Kylie Minogue - Always And Forever (2001)

In 1997 Kylie Minogue released her sixth studio album 'Impossible Princess', representing a drastic change in her musical direction, incorporating elements of electronica and alternative music. The British public was unimpressed, viewing it as a trend-chasing attempt, and failed to identify with her new intimate image as "IndieKylie", with the backlash resulting in 'Impossible Princess' having little impact on British record charts, and ultimately resulting in her leaving Deconstruction Records after a six-year relationship. Following the split, Minogue took a break from recording music to focus on her acting career, although she did perform Duran Duran's 'The Reflex' on the tribute compilation 'Undone: The Songs Of Duran Duran' in 1999, and she also collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on a duet entitled 'In Denial' on their 1999 studio album 'Nightlife'. This prompted the band's label Parlophone to sign Minogue in June 1999, and in an early meeting with the label to discuss which direction she intended to pursue, she decided to return to her pop roots, as she realised that this was the kind of music that people wanted from her. Her team approached PWL owner Pete Waterman to be involved in the project, as the pair had worked together earlier in her career, but the collaboration did not happen. Instead she felt that working with different producers would help the album have a diverse feel, and so she recorded the songs in Sydney, London, and finally Los Angeles, where she put the final touches to the album. Former Take That member Robbie Williams contributed three songs with his songwriting partner Guy Chambers, 'Loveboat', 'Your Disco Needs You', and 'Kids', with Minogue sharing the songwriting credit on the first two, and she found Williams to be her ideal male counterpart based on their similar musical output. 'Spinning Around' was released as the lead single from the 'Light Years' album in June 2000, with two previously unreleased tracks on the flip, the alternative dance number 'Cover Me With Kisses' and the acoustic 'Paper Dolls'. The second single was 'On A Night Like This', and once again it had a new track on the b-side, being the ballad 'Ocean Blue', whereas the next release was the duet with Williams, with 'Kids' having four original tracks by Williams on the b-side, and Minogue only appearing on the A-side. The fourth single 'Please Stay' was the final release from 'Light Years' in the UK, and was backed by two exclusive b-sides, being a cover of 'Santa Baby' (omitted from this post as it didn't really fit with the other tracks) and the previously unreleased 'Good Life'. One last single was released just in Australia and Germany, and fans who bought 'Your Disco Needs You' were treated to specially commissioned re-mixes of the A-side plus album track 'Password'. 'Light Years' received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, and in retrospect is generally considered to be one of Minogue's strongest releases, and so a companion record of b-sides, film soundtrack work, collaborations, and the theme to the UK soap/drama 'Night And Day' should be equally strong, and it turns out to be just that, so enjoy some rare Kylie at her poptastic best. 

Track listing

01 Cover Me With Kisses (b-side of 'Spinning Around' 2000)
02 Paper Dolls (b-side of 'Spinning Around' 2000)
03 Ocean Blue (b-side of 'On A Night Like This' 2000)
04 Physical (bonus track on Australian edition of 'Light Years')
05 The Reflex (with Ben Lee, from 'UnDone', the Duran Duran tribute album 1999)
06 Good Life (b-side of 'Please Stay' 2000)
07 Always And Forever (theme to the TV series 'Night And Day' 2001)
08 I Feel Love (Donna Summer cover)
09 Bury Me Deep In Love (with Jimmy Little, from 'Corroboration', the Australian comp. 2001)
10 The Real Thing (from the soundtrack of the film 'Sample People' 2000)
11 G-House Project (from 'When Young Terrorists Chase The Sun' by Gerling 2001)

Jan Akkerman - ...and on guitar (2001)

I've already covered Jan Akkeran's early years in my 'Minstrel' post, which took him up to the solo albums that he released in 1972 and 1973, so this collection of guest appearances follows on nicely from that one, as it starts in the early 70's and includes his collaborations with fellow musicians over the next 30 years. His solo career actually dated from 1968, though his attempt at a solo album, later titled 'Guitar For Sale', and which contained his covers of numbers such as 'What'd I Say', 'Ode to Billy Joe', and 'Green Onions', was so primitive by the standards of the time that it was deemed unreleasable until Akkerman started topping reader surveys as best rock guitarist in the mid-'70s. Although it's unlikely that it would have been heard much in the UK, you can hear his early prowess on 'The Morning After The Third' by Hans Dulfer & Ritmo Natural from 1970, which came out two years before his first real solo album, 1972's 'Profile'. The music on that album was actually recorded in 1969, while he was still a member of Brainbox, and so it wasn't util 1974's 'Tabernakel' that the music reflected his interests at the time, which included the lute. Having finally acquired a medieval lute of his own, he taught himself to play it, and the results comprise more than half of the album, with authentic medieval music mixed with originals composed in a medieval style. After leaving Focus in 1976, Akkerman began releasing a stream of solo albums, beginning with the concept offering 'Eli', and this also gave him more time to offer his services as a guitarist for hire, mostly appearing on records by fellow Dutch artists such as The Tielman Brothers, The Joachim Kuhn Band, Mark Nauseef, and André Hazes. His own albums frequently embraced classical, jazz, and blues, and much of his work during the 1980's wasn't released officially outside of Holland, but in 1990 he issued the album 'The Noise Of Art' in the US on Miles Copeland's I.R.S label, and this revitalized him in terms of releases, becoming more active than he had been in over a decade, although this caused the guest appearances to slow down as a consequence. When he did show up on someone else's album his guitar-work was as fluid and emotive as ever - just listen to him on Ange's 'Autour D'Un Cadavre Exquis' from 2001. Akkerman's first two albums of the new century, 'Jazzah!' in 2000 and 'I'm In The Mood' in 2002, were self-released, but gained much acclaim from critics and the public alike, and 2003's 'C.U. On Coast To Coast' even earned him a place in the Dutch charts. He continues to record and release albums to this day, and I mentioned 2019's 'Close Beauty' in the last post, so enjoy this celebration of his contribution to Dutch music over the years, both as a solo artist, with his bands, and with these collaborations with his fellow countrymen. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 The Morning After The Third (from 'The Morning After The Third' by Hans Dulfer 

                                                                                                                 & Ritmo Natural 1970)
02 The Sky Has Called Us Out To Dance (from 'Scarecrow's Journey' by Robin Lent 1971)
03 Get Out Of My Fridge (from 'Two Sides Of Peter Banks' by Peter Banks 1973) 
04 Be-Bop-A-Lula (from 'Rock And Roll, Our First Love' by The Tielman Brothers 1976)
05 Orange Drive (from 'Sunshower' by Joachim Kuhn Band 1978) 
06 Don't Want Nobody (from 'J.D. Drews' by J.D. Drews 1980) 
07 Doctor Marathon Parts I & II (from 'Personal Note' by Mark Nauseef 1982)
08 Volgens Mij Ben Ik Getrouwd (from 'Dit Is Wat Ik Wil' by André Hazes 1989) 

Disc Two
01 Atlantis (from 'Atlantis: Bilder Från En Ö' by Björn J:son Lindh 1983)
02 I Lose Again (from 'The Talisman' by Forcefield 1988)
03 Stealth (from 'Guitar Speak II' by Various Artists 1990) 
04 Blij En Bang  (from 'Mijn Hart Slaapt Nooit' by Henny Vrienten 1991)
05 Soul Detective (from 'Soul Detective' by Bernard Oattes 1995)
06 Autour D'Un Cadavre Exquis (from 'Culinaire Lingus' by Ange 2001)

Opal - Early Recordings Vol. 2 - (1991)

I'm a big fan of the Paisley Underground genre of the early 80's, as you might have gathered by my posts from The Dream Syndicate, but there were others bands that were just as good, most notably The Rain Parade, Green On Red, The Three O'Clock, and even The Bangles, and in this case Clay Allison. Clay Allison was an offshoot band composed of David Roback and Will Glenn of The Rain Parade, Kendra Smith of The Dream Syndicate, Sylvia Juncosa of The Leaving Trains, and Keith Mitchell of Monitor, and they released one single before changing their name to Opal and releasing some of their old recordings on the 1984 'Fell From The Sun' and 1985 'Northern Line' EPs. In 1987 they issued their only album 'Happy Nightmare Baby', but Smith left the group during the Happy Nightmare tour after a show in Providence, Rhode Island, and so Roback continued with vocalist Hope Sandoval, playing shows as Opal and planning an album to be titled 'Ghost Highway'. In 1989 they decided on a name change and became Mazzy Star, and 'Ghost Highway' was presumably released as their debut album 'She Hangs Brightly' in 1990. In 1989 the 'Early Recordings' album was released, collecting some songs from their EPs, a couple of Clay Allison tracks and some previously unreleased recordings. It showed what a great band they were, and what a shame it was that they didn't stay together longer. As further proof of this, here's a second volume of early recordings, mixing some songs from a 1984 promo sampler by Clay Allison with some great unheard tracks by an early Opal. Kendra Smith released a number of solo singles, EPs, and one album before retiring to the woods of northern California, and David Roback died in Los Angeles on February 24 2020 from metastatic cancer, at the age of just 61. 

Track listing

01 My Canyon Memory
02 Sisters Of Mercy
03 Sailing Boats
04 Vespers
05 Lisa's Funeral
06 This Town
07 Freight Train
08 Wintertime
09 Little Bit Of Rain
10 What You've Done
11 Cherry Jam
12 Indian Summer

Teena Marie - Black Rain (2002)

In 1976 singer Tina Marie (born Mary Christine Brockert) gained an introduction to Motown Records staff producer Hal Davis, which led to an audition for a film about orphans that was being developed by Motown, and although the project was shelved, label boss Berry Gordy was impressed enough by her singing to sign her as a solo act. She recorded unreleased material with a number of different producers over the next few years, before being spotted by label-mate Rick James, who was immediately impressed with her sound, and worked with her on her debut album 'Wild And Peaceful', which was issued under her new name of Teena Marie in 1979. Her second album followed in 1980, and 'Lady T' was produced by Richard Rudolph (the widower of R&B singer Minnie Riperton), as she'd asked Berry Gordy to contact Rudolph as Rick James was unavailable. She released her third album the same year, and 'Irons In The Fire' was written and produced mostly by Teena Marie herself, an achievement considered rare at the time for a female artist. She continued her success with Motown in 1981, with the release of 'It Must Be Magic', but in 1982 she got into a heated legal battle with Motown Records over her contract, and there were disagreements about releasing her new material. The lawsuit resulted in "The Brockert Initiative", which made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. In such instances, artists are able to sign and release their music with another label instead of being held back by an un-supportive one. She subsequently signed a worldwide deal with Epic Records, releasing the concept album 'Robbery', followed in 1984 by her biggest-selling album 'Starchild', and more albums were issued over the next few years. 

During the 1990's, her classic R&B, soul, and funk records were either sampled by hip-hop artists or covered by R&B divas, and Teena Marie became regarded as something of a pioneer in helping to bring hip-hop to the mainstream by becoming one of the first artists of her time to rap on her single 'Square Biz'. In late 1994 she released the 'Passion Play' album on her independent label Sarai Records, after which she took a break from the music business to raise her daughter Alia Rose. During the late 1990's, she began working on a new album, to be called 'Black Rain', but she was unable to secure a major label deal for it, and she didn't want to put it out on her own Sarai label in light of the modest sales of 'Passion Play'. A number of songs were pretty much completed and put onto a promo CD, but this was soon bootlegged by fans, and so tracks such as 'The Mackin' Game', 'I'll Take The Pressure', 'Butterflies", and 'Blackberry Playa' were able to be heard by fans while she sought out a label to release it. Eventually she put the record on the back burner, and then, after a 10-year hiatus from the music industry, she resumed her musical career by signing with the Classics sub-label of the successful hip-hop label Cash Money Records, and releasing her eleventh album 'La Doña' in 2004. 'La Doña' used a number of songs that were originally recorded for 'Black Rain', with 'My Body's Hungry', 'Baby I'm Your Friend', 'The Mackin' Game', and 'Black Rain' itself appearing in re-recorded versions, and 'Ecstasy' was included on the follow-up album 'Sapphire' in 2006, but the other nine songs have remained officially unreleased, so you can now hear them here, including the lovely duet with Pretty Terry of the Polyester Players on 'Butterflies'. I think the cover is a particularly unflattering picture of the singer, but as I believe that it was intended to be the actual sleeve of the record I've used it for this post.  

Track listing

01 Intro - The Mackin' Game
02 I'll Take The Pressure
03 Baby I'm Your Friend
04 My Body's Hungry
05 Ecstasy
06 Fire
07 1999
08 Black Rain
09 Whatchu Got 4 Me
10 Butterflies
11 Spanish Harlem
12 Blackberry Playa
13 The Perfect Feeling
14 Rainbow

Ellery Bop - Imperial Way (1983)

Ellery Bop formed in early 1981 in Huyton, Merseyside, and consisted of Jamie Farrell on vocals and guitar, Mark Parry (later Thunderboots, Steppin’ Razor, Western Promise) on drums, Robbie Butcher on bass, and Kev Connolly on percussion, and they were joined for their 1982 single 'Ringing' by future Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie on bass. They toured infrequently, supporting Killing Joke at one point, but they did record several sessions for the BBC with John Peel and Janice Long. A John Peel session was recorded live at the London I.C.A., and they claimed bands such as MC5, The Stooges, Ramones, Heartbreakers and The Clash as their influences. They released a clutch of fine singles in the early 80's, but were yet another of a myriad of bands from that period who split up without every recording an album, even though they had easily enough material for one. As they didn't do it themselves, then it's down to me to do it for them, so here is the album that they could have released around 1983 if they'd wanted to, although after a two year gap they did issue one last single 'Torn Apart' in 1985. This post is a sort of follow-up to the recent 'Liverpool Peel Sessions' album, as while putting that together I found that there were a number of bands of the era who actually released enough music for their own stand-alone post, and so this is the first of them.  

Track listing 

01 Hit The Moon (single 1981)
02 One True Way (b-side of 'Hit The Moon')
03 Sharp Star Rising (John Peel session 1981)
04 Ringing (single 1982)
05 Fight And Desire (b-side of 'Ringing')
06 We Deny (single 1982)
07 To Fall (b-side of 'We Deny')
08 51st State (John Peel session 1982)
09 Imperial Way (John Peel session 1982)
10 Guilt (John Peel session 1982)
11 Fire In Reflection (12" single 1983)
12 Blind (12" single 1983)
13 The Calling (12" single 1983)
14 Jihad (12" single 1983)
15 A Scream To Touch (John Peel session 1983)
16 Ourselves Alone (John Peel session 1983)
17 Twisted (John Peel session 1983)

XYZ - Telephone Secrets (1982)

In December 1980 Yes bassist Chris Squire met Jimmy Page by chance at a party, and the idea of forming a group together was mooted, to be called XYZ, which was short for eX-Yes-Zeppelin. Squire brought along drummer Alan White, and they also recruited former Greenslade keyboard player and vocalist Dave Lawson. Squire was the main writer for the group, and Page believed the band needed a strong vocalist, so sought out his old pal Robert Plant, and although he did attend one rehearsal on 28 February 1981, he decided not to join the group, citing his dislike for the complexity of the music, and because he was still deeply hurt by the recent death of his long-time friend and band-mate John Bonham. Without a firm commitment from Plant, and with contractual issues on who should manage the group (Peter Grant or Brian Lane), the project was shelved, but not before four demo recordings had been made with Squire on vocals. With XYZ's future in limbo, Squire and White recorded a Christmas single called 'Run With The Fox' in October 1981, and they then asked guitarist Trevor Rabin to join them and form the band Cinema, along with old Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye. Rabin initially attempted to rework the XYZ material along with his solo songs for the new group, and they recorded a few demos, but they then decided to invite Jon Anderson into the group, and Cinema evolved into a new line-up of Yes. The demos produced from the Cinema sessions included 'Make It Easy' and 'It's Over', with lead vocals by Rabin, and an early version of 'It Can Happen' featuring Squire on vocals, which have since appeared on Yes re-issues, but they also recorded a 20-minute instrumental called 'Time', and another unreleased track entitled 'Carry On'. In 1983 the new Yes line-up released the '90125' album, which included the introduction from 'Time' as an instrumental called 'Cinema', as a tribute to the aborted band. Other XYZ and Cinema songs turned up later, with one instrumental being reworked to become part of 'Mind Drive' on the 1997 Yes album 'Keys To Ascension', while 'Can You See' became 'Can You Imagine' on 2001's 'Magnification'. Part of another XYZ instrumental was used as the intro to The Firm's 'Fortune Hunter', which was fair as Squire has mentioned that Page brought the riff to the band anyway. This album collects together all of the above-mentioned tracks except 'Time', which has never surfaced, and as the whole thing started with that chance meeting by Squire and Page, I'm counting it as a lost XYZ album, as Squire and White are constant members throughout the recordings.  

Track listing

01 Can You See (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
02 Mind Drive (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
03 Telephone Secrets (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
04 Fortune Hunter (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
05 Run With The Fox (Squire, White)
06 It Can Happen (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
07 Make It Easy (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
08 It's Over (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
09 Carry On (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)

Derek Trucks - ...and on guitar (2010)

Derek Trucks was born on 8 June 1979 in Jacksonville, Florida, and he bought his first guitar at a yard sale for $5 at age nine, becoming a child prodigy and playing his first paid performance at age 11. He began playing the guitar using a slide because it allowed the young guitarist to play despite his small hands, and by his 13th birthday he'd played alongside Buddy Guy and toured with Thunderhawk. Trucks formed The Derek Trucks Band in 1994, and by his 20th birthday he'd played with such artists as Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, and Stephen Stills. In 1999 he toured as a member of Phil Lesh & Friends, and after performing with The Allman Brothers Band for several years as a guest musician, he became a formal member in 1999, now playing alongside his uncle, drummer Butch Trucks. In 2006 Trucks began a studio collaboration with JJ Cale and Eric Clapton called The Road To Escondido and performed with three bands in 17 different countries that year. Trucks and his wife, Susan Tedeschi, combined their bands to form the Soul Stew Revival in 2007 and performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2008, putting his own band on hiatus, and in 2010 they officially dissolved. Trucks formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, and in 2014 he announced that he and fellow guitarist Warren Haynes planned to leave the Allman Brothers Band at the end of the year, prompting the Allmans to announce their retirement. Trucks credits guitarist Duane Allman and bluesman Elmore James as the two slide guitarists who influenced his early style, but has since been inspired by John Lee Hooker, Ali Akbar Khan, Howlin' Wolf, and Albert King, among many others. His music is rooted in blues and rock, embracing jam band, Southern rock, and jazz, playing an eclectic blend of blues, soul, jazz, rock, and qawwali music (a genre of music from Pakistan and western India). While still a member of the Allmans, he started to appear as a guest player on various rock, blues and jazz albums from fellow musicians, and a selection of them appear here, showing why he's twice graced the Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Track listing

Disc One
01 Wanted Man (from 'Storm Warning' by Tinsley Ellis 1994) 
02 I Gotta Girl She Lives Up On The Hill (from 'CeDell Davis' by CeDell Davis 1994) 
03 That's All Right (from 'Come On In This House' by Junior Wells 1996) 
04 Neighbour, Neighbour (from 'Searching For Simplicity' by Gregg Allman 1997)
05 Why Are People Like That (from 'Secrets Of The Heart' by Bobby Charles 1998)
06 Soulshine (from 'With A Little Help From Our Friends' by Gov't Mule 1999)
07 Row Jimmy (from 'Laughing Water' by Jazz Is Dead 1999)
08 Kerouac (from 'The Flower And The Knife' by Kevin Kinney 2000)
09 Ganja (from 'Croakin' At Toad's' by Frogwings 2000)

Disc Two
01 Mud Bug (from 'Project Z' by Project Z 2001)
02 I'm Gonna Move Away From Here (from 'Wait For Me' by Susan Tedeschi 2002)
03 Pineapple Heart (from 'Little Worlds' by Bela Fleck 2003)
04 How Ya Livin' (from 'The Calling' by The Aquarium Rescue Unit 2003)
05 You Da Mann (from 'Coast To Coast' by Maximum Grooves 2004)
06 Osiris (from 'Timeless' by Jeff Sipe 2004)
07 She Makes Me Want To Sing (from 'The Best Kept Secret'  by Jerry Douglas 2005)
08 Missing Person (from 'The Road To Escondido' by J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton 2006)
09 Johnny Coolman (from 'Light Your Life' by Toots & The Maytalls 2007)

Disc Three
01 Tibidi Waka (from 'Guiding Star' by Vusi Mahlasela 2007)
02 Skin Deep (from 'Skin Deep' by Buddy Guy 2008)

03 I Want The Truth (from 'Sidewalk Caesars' by Scrapomatic 2008)

04 Brother Ray (from 'Here And Gone' by David Sanborn 2008)
05 Lifeboat Serenade  (from 'Lifeboat' by Jimmy Herring 2008)

06 New Star (from 'The Works' by Jonatha Brooke 2008) 
07 Slapback Blues (from 'Guitars' by McCoy Tyner 2008) 
08 Struttin' My Stuff (from 'The Blues Rolls On' by Elvin Bishop 2008)
09 Space Captain (from 'The Imagine Project' by Herbie Hancock 2010)
10 Manoovas (from 'Tribal' by Dr. John And The Lower 911 2010)

The Spice Girls - Five Of These Girls (1999)

The Spice Girls formed in 1994 after auditions held by managers Bob and Chris Herbert, who wanted to create a girl group to compete with the British boy bands popular at the time. The first audition ended up with 600 applicants, who were whittled down to a final 12, consisting of Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm,  Melanie Laccohee, Lianne Morgan, Suzanne Tinker, Michelle Stephenson, Justine Berry, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Unthank and several others. After singing solo and dancing in groups of four, Victoria, Melanie B, Michelle, Lianne and Geri were told that they were chosen as being part of the band. A week after

finishing the second auditions, the girls were told to come in for a recall, and it was announced that Lianne Morgan was being dropped as she looked older than the rest, and she was replaced with Melanie Chisholm. They spent spring and summer rehearsing, and under the name of Touch they recorded demos of three songs: 'We're Gonna Make It Happen', 'Take Me Away' and 'I Want You, I Need You', some of which can still be seen on Youtube. During a two-week summer break, Michelle left due to personal commitments, so a replacement needed to be found, and Touch's vocal coach Pepi Lemer remembered two girls that he'd trained in the auditions. Abigail Kis was called in first and sang a soul song to the management, which ended in her being selected two days later, but in the end she had to turn down the offer due to personal commitments, as well as being considered too young. In July they called in Emma Bunton for a week's trial, and she bonded straight away with the other girls, so the Spice Girls were complete. Following their name change they were given their nicknames - Melanie Brown (Mel B, to differentiate her from the other Melanie in the group) was Scary Spice, Melanie Chisholm (Mel C), was Sporty Spice, Emma Bunton was Baby Spice, Geri Halliwell was Ginger Spice, and Victoria Beckham was Posh Spice. 

The girls were signed to Virgin Records, releasing their debut single 'Wannabe' in 1996, which reached number one in the charts in 37 countries, while their debut album 'Spice' was released the same year and sold more than 23 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in history. Over the next four years they released a string of hit singles, and two more albums, 'Spiceworld' in 1997 and 'Forever' in 2000, following Halliwell's departure in 1998 due to exhaustion and creative differences. Their first few singles included songs on the flips which were not taken from their album, which was quite unusual at the time for a pop group, and the girls also recorded a number of songs for their 'Forever' album which were left off the record. If you take those rare b-sides and out-takes, and add the song they recorded for a Pepsi single, their contribution to Elton John and Tim Rice's stageshow 'Aida', and Mel C's demo for a possible addition to the third album, then you have enough music for a great stand-alone album. One final highlight is the track 'W.O.M.A.N.', which was recorded for the 'Forever' album, but was cut because it didn't fit with the new R&B feel of the rest of the songs. The studio take has never surfaced, but it was performed live during the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour in December 1999, and an enterprising fan has taken a live recording of it, cleaned it up and added overdubs, and has made it sound just like the missing studio recording. I can't say I'm the biggest Spice Girls fan, but I appreciate the hard work that they put into their music, and some of these early songs are just as good as their singles, so overall I'm pleasantly surprised at just how good this sounds.  

Track listing

01 Bumper To Bumper (b-side of 'Wannabe' 1996)
02 One Of These Girls (b-side of '2 Become 1' 1996)
03 Take Me Home (b-side of 'Say You'll Be There 1996)
04 Outer Space Girls (b-side of 'Too Much' 1997)
05 Walk of Life (b-side of 'Too Much' 1997)
06 Baby Come Round (b-side of 'Mama' 1997)
07 Give You Want You Want (If Lovin' Is On Your Mind) (out-take 1999)
08 Step To Me (Pepsi advert 1997)
09 Can't Stay Tonight (demo 1999)
10 W.O.M.A.N. (out-take 1999)
11 My Strongest Suit (from the soundtrack to the stage show 'Aida' 1999)
12 A Day In Your Life (out-take 1999)
13 Pain Proof (out-take 1999)

Various Artists - The Cinema Show (2013)

The recent neo-prog tribute album to Yes seemed to go down pretty well, so the obvious follow-up is a similar tribute to Genesis. As with Yes, my favourite albums are the Charisma ones from the early 70's, and this album concentrates on those, picking some of the classic songs from 1970 to 1973, and letting some modern neo-prog bands loose on them. The Flower Kings make an appearance this time, which is great as they are one of the best of the bunch, and they tackle the title track with some relish. In 2010 Genesis were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and as part of the celebrations Phish performed a live version of 'Watcher Of The Skies', which went down a storm. Chaneton are an Argentinian prog-rock band formed by Alex Chaneton, who are heavily influenced by Genesis, and who have covered some of their songs on their albums, so I've picked 'Eleventh Earl Of Mar' as one of their best. Ex-Gong supremo Daevid Allen joined space-rock band Solid Space and contributed their version of 'Visions Of Angels' for a 1998 tribute album, as did Evolution for a similar record in 1996, and Over The Garden Wall in 1995, and these are the best examples from their respective albums. Neil Morse and Roine Stolt's Transatlantic love their progressive rock, and have covered many classic tracks on bonus discs of their albums, and they included a great cover of 'The Return Of The Giant Hogweed' on the extras disc that came with the special edition of 'The Whirlwind', while The Samurai Of Prog included a great cover of 'Dancing With The Moonlit Knight' on his 2013 album 'Secrets Of Disguise'. Like the Yes post, we close the album with a live recording by a band who aren't afraid to tackle a 24-minute track and record it live in one take, with Nursery Cryme's cover of the classic 'Supper's Ready'. You can hear the love and respect that these bands have for Genesis, and so enjoy an hour and a half of classic prog-rock by some of their biggest fans.   

Track listing

01 Firth Of Fifth (Over The Garden Wall)
02 Watcher Of The Skies (Phish)
03 Eleventh Earl Of Mar (Chaneton)
04 Visions Of Angels (Daevid Allen & Solid Space)
05 The Return Of The Giant Hogweed (Transatlantic)
06 White Mountain (Evolution)
07 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (The Samurai Of Prog)
08 The Cinema Show (The Flower Kings)
09 Supper's Ready (Nursery Cryme)
 

The cover is from a brilliant collage by Paul Whitehead, which includes figures from just the four albums that these songs come from, and so was perfect for the post.

Savoy Brown - Taste And Try (1981)

Savoy Brown Blues Band were formed by guitarist Kim Simmonds and harmonica player John O'Leary, following a chance meeting at Transat Imports record shop in Lisle Street, Soho, in 1965. Their name was a combination of the American blues label, Savoy Records, as they thought the word 'Savoy' sounded elegant, and to contrast this they chose the extremely plain Brown as the other half, adding Blues Band to tell listeners what they played. The original line-up included singer Brice Portius, keyboardist Trevor Jeavons, bassist Ray Chappell, drummer Leo Manning and harmonica player John O'Leary, but Jeavons was replaced by Bob Hall shortly after the band's formation, and Martin Stone was added on guitar. Not long after Stone's arrival, O'Leary left the band as a consequence of a dispute with manager Harry Simmonds, and it was this line-up which recorded the band's 1967 debut album 'Shake Down'. It was a superb collection of blues covers, and established the group at the forefront of the blues/r'n'b scene. Further line-up changes ensued, with founding members Portius, Chappell and Manning departing along with recently recruited guitarist Stone over a short period of time, and they were replaced by vocalist Chris Youlden and "Lonesome" Dave Peverett on second guitar. With the addition of drummer Roger Earl, this line-up recorded two albums in 1968, 'Getting To The Point' which came out that year, and 'Blue Matter' which was released in 1969. Both of these included much more original material, and further albums in that vein followed, with 1969's 'A Step Further' and 1970's 'Raw Sienna'. cementing their place in the late 60's blues boom, and breaking them in the States at the same time. 

Following the release of 'Raw Sienna' Youlden left the band, and they recorded their next album 'Looking In' as a four-piece, after which Peverett, Stevens, and Earl left to form Foghat with guitarist Rod Price. Simmonds recruited Dave Walker on vocals, Paul Raymond on keyboards and guitars, Andy Silvester on bass, and Dave Bidwell on drums, most of whom had just left Chicken Shack, and released 'Street Corner Talking' in 1971. Despite their continued success at home, superstardom perpetually evaded them, perhaps in part because of their frequent line-up changes, but despite this their 1972 album 'Hellbound Train' was a Top 40 album for them in the US. In the late 1970's there were more line-up changes, but for most people the glory days of the band were behind them, and despite releasing many more albums for their loyal followers, the group never had the same success. In 1981 they had a surprise hit single with a cover of 70's popsters Smokie's 'Run To Me', and it became the band's highest-charting single in the United States, peaking at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it certainly wasn't the blues. They did record some outstanding music in their heyday, and their early albums are all blues classics, so it's good to find that there are a number of singles and their b-sides from that period which did not appear on their albums, which I've collected here, along with a couple of BBC sessions, a fine live take of an otherwise unrecorded song, and that 1981 single, if you really want to hear it. 

Track listing

01 Taste And Try, Before You Buy (single 1967)
02 Someday People (b-side of 'Taste And Try, Before You Buy')
03 Walking By Myself (b-side of 'Vicksburg Blues' 1968)
04 Gnome Sweet Gnome (Top Gear session 1968)
05 I Want You To Love Me (Live 1969)
06 Grits And Groceries (All Around The World) (single 1969)
07 Louisiana Blues (Top Gear session 1968)
08 Coming Down Your Way (single 1973)
09 Tell Mama (single edit 1971)

10 You'd Better Pray For The Lord To Guide You (Top Gear session 1970)
11 Blues On The Ceiling (BBC session 1971)
12 Run To Me (single 1981)

David Bowie - Karma Man (1968)

While a lot of people were under the impression that David Bowie emerged fully-formed onto the music scene in 1969 with the 'Space Oddity' single, the real fans knew that he been slogging away in the music industry for the best part of a decade, playing in bands, writing songs, and trying to make a name for himself, quite literally as it turns out, and that name was Bowie, which he chose to replace his actual name of Jones. I've covered his early career playing with groups such as The Konrads, The Mannish Boys, The Lower Third, and The King Bees, in my 'David Bowie And...' post, and following the chart failure of his debut solo single 'I Dig Everything', he released the 'David Bowie' album on Deram Records in 1967, but once again this didn't achieve any commercial success. At this time he was going through what has become known as his 'Anthony Newley phase', where his vocals were a strange mixture of old-fashioned vaudeville and upper-class singers like Anthony Newley, but if you'd heard the album at the time you would have realised that the songs themselves were far from ordinary, with 'Rubber Band' being a marching tune that employed tuba as the lead instrument, while 'Little Bombardier' and 'Maid Of Bond Street' were in waltz time, and also made extensive use of brass and strings. 'Love You Till Tuesday' and 'Come And Buy My Toys' were among the few songs on the album with an acoustic guitar as the lead instrument, and lyrically he was choosing subjects that were not usually seen in the pop charts, with 'Join The Gang' being an excursion into contemporary youth culture, and 'She's Got Medals' was a gender-bending tale with gay and lesbian connotations. 

After the album was released, Bowie recorded  several more tracks for Deram in September 1967, all of which were refused release as singles, including 'Let Me Sleep Beside You' and 'Karma Man'. Both these tracks had a radically different sound to the material on 'David Bowie', harking back to his mod period, but despite this Deram refused to release them, even after Bowie offered to replace the 'sexually explicit' 'Let Me Sleep Beside You'  with a new version of the album track 'When I Live My Dream', but Deram wouldn't budge, and they were just as intransigent when he presented them with 'In The Heat Of The Morning' and 'London Bye Ta–Ta' in early 1968. The failure of the album and its singles, as well as not being able to produce anything that the label felt worthy of release, cost Bowie his record contract with Deram Records, and they dropped him in April 1968. Bowie immediately went on to form a folk rock trio with Hermione Farthingale and Tony Hill called Turquoise, and the band quickly recorded the single 'Ching-A-Ling', with all three taking vocal lead on different verses. However, before they could look for a record company to release it, Hill left the band, and was replaced by John Hutchinson, with the band changing their name to Feathers. Almost immediately Farthingale left Feathers, and soon after, so did Hutchinson, and so 'Ching-A-Ling' thus became Bowie's fourth abandoned single in a row. He continued to write songs and record demos throughout 1968, and following his death in 2016, many of these previously unheard recordings have surfaced, adding another chapter to his career that was previously just a murky sidebar. He also recorded some music for a proposed film called 'The Looking Glass Murders', as well as making a promotional film of music videos called 'Love You Till Tuesday', to sell himself to a new label, and it also included a narrated mime called 'The Mask', from another of his side projects where he worked with mime artist Lindsay Kemp. 

With so much unheard material appearing in recent years, it's tempting to gather it all together to try to see what a follow-up album to 'David Bowie' might sound like if Deram had kept faith and allowed him to release it in 1968. Obviously the sound quality is going to be variable, although the solo demos are surprisingly good for their age, while the acetates are studio quality as would be expected. One track was even professionally recorded by two bands and released as a single, with 'Silver Tree Top School For Boys'  being issued by The Slender Plenty in September 1967 and later by Scottish group The Beatstalkers in December of the same year, and Bowie's own demo exists in two versions, of which the stripped-back one is the best quality. Of the most recently unearthed songs, 'April's Tooth Of Gold' is an interesting bridge between the 60's Deram records and his darker music around the time of 'The Man Who Sold The World', with the lyrics at odds with the more light weight material that he was writing in 1968, while 'C'est La Vie' was unsuccessfully offered to singer Chris Montez for him to record. The other demos vary between solo acoustic offerings and band demos, alongside a BBC session recording of an otherwise unrecorded song, and the shelved single by Feathers. Because nearly every song has come from a different source the album doesn't run as smoothly as I'd liked, but I think it's great to have all these rare tracks in one place in the form of an album that could have been released in 1968, and it just shows what a prolific period 1967-1968 was for the fledgling pop star. Paul over at albumsthatshouldexist has posted collections of rare Bowie tracks over the years, and a lot of these songs have appeared on them, but these versions will sound a bit different as I've not always used the demo where a finished take was available, and I've done a lot of work on the demos themselves to try to make them sound as good as possible, as well as including those newly discovered pieces from the film soundtrack that he was involved with in 1968.    

 
Track listing

01 Karma Man (unreleased Deram single 1967)
02 April's Tooth Of Gold (demo 1968)
03 Let Me Sleep Beside You (unreleased Deram single 1967)
04 Columbine (demo for the film 'The Looking Glass Murders' 1968)
05 Angel Angel Grubby Face (demo 1968)
06 C'Est La Vie (demo 1967)

07 Silver Tree Top School For Boys (demo 1967)
08 Goodbye Threepenny Joe (demo 1968)
09 The Mirror (demo for the film 'The Looking Glass Murders' 1968)
10 In The Heat Of The Morning (unreleased Deram single 1968)
11 When I'm Five (BBC session 1968)
12 Mother Grey (demo 1967)
13 Life Is A Circus (demo by Feathers)
14 Love All Around (demo 1968)
15 London Bye Ta Ta (unreleased Deram single 1968)

DoomStarks - Swift & Changeable: The Prequel (2012) UPDATE

Thanks to punx5570 for letting me know that the version of this album that I'd posted was missing two tracks, presumably because alternate versions of them had appeared on MF Doom's 2009 album 'Born This Way', even though 'Gazillion Ear' was on there as well and that wasn't removed. Anyway, I've updated the post to include 'Celiz' and 'Angels', so you can now download it again, or just grab those two tracks and slot them in. 'Angels' does have a couple of gaps at the end, which I first thought was a glitch in the file, but there is actually some bass in there so they seem to be deliberate. 

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

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

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

Track listing

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

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

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

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

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