Canned Heat - Poor Moon (1970)

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

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

Track listing

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

Dodgy - Sylvia's Bedroom (1993)

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

Track listing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Donovan - One Night In Time (1993)

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

Track listing

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

IV League - Varsity (2019)

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

Track listing

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

Jackie Lee - Lonely Clown (1967)

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

Track listing

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

Bonus E.P. by Emma Rede

Track listing

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

Airbag - Speed Of Light (2007)

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

Track listing

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

The Rolling Stones - Hillside Blues (1971)

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

Track listing

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

Dodgy - Summer Fayre (1993)

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

Track listing

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

Christine Quaite - Guilty Eyes (1966)

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

Track listing

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

Sons Of Zöku - Sleepless (2020)

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

Track listing

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

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Down South Jukin' (1977)

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

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

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

Track listing

01 Mr. Banker (demo 1973)

02 Down South Jukin' (demo 1973)

03 Tuesday's Gone (demo 1973)

04 Gimme Three Steps (demo 1973)

05 Was I Right Or Wrong (demo 1974)

06 Georgia Peaches (previously unreleased 1977)

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

08 Sweet Little Missy (previously unreleased 1977)

09 Jacksonville Kid (previously unreleased 1977)

Dodgy - The Dodgy Club (1998)

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

 

Track listing

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

The Mars Volta - Landscape Tantrums (2021)

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

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