The Beatles - All Made Up (1974)

In 2017, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a four-part series by the comedian Paul Merton, based around what would have happened if The Beatles had staged a reunion some years after they'd broken up. The year is 1974. Labour's Harold Wilson is Britain's Prime Minister, and Richard Nixon is in the White House. Abba win Eurovision, Germany win the World Cup and a new writer called Stephen King publishes his first novel. After 5 years of tension, ill feeling and fraught negotiation the four Beatles have buried their individual hatchets and are moving tentatively towards a full scale reunion, hopefully culminating in their first new album since 1969. As a warm up for the recording sessions, the Beatles - and some of their famous friends - have come together once more for a surprise concert, their first time live on stage since 1966 when they gave up live appearances after a show at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Join Paul Merton on the commentator's microphone as the Fab Four take to the boards once more....
Like all of us, Paul Merton is a huge Beatles fan and like all Beatle fans his mind often turns to the "What if's..." of their career. What if they'd never broken up? What if they were still playing live? What if they made another album? The series was Merton's attempt to answer those questions, and to put forward a fantastical version of Beatle history. Based on the known facts, and using the recordings available, he imagines the concert that the Beatles could have given, and follows it up with the album that they could have made. The result is a fascinating look into an alternative reality, but also a clear eyed examination of the strengths and of the forces that drove - and drove apart - the greatest band of all time. He followed up the radio series with an article in Radio Times, where he revealed the track listing of the Beatles re-union album that he hoped would have happened after the concert. 

Fifty years after the Beatles’ 'Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band' was released, Merton marks the anniversary with a radio series in which he imagines what would have happened if his favourite band had reunited, made another album, and played live one more time.

From Radio Times, May 2017

“It would have been 1974,” he says, firmly.

He’s worked on it painstakingly, plotting when these events could have actually happened as the Beatles’ solo careers were soaring and diverging, their personal lives rocking and rolling, and their finances still affected by the messy legal wrangles that plagued their final years.

He’s even done the set list for the “concert” and ordered the tracks for the “record” himself, stitching together lesser-known songs from the solo Beatles’ catalogues and live shows.

“To be honest, I’ve been doing this for years,” he says, “John Lennon said in the 70's that if you want to create a Beatles album, just take tracks off individual albums and put them together, and I always wondered, could you create something that feels right? Then work out when they could have played together, around solo records, having children, trying to get green cards? And then I developed a theory…”

Another reason Merton has enjoyed creating an alternative history is a personal one: he became a Beatles obsessive after his heroes split up. Born in 1957 in south London, he was five when they released their first album, 'Please Please Me', and 12 when they broke up, but he spent his childhood, amazingly, largely unaware of their music. “I was the least rock ‘n’ roll child ever. My parents listened to the Light Programme, and that was it, really. I was completely out of touch with what was happening in pop culture, projecting old 8mm silent films to myself and the wall. My only album was an Al Jolson album!” But as Merton’s teens whirred onwards, the Beatles’ music seeped in. He’d heard and loved 'Here Comes the Sun' from the last album they recorded together, 'Abbey Road', while wandering around Woolworths one Christmas, and borrowed the vinyl from his local library. “I remember the librarian going: ‘What, you really haven’t heard 'Rubber Soul' or 'Revolver'?’” He mimics a little boy lost. “And I was, ‘Er… no?’”. Soon he was back every other Saturday, borrowing every album in chronological order of release, like a mini-history project; he was agog at the extraordinary transitions the band had made in seven short years. “I basically did the Beatles in three months, in fortnight-long bursts, through headphones I got for my birthday, completely lost in their world.” He didn’t share the music with his friends, as he didn’t really go out to parties, he says; instead, he’d stay at home with his clunky tape recorder making compilations of tracks by the band together, and, prophetically enough, apart.

From day one, Merton loved 'Sgt Pepper'. “It’s not a rock ‘n’ roll record, really, is it? It does whimsy very well. It’s also got this strangeness, this hugeness, this going-upstairs-to-have-a-smoke-and-go-into-a-dream stuff. It’s a record that’s soaring above nature.” As a teenager, he even fantasised he might pay someone to put a photograph of him onto the 'Sgt Pepper' cover one day. Lennon is Merton’s favourite Beatle, who once said he’d rather have been a comedian than a pop star, although Merton himself gives this idea short shrift. “Rose-tinted glasses there, I think, John. I mean, when you’re in a band, you haven’t got another band heckling, trying to get you off the stage all the bloody time, have you?” 

We've all had a go at making up these 'what if......?' Beatles albums, and so here's another one to add to the long, long list, and it's actually a pretty good attempt.

Many thanks to Gumboil for providing the location of all four radio shows which inspired this post. Having now listened to them again I'd quite forgotten that Merton's imaginary album was a double disc set, and that I'd only compiled the first two sides, but I think this could have been because I wasn't that impressed that side three was mostly covers, and that side four included a track that wasn't recorded until 1998. I'm guessing that at the time I felt happy with just the first disc, but so that we can have the complete listening experience of the full 'All Made Up' album I've added sides three and four to the file, as well as all four radio shows.

Track listing

Side One

01 Be What You See

02 I Don't Wanna Face It

03 Cockamamie Business

04 Ram On

05 Step Lightly

06 Ain't That A Shame

07 No Other Baby

Side Two

08 Fading In Fading Out

09 Steel And Glass

10 Hi, Hi, Hi

11 Horse To The Water

12 #9 Dream

13 Morse Moose And The Grey Goose

14 Oh My Love 

Side Three

15 If You Believe

16 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive

17 Have You Seen My Baby

18 Rip It Up / Ready Teddy 

19 20 Flight Rock

20 Peggy Sue

21 Love Is Strange

22 I'm Losing You

23 Devil Woman

24 Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea

Side Four

25 Soft Hearted Hana

26 Fluid

27 When We Was Fab 

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Stevie Wonder - Redemption Songs (2010)

I'm not the only person to comment on the dearth of Stevie Wonder rarities that are available on the internet, and so for me to manage to post a third collection is something of an achievement. In 2003 a Japanese CD appeared called 'Lost Treasures', which purported to contain rarities, demos, unreleased tracks, live recordings and TV appearances from the 1960's to the 1990's, although on closer inspection it turned out that 60's tracks were just alternate takes of some of his singles, and the rest were either late 70's or early 90's recordings, but despite that there were some extremely hard to find tracks on there, so it was definitely worth getting. I always felt that it was a bit long at 21 tracks, and so decided to prune it down by removing the few songs that had been taken from 'The Secret Life Of Plants' (for some reason), as well as excising a couple of demos which weren't really up to the audio quality of the rest of the music. I decided to leave the four new songs from 'Original Musiquarium' as I don't listen to those nearly enough, and while doing all that I found a few extra rarities that I could add, which means that rather than cutting it down it actually ends up at nearly one and half hours of music, but I'm happier that everything on here is now of a universally high standard. A number of the songs were recorded to raise funds for various charities, and there are also his contributions to tribute albums to Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, and Maya Angelou, all of which just emphasises the generous nature of the man. It's rounded off with some exclusive recordings for film soundtracks, a band demo for a song gifted to Michael Jackson for his 'Off The Wall' album, and an extended alternate take of the classic 'Superstition', and so you end up with a superb collection of some of his hardest to find material, providing even more evidence of the genius that is Stevie Wonder.    

Track listing

01 Front Line (from 'Original Musiquarium' 1979)
02 Kiss Lonely Goodbye (from the soundtrack of 'The Adventures Of Pinocchio' 1996)
03 All About The Love Again (from 'Change Is Now - Renewing America's Promise' 2009) 
04 I Can't Help It (live in studio demo for Michael Jackson's 'Off The Wall' 1979)
05 Do I Do (from 'Original Musiquarium' 1979)
06 I'm The One Who Loves You (from 'A Tribute To Curtis Mayfield' 1994)
07 Superstition (long version 1972) 
08 If I Ever Had A Chance To Love You (from 'A Tribute To Maya Angelou')
09 Keep Our Love Alive (anti-apartheid song recorded 1990)
10 That Girl (from 'Original Musiquarium' 1979) 
11 Redemption Song (from the soundtrack of 'Get On The Bus' 1996)
12 (You're My) Dream Come True (from 'A Tribute To Berry Gordy' 1995)
13 Feeding Off The Love Of The Land (from 'Nobody's Child' charity album 1990)
14 Stubborn Kind Of Fellow (from 'Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye' 1995)
15 Stay Gold (from the soundtrack of 'The Outsiders' 1983)
16 Ribbon In The Sky (from 'Original Musiquarium' 1979)
17 Time To Love/Bridge Over Troubled Water (from 'Hope For Haiti Now' charity album 2010)

Dave Gilmour - ..and on guitar Vol. 2 (2004) **UPDATE**

The plan was to finish the '...and on guitar' series on a high with a double disc offering from Dave Gilmour, which follows on very nicely from the first volume. There was one track that I couldn't fit on there as it was too long, and so Supertramp's 'Brother Where You Bound' opens this volume, and is then followed by Gilmour's absolutely stunning contribution to Berlin's 'Pink And Velvet', which I'd never heard before, but must count as one of the very best pieces of work that he's ever done. Add in his contributions to pop songs by Sam Brown, Pete Cetera, Paul McCartney, Elton John and Ringo Starr, as well as more progressive tracks from Phil Manzanera, Rabbit, and Robert Wyatt, and you have a superb collection to round off the series. But as it turns out it's not the end, as a passing suggestion from Maybe The Devil, Maybe The Lord has encouraged me to put together one more collection, and this could well be how it will be in future. Any suggestions will be welcomed for possible additions, but to keep in the spirit of the series it would ideally be a guitarist who has released two or three albums on his own, or with a band, and who has also played guest guitar on other artist's albums. Session guitarists who have never released an album of their own would be outside the scope of what I was aiming for, so let's see if I've missed any that I really should have included.   

A comment by AEC has prompted me to update this post, as they suggested that I could have included Rod Stewart's remake of his 'In A Broken Dream' with Dave Gilmour and John Paul Jones. Although it wasn't actually released until 2009, as part of 'The Rod Stewart Sessions', the recording date of 1992 would slot quite nicely into the second disc on this set, and to be honest it does deserve to be there, as it contains some spellbinding guitar-work from Gilmour. If you've already got this one then just download the last four tracks again to replace in the folder, and the tags will then all be updated.    

Track listing

Disc One

01 Brother Where You Bound (from 'Brother Where You Bound' by Supertramp 1985)
02 Bound To Be (from 'The Dream Academy' by The Dream Academy' 1985)
03 Pink And Velvet (from 'Count Three And Pray' by Berlin 1986)
04 Persona (from 'Persona' by Liona Boyd 1986)
05 Immaculate Eyes (from 'She' by Dalbello 1987)
06 This Feeling (from 'Stop!' by Sam Brown 1988)
07 Conquest (from 'Dream Jungle' by Rabbit 1988)

Disc Two
01 You Never Listen To Me (from 'One More Story' by Peter Cetera 1988)
02 Run Straight Down (from 'Transverse City' by Warren Zevon 1989)
03 We Got Married (from 'Flowers in the Dirt' by Paul McCartney 1989)
04 Como El Agua (from 'Roé' by Roé 1990)
05 Waiting For The Sunshine (from 'Growing Up In Public' by Jimmy Nail 1992)
06 Understanding Women (from 'The One' by Elton John 1992)

07 In A Broken Dream (from 'The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998', recorded 1992)
08 I Think Therefore I Rock 'n' Roll (from 'Ringo Rama' by Ringo Starr 2003)
09 Forest (from 'Cuckooland' by Robert Wyatt 2003)
10 Sacred Days (from '6PM' by Phil Manzanera 2004)

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.

Cluster Ensemble - Music With Changing Parts by Philip Glass (2017)

Unlike my previous post of Philip Glass's music, which was intended to act as a primer for anyone who was unfamiliar with his work, this one is probably for fans only, as it is one of his earliest and most uncompromising works. On 31st October 2017, Slovakia's Cluster Ensemble performed Glass’s minimalist masterpiece 'Music With Changing Parts' for the first time in New York City in several decades. The ensemble’s unique take on the this work utilized live video made of digitized fragments of a dance performance, and was a spell-binding interpretation of the piece. 

Formed in 2009 in Bratislava, Slovakia, Cluster Ensemble is comprised of nine members playing three electric organs, flute, clarinet, saxophone, electric guitar, marimba and VJ. The ensemble originated with the Slovakian premiere of Steve Reich’s 'Six Pianos', performed in a piano store in Bratislava. Since then, the loose grouping of artists surrounding the artistic duo of Ivan Šiller and Fero Király have played all over the world, including Austria, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and the United States, performing rarely-played ensemble works by composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and John Cage, as well as their own projects. Fans of Philip Glass will find this a stunning interpretation of the piece, and while one hour and twelve minutes of minimalist repetition might not be everyone's cup of tea, I've played this at least once a week since I first got hold of it, and have enjoyed every minute. 

Track listing

01 Music With Changing Parts

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Madeline Bell - Thinkin' (1969)

Madeline Bell was born on July 23, 1942 in Newark, New Jersey, and enjoyed singing from an early age, touring the US as part of a gospel troupe The Glovertones by her late teens. While on the road, she was spotted by gospel singer Alex Bradford and invited to become part of his backing group, who were invited to go to London to sing in the musical 'Black Nativity'. It was there that she was spotted by EMI songwriter and producer Norman Newell, who took her under his wing and suggested that she remain in Britain. Signing to EMI, she released one single on their HMV label before moving to the Columbia Records arm of the company for her next two singles, 'You Don’t Love Me No More' in 1964, and 'Daytime' the following year. When none of her releases registered with the record-buying public, she switched to the Philips label, where she remained for most of the rest of her career. With the songs of Bacharach and David in the ascendant in the mid 60's it was no surprise that 'What The World Needs Now Is Love' was issued as a single in 1965, with a b-side of 'I Can’t Wait Until I See My Baby’s Face', which label mate Dusty Springfield later recorded for her 'Where Am I Going' album. This was the beginning of a relationship which carried on for some years, and also brought in singer Lesley Duncan, where they would all sing backing on each others recordings, and even write songs together. A couple of great singles followed in 1966 – first a version of US singer Jean Wells' 'Don’t Come Running To Me', then one of Maxine Brown's with 'One Step At A Time' – before the unlikely decision was taken to have Bell record 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain', from the Julie Andrews film 'The Sound Of Music'. She did her best with the song, but it was not the style that she was associated with, and so it was up to her next two singles to re-establish her credibility, with 'Picture Me Gone' being one of her personal favourites, and featuring a b-side that she wrote with Dusty Springfield. The second single was 'I’m Gonna Make You Love Me', which reached number 26 in America’s Billboard charts in the spring of 1968, and was her biggest hit single. With this achievement under her belt, she released her first album 'Bell’s A Poppin'' that year, and from this point on had a very productive and successful career. Despite her new-found success Stateside, she continued her bread-and-butter work as a backing singer in the UK while she searched for a follow up to the US hit, although 'Thinkin'' failed to repeat the success of its predecessor. A second album 'Doin' Things' appeared later that year, with future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones playing on the sessions, as well writing a number of songs for the album. 'We're So Much In Love', which hadn’t been included on the album, became her final solo release of the decade in the UK before she was invited to help form Blue Mink, with whom she stayed for the next half decade, releasing many hit singles and albums with them, as well as slotting in solo releases at the same time. She is still working to this day, with performances ranging from appearances at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London to tours of Europe singing jazz and popular songs, but this is where it all started, with a collection of fine soul and pop from the mid-to-late 60's.

Track listing

01 You Don't Love Me No More (single 1964) 

02 Don't Cross Over To My Side Of The Street (b-side of 'You Don't Love Me No More')

03 Daytime (single 1965)

04 What The World Needs Now Is Love (single 1965)

05 I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face (b-side of 'What The World Needs Now')

06 One Step At A Time (single 1966

07 You Won't See Me (b-side of 'One Step At A Time')

08 Don't Come Running To Me (single 1966) 

09 I Really Got Carried Away (b-side of 'Don't Come Running To Me')

10 Go Ahead On (b-side of 'Picture Me Gone' 1967)

11 Climb Ev'ry Mountain (single 1967)

12 It Makes No Difference Now (b-side of 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain')

13 Thinkin' (single 1968)

14 Don't Give Your Love Away (b-side of 'Thinkin'')

15 What'm I Supposed To Do (b-side of 'Hold It')

16 We're So Much In Love (single 1969) 

17 How Much Do I Love You (b-side of 'We're So Much In Love')

Doe - Basement (2015)

Doe formed in London in early 2013, after Nicola Leel and Jake Popyura, who had met through a classified ad the previous year, cemented the initial lineup with the addition of guitarist Alessandro 'Alex' Sorenti. Their formation was quickly followed by a string of UK shows, and three EP releases, before Sorenti left the band and was replaced by Matthew Sykes. In 2014 they released a compilation LP of their early EPs, entitled 'First Four', and 2015 saw the release of the single 'Avalanche/Basement' on Fierce Panda Records. Sykes parted ways with the band in September that year and was replaced by Dean Smithers, and in March 2016, Doe recorded their debut full-length record 'Some Things Last Longer Than You', releasing it in September of that year. Their second album 'Grow Into It' came out in September 2018, immediately followed by tours of the UK and Europe, including dates with Speedy Ortiz and Dilly Dally. Once the tours were complete, Doe announced they would be splitting up following a final London show in September 2019. The band had been posting new songs on Soundcloud since they first started, and I'd collected quite a few before their albums were released, and so now is the time to compile some of the tracks that didn't make it to their albums into one final tribute to a fine little indie rock band.  

Track listing

01 Late Bloomer
02 Julia Survived

03 Gigantic
04 Nowhere Girl

05 Oh, Nostalgia!

06 Redo/Improve

07 Broken Souvenirs

08 Work In Progress

09 Bright Eyed

10 Avalanche

11 Sedated

12 Susanne

13 This Isn't Home

14 Basement

The Beatles - Stairway To Heaven (1963)

While 'Stairway To Heaven' is undoubtedly one of Led Zeppelin's most famous songs, it's not generally know that they took the basis of their recording from a previously unknown song by The Beatles. They may have given it a new arrangement, and slowed down the pace, but lyrically it was pretty much identical. The Beatles only ever performed the song live a few times, later recycling the intro for 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', but a tape of one of the performances has recently come to light, and so we can now hear where Zep got the inspiration for their iconic recording. I don't usually post videos, but this was such an amazing find that it needs to be shared. 

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Brown Star (1972)

When Captain Beefheart started thinking about his next album in 1971, he took the band into the studio and recorded about thirty-five tracks, of which ten were eventually chosen to become 'The Spotlight Kid' - Beefheart's only album to be released under just his own name. Said Bill Harkleroad "We just went in there in the typical way that we worked. Just take it, keep it, move on. Don was trying to use the studio more. (He thought) here we are, they’re paying for it, let’s get the most out of it and put some things down – unfinished licks and riffs that he thought were songs. It was a very incomplete, uncontrolled situation, like "What the hell’s going on, what are we playing and where does this go?" Even with tunes that were "done", and that people think are great, a lot of them were unfinished ideas with a part missing here and there." There are more out-takes for 'The Spotlight Kid' than any other album, and that might just be a lack of quality control for a brief period in history, but as the band was note perfect on arrival, and rehearsal space is not the big expense, they just played and recorded as soon as they arrived. 'Harry Irene' appears for some reason in a spacious, lilting, delicate version, close to the final take, yet a decade away from release. 'Funeral Hill' is also well represented; if the tapes are anything to go by, they played that more often than anything else. It's just possible to believe that it metamorphosed into 'There Ain’t No Santa Claus On The Evenin’ Stage', but an argument can also be put forward for 'Glider' as well. Beefheart obviously had great faith in both that and 'Little Scratch', although the latter at least changed cosmetically, becoming 'Natural Charm' before it finally achieved release as 'The Past Sure Is Tense', in a much changed format. The harmonica featured on 'Seam Crooked Sam' in a terrific introduction to the track, and the two takes of 'Pompadour' total 25 minutes of the band just enjoying themselves in the studio, and is a mile away from the 'Shiny Beast' version. 

During 1971 Beefheart had unprecedented access to studio time, presumably courtesy of Reprise, and so a lot of the rehearsals, jams etc. seem to have been recorded, as preparations for recording 'The Spotlight Kid', 'Brown Star' and 'Clear Spot' albums, and while the first and last of these did make it out of the studio, 'Brown Star' has long remained a legendary unreleased album. Apparently Beeheart realised that 'Brown Star' wasn't happening and aborted it; then had a rest and had another go which Ted Templeman moulded into 'Clear Spot', but there are enough unused tracks left over, even after removing the 'Spotlight Kid' and 'Clear Spot' rehearsals, to piece together an album that could have slotted in between those two in 1972. Of the songs that you might recognise, 'Circumstances' is a completely different take to the 'Clear Spot' version, so I've included that here, alongside that aforementioned jazzy take of 'Harry Irene', as that was originally recorded at these sessions'. 'Pompadour' is edited down from the two 13-minute jams, eventually becoming 'Suction Prints', 'Grow Fins', and 'Flaming Autograph', and 'Well Well Well' was an out-take from 'Lick My Decals Off, Baby', and I'm adding it in here as it is apparently the only thing from that 'Decals' session which was mixed down for inclusion but was then rejected. The rest is a mixture of the best instrumentals and vocal tracks recorded at the 1971 sessions, and while I'll admit that 'Clear Spot' and 'The Spotlight Kid' used the best songs, there is still some stuff on here which is worth hearing. 

Track listing

01 Pompadour
02 Little Scratch  
03 Campfires        
04 Funeral Hill
05 The Witch Doctor Life 
06 Kiss Me My Love 
07 Well Well Well 
08 Your Love Brought Me To Life
09 Circumstances
10 Seam Crooked Sam 
11 Harry Irene

Chris Spedding - that mysterious bonus track

As a bit of a joke I added in a bonus track to the second disc of Chris Spedding's '...and on guitar' post, expecting most people to guess that it was Spedding's contribution to the work of The Wombles, which was a project by UK singer/songwriter Mike Batt, and for which Spedding contributed guitar on all their material. While I'm sure most UK visitors got it, it was pointed out to me this week that The Wombles don't actually mean that much in the US, and so the joke would have fallen flat over there. Coincidentally I was playing one of their albums today and realised that there is actually a much better track by the group which highlights Spedding's guitarwork, and so although strictly speaking it's outside the timeframe of the post, I've decided to add it in as a genuine addition to the running order, so the revised track listing is below, and you can get it from Soulseek and use it to replace the bonus track on the original album.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Sunshades (from 'Mantle-Piece' by The Battered Ornaments 1969)
02 Late Into The Night (from 'Our Point Of View' by Frank Ricotti Quartet 1969)
03 Tickets To Waterfalls (from 'Songs For A Tailor' by Jack Bruce 1969)
04 Got No Home (from 'Deep Down Heavy' by Bob Downes 1970)
05 Persephone's Jive (from 'Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises' by Neil Ardley 1970)
06 Throb (from 'Michael Gibbs' by Michael Gibbs 1970)
07 A New Awakening (from '1969' by Julie Driscoll 1971)
08 Twisted Track (from 'Elastic Rock' by Nucleus 1970)
09 The Pirate's Dream (from 'A Story Ended' by Dick Heckstall-Smith 1972)
10 Pieces Of Me (from 'Pieces Of Me' by Linda Hoyle 1971)
11 Technology (from 'Solid Gold Cadillac' by Solid Gold Cadillac 1972)

Disc Two
01 Woman In My Life (from 'd'Abo' by Mike d'Abo 1970)
02 Philwit's Fantasies (from 'Philwit & Pegasus' by Philwit & Pegasus 1970)
03 Daffodils (from 'Loudwater House' by Tony Hazzard 1971)
04 Mr. Rubin (from 'Sing Children Sing' by Lesley Duncan 1971)
05 Hampstead Way (from 'Say No More...' by Linda Lewis 1971)
06 Climb Up On My Music (from 'Coming From Reality' by Rodriguez 1971)
07 Down (from 'Nilsson Schmilsson' by Nilsson 1971)
08 Madman Across The Water (from 'Madman Across The Water' by Elton John 1971)
09 Avalon (from 'Matthew Ellis' by Matthew Ellis 1972)
10 Penthouse Pauper (from 'Panhandle' by Panhandle 1972)
11 Virginia (from 'Queues' by Vigrass & Osborne 1972)
12 One More Time Around (from 'Vaughan Thomas' by Vaughan Thomas 1972)
13 Oh Babe (from 'Meanwhile... Back At The World' by Roger Cook 1972)
14 The Empty Tidy Bag Blues (from 'Superwombling' by The Wombles 1975)

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.

Al Di Meola - ...and on guitar (1993)

Al Laurence Dimeola (aka Al Di Meola) was born on 22 July 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, attending Bergenfield High School. In 1971 he enrolled in Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1974 he joined Chick Corea's band, Return To Forever, playing with the band until a major lineup shift in 1976, which was the year that saw the release of their masterpiece album 'Romantic Warrior', featuring the classic line-up of Corea, Di Meola, Stanley Clark, and Lenny White. At the beginning of his career he was noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar solos and compositions, but even on his early albums he had begun to explore Mediterranean cultures and acoustic genres like flamenco, and he continued to explore Latin music within the jazz fusion genre on albums like 'Casino' and 'Splendido Hotel', as well as guesting on a number of albums by Greek musician George Dalares. He also exhibited a more subtle touch on acoustic numbers like 'Fantasia Suite For Two Guitars' from his 'Casino' album, and on the best-selling live album with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia, 'Friday Night In San Francisco'. With Scenario he explored the electronic side of jazz in a collaboration with Jan Hammer, and this led to him expanding his horizons further with the acoustic album 'Cielo e Terra'. Because of his technique on his early recordings, Di Meola became arguably the most important pioneer of shred guitar, leading to him being invited to sit in with Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention at one of their gigs in 1981, which luckily was recorded. In addition to a prolific solo career, he has engaged in successful collaborations with bassist Stanley Clarke, keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and guitarists John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía, as well as guesting on a select number of records from former band-mates and friends.

Track listing

01 Prince Of The Sea (from 'Venusian Summer' by Lenny White 1975)
02 Stellar (from 'Go' by Stomu Yamash'ta 1976)
03 Clownz On Velvet (from live concert with Frank Zappa November 1981)
04 Compadres (from 'Touchstone' by Chick Corea 1982)
05 Allergies (from 'Hearts And Bones' by Paul Simon 1983)
06 Perasmenes Mou Agapes (from 'Latin' by George Dalares 1988)
07 Tangos (from 'Jazzpana' by Vince Mendoza & Arif Mardin 1993)

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.

Bo Diddley - It's All About Me (1965)

Ellas Otha Bates was born in McComb, Mississippi on 30th December 1928, and was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the South Side of Chicago, where he dropped Otha from his name and became Ellas McDaniel. He was an active member of Chicago's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and violin, becoming so proficient on the violin that the musical director invited him to join the orchestra, although he was more interested in the pulsating, rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal Church and took up the guitar instead. He supplemented his income as a carpenter and mechanic by playing on street corners with friends, and by 1951 he was playing on the street with backing from Roosevelt Jackson on washtub bass and Jody Williams. That was also the year he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club, on Chicago's South Side, and in late 1954 he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James and bass player Roosevelt Jackson to record demos of his songs 'I'm a Man' and 'Bo Diddley'. By this time he'd adopted the name Bo Diddley as his stage persona, although the origin of the name is unclear. McDaniel claimed that his school classmates in Chicago gave him the nickname, which he started using when sparring and boxing in the neighborhood, even though he suspected it was an insult, but he has also said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother knew. Harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold said that it was a local comedian's name, which Leonard Chess adopted as McDaniel's stage name and the title of his first single. Whatever the truth, when the single 'Bo Diddley' was released in March 1955, it became a number one R&B hit, and a legend was born. One of the unique aspects of Diddley's career is that he often wrote songs about this adopted persona, and it occurred to me that by collecting all the songs which were written about this ubiquitous character, we would have a really interesting overview of his career, as it would include well-known hits, obscure album tracks, and some classy instrumentals. So here is the life of Bo Diddley in music, covering his professional career as a lumberjack, gunslinger and outlaw, his personal life as a lover and father ('Diddley Daddy', 'Run Diddley Daddy'), and relaxing at the Hootenanny and on vacation.

Track listing

01 Bo Diddley 
02 Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger 
03 Bo's Guitar 
04 Bo Diddley Is An Outlaw 
05 Hey! Bo Diddley 
06 Bo's Bounce
07 Bo Diddley's Hootenanny
08 Bo's A Lumberjack
09 Bo Diddley Is A Lover  
10 Bo's Twist 
11 Diddley Daddy
12 The Story Of Bo Diddley 
13 Bo Meets The Monster 
14 Bo's Vacation
15 Bo Diddley Is Loose  
16 Run Diddley Daddy

Adrienne Posta - Backstreet Girl (1976)

Adrienne Luanne Poster was born on 4th March 1949 in London, England, and demonstrated a love of performing from the beginning of her childhood, attending the highly regarded theater preparatory school the Italia Conti Academy. She made her acting debut in the film 'No More Tears' at the age of 11, and later appeared in the television soap 'Harpers West One', which launched singer John Leyton. While she was a student at the Italia Conti Academy, she started dating Steve Marriott, who later became lead singer with the Small Faces, and in 1963, while he was playing in a band called the Moments, she would once in a while go along with him in front of an audience and the pair would play out a two-part harmony of 'Twist and Shout'. She was signed to Oriole Records who released her first single 'Only Fifteen' in 1963, when she was in fact 14 years old, but despite exposure on 'Ready, Steady, Go!' it was not a success. In 1964 she came under the wing of the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who produced her version of a Jagger/Richards song 'Shang A Doo Lang' for Decca Records, in the style of Phil Spector. The liaison was short-lived, and in 1965 session drummer Bobby Graham took charge for her reading of the Supremes' 'He Doesn’t Love Me', while her next single 'The Wind That Blows' was published by Jimmy Page's company, but these all star connections failed to lift the her career. 'Something Beautiful' and 'They Long To be Close To You' followed in 1966, with the latter single being the first under her new name of Posta. Acting now took precedence, with film roles in 'To Sir With Love', 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush', 'Up The Junction' and 'Percy', as well as appearing in several 70s sex/comedy films, including 'Adventures Of A Taxi Driver'. Her version of the film's theme song 'Cruisin’ Casanova' was issued on President Records in 1976, but this was to be her final recording, with acting then becoming her full-time career. While romantically involved with ex-Marbles singer Graham Bonnet in 1973 (they later married), she released a single written by him called 'Dog Song', which may have been a reference to the fact that they owned the Old English Sheepdog which starred in the Dulux paint adverts in the 70's. Although primarily known for her acting roles in British comedy films of the 60's and 70's, her singing career is often over-looked, and so this collection hopes to put that right.

Track listing

01 Only Fifteen (single 1963)
02 There's Nothing You Can Do About That (b-side of 'Only Fifteen')
03 Shang A Doo Lang (single 1964)
04 When A Girl Really Loves You (b-side of 'Shang A Doo Lang')
05 He Doesn't Love Me (single 1965)
06 The Way You Do The Things You Do (b-side of 'He Doesn't Love Me')
07 The Winds That Blow (single 1965)
08 Backstreet Girl (b-side of 'The Winds That Blow')
09 Something Beautiful (single 1966)
10 So Glad You're Mine (b-side of 'Something Beautiful')
11 They Long To Be Close To You (single 1966)
12 How Can I Hurt You? (b-side of 'They Long To Be Close To You')
13 Dog Song (single, with Graham Bonnet 1973)
14 Express Yourself (b-side of 'Dog Song')
15 Cruisin' Casanova (single 1976)
16 Sing Me (b-side of 'Cruisin' Casanova')

Over Sands - Memory House (2018)

Over Sands are a duo, comprising brothers Tom and Ben Stephens. Originally from Frome in Somerset, the pair had been playing in bands together for a while but the Over Sands project started back in the winter of 2012 in a beach house on a nature reserve in Essex. They later moved to London, but after a couple of years they decided to take some time away to write some songs, and the result of this was their first single 'Tune Out', which appeared in early 2014. "The track is a kaleidoscope of genres really" said Ben, "as we were listening to a lot of ambient music when writing it. We wanted the drums to have a sort of jazz feel, but obviously we have added some electronic elements to the percussion too. The vocals took on a sort of bluesy/gospel feel, mostly by accident. Basically we did whatever felt right for the track." Over the next couple of years further singles were issued, and tracks uploaded to Soundcloud, but things have been very quiet over the past three years, making me think that they have now split. If this is correct, then they have left behind an impressive collection of songs, which could easily have been released as an album had they so desired.    

Track listing

01 Heartbeat
02 Memory House
03 Twin Peaks Theme (Falling)
04 Tune Out
05 Hounds
06 Gyroscope
07 New Year
08 Two Cranes
09 Isthmus