE works perfectly well, so I have no idea why it works for some people and not others. As I have said before, carry on trying for at least 24 hours, as I do sometime turn off the laptop when I go to bed if no-one is downloading anything, so try it again 7 to 8 hours later. If you still have no luck then leave a request with your email address in the comments. I am emailed a notification for each comment, and so can delete your comment straight away to protect your privacy. No need to ask first, just add your email to the request. I would suggest that everyone keeps trying to use Soulseek, as there should really be no reason why it works for some people and not others, and if we can get it working for everyone then it is a much safer option than adding links to the posts, and getting the blog deleted again.   
One thing that I have noticed in monitoring the downloads, is that some people seem to have extremely slow internet connections, taking up to four or five hours to download a few songs, and this does mean that everyone behind them in the queue has to wait until they are finished before their downloads can commence. I know it's frustrating, but be patient, and you will eventually get your music.   

The Kinks - Give The People What They Want (REJECTED) (1981)

'Give the People What They Want' was the nineteenth studio album by The Kinks, released in August 1981 in the US, and in January 1982 in Europe. It was delayed because Ray Davies wanted to produce a full-length video for the album, but financing fell through and this didn't happen. While working on the sessions, drastically different versions of the songs were taped and cut to acetate, showing what Davies thought the next album could/should be, but the people at Arista thought differently, and insisted that some of the tracks be edited down, and ended up seconds or even minutes shorter on the finished album. One of the most notable casualties was 'Around The Dial', with the released version running at 4:48, while the acetate version runs to nearly eight minutes, although a lot of those extra minutes are the intro of someone turning the radio dial. The title track is approximately a minute longer than the officially released version, and while a few are suspiciously close to the original versions ('Killer's Eyes', 'Back To Front', 'Add It Up'), a closer listen reveals that these are slightly different mixes. The acetate version of 'Entertainment' is the original 1981 mix and not the glossy version that was ultimately released on 'UK Jive' in 1989, and 'Bernadette' is not the version we know from 1982's 'State Of Confusion', but a much rawer version with Dave Davies on the lead vocals. There are two extra bonus tracks, with the version of 'Massive Reduction', the b-side of 1981's 'Better Things' single, being a completely different version to the one released in 1984 on 'Word Of Mouth', while 'Noise' was probably recorded some time in 1981 and canned, but ultimately released as a b-side to 'Come Dancing' in 1982. 

Track listing

01 Back To Front (Acetate Version)
02 Entertainment (Outtake; Original 1981 Mix)
03 Add It Up (Acetate Version)
04 Killer's Eyes (Acetate Version)
05 Give The People What They Want (Acetate Version)
06 Around The Dial (Acetate Version)
07 Yo Yo (Acetate Version)
08 Little Bit Of Abuse (Acetate Version)
09 Art Lover (Acetate Version)
10 Predictable (Acetate Version)
11 Bernadette (Acetate Version - lead vocal Dave Davies)
12 Destroyer (Acetate Version)
13 Massive Reductions (Original 1981 Version)
14 Noise (Outtake Recorded 1981)

Many thanks to Michael for letting me hear this one. 

Eric Clapton - ...and on guitar Vol. 2 (1976)

We're gradually coming to the end of this series, which started almost a year ago as a one-off post for Jimi Hendrix, and which has grown into what I hope can be viewed as a fairly comprehensive overview of the famous and the obscure guest appearances on record by some of the world's greatest guitarists. Eric Clapton was so prolific in the 70's that the first volume for him covered just the years 1968 to 1970, and so a second volume was always on the cards, and here it is.  

Track listing

01 Sitting On Top Of The World (from 'Sessions' by Howlin' Wolf 1971)
02 I'm Your Spiritual Breadman (from 'The Worst Of...' by Ashton Gardner & Dyke 1971)
04 Washita Love Child (from 'Jesse Davis' by Jesse Davis 1971)
04 Black John The Conqueror (from 'The Sun, Moon & Herbs' by Dr. John 1971)
05 The Scenery Has Slowly Changed (from 'Bobby Whitlock' by Bobby Whitlock 1972)
06 A Man Of Many Words (from 'Play The Blues' by Buddy Guy & Junior Wells 1972)
07 Comin' Home (from 'D & B Together' by Delaney And Bonnie 1972)
08 No-one Knows (from 'Music From Free Creek' 1973)
09 Sugar Sweet (from 'Burglar' by Freddie King 1974)
10 Eyesight To The Blind (from the 'Tommy' soundtrack album 1975)
11 Romance In Durango (from 'Desire' by Bob Dylan 1976)
12 Worrier (from 'Stingray' by Joe Cocker 1976)
13 This Be Called A Song (from 'Ringo's Rotogravure' by Ringo Starr 1976)
14 Kinky (from 'Lasso From El Paso' by Kinky Friedman 1976)

I've omitted a couple of tracks, not only for reasons of space, but also for the fact that Stephen Bishop, for example, has Clapton playing on his song 'Sinking In An Ocean Of Tears' and you can't even hear him (why would you ask one of the greatest ever guitarists to appear on your album and not give him a solo?), and although you can hear him perfectly well on Yoko Ono's 'Don't Worry, Kyoko', that's such an extreme listen that it really disrupted the flow of the album.  

Friday Brown - Girl Friday (1973)

Marian Stockley (aka Friday Brown) was born on 18 February 1947 in Manchester, the daughter of a headmaster in Little Hulton. At the age of 15 she was introduced to the Mike Taylor Combo group by one of its members, Wilf Lewis, a fellow student at Bolton College of Art, and she joined them for gigs at venues in Darwen and elsewhere in Lancashire, until they disbanded in 1965. She left college to be auditioned at a Preston club, and her first single was 'As He Once Was Mine', written by Wilf Lewis, which was released in 1964 under the name 'Marianne And Mike', with Mike Taylor. A second single followed with 'You're The Only One' later that year, but it was not until 1966 that she recorded again, this time as part of a group formed by Graham Gouldman (later of 10cc) and Harvey Lisberg, the creator of Herman's Hermits, which they named High Society. The band also included Peter Cowap, Christine Ebbrell and Keith Lawless, and they recorded the Gouldman-composed 'People Passing By', backed by Cowap's 'Star Of Eastern Street'. In January 1966 Marianne released her first single under the name of Friday Brown, with Gouldman's 'Getting Nowhere', backed with her own 'And (To Me He Meant Everything)' on the b-side, which was written with her sister Barbara Stockley. Her next single remains her most well-known, and '32nd Love Affair' soon became popular in the realms of Northern Soul. This song was also co-written with her sister, and Brown either wrote or co-wrote most of the b-sides of her singles. In 1966 she appeared several times on the Granada TV series 'Scene', and by 1970 she'd acquired her own television show 'A Girl Called Friday', directed by George Adams and shown on ITV Tyne Tees. She also appeared on 'The Golden Shot' and 'The Stanley Baxter Show', and it was said that she'd guested on just about every major television and radio show in Great Britain. Further TV appearances followed, with two shows for the BBC2 series 'One More Time', and a programme of her own called 'Reflections', with the guest group Fivepenny Piece, before being given her own six-week show 'Tuesday Night Is Friday Night' on BBC1. In July 1968 she took part in 10th European Song Cup contest at Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium, along with other entrants including Marty Wilde and Wayne Fontana, and she was seen by over 85 million viewers via Eurovision winning the final. She finally released her sole eponymous album in 1971, which comprised covers of contemporary songs, alongside two of Brown's own compositions. It was well-received, but remains her only long-player, as her TV career and live gigs took a lot of her time, but she did release one final single in 1973, which was a cover of 'Groovy Kind of Love', backed with her own ballad, 'Salford'. There's never been a compilation of her 60's singles, which is a major oversight, as with many of the songs being self-penned they won't be heard anywhere else, so here it is, showcasing yet another under-rated and overlooked British girl singer of the 60's. 

Track listing

01 Getting Nowhere (Gouldman) (single 1966)
02 And (To Me He Meant Everything) (Stockley/Stockley) (b-side of 'Getting Nowhere') 
03 32nd Love Affair (Stockley/Stockley) (single 1966)
04 Born A Woman (Sharp) (b-side of '32nd Love Affair') 
05 Ask Any Woman (Stewart/Langley) (single 1967)
06 The Outdoor Seminar (Stockley/Stockley) (b-side of 'Ask Any Woman')
07 Take What You Want (Stockley) (demo)
08 Stand By Your Man (Sherrill/Wynette) (single 1969)
09 I Want To Rain (Stockley/Stockley) (b-side of 'Stand By Man') 
10 God Bless The Child (Holliday/Herzog Jr.) (single 1969)
11 I Sing An Open Letter (Turn Around) (Stockley) (demo)
12 The Only One To Love Me (Trent/Hatch) (single 1971)
13 The Promise (Brown) (b-side of 'The Only One To Love Me') 
14 Shake A Hand (Carmichael) (single 1972)
15 Everything's Alright (Lloyd-Webber/Rice) (b-side of 'Shake A Hand') 
16 Groovy Kind Of Love (Vine/Bayer) (single 1973)
17 Salford (Brown) (b-side of 'Groovy Kind Of Love') 

For more information on the career of Friday Brown, check out this great site, which also includes many photos, rare audio tapes, the Marianne And Mike and High Society singles, and a complete unreleased album.

Donovan - Celtia (1990)

After the disappointment of 'One Night In Time' not being released, Donovan and his manager Pat Hehir decamped to Ireland in February 1990 to start a new project. Hehir and Donovan went into Sulan studios, in southern Ireland, with a bunch of magnificent but not very known musicians, although they did include David Gilmour, Sharon Shannon, Anthony Thistlewait, and Nigel Kennedy, and just like in the old times, it took them just eight days to record the whole album. The songs were produced by Hehir, who had recorded several of Donovan's concerts for Mellow Records throughout the 1980's. The songs recorded during the 'Celtia' sessions were written at various stages throughout Donovan's life -  'The Ferryman's Daughter' was originally written and recorded for 'Moon In Capricorn', another unreleased album whose sessions dated from 1968 and 1969. 'Everlasting Sea' was reportedly written during the sessions for 'The Hurdy Gurdy Man' and later appeared on Donovan's 1996 album 'Sutras'. 'Lover O Lover' was originally released on Donovan's 1981 album 'Love Is Only Feeling' and later recorded and released on his 2004 album 'Beat Cafe'. While it is not publicly known why 'Celtia' was not officially released, it has been speculated that Donovan and  Hehir had disagreements about the running of Donovan's business affairs, but it did appear in 2002 on the (allegedly fictitious) Durga Records, and was made available on Patrick Hehir's 'Donovan's Friends' website, although it was quickly withdrawn, and that release of the album is now viewed as a bootleg.

Track listing 

01 Watchin' The Sun Go Down  
02 Moon Over Clare
03 Glasgow Town
04 The Ferryman´s Daughter
05 Ghost Of Pagan Song
06 Where Are You Now
07 Living On Love
08 Madrigalinda
09 Lake Isle Of Innisfree
10 I Love You
11 Wahine
12 Down By The Harbour
13 Against Your Will
14 Rock Me
15 Lover O Lover
16 Awakening Year
17 Everlasting Sea

RedHook - Only Bones (2020)

RedHook hail from Sydney, Australia, and have been around since 2017, consisting of guitarist Craig Wilkinson, bassist Maverick Burnett, drummer Alex Powys and vocalist Emmy Mack. They released their first single 'Minute On Fire' in 2018 to positive reviews across Australia's top national and community radio stations. Their second single 'Turn Up The Stereotype' introduced new drummer Dan McFeeters, and following that single they seemed to shift from one genre of music to the next, going from goth to glam, emo, pop punk to indie among others. Third single 'Paralysed' heralded yet another change in drummer, with Alex Powys joining their ranks, and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 'Guerrilla Radio' by Rage Against The Machine, they covered the song and released a music video for it. In 2019 they released 'Fake' as their latest single, and it was this which alerted me to the band, as it's mix of rap/rock/electro stood out among the generic indie that I was listening to at the time. Two more singles have followed since then, and if we collect them all together we have a perfectly acceptable mini-album which should bring the band to a wider audience while we wait for a proper record from them. 

Track listing

01 Minute On Fire
02 Turn Up The Stereotype
03 Paralysed
04 Only Bones
05 Fake
06 Dead Walk
07 Guerrilla Radio
08 Cure 4 Psycho

Deep Purple - Days May Come And Days May Go (1975)

During May 1975 Deep Purple were based in California, and were frequenting Pirate Sound Studios, while searching for a new guitarist to replace the recently departed Richie Blackmore. One morning Tommy Bolin walked into the studio, strapped on his guitar and started to play, with David Coverdale later saying 'We all just stood there in amazement', and the whole band were so bowled over that they all decided that they just had to play with him. The new lineup was now complete, and over the next two months the band spent hours jamming, improvising and writing, and it's from a couple of hours of these jams, which were taped and have survived for over 20 years, that this album is made up. Some songs were later re-recorded for the 'Come Taste The Band' album, and so I've omitted those so that I can include the otherwise unrecorded pieces (apart from a Purple version of 'Say You Love Me' which appeared on David Coverdale's 1978 'Northwinds' album), and I've edited a couple of the longer tracks to a more concise length. The sound quality is excellent, and although they are termed 'jams', these are all fully formed songs, with none of the unfocused instrumental noodling that usually occurs in a jam session. 

Track listing

01 Owed To G (Bolin) 
02 If You Love Me Woman (Bolin, Coverdale)
03 The Orange Juice Song (Coverdale, Lord)
04 I Got Nothing For You (Bolin, Coverdale, Hughes, Lord) 
05 Statesboro' Blues (Blind Willie McTell) 
06 Dance To The Rock & Roll (Blackmore, Coverdale, Hughes, Lord, Paice)
07 The Last Of The Long Jams (Bolin, Coverdale, Hughes, Lord, Paice) 

08 Say You Love Me (Coverdale)
09 Pirate Blues (Bolin, Coverdale, Hughes, Lord, Paice)