Caleb Quaye - ...and on guitar (1974)

Caleb Quaye was born 9 October 1948, and is the older half-brother of singer Finley Quaye. His musical career began when he was a member of local band The SoundCasters (or The Sound Castles) while at school. In the early sixties, he joined the band Bluesology, featuring Reginald Dwight on keyboards, later to morph into Elton John, and they were Long John Baldry's backing band for a while, releasing three singles with him from 1965 to 1967. After the breakup of Bluesology, Quaye released a single in 1967 under the name Caleb, with 'Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad'/'Woman Of Distinction' now being rated as one of the finest psychedelic records of the era. In 1968, Elton John started playing concerts under his new name, enlisting Quaye as his guitarist, and in 1969 this group recorded a private album under the name The Bread And Beer Band, just for their own amusement, with only two tracks ever appearing officially on disc, with the 'Dick Barton Theme'/'Breakdown Blues' single being released in 1969 on Decca Records. 

In 1969 he served as guitarist for the one-off "flower power" pop band Argosy (which also included Dwight, Roger Hodgson, and Nigel Olsson) on their single, 'Mr. Boyd'/'Imagine', and he also issued 'The Way Of The Musician' as a single under the name of Hookfoot. As Elton John knew Quaye from his Bluesology days, he used three quarters of Hookfoot as his backing band when he recorded some sessions for the BBC in July 1969. Around April 1970, Quaye reinvented Hookfoot as a proper band, with Ian Duck on harmonica and vocals, Dave Glover on bass and Roger Pope on drums, and once again they backed Elton John when he was invited back to the BBC in April 1970. They also backed Steve Ellis on two solo singles in 1970 and 1971, before they released their eponymous debut album in 1971. It was well-received, and included songs by Quaye, as well as covers of tracks by Stephen Stills and Neil Young, and with the addition of Bob Kulick as a second guitarist, the band released their second album 'Good Times a-Comin'' in 1972, which was a more straight-ahead rock record. While Hookfoot was active during 1971 and 1972, Quaye was much in demand as a session player, and appeared on a number of recordings by the likes of Al Kooper, Phillip Goodhand-Tait, Ralph McTell, John Baldry, Nilsson, and Cochise. Following a few more line-up changes, and two more albums in 1972 and 1973, Hookfoot eventually split up in 1974, and Quaye went to the USA to work as a session musician. 

While a member of Hookfoot, Quaye had played on most of Elton John's records up to 1971's  'Madman Across The Water', when John recruited Nigel Olssen, Dee Murray, Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper as his permanent backing group, but in April 1975, long time bandmates Murray and Olsson were asked to leave the group. They were replaced by old friend Roger Pope and Kenny Passarelli, and it was at this time that Quaye was also asked to re-join, ready to start tour rehearsals in June 1975. This line-up released the 'Rock Of The Westies' album later that year, and he stayed with them for a couple of years, also appearing on 1976's 'Blue Moves'. After this his guest appearances slowed down, with only a couple in 1977, then nothing after 1980, as in 1982 his life changed completely, when he became a musician/evangelist. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the National Worship Committee, and he was officially appointed as National Foursquare Music Minister in the Spring of 1995. So that's where we'll end this look back at the early career of an extremely talented, but undeservedly neglected guitarist, and if you want to learn more about his life, then you can read his excellent autobiography 'A Voice Louder Than Rock & Roll'.

Track listing

Disc I
01 Ticket To Ride (from 'Hold Up!' by The Moonshiners 1967)
02 Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad (single by Caleb 1967)
03 Breakdown Blues (b-side of 'Dick Barton Theme' single by The Bread And Beer Band 1969)
04 Empty Sky (from 'Empty Sky' by Elton John 1969)
05 Mr. Boyd (single by Argosy 1969)
06 The Way Of The Musician (single by Hookfoot 1969)
07 Jingle Jangle Jasmine (b-side of 'Take Your Love' single by Steve Ellis 1971)
08 Eric Is Calling (from 'Chumley's Laughing Gear' by Claggers 1971)
09 Loudwater Zoo (from 'Loudwater House' by Tony Hazzard 1971)
10 Going Quietly Mad (from 'New York City (You're A Woman)' by Al Kooper 1971)
11 Old Brown Dog (from 'You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here' by Ralph McTell 1971)

Disc II
01 Sunshine Looks Like Rain (from 'Drum Orchestra And Chorus' by Nigel Olsson 1971)
02 Oh Rosanna (from 'I Think I'll Write A Song' by Phillip Goodhand-Tait 1971)
03 Take Off My Shoes (from 'Shalom' by Shalom Chanoch 1971)
04 Another Day (from 'Swallow Tales' by Cochise 1971)
05 Like Summer Tempests (from 'Taupin' by Bernie Taupin 1971)
06 Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (from 'It Ain't Easy' by John Baldry 1971)
07 Coconut (from 'Nilsson Schmilsson' by Nilsson 1971)
08 Same Old Thing (from 'A Story Ended' by Dick Heckstall-Smith 1972)
09 Keep Dreaming (from 'Bill Quateman' by Bill Quateman 1972)
10 Everything Comes And Goes (from 'Somewhere' by Mike Hugg 1972)
11 Kid's Stuff (from 'David Elliott' by David Elliott 1972)
12 Jubilee Cloud (from 'Kongos' by John Kongos 1972)

Disc III

01 The End (from 'Queues' by Vigrass & Osborne 1972)
02 I Can't Stand It (from 'Lou Reed' by Lou Reed 1972)
03 Sweet America (from 'Meanwhile... Back At The World' by Roger Cook 1972)
04 Forever's No Time At All (from 'Who Came First' by Pete Townshend 1972)
05 Parisien Plight II (from 'Faces' by Shawn Phillips 1972)
06 Non-Commercial Blues (from 'A Little Taste' by Ann Odell 1973)
07 Albuquerque Rainbow (from 'Chris Darrow' by Chris Darrow 1973)
08 Get Yourself Together (from 'In London' by Teresa Brewer with Oily Rag 1973)
09 Overnight Train (from 'Love Songs' by Billy Nicholls 1974)
10 I Got You Covered (from 'Mo' by Mo McGuire 1974)

Thanks to progcollector for supplying the Claggers track. 

...and on guitar - The Book (2023)

Now that I've posted what could turn out to be the final entry in the '...and on guitar' series, here's something that I've been thinking about doing this for quite a while. When the number of posts in the series reached over 75 then I thought that now was the time to put them all together in one place, almost like a book. So what you have here are all the write-ups for the '...and on guitar' series, presented in alphabetical order, so that they can be dipped into as you are listening to the albums, or just read as a history of the lives of all these great guitarists. 

Soulseek hint      book aiwe

Download update 2

Looks like I'm being targeted by a French residuals collection agency, who keep taking down any links that they find on the blog. It's really annoying, not only because I haven't really posted anything from French artists, but mainly because the links they are deleting aren't even for music, but they are all my Word and pdf docs, which of course includes the Lynx pdf. After they took down the Mega links I moved to Uploaded.ee, but that only lasted for a few days, so now I'm on ImageNetz.de. After leaving that up for a couple of days I'm now worried that will be spotted and taken down as well, so I've therefore come up with a way to hide it, which is to add it to the comments of each new post. You might notice that I'm very regular with my posts, with one on Tuesday and three on Friday, so I only need to add the link to the comments of Tuesday's post and the top one on Friday, and of course all the previous links will be in the download as well. Hopefully new visitors will spot this update so that they can hear the music, and let's hope that if they think they've won that they'll now leave me alone. 

pj    

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Neil Diamond (1972) **UPDATED**

I know 'The Long Way Home' had a dodgy beginning, and I tried pitch correcting and got nowhere, but then I had a brainwave and patched it with sections from the middle of the track, so download again for a better copy of the song.  

Neil Diamond started his musical career writing and singing his own songs for demos, and his first recording contract was billed as "Neil and Jack", an Everly Brothers-type duet with high school friend Jack Packer. They recorded the singles 'You Are My Love At Last'/'What Will I Do', and 'I'm Afraid'/'Till You've Tried Love', both released in 1962, and despite positive reviews from Cashbox and Billboard magazines they were not successful. Diamond signed with Columbia Records as a solo performer later in 1962, and in July 1963 they released the single 'Clown Town'/'At Night', which once again received complimentary reviews, but it still failed to make the charts. Columbia dropped him from their label and he went back to writing songs in and out of publishing houses for the next seven years. He wrote wherever he could, including on buses, and used an upright piano above the Birdland Club in New York City, but he was only able to sell about one song a week during those years, barely enough to survive. The privacy that he had above the Birdland Club allowed him to focus on writing without distractions, and this freedom resulted in more interesting songs beginning to appear, including 'Cherry, Cherry' and 'Solitary Man', and the latter was the first record that Diamond recorded under his own name which made the charts. He spent his early career in the Brill Building, and his first success as a songwriter came in November 1965 with 'Sunday And Me', a Top 20 hit for Jay and the Americans, but that was just the beginning, as this was followed by 'I'm A Believer', 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You', 'Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)', and 'Love To Love', all performed by the Monkees. 'I'm A Believer' became a gold record within two days of its release and stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks, and other notable artists who recorded his early songs were Lulu, Cliff Richard and Deep Purple. In 1966, he signed a deal with Bert Berns's Bang Records, then a subsidiary of Atlantic, and his first release on that label was 'Solitary Man', which was his first true hit as a solo artist, and he followed that with 'Cherry, Cherry' and 'Kentucky Woman'. He began to feel restricted by Bang Records because he wanted to record more ambitious, introspective music, such as 'Brooklyn Roads', but Berns wanted to release 'Kentucky Woman' as a single, while Diamond proposed 'Shilo', which was about an imaginary childhood friend. Berns believed that the song was not commercial enough, so it was relegated to being an LP track on 'Just for You', his second album for Bang. Diamond wrote every song on 'Just For You', and it included his own versions of the hit singles 'I'm A Believer' by The Monkees and 'The Boat That I Row' by Lulu, but it wasn't long before all of the songs on the record had been noticed and covered by other artists, and so this post is Neil Diamond's second album as interpreted by some well-known and some not so well-known artists of the late 60's. To flesh out the post to a reasonable length I've also included the b-sides to a couple of his 1967 singles, taken from his previous album on Bang. 

Track listing

01 Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon (Cliff Richard 1968)
02 The Long Way Home (Quentin E. Klopjaeger With The Gonks 1968)
03 Red Red Wine (Jimmy James And The Vagabonds 1968)
04 You'll Forget (The Wanderer's Rest 1967)
05 The Boat That I Row (Lulu 1967)
06 Cherry Cherry (Wishful Thinking 1967)
07 I'm A Believer (The Monkees 1966)
08 Shilo (Springbok 1971)
09 You Got To Me (Gene Pierson 1968)
10 Solitary Man (The Kitchen Cinq 1967)
11 C'est Pour Vous Que Je Chante (Thank The Lord For The Night Time) (Les Hou-Lops 1967)
12 Oh, No No (I Got The Feeling) (Wool 1972)
13 Do It (Keith Allison 1967)

The Pale Fountains - Thank You (1983)

The Pale Fountains formed in Liverpool in 1981, and were led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Michael Head, along with bassist Chris McCaffrey, drummer Thomas Whelan and former Dislocation Dance trumpeter Andy Diagram. They were at the forefront of the new 'quiet pop' movement, and inspired by 1960's music such as Love, Burt Bacharach and the Beatles, they released their debut single '(There's Always) Something on My Mind' on the Operation Twilght label in 1982, which generated such a positive buzz that they were immediately signed by Virgin for the then-staggering sum of £150,000. However, their debut single for the label, the lavish 'Thank You', failed to crack the U.K. Top 40, despite a heavy promotional push, and after an intense year in the studio, the band's first LP, the bossa nova-inflected 'Pacific Street', finally appeared in 1984. After such a relatively long absence from the limelight, however, the group had lost its status as media darlings, and the record fared poorly. Producer Ian Broudie was brought in to helm 1985's '...From Across The Kitchen Table', which was more unified than its predecessor as it was recorded over a shorter period of time, and lead single 'Jean's Not Happening' is one of the great lost indie gems of the 80's, complete with a powerful string arrangement, but again success was not forthcoming. In the wake of considerable acrimony amongst the band and their label, The Pale Fountains soon split, with Head returning to Liverpool to form Shack with his brother John, while Andy Diagram had already left the band in 1984 to join James. As a reminder of of the beginnings of Michael Head's critically-acclaimed career, here are all the non-album singles and b-sides recorded by the band, plus a couple of rare compilation contributions, an unreleased single, as well as a John Peel session recording and two songs recorded for the Old Grey Whistle Test, none of which made it into the studio.  

Track listing

01 Thank You (single 1982)
02 Meadow Of Love (b-side of 'Thank You')
03 Just A Girl (b-side of '(There's Always) Something On My Mind' 1982)
04 Lavinia's Dream (b-side of '(There's Always) Something On My Mind' 1982)
05 Palm Of My Hand (single 1983)
06 Love's A Beautiful Place (b-side of 'Palm Of My Hand')
07 (I'm A) Longshot For Your Love (unreleased single 1982)
08 Love Situation (b-side of '(Don't Let Your Love) Start A War' 1984)
09 Walk On By (hidden track on b-side of '(Don't Let Your Love) Start A War' 1984)
10 Benoit's Christmas (from 'Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Remake)' compilation album 1982)
11 The Norfolk Broads (from John Peel session 1982)
12 We Have All The Time In The World (from the 'Moving Soundtracks (Volume One)'

                                                                                                          compilation album 1982)

13 Free (from The Old Grey Whistle Test 1983)

14 Hey There Fred (from The Old Grey Whistle Test 1983)

VV Brown - Lollipops & Politics (2012)

Vanessa Brown was born 24 October 1983 in Northampton, England, and is known professionally as VV Brown. She was an exceptional scholar, sitting her A-levels a year early, and achieving four A-grades, which led to offers from five universities, including Oxford, to study law. She turned them all down, however, to pursue a music career, which was in direct contrast to the three offers of a record deal that she received while still at school. Despite one of them being from rapper P. Diddy's label Bad Boy Records, she declined them all in order to focus on her studies. She studied violin until the age of nine but gave it up to focus on piano, vocals and trumpet, which she found easier. She completed her grade 8 trumpet examination aged 16 and played in jazz bands until the age of 21, and her childhood musical idols were jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. When she was 18 she attended an open audition for the VH1 Divas concert, and was stopped outside the venue by an executive from London Records, who offered her a development deal. This ended a year later, at which point she was offered deals by Polydor in the UK and A&M Records in the US, but after releasing one single and a promotional EP called 'Back To The Music', she left both labels in 2006. Brown moved back to London and began performing in bars and clubs around the city, where she was rediscovered by executive Darcus Beese and signed to Island Records, who oversaw the recording of her debut album 'Travelling Like The Light' between 2007 and 2008, and released it in July 2009. Four singles were taken from it, with 'Shark In The Water' charting in the British, French and US charts. In 2011, prior to the mastering of Brown's second album 'Lollipops & Politics', a free preview mixtape called 'The Playground' was released through SoundCloud. Brown then announced that the first single from 'Lollipops & Politics' would be called 'Children', which was released on iTunes in America in September 2011, and that the album would follow in early 2012. However, the release was first postponed until 2013, and then called off completely, with Brown posting on her Facebook account that she "didn't feel it was right as an artist". A new album called 'Samson & Delilah', recorded in London with Dave Okumu from The Invisible and former M83 member Pierre-Marie Maulini, was released in its place in September 2013. One track from 'Lollipops & Politics' did make an appearance, with '10 Ft. Tall' being released as a non-album single, but the rest of the album has remained locked in the vaults. General opinion of the fans who have heard it is that it was an excellent record, and didn't deserve to be shelved, and so here it is for you to make up your own mind.  

Track listing

01 Children (Keep On Singing) (feat. Chiddy of Chiddy Bang)  
02 Famous 
03 Red Balloon 
04 Tough Like Glue 
05 Climbing High 
06 Heartbeat 
07 Be Yours 
08 10 Ft. Tall 
09 Circus Town 
10 Like Fire
11 Last Night

What's going on...?

I woke up this morning to four take-down notices from Mega, requested by some company in France. At first I thought it might be Mike's Beatles posts, as there have been four of them, but after checking my account it turns out to be the four links that I publish on the blog, for the Mega links, the ...and on guitar biogs, Powerpop Tom's CD covers, and my Soulseek instructions, so not even any music. The ironic thing is that I wrote all of those documents and so they are my copyright and no-one else has the authority to have them removed. It seems that someone has found the blog and asked for all links to be removed, which is exactly why I don't publish them on the site, as otherwise they would now all be gone. There also seems to be an issue with Soulseek, although I think that might just be a coincidence, but I have re-booted, so anyone who had a problem can try again. It might just be because my laptop seemed to have turned itself off today. Although it's not actually a Mega issue, I think the quickest fix is to move these docs to another host, and as Paul seems to get on OK with upload.ee then I'll try them. Everything else will stay the same unless things escalate.   

pj 

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Mike's Mix) (1967)

Time for another of Mike's remixes of a classic Beatles' album, and for this one he's gone straight to arguably the best of them all.

I’m hoping that this week’s in-depth look at 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' will allow you to appreciate the greatest band in the world… in a whole new way. 

Here’s my track by track analysis of what’s Included: 
01 Strawberry Fields Forever - I thought that instead of just remixing the album I’d include the prequel to it. Here is take one of SFF. To start us off I thought I would re-edit the beginning of the song as a tribute to another great band and one of my favorite songs by them. It’s subtle but I tried to edit the beginning to (vaguely lol…) sound like the beginning few seconds of 'And You And I' by Yes. I always loved the way that song starts as just tuning and noodling around on the guitar…but suddenly turned into this amazing song. Here I let the keyboards do the same thing. True, I didn’t use the original single version of the song… but I always liked the gentleness of the first take, so I chose that one to start us off. A lovely ballad version focusing on John’s vocals and soon to be discarded backing vocals. I took a small liberty by fading out and echoing the last repeats of the word “forever”.
02 Penny Lane - The other side of the single. I brought up the backing orchestra and lost most of the band for this one. Except of course for Paul’s vocals, bass and the fun often buried harmony vocals. Since we aren’t into the actual album yet…I took the liberty to add some interesting vocal attempts that went on during the recording sessions but later went unused. 
03 Sgt. Pepper - The official beginning of possibly one of the greatest musical and cultural touchstones ever created. So many unique, unusual sounds were invented during the recording of this album. Experimentation and Innovation were at play during every moment of the recording, which makes this one of the most fun albums I’ve ever had the pleasure to rip apart and put back together. So much to discover and so much to uncover…just for you! Let’s begin with the stabbing, hard rocking guitar parts followed immediately by classical french horns. What an astounding and unexpected way to begin the album. This followed by the lads trademark three-part harmonies and then Paul’s super gritty lead vocals… and we’re off to a great start! 
04 With A Little Help From My Friends - RINGOOOOO! The focus is on three things here. Ringo’s stellar lead vocals, the incredible backup help from his “friends” and Paul’s catchy bass work. I stripped off everybody else at the very end to just focus on the note that had Ringo scared SHITLESS! He was so worried he wouldn’t be able to hit and hold the note. John, Paul and George had to all stand around the microphone with him and silently encouraged him during the recording of his lead parts. Wish I had a picture of that!! 
05 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - I bring in isolated instruments and vocals throughout on this one so you can really focus on all the cool stuff going on during this one. 
06 Getting Better - Paul’s fun bass work is core here, as it is throughout the entire album. I also tried to bring out some of the hidden harmonies from the guys at various parts during the entire song. I love the little bongo part at the end. 
07 Fixing A Hole - Paul’s vocals and bass are once again brought forward. The cool guitar solo is followed by some more awesome three-part harmonies. 
08 She’s Leaving Home - Such a gorgeous arrangement by Mike Leander who Paul brought in when George Martin, their main producer for many years, had a conflicting recording event scheduled. Paul was very impatient and decided not to wait for George to do the arrangement, and brought in Mike to do the orchestral charts. It’s the ONLY time Paul ever went outside of the band to get another person to arrange and produce one of his sessions. It took years for Martin to forgive him…if he ever did. I included some lovely harmonies that float in among the single tracked vocals that you hear. I also included some stray parts of the orchestra bits that were trimmed out of the final version. 
09 Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! - I really focused on the carnival aspects of this song… and of course Paul’s incredible bass playing… again. 
10 Within You, Without You - George’s showcase on the album. I included a humorous snippet of John commenting on the proceedings that went on during the recording session of this classic cut. Originally the band thought people would have a hard time dealing with a solo Indian piece in the middle of the album…which is why they added laughter between the ending of this track and the beginning of the next. George, to say the least, was not thrilled by this. I’ve moved the laughter to where it rightly belongs… after John’s opening comments! 
11 When I’m 64 - I’ve always called this version “The Bar Mitzvah Version.” I think you’ll see why. 
12 Lovely Rita - An acoustic take on the song with great backing harmonies and lots of hidden treasures at the end usually buried under the other instrumental tracks, and now set free! 
13 Good Morning, Good Morning - Wonderful guitar work similar to the opening track of the album. What an awesome solo!! And those hidden harmonies are brought back up to the front again. Gooooood Morning everybody!! That’ll do. 
14 Sgt. Pepper (Reprise) - Paul’s blistering bass line and the whole groups fun, vocal banterings are finally uncovered. For those wondering what they are saying: (Intro: Paul McCartney & John Lennon) One, two, three, four! (Bye!) Twist it! (What?) Twist it! (Shake it) (Outro: George Harrison & John Lennon) Woo! Bang (Oh my god, it kills me)Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang 
15 A Day In The Life / Inner Groove - My favorite mix on the album! So many cool things going on during this one. McCartney’s bass, John’s haunting vocals, the eerie backing vocals… that orchestra set free to go from their lowest note to their highest…any way they want to do it. A masterpiece! To add to this I threw in some things from the original recording sessions, a wonderful flub by McCartney and some stunningly chaotic piano playing during the second orchestra build-up. I used the original ending… often called the HUMM’s ending as well as an unused synth note in place of the original extended piano note…… And I also couldn’t ignore the infamous Inner Groove. I hope you like my take on it, made from various sections I found when I tried to rip it apart and break it down using about 18 different modern tech devices! So that’s it kids… my version of the Beatles masterpiece: 'Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band'!

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it! 

See ya again soon! 

Michael

Track listing

01 Strawberry Fields Forever
02 Penny Lane
03 Sgt. Pepper
04 With A Little Help From My Friends
05 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
06 Getting Better
07 Fixing A Hole
08 She’s Leaving Home
09 Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
10 Within You, Without You
11 When I’m 64
12 Lovely Rita
13 Good Morning, Good Morning
14 Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)
15 A Day In The Life

search hint   lonely aiwe

Pearl Jam - Black, Red, Yellow (1998)

Pearl Jam formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990, and were one of the key bands in the grunge movement of the early 1990's. Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were members of grunge band Green River during the mid-1980's, and after they disbanded in 1987, Gossard and Ament began playing with Malfunkshun vocalist Andrew Wood, eventually organizing the band Mother Love Bone, who released their debut album 'Apple' in 1990 on the PolyGram record label. In March 1990 Wood died of a heroin overdose, which devastated Ament and Gossard, and caused Mother Love Bone to fall apart, with Gossard spending his time afterwards writing material that was harder-edged than what he had been doing previously. After a few months he started practicing with fellow Seattle guitarist Mike McCready, whose band, Shadow, had broken up, and McCready in turn encouraged Gossard to reconnect with Ament, and after practicing for a while, the trio sent out a five-song demo tape in order to find a singer and a drummer. They gave former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons the demo to see if he would be interested in joining the band, but he passed on the invitation and gave the demo to his friend Eddie Vedder. Vedder was the lead vocalist for the San Diego band Bad Radio, and after listening to the tape he recorded vocals to three of the songs and sent it back to the trio, who were impressed enough to fly Vedder up to Seattle for an audition, and within a week Vedder had joined the band. 
With the addition of Dave Krusen on drums, the band took the name Mookie Blaylock, and opened for Alice in Chains at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, before signing to Epic Records and renaming themselves Pearl Jam. The band entered Seattle's London Bridge Studios in March 1991 to record their debut album 'Ten', but Krusen left the band in May after checking himself into rehabilitation for alcoholism, and he was replaced by Matt Chamberlain, who had previously played with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. After playing only a handful of shows, Chamberlain left, but suggested Dave Abbruzzese as his replacement, who joined and played the rest of the band's live shows supporting 'Ten'. The album was slow to sell, but by the second half of 1992 it became a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on the Billboard charts. With the success of 'Ten', Pearl Jam became a key member of the Seattle grunge explosion, along with Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Soundgarden, although Nirvana's Kurt Cobain considered them to be commercial sell-outs. The band headed into the studio in early 1993 facing the challenge of following up the commercial success of their debut, and on 19 October 1993 they released their second album 'Vs.', which sold 950,378 copies in its first week. 
The group wrote and recorded while touring behind 'Vs.', and the majority of the tracks for third album 'Vitalogy' were recorded during breaks on the tour. After they had finished the recording of 'Vitalogy', drummer Dave Abbruzzese was fired, and he was replaced by Jack Irons, who had recommended Vedder to the rest of the band some four years prior. Irons made his debut with the band at Neil Young's 1994 Bridge School Benefit, and 'Vitalogy' was released at the end of 1994, with the CD selling more than 877,000 units in its first week. In the same year, Pearl Jam backed Neil Young, whom the band had noted as an influence, on his album 'Mirror Ball', although contractual obligations prevented the use of the band's name anywhere on the record, and two songs from the sessions were left off 'Mirror Ball', with 'I Got Id' and 'Long Road' being released separately by Pearl Jam as the 1995 EP 'Merkinball'. Following the round of touring for 'Vitalogy', the band went into the studio to record 'No Code', which was released in 1996, and was seen as a deliberate break from their sound since recording 'Ten', favouring experimental ballads and noisy garage rockers. 
It seems that the recruitment of Jack Irons had given the band the impetus to experiment with their sound, and this is evident on the b-sides to the singles taken from 'No Code', and also on the Christmas singles that the band gave to their fans in 1996 and 1997. Three out-takes have since surfaced from the 'No Code' sessions, and there were also a couple of notable live recordings from that period, of songs which the band never recorded in the studio. 'Out Of My Mind' emerged from an encore of an Atlanta show in 1994, when the band decided to simply make up a song on the spot, and the result was the jammed-out 'Out Of My Mind', which they released as the b-side to 'Not For You' the following year, while 'Falling Down' was played only one time, in the summer of 1995 in Colorado. As the addition of Jack Irons to the line-up seems to have spurred on this new introspective and experimental sound, here is a collection of songs which feature him, including b-sides, out-takes, Christmas singles, the full 'Merkinball' EP and those two live recordings, all from his tenure with the band from 1994 to 1998.   

Track listing

01 All Night (out-take from 'No Code' 1996)
02 Leatherman (b-side of 'Given To Fly' 1997)
03 Falling Down (live at Red Rocks 1995) 
04 Black, Red, Yellow (b-side of 'Hail, Hail' 1996)
05 I Got Id (from 'Merkinball' EP 1995)
06 Olympic Platinum (1996 Christmas single)
07 U (b-side of 'Wishlist' 1998)
08 Long Road (from 'Merkinball' EP 1995)
09 Sunburn (out-take from 'No Code' 1996)
10 Dead Man (b-side of 'Off He Goes' 1996)
11 Happy When I'm Crying (1997 Christmas single)
12 Out Of My Mind (b-side of 'Not For You' 1995)
13 Don't Gimme No Lip (out-take from 'No Code' 1996)

Thanks to Ernesto for the suggestion.

Download update

As there seems to be some new visitors to the blogs, here's a quick reminder how it works. All music is stored on Soulseek, and my albums can be found by searching a key word from the post followed by 'aiwe'. For anyone who can't use Soulseek then the music is also stored on Mega. I don't leave links on the posts, as last time I did that it caused the blog to be closed down, so to fool the bots all the links are in one pdf which can be downloaded from he comments in Tuesday and Friday's posts. The pdf is updated every time a new album is posted, so enjoy the music. 

pj

Bill Frisell - ...and on guitar (1985)

Bill Frisell was born on 19 March 1951 in Baltimore, growing up in Denver, Colorado, and although he began playing the clarinet in the fourth grade, he took up guitar a few years later for his own personal amusement. He continued with the clarinet, playing in school concerts and marching bands, and briefly considered playing classical clarinet professionally, but at the same time he was also playing guitar in rock and R&B bands, alongside high school classmates Philip Bailey, Andrew Woolfolk, and Larry Dunn, who were all future members of the group Earth, Wind & Fire. He discovered jazz in the music of Wes Montgomery and began to study it, making the guitar his primary instrument, and after briefly attending the University of Northern Colorado, he moved to Boston in 1971 to attend the Berklee School of Music. There he studied with Michael Gibbs and John Damian, and while at Berklee he connected with other like-minded players, including classmate Pat Metheny. He also studied with Jim Hall, who became an important influence, especially in terms of harmony, and in the mid-70's he began moving away from pure bebop and started fusing jazz with his other musical interests, where he started to develop his atmospheric, quasi-microtonal style. He discovered that by using a guitar with a flexible neck, he could manipulate the instrument's intonation, and his combination of experimental techniques and signal processors like delay and reverb gave him a sound unlike any other guitarist. 

In the late 70's he travelled to Belgium where he met Manfred Eicher, the founder of ECM Records, and beginning in the early 80's he recorded prolifically for the label as leader and sideman, with such musicians as Paul Motian and Jan Garbarek. He soon earned a reputation as ECM's "house guitarist", becoming much acclaimed by critics for his sophisticated yet accessible work. In the 80's he moved to New York, where he worked with many of the most creative musicians active on the city's "downtown" jazz scene. Frisell's major break came when guitarist Pat Metheny was unable to make a recording session and recommended Frisell to Paul Motian, who was recording his 1982 album 'Psalm' for ECM Records. Following this he became ECM's in-house guitar player, and worked on several albums, most notably Jan Garbarek's 'Paths, Prints' from 1982. Frisell's first solo release was 'In Line', which featured a solo guitar as well as duets with bassist Arild Andersen, and although much of his time after that debut was then taken up releasing his own music, he still managed to make the odd guest appearance throughout the rest of his career. In the 80's and 90's he recorded and performed with a huge variety of artists, not all of them jazz musicians, and collaborators included rock and pop musicians Ginger Baker, Marianne Faithfull and Elvis Costello, experimental jazz musicians John Zorn and Tim Berne, and at least one classical composer, in Gavin Bryars. This collection tracks the progression from his earliest appearances on record, up to and slightly beyond the first of his 85 albums as leader or co-leader.   

Track listing

Disc One
01 Introduction (from 'Winter 78 Chapati' by Triode 1979)
02 Acapulco Bells (from 'Good Buddies' by Good Buddies 1979)
03 Carol (from 'Oh Boy' by Steve Houben, Mauve Traffic 1979) 
04 Siesta (from 'Okno' by Emil Viklicky, Bill Frisell, Kermit Driscoll & Vinton Johnson 1979)
05 Cwand Simon Mousse Foû D'ine Tchapèle (from 'Li Tins, Les-otes Et On Po D'mi' by 

                                                                                                                      Guy Cabay 1979)
06 Fluid Rustle (from 'Fluid Rustle' by Eberhard Weber 1979)
07 Beatrice (from 'Chet Baker - Steve Houben' by Chet Baker - Steve Houben 1980)
08 Ron (The Cat) (from 'Atmosphere' by Chris Massey Group 1981)

Disc Two
01 Ivy (from 'Blue Jay Sessions' by Mike Metheny 1981)
02 Mandeville (from 'Psalm' by Paul Motian Band 1982)
03 The Move (from 'Paths, Prints' by Jan Garbarek 1982)
04 A Song I Used To Play (from 'A Molde Concert' by Arild Andersen 1982)
05 Lakota Song (from 'Comin' And Goin'' by Jim Pepper 1983)
06 Waiting Inside (from 'Oshumare' by Billy Hart 1985)
07 Enigmatic Suite: Synergy/Overcast (from 'Transparency' by Herb Robertson Quintet 1985)

Kim Petras - Problématique (2022)

Kim Petras was born on 27 August 1992 in Cologne, Germany, and in 2006, when aged just 13 years old, she appeared on a German television current-affairs show in which she discussed her medical gender transition. In November 2008, Petras announced that gender-confirmation surgery had been completed, and it was claimed that she was the youngest person in the world to have had that surgery at the time. Her music career began immediately afterwards, releasing a string of singles under Joyce Records, with 'Fade Away' appearing in 2008, and 'Last Forever', 'Die For You' and 'Boomerang' all coming out in 2009, while her debut extended play, 'One Piece Of Tape' followed two years later. Throughout the next few years she worked with producers including The Stereotypes, C.J. Abraham, Stephen Dresser, Johan "Jones" Wetterberg, Edward Ellis, and Aaron Joseph on a music career, releasing demos on her SoundCloud page. In August 2017, Petras released her debut single for BunHead Records, with 'I Don't Want It At All', and in October 2018 she released the 'Turn Off The Light, Vol. 1' EP, as a Halloween-themed extended play. In February 2019, she released three singles titled '1, 2, 3 Dayz Up', 'If U Think About Me...', and 'Homework', and although she hasn't publicly expressed plans to release an album with these eleven "neon head" digital singles on it, she has referred to this period of her career as "Era 1". 

Her debut album 'Clarity' was released in June 2019, and in August she announced that there would be a limited edition vinyl pressing of 'Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1', with Vol. 2 being released exactly a year after the first part, but in fact 'Turn Off The Light' became her second studio album, released in October 2019, featuring all of the songs from the EP plus nine new tracks. On 7 May 2020, Petras released the single 'Malibu' as the lead single from her next album, and announced that 'Turn Off The Light Vol. 3' would be released sometime in 2021, although neither of these plans came to fruition. In August 2021, she signed to Republic Records and released 'Future Starts Now' as the lead single from her upcoming major-label debut studio album, and she performed two more singles from the forthcoming album — 'Coconuts' and 'Hit It From The Back' — when she appeared at the 2021 MTV Europe Music Awards. On 10 February 2022, after teasing some of the songs on TikTok, Petras announced a surprise EP titled 'Slut Pop', which was released the following day, but there was no sign of the new album, and in July she finally announced on Twitter that the album, titled 'Problématique', had been scrapped. In September 2022 Petras released the song 'Unholy', which was a collaboration with Sam Smith, hitting number one in various countries upon release, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, and it was also her first career entry on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, eventually topping the chart in October 2022. With her career now established worldwide, we can go back and listen to the album which would have been her major label debut had it not been shelved. 

Track listing 

01 Problématique
02 Future Starts Now
03 Revelations
04 Deeper
05 Confessions
06 Hit It From The Back
07 Je T'adore
08 Something About You
09 Born Again
10 Coconuts
11 All She Wants (feat. Paris Hilton)
12 Your Time To Cry
13 Malibu
14 Sex Talk
15 Love Ya Leave Ya
16 Left My Body

Super Furry Animals - This, That And The Other (2007)

Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff in 1993 after the founding members had been in various other Welsh bands and techno outfits in the area. Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), and Dafydd Ieuan (drums, vocals) had been together since the early 1990's, and had toured France as a techno group, but after Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), and Ieuan's younger brother Cian Ciaran (keyboards, synthesisers, electronics) joined they wrote some songs, and in 1995 signed to Ankst, a Welsh indie label. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Welsh music, art and literature in the 1990's, alongside other Welsh bands of the time, including The Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The earliest Super Furry Animals track commercially available is 'Dim Brys: Dim Chwys', which was recorded in 1994 for Radio Cymru, and is an ambient piece, showing the band's techno roots. However, by the time it was released on the 'Triskedekaphilia' compilation album in August 1995, the band had already put out their debut EP on the Ankst label, with the 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) EP' appearing in June, and it instantly made an appearnace in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP. The 'Moog Droog EP' followed in October 1995, named after the synthesiser manufacturer Robert Moog and the Nadsat term for "friend" in A Clockwork Orange, but it could also be a pun on the Welsh "mwg drwg", meaning "wacky baccy", and the lyrics on all the tracks on both EP's were in Welsh, except for 'God! Show Me Magic'. After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label. 

On signing them McGee did insist that they sing in English rather than Welsh for future shows, but by this stage they were already singing in English, although McGee didn't realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. This decision did cause them to receive some criticism in the Welsh media, but they felt that singing in English would broaden their fanbase. In February 1996, the band's debut on Creation, 'Hometown Unicorn', became New Musical Express's Single of the Week, chosen by guest reviewers Pulp, and the first of their singles to chart in the UK Top 50, while a re-recording of 'God! Show Me Magic' reached No. 33. In May, their debut album 'Fuzzy Logic' was released to wide critical acclaim, and although initial sales were slow, it garnered a little more interest when a reworked, more mellow version of 'Something 4 The Weekend' was released as a single, and following considerable radio airplay it broke into the UK Top 20 at No. 18. The final single from the album, 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You', was to have been backed by a track called 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck', but there were problems in clearing a sample from 'Showbiz Kids' by Steely Dan which formed the basis of the chorus, and it was switched for a different song. The band always regrarded 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' as one of their best songs, and so continued their efforts to clear the sample, and when they finally managed it, the song was released in December 1996 as a limited edition single in its own right. 

In early 1997, the group completed a speedy follow-up to 'Fuzzy Logic', and released two taster singles, in 'Hermann ♥'s Pauline' in May and 'The International Language Of Screaming' in July, both of which stalled in the mid-20's of the UK charts. 'Radiator' hit the shelves in August, and the reviews were, if anything, better than those for 'Fuzzy Logic', and it sold more quickly than its predecessor, reaching a peak of No. 8. Two further singles were issued from the album, but both 'Play It Cool' and 'Demons' couldn't do any better in the charts than the first two. After a chance to think about their music and their direction, SFA decided to record a new record in early 1998 at Gorwel Owen's house, and they released the 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP in May, which is now widely held as one of their finest moments. In November 1998, the compilation album 'Out Spaced' was released, collecting together some of their 1995 Ankst recordings, a few of their favourite b-sides, plus 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' and 'Smokin''. In May 1999, 'Northern Lites' was released to herald their new album, and it made No. 11 in the charts, featuring a dense production, clattering steel drums, and irreverent lyrics about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon. It was an apt taster for the new album, 'Guerrilla', which retained their pop melodies, but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution, and was their most experimental work to date. Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which swung from glam and garage rock numbers ('Night Vision', 'The Teacher') to novelty techno ('Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)'), ambient indietronica ('Some Things Come From Nothing') and upbeat drum and bass ('The Door To This House Remains Open'). 

'Fire In My Heart' followed 'Northern Lights' as a single, while the final song to be extracted from the album, 'Do Or Die', was their last on Creation, as Alan McGee set off to pursue other interests. It had always been their plan to release their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, as it would be a deliberate sidestep from their recent work, being a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled 'Mwng'. It was preceded in May 2000 by a limited edition (of 3000) 7" record, with 'Ysbeidiau Heulog' backed with 'Charge', a hard-rock jam recorded as a Peel Session for the BBC. The album, released the same month, sold remarkably well for a non-English album, and it received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive. With the demise of Creation, SFA needed to find a new label for their next album, and as Sony had long held a substantial stake in Creation, they offered deals to many ex-Creation artists, signing the band to their Epic offshoot. The greater resources afforded them by Epic were apparent in their first album for the label, as 'Rings Around The World' recaptured the cohesive, experimental feel of 'Guerrilla', but was more song-driven and sonically expansive. It is cited by many critics and fans alike as their most polished and accessible work, and again the first single was a good indication of what was to come, with 'Juxtapozed With U' being a lush soul record, which made No. 14 in the charts in July 2001. 

The album followed in the same month and major label marketing muscle made it their biggest-seller to date, reaching No. 3 in the album charts, with one of the tracks from the album, 'Receptacle For the Respectable', featuring Paul McCartney on "carrot and celery rhythm track" (a homage to his performance on the Beach Boys' 'Vegetables'). It also included some of their more experimental tracks, such as 'Sidewalk Serfer Girl' (which switches between light techno-pop and hardcore punk), '[A] Touch Sensitive' (gloomy trip-hop) and 'No Sympathy' (which descends into chaotic drum'n'bass). 'Rings Around The World' was also remarkable for being the world's first simultaneous release of an audio and DVD album, and it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001. Their next record, 'Phantom Power', relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics affair, and although the reviews were generally good, and it sold well initially, it broke little new ground by SFA's standards, and it appeared that the band had fallen out of fashion. Perhaps recognising that their approach to 'Phantom Power' had been a little too straightforward, the group followed it up in 2004 with a remix version, 'Phantom Phorce', with tracks reworked by the likes of Killa Kela, Four Tet and Brave Captain. They accompanied this with a download single, 'Slow Life', which also included the track 'Motherfokker', a collaboration with Goldie Lookin Chain. In early 2005, Gruff Rhys released a solo album 'Yr Atal Genhedlaeth', ("The Stuttering Generation", and also a play on words as "Atal Genhedlu" means contraception), sung all in Welsh, on which he played most of the instruments himself, mainly using guitars, drums and his own multi-tracked voice. 

In August 2005, SFA released their seventh studio effort, 'Love Kraft', which was recorded in Spain, and which represented a departure from their previous working methods. Although all five members had always contributed to the development of the songs, Rhys had been the main songwriter, but on this album this was no longer the case, as Rhys, Bunford, Ieuan and Ciaran all contributed songs and lead vocals. The laid-back ambience recalls early-1970's Beach Boys albums such as 'Surf's Up', whilst the heavy use of strings suggested the likes of Scott Walker and Curtis Mayfield. The album's cool commercial reception suggested that they had returned to their familiar status of critically acclaimed cult favourites, but 'Love Kraft' was to be their final album released under Epic Records, as their contract expired in early 2006. The band signed to Rough Trade Records during 2006, with Gruff Rhys also signing to the label as a solo artist, and in late 2006 he released the 'Candylion' 7" single, followed by the album of the same name in January 2007. SFA's first release for Rough Trade was recorded in a chateau in the south of France, and 'Hey Venus!' was released in August 2007, faring slightly better than its predecessor, and peaking at No. 11 in the albums chart. In March 2009, the band released their ninth and final studio album, 'Dark Days/Light Years', digitally via their website, with a physical release following in April, resulting in a number 23 UK Chart placement. It received strong critical feedback, but as the singles released from it were also digital, then for the first time since they started out, there were no exclusive tracks added to them. In 2010, Super Furry Animals went on what became a five-year hiatus, before reforming in May 2015 to play several gigs to accompany a major reissue of their 15-year-old album 'Mwng'. During their long career, SFA have always treated their fans well, adding non-album songs to the flips of all their singles, and even though there are quite a number of collaborations, compilation appearances, demos and out-takes floating around, this post features just the non-album singles, EP tracks and b-sides, as I think that a five-disc collection of rarities from the band will satisfy even their most ardent fans. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1995-1996
01 Organ Yn Dy Geg (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
02 Fix Idris (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
03 Crys Ti (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
04 Blerwytirhwng? (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
05 PamV? (from 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
06 Sali Mali (from 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
07 Focus Pocus/Debiel 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
08 (Nid) Hon Yw'r Gan Sy'n Mynd I Achub Yr Iaith (single 1996)
09 Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity) (b-side of 'Hometown Unicorn' 1996)
10 Don't Be A Fool, Billy! (b-side of 'Hometown Unicorn' 1996)
11 Death By Melody (b-side of 'God! Show Me Magic' 1996)
12 Dim Bendith (b-side of 'God! Show Me Magic' 1996)

Disc II - 1996-1997
01 Waiting To Happen (b-side of 'Something 4 The Weekend' 1996)
02 Arnofio/Glô In The Dark (b-side of 'Something 4 The Weekend' 1996)
03 The Man Don't Give A Fuck (b-side of 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You' 1996)
04 Guacamole (b-side of 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You' 1996)
05 Calimero (b-side of 'Hermann Loves Pauline' 1997)
06 Trôns Mr Urdd (b-side of 'Hermann Loves Pauline' 1997)
07 Wrap It Up (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
08 Foxy Music (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
09 nO.K. (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
10 Pass The Time (b-side of 'Play It Cool' 1997)
11 Cryndod Yn Dy Lais (b-side of 'Play It Cool' 1997)

Disc III - 1997-1999
01 Hit And Run (b-side of 'Demons' 1997)
02 Carry The Can (b-side of 'Demons' 1997)
03 Ice Hockey Hair (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
04 Smokin' (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
05 Mu-Tron (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
06 Let's Quit Smoking (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
07 Rabid Dog (b-side of 'Northern Lights' 1999)
08 This, That And The Other (b-side of 'Northern Lights' 1999)
09 The Matter Of Time (b-side of 'Fire In My Heart' 1999)
10 Mrs Spector (b-side of 'Fire In My Heart' 1999)

Disc IV - 2000-2003
01 Missunderstanding (b-side of 'Do Or Die' 2000)
02 Colorblind (b-side of 'Do Or Die' 2000)
03 Charge (b-side of 'Ysbeidiau Heulog' 2000)
04 Tradewinds (b-side of 'Juxtapozed With U' 2001)
05 Happiness Is A Worn Pun (b-side of 'Juxtapozed With U' 2001)
06 Edam Anchorman (b-side of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' 2001)
07 All The Shit U Do (b-side of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' 2001)
08 The Roman Road (b-side of 'It's Not The End Of The World?' 2002)
09 Gýpsy Space Muffin (b-side of 'It's Not The End Of The World?' 2002)   
10 Summer Snow (b-side of 'Golden Retriever' 2003)
11 Blue Fruit (b-side of 'Golden Retriever' 2003)

Disc V - 2003-2007
01 Cowbird (b-side of 'Hello Sunshine' 2003)
02 Sanitizzzed (b-side of 'Hello Sunshine' 2003)
03 Motherfokker (b-side of 'Slow Life' 2003)
04 Lost Control (b-side of 'Slow Life' 2003)         
05 Sunny Seville (b-side of 'Lazer Beam' 2005)
06 Colonise The Moon (b-side of 'Lazer Beam' 2005)
07 Never More (b-side of 'Show Your Hand' 2007)
08 Aluminium Illuminati (b-side of 'Show Your Hand' 2007)
09 These Bones (b-side of 'Run Away' 2007)
10 That's What I'm Talking About (b-side of 'Run Away' 2007)