Diana Ross & The Supremes - Sing Disney Classics (1967)

'Supremes Sing Disney' was not the idea of Berry Gordy, Jr., as you might think, but of Diana Ross, who yearned to do a music album for children. The special project was then started with Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard in early 1967, along the same lines as 'The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart', which displayed the worldliness of Motown Records and the true musical diversity of the group. The recording was put on hold for the 'Reflections' personnel change of summer 1967, when Ballard was fired and replaced by Cindy Birdsong, and recording resumed in late 1967 with the new line-up, with the title amended to 'Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing Disney Classics'. Ross sings lead on all the songs except 'Davy Crockett', which was a Wilson lead vocal, and the album was completed and ready to go when Motown Records decided not to release it. Had the album been released in Autumn 1968 as later planned, the cover photograph would have had to reflect that Ballard had been replaced by Birdsong, but the recordings stayed locked in the vaults for 20 years, until some of the songs finally turned up on 'Diana Ross & The Supremes - The Never Before Released Masters' in 1987, following years of pleading from fans. Despite this act of generosity by Motown, three of the songs remained unreleased for many years, but I've managed to track down 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah' and 'A Spoonful Of Sugar', (admittedly not as high quality as the other tracks, although I have improved them from their original thin sound), which just leaves 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' still missing. A video of this appeared on Youtube for two days in 2017 before it was taken down by Disney, so if anyone has a copy of it that I could have then it would complete this extremely rare collection.  

Track listing

01 Heigh-Ho (from 'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs')
02 I've Got No Strings (from 'Pinocchio') 
03 Chim Chim Cher-ee (from 'Mary Poppins') MISSING
04 A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes (from 'Cinderella') 
05 Someday My Prince Will Come (from 'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs')
06 The Ballad Of Davy Crockett (from 'Davy Crockett, King Of The Wild Frontier') 
07 Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (from 'Song Of The South') 
08 Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from 'Mary Poppins')
09 Toyland (from 'Babes In Toyland')
10 When You Wish Upon A Star (from 'Pinocchio')  
11 A Spoonful Of Sugar (from 'Mary Poppins') 
12 The Land Of Make Believe (from 'Peter Pan') 
13 Whistle While You Work (from 'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs')
14 It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas (from 'The Happiest Millionaire')

The Rolling Stones - Very Ancient, Thank You Kindly (The Decca Live Album) (1972)

Even though The Rolling Stones had only just released the live 'Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!' two years earlier, their label Decca were keen for them to issue another one, and so arrangements were made to record some shows from their 1972 American tour, with the intention of releasing the album shortly afterwards. A number of concerts were recorded, and the best performances were selected, with most of the first half coming from the 21 July Philadelphia show and the second half favouring Fort Worth from 24 June. Other concerts were also taped, such as Boston Gardens on 19 July and Tarrant County Convention Centre on 21 June and so this has resulted in a lot of confusion, with numerous bootlegs appearing which all claim to the 'The Unreleased Decca Live Album', but featuring recordings from these other venues. The band had left Decca in 1970 to form their own Rolling Stones Records label, which would be free from corporate interference and meddling, and what happened next was a perfect example of what they were trying to get away from, as although Alan Klein and Decca Records have always denied it, they've been accused of being the cause of the late-stage abandonment of the planned double live album of the Stones' 1972 American tour. As they then held the exclusive UK rights to the Stones' re-recordings of songs originally released while signed to the label, the album would have had to be issued by Decca, even though they were no longer part of Decca's roster, and some sources have stated that they or Klein objected to the inclusion of tracks by the tour's support act, Stevie Wonder, whereas others blame Motown for insisting that the album was a joint release by Stevie Wonder with The Rolling Stones. In the end the Stones just abandoned the whole thing and it became the stuff of legend. Fans have tried to replicate it with alternate recordings, but these are often poorer quality, and so when I found this recording I wanted to make sure it was the real thing. The track 'Sweet Virginia' had been removed as it has been 'officially released', and so I tracked down that recording from the 24 June Fort Worth concert and when I slotted it back in it fitted perfectly, even down to the banter being the same, so I'm happy that what we have here is the real deal. I found a great cover online, even if the title is a bit strange, but actually I like it (because that's what they are!), and so that's what it's now called. 

Track listing 

01 All Down The Line (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
02 Brown Sugar (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
03 Bitch (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
04 Rocks Off (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
05 Gimme Shelter (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
06 Happy (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
07 Tumbling Dice (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
08 Love In Vain (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
09 Sweet Virginia (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
10 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
11 Midnight Rambler (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
12 Rip This Joint (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
13 Jumping Jack Flash (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
14 Street Fighting Man (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)

Marianne Faithfull - The Most Of What Is Least (1969)

Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull was born 29 December 1946 in Hampstead, London, and spent some of her early life at the commune at Braziers Park, Oxfordshire, formed by John Norman Glaister and her father Robert Faithfull. Her parents divorced when she was six years old, after which she moved with her mother to Milman Road in Reading, but her girlhood was marred by bouts of tuberculosis. In 1964 she attended a Rolling Stones party, where she was discovered by Andrew Loog Oldham, and her first major release was the single 'As Tears Go By', which was written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Oldham, and which became a chart success. Considerably more successful in her native land than the States, she had a series of hits in the mid-'60s that set her high, fragile voice against delicate orchestral pop arrangements, with 'Summer Night', 'This Little Bird', and Jackie DeShannon's 'Come And Stay with Me' all charting in the UK. This string of successful singles displayed her gentle voice and talent as an interpretive vocalist, and 1966's folky 'North Country Maid' showed that her gifts stretched beyond polished pop. In 1965 she married John Dunbar, giving birth to her son Nicholas later that year, and in 1966 she took Nicholas to stay with Brian Jones and Anita Pallenberg in London, during which time she started smoking marijuana and became best friends with Pallenberg, as well as beginning a much-publicised relationship with Mick Jagger. Much of her notoriety at the outset of her career was due to her status as a 60's icon because of her long-running romance with Jagger, although she offered a taste of things to come with her compelling 1969 b-side 'Sister Morphine', which she co-wrote, and which the Stones later released themselves on 'Sticky Fingers', following a protracted legal battle over the writing credits that was ultimately resolved with Faithfull listed as co-author. Faithfull's involvement in Jagger's life would be reflected in some of the Rolling Stones's best known songs, with 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', 'Wild Horses' and 'I Got the Blues' all allegedly being influenced by her, but to remind us of her fragile vocal style which was so popular in the 60's, here is a collection of rare early singles, b-sides and out-takes, including an unusual collaboration with Ornette Coleman for a song from the soundtrack of the film 'Who's Crazy', as well as her interpretations of staples such as 'House Of The Rising Sun', 'Blowing In The Wind',  and 'Monday Monday'. 

Track listing

01 Blowin' In The Wind (single 1964)
02 Greensleeves (b-side of 'As Tears Go By' 1964)
03 House Of The Rising Sun (b-side of 'Blowin' In The Wind' - long version) 
04 Morning Sun (b-side of 'Little Bird' 1965) 
05 The Sha La La Song (b-side of 'Summer Nights' 1965)
06 Oh Look Around You (b-side of 'Go Away From My World' 1965)
07 The Most Of What Is Least (from 'Go Away From My World' EP 1965)
08 Sadness (with Ornette Coleman, from the soundtrack of the film 'Who's Crazy?' 1966)
09 That's Right Baby (b-side of Tomorrow's Calling' 1966)
10 I'd Like To Dial Your Number (b-side of 'Counting' 1966)
11 Is This What I Get For Loving You? (single 1967)
12 Tomorrow's Calling (b-side of 'Is This What I Get For Loving You?')
13 Rosie, Rosie (previously unreleased 1967)
14 Hang On To A Dream (previously unreleased 1967)
15 Monday, Monday (previously unreleased 1967)
16 Something Better (single 1969)
17 Sister Morphine (b-side of 'Something Better')

Thanks to Paul for he suggestion, and for her European singles go here https://albumsiwishexisted2.blogspot.com/search/label/Marianne%20Faithfull

Sheryl Crow - Borrowed Time (1992)

Paul over at albumsthatshouldexist is a huge Sheryl Crow fan, and has posted a number of stray tracks albums from her, alongside some cracking live stuff, but one record that he hasn't posted is her unreleased debut album from 1982. The reason for this is that he doesn't really rate it as being very good, or indicative of what was to follow with her official debut album 'Tuesday Night Music Club' the following year. The record was due to be released on 22 September 1992, but as the release date drew nearer it emerged that both she and her record company felt that she could do better. She was unhappy that the record company had stifled her vision by over-producing the songs, and the label agreed she was capable of better, so it was mutually agreed to shelve the album and try again. She was given more freedom to record her songs the way she wanted and 'Tuesday Night Music Club' was the result. Listening to the album I guess you can hear why she was unhappy with it, and consented to it being shelved, but if you overlook the cheesy production then it's a record of great hooks and solid songs, indicative of a quality singer/songwriter, and while the reasons behind shelving it are totally understandable, it's certainly not unlistenable. I approached it as the fledgling efforts of a previously unknown artist, and on that basis I found a lot to enjoy, so perhaps because I wasn't listening to it as a portent of things to come, I could just enjoy the songs without constantly reminding myself that 'this is Sheryl Crow'. I'm sure there are fans out these who would like to hear this, if only for curiosity's sake, and so as Paul won't be posting it, here it is with a new title and revamped cover, so that you can make up your own minds. If you want to read Paul's opinion then pop over here

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/05/sheryl-crow-happy-various-songs-1992.html

Track listing

01 Near Me
02 When Love Is Over
03 You Want It All
04 Hundreds Of Tears
05 The Last Time
06 Borrowed Time
07 All Kinds Of People
08 Father's Sons
09 What Does It Matter
10 Indian Summer
11 I Will Walk With You
12 Love You Blind

Hybrid Theory - HT (2000)

As mentioned in the Xero post, three high school friends from California - Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson - teamed up with Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, then called Xero. A four-track demo tape was recorded, which you can hear from their own post, but tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal, so Wakefield and Farrell left, and after spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999. The band then agreed to change their name from Xero to Hybrid Theory, and with the newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helping to revive the band, the started work on new material. In 1999, the band released a self-titled EP, which they circulated across internet chat-rooms and forums with the help of an online 'street team', but still they struggled to sign a record deal, and so they recorded a number of demo tapes to be hawked around the record companies,and some of the songs from these demos did appear on records, with the extremely rare 'Raw Power Sampler' containing 'By Myself', and 'Now I See' being included on the 'Ozzfest 2000 Sampler' CD. The demo tapes have been circulating for a while, with at least four different tapes doing the rounds, with different versions of some of the songs, and including from six to nine tracks, and so for this post I'm finally including all thirteen known songs plus the two sampler appearances in one place, including demos of songs that later appeared on Linkin Park's debut album, and others that have yet to appear officially.  

Track listing

01 Crawling (demo 2000)
02 She Couldn't (demo 2000)
03 Carousel (demo 2000)
04 Untitled ('In The End' demo' 2000)
05 Points & Authority (demo 2000)
06 SuperXero ('By Myself' demo)
07 Part Of Me (demo 2000)

08 Dust Brothers ('With You' demo 2000)
09 And One (demo 2000)
10 Papercut (demo 2000)

11 Rhinestone ('Forgotten' demo 2000)
12 Esaul ('A Place In My Head' demo 2000)
13 Plaster ('One Step Closer' demo 2000)

14 By Myself ('Raw Power' version 1988)

15 Now I See ('With You' demo from the 'Ozzfest Sampler' 2000)

Kanye West - Yandhi (2018)

'Yandhi' was to be Kanye West's ninth album, with an original release date of 29 September 2018, but the album was never released, eventually morphing into 'Jesus Is King', which came out in October 2019. Three tracks from 'Yandhi' appeared on 'Jesus Is King', and one later turned up on 'Donda', but the rest remain unreleased, and the album is probably the one that fans most want to hear after 'So Help Me God'. He enjoyed success with his "Wyoming albums", a streak of releases from 2018 where he served as producer, including 'Daytona' by Pusha T, 'Kids See Ghosts' with Kid Cudi as the title duo 'Kids See Ghosts', 'Nasir' by Nas, 'K.T.S.E.' by Teyana Taylor, and of course his own 'Ye' album. Later in 2018, he released the singles 'XTCY' and 'I Love It', the latter of which featured Lil Pump, and he also announced 'Watch The Throne 2' would come soon, as well as 'Good Ass Job' with Chance The Rapper. On 27 September 2018 he posted a tweet which announced 'Yandhi' would come out two days later on September 29, to coincide with him being a musical guest on 'Saturday Night Live', but it didn't appear as promised, and Kim Kardashian later tweeted that it would come out on 23 November instead. West eventually went to Uganda and worked on the album there, only to return in November and announce that the release was delayed indefinitely. In October 2019 he released 'Jesus Is King', which contained three tracks from 'Yandhi' ('Chakras', 'The Storm' and 'Law Of Attraction') that were reworked into the tracks 'Selah', 'Everything We Need', and 'Use This Gospel', and so it seemed that 'Yahndhi' would join the long list of West's unreleased albums. Although an official tracklist from West himself was never released, multiple potential listings have been spotted in the background of pictures, with one on a whiteboard at the Saturday Night Live studio which has been taken as one of the most accurate. In 2018 the album had seven tracks, but this changed every time a new picture emerged, with some listings having up to ten tracks. One of the songs did make an appearance, with 'We Got Love' showing up on the Teyana Taylor album, and a couple of them were released as singles, but there are rumours that up to 30 tracks were recorded. Luckily at least 20 of them have leaked online, and so we are able to reconstruct the album from these, and although it's possible that not all of them would have made the cut, as they make for a record that's over an hour long, having listened to them a few times now, there aren't really any that I want to leave off so that's how long it's going to be. The title 'Yandhi' is a portmanteau of Ye and Mahatma Gandhi, similar to Yeezus, and the album's artwork was officially released, being a continuation of the minimalistic sleeve design of the 'Yeezus' album, this time featuring a picture of a Sony Mini-disc, but I thought that was so boring that I've used (I think) a much better fan-made cover that I found online. As with the 'So Help Me God' album, it's given me a new appreciation for West's later work, and 'Yandhi' is swiftly becoming another favourite.      

 

Track listing

01 Chakras (ft. The-Dream, Ant Clemons)
02 Calm Interlude (ft. Ty Dolla $ign, Ant Clemons)
03 XXX (The Storm) (ft. Ty Dolla $ign, Ant Clemons, Kid Cudi, XXXTentacion)
04 New Body (ft. Nicki Minaj, Ty Dolla $ign)
05 Hurricane (ft. Ant Clemons)
06 Alien Interlude
07 Alien (ft. Kid Cudi, Young Thug, Quavo, Ant Clemons)
08 Home (ft. Ant Clemons)
09 City In The Sky (ft. Desiigner, 070 Shake, Ty Dolla $ign, Kid Cudi, Jeremih, The-Dream)
10 No Problem (ft. Smokepurpp)
11 Spread Your Wings
12 Cash To Burn (ft. Kenny G, Ant Clemons)
13 We Got Love (ft. Teyana Taylor, Ms Lauryn Hill)
14 The Garden (ft. Teyana Taylor, Ty Dolla $ign, Ant Clemons)
15 Don't Get 2 Excited
16 House Party (ft. Ant Clemons)
17 All Dreams Real
18 Last Name (ft. Ant Clemons)
19 Law Of Attraction (ft. Dua Lipa, Clipse, Kenny G, Ant Clemons)
20 End Of It

Steve Hunter - ...and on guitar (2001)

Stephen John Hunter was born on 14 June 1948, and his first introduction to music was as a young child listening to country and western music on a Zenith console radio. When he was eight years old, he began taking guitar lessons on a Lap steel guitar after seeing Jerry Byrd play lap steel and hearing what could be done on the instrument, but inspired by the music of Chet Atkins, The Ventures and Duane Eddy, he eventually switched to standard guitar. He continued playing guitar throughout high school as a member of a group called The Weejuns, which took their name from G.H. Bass & Co.'s perennially-popular penny loafers, and he later joined The Light Brigade, a rock and soul group that played in the Decatur area. In 1967 Hunter was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War, and there he trained as an x-ray technician, ultimately serving at an air evacuation hospital in Okinawa, Japan where Vietnam combat casualties were being treated. He considered becoming a doctor but he enjoyed music so much he knew he would follow a career in music, which he did when he returned to Decatur after leaving the Army, building up a reputation as an outstanding guitar player. In 1971 his friend John Sauter called to tell him that he was playing with Mitch Ryder in Detroit and that Ryder was auditioning for guitar players, so he suggested that Hunter come to Detroit and try out. He packed up his guitar and made the eight-hour drive to Detroit, and after passing the audition he became part of Mitch Ryder's new band Detroit, where he met and formed a long-time professional association with producer Bob Ezrin. Detroit released one self-titled album on Paramount Records, but did have a hit single with Hunter's arrangement of Lou Reed's 'Rock & Roll', and Reed was so impressed that he recruited Hunter to join his band, playing on 1973's 'Berlin'. In the 1970's he appeared on five Alice Cooper albums, all of which were produced by Ezrin, starting with the band's most successful album 'Billion Dollar Babies'. When Alice Cooper became a solo artist, Hunter followed and appeared on 1975's 'Welcome To My Nightmare', and can be seen in the film 'Welcome To My Nightmare', enacting the celebrated guitar face-off between him and Dick Wagner that formed part of Cooper's 1975 live show. In 1974 he played the uncredited opening-half solo on Aerosmith's 'Train Kept A Rollin' from 'Get Your Wings', after producer Jack Douglas popped his head out of Studio C and asked if Hunter felt like playing on the recording. Later that year Hunter played guitar on former Cream bassist Jack Bruce's solo album 'Out Of The Storm', and in 1977 he worked with Peter Gabriel on his first solo album, playing the intro to the classic single 'Solsbury Hill'. Other artists Hunter has worked with include David Lee Roth, Julian Lennon, Dr. John, Tracy Chapman and more recently Glen Campbell and 2Cellos. It was while recording Roth's 'A Little Ain't Enough' that Hunter met Jason Becker, and they've remained close friends ever since. He auditioned for and got the job of playing guitar on the soundtrack of the 1979 Bette Midler film 'The Rose', composing the instrumental 'Camelia', which is featured in the film. Hunter's first solo album, 1977's critically acclaimed 'Swept Away', reunited him with producer Bob Ezrin, and he's released a number of further solo albums since, but this collection showcases his guitar-work on other artist's albums, from the famous - Reed, Gabriel, Aerosmith - to the not so well-known but equally as interesting, like The H Factor, Jesse Camp, Angelo, and The Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Rock 'n' Roll (from 'Detroit' by Detroit With Mitch Ryder 1972)
02 Sad Song (from 'Berlin' by Lou Reed 1973)
03 If We Only Had The Time (from 'Flo & Eddie' by Flo & Eddie 1973)
04 Timeslip (from 'Out Of The Storm' by Jack Bruce 1974)
05 Train Kept A Rollin' (from 'Get Your Wings' by Aerosmith 1974)
06 Some Folks (from 'Welcome To My Nightmare' by Alice Cooper 1975)
07 Back By The River (from 'Hollywood Be Thy Name' by Dr. John 1975)
08 Solsbury Hill (from 'Peter Gabriel' by Peter Gabriel 1977)      
09 Spaceman (from 'Randy Richards' by Randy Richards 1978)

Disc Two
01 Have You Ever Seen The Rain (from 'Midnight Prowl' by Angelo 1978) 
02 Small Town Boy (from 'Richard Wagner' by Richard Wagner 1978)
03 Danger Up Ahead (from 'Don't Look Back' by Natalie Cole 1980)
04 Whatever Will Be (from 'Wake 'Em Up In Tokyo' by Karla DeVito 1986)
05 Urban Strut (from 'Guitar Speak' by Various Artists 1988)
06 The Hurt Stays Home (from 'The H Factor' by The H Factor 1989) 
07 Saltwater (from 'Help Yourself' by Julian Lennon' 1991)
08 A Little Luck (from 'Your Filthy Little Mouth' by David Lee Roth 1994)
09 Meet Me In The Morning (from 'Perspective' by Jason Becker 1995)
10 Break It (from 'Jesse & The 8th Street Kidz' by Jesse Camp 1999)
11 Blade (from 'Walk Alone' by Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash 2001)

Thanks to Duane for the suggestion. 

The Stone Roses - Garage Flower (1985)

As I mentioned in the first post by The Stone Roses, in mid 1985 they made their first attempt at recording an album, and employed the services of legendary producer Martin Hannett to record their songs. Despite Hannett being at the controls, when the album was finished the band were unhappy with the production and the songs, and so it remained unreleased for many years. Once the band released their official debut album in 1989 to huge acclaim, it's no surprise that bootlegs of their earlier attempt started to appear, and fans were thrilled to hear early versions of future classics like 'I Wanna Be Adored' and 'This Is The One', along-side embryonic takes of the first three singles, and many songs that have never since seen the light of day. In 1985 the band would just have changed their name from 'English Rose', and decided to give the mod sound a miss, and so the playing is harsh, primitive post-punk, closer to Killing Joke and their earliest days as the Clash-inspired The Patrol than anything that came after, but the attitude and the songwriting are already well in place. Bassist Andy Couzens was co-writer of nine of these 14 songs, and so when he left and was replaced by Mani that changed the dynamic of the band, with John Squire and Ian Brown taking over the songwriting. Even at this early stage you can hear Squire's stabbing, ripping chords on tracks like 'Heart on The Staves', while 'Getting Plenty' is almost as dramatic, 'Trust A Fox' hammers toward the shouted, sneered "hello" chorus, and Reni goes wild on 'Tradjic Roundabout'. The album was finally officially released in 1996, very much against the wishes of the band, who refused to have anything to so with it, resulting in there being minimal information about the recordings in the sleevenotes, but even after all this time I'm sure there are still fans out there who've missed this who would jump at the chance of hearing these early recordings by their favourite band.  

Track listing

01 Getting Plenty 
02 Here It Comes 
03 Trust A Fox 
04 Tradjic Roundabout 
05 All I Want 
06 Heart On The Staves 
07 I Wanna Be Adored 
08 This Is The One 
09 Fall 
10 So Young 
11 Tell Me 
12 Haddock 
13 Just A Little Bit 
14 Mission Impossible 

The Simon Sisters - Rise Up (1969)

The Simon Sisters were a folk music sister duo consisting of Carly Simon and Lucy Simon, and they released three albums in the 1960's before Lucy left to get married. The duo would hitchhike up to Provincetown, Massachusetts in the summer of 1964, and sing at a local bar called The Moors, with their repertoire consisting of folk music, peppered with a few original compositions. They were signed to Kapp Records that same year, and their first two albums were released on the label, with 'Meet The Simon Sisters' coming out in 1964. It was a fine collection of folk standards, all arranged by the sisters, and it included their first composition, with Lucy's co-write of 'Winkin', Blinkin' And Nod' not only becoming a minor hit single, but also foreshadowing their third album of songs for children. Their second release 'Cuddlebug (The Happiness Blanket)' quickly followed the same year, and once again was a nice collection of folk standards arranged by the girls, including a French Canadian version of 'Blowin' In The Wind' and a lovely arrangement of Pete Seeger's 'Turn, Turn, Turn'. The duo made one more album together, and 1969's 'The Simon Sisters Sing The Lobster Quadrille and Other Songs For Children' did exactly what it said in the title, with Lucy putting music to a number of children's poems by Edward Lear, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Blake and Eugene Field among others. In 1970 Lucy left to get married and start a family, and Carly later collaborated with eclectic New York rockers Elephant's Memory for about six months, and also appeared in the 1971 Miloš Forman film 'Taking Off', playing an auditioning singer, and singing 'Long Term Physical Effects', which was included in the 1971 soundtrack album. Lucy had a minor solo career and released two albums in the 70's before having more recent success writing music for Broadway plays. From 1971, Carly embarked on a very successful solo career, releasing over 24 studio albums that produced multiple Top 40 hits across the Billboard charts. To understand how they both got to that point in their careers I've selected songs from their albums that they either wrote themselves, co-wrote with others, or where the arrangements are particularly effective, and I've included 'Maryanne', which was a song that they exhumed for inclusion on the 1982 album 'In Harmony 2'. 

Track listing

01 Rise Up (C Simon/L Simon)
02 A Red, Red Rose (Robert Burns/L Simon)
03 The Lamplighter (Robert Louis Stevenson/L Simon)
04 Dink's Blues (arranged by C Simon/Scharf)
05 If You Go Down To The Water (C Simon/Delbanco)
06 Delia (arranged by C Simon/L Simon)
07 Motherless Child (adapted by Hamilton/Gilbert)
08 Hold Back The Branches (C Simon/De Vega)
09 Who Has Seen The Wind (Christina Rossetti/L Simon)
10 Once I Had A True Love (arranged by C Simon/L Simon)
11 Maryanne (arranged by C Simon/L Simon)
12 So Glad I'm Here (Krause, Cooper, Smith, Scharf)
13 A Pavane For The Nursery (William Jay Smith/L Simon)
14 Pale Horse And Rider (C Simon)

Gary Numan - Time To Die (1986)

'Warriors' was the last album that Gary Numan recorded for Beggars Banquet Records, leaving the label to form his own, which he named Numa. The first album released on Numa was 1984's 'Berserker', which was notable for being his first foray into music computers and samplers, such as the PPG Wave, and the album was accompanied by a new blue-and-white visual image, including Numan himself with blue hair. When the title track was released as a single it reached the UK top 40, but despite this the album divided critics and fans, and commercially it was his least successful release to that point. A collaboration with Bill Sharpe of Shakatak as Sharpe & Numan was more successful, and in March 1985 their single 'Change Your Mind' reached No. 17 on the UK chart, although further singles were very sporadic throughout the late 80's, with an album finally appearing in 1989. Late in 1985 Numan released the live album 'White Noise', recorded during the Berserker Tour, and both the album and an accompanying live EP reached the UK Top 30. Numan's next album was released the same year, and 'The Fury' charted slightly higher than 'Berserker', breaking into the top 30, and once again heralded a change of image, this time featuring Numan in a white suit and red bow tie. Three singles were released from it, with 'Your Fascination', 'Call Out The Dogs' and 'Miracles' all reaching the top 50 on the UK charts. In 1986 he scored two further top 30 hits with 'This Is Love' in April and 'I Can't Stop' in June, but the accompanying album 'Strange Charm' only spent two weeks on the album chart, peaking at No. 59. In November 1986 a version of the song 'I Still Remember' from the previous album was released as a charity single and stalled at No. 74. In 1991 he ventured into film-scoring by co-composing the music for 'The Unborn' with Michael R. Smith, and he continued to released albums, but by 1994 he'd decided to stop attempting to crack the pop market and concentrate instead on exploring more personal themes, including his vocal atheism, resulting in a harsher, more industrial direction with his songwriting on the album 'Sacrifice', on which, for the first time, he played almost all the instruments himself. The move was critically well-received, as his harder and darker sound emerged just as Numan-influenced bands like Nine Inch Nails were enjoying their first rush of fame. He continues to write and record to this day, and in 2016 he was one of several collaborators on Jean-Michel Jarre's album 'Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise', with the track 'Here For You' being co-written by Jarre and Numan. For this final collection of rare b-sides and out-takes we cover the years from the release of the 'Berserker' album and singles in 1984, through to the last album where he was still aiming for the charts, with 'Strange Charm' in 1986. As an indication of just how influential Numan was in the evolution of electronic music in the 70's and 80's, in 2017 he received an Ivor Novello Inspiration Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, and so I hope that this series of posts shows exactly why that was awarded to him. 

Track listing

01 Nameless And Forgotten (out-take 1983)
02 Empty Bed, Empty Heart (b-side of 'Berserker' 1984)
03 Here Am I (b-side of 'My Dying Machine' 1984)
04 She Cries (b-side of 'My Dying Machine' 1984)
05 Rumour (out-take 1984)
06 The Fear (b-side of 'Miracles' 1985)
07 This Ship Comes Apart (b-side of 'Call Out The Dogs' 1985)
08 No Shelter (b-side of 'Call Out The Dogs' 1985)
09 We Need It (b-side of 'Your Fascination' 1985)
10 Anthem (b-side of 'Your Fascination' 1985)
11 Time To Die (bonus track on cassette version of 'Strange Charm' 1986) 

The Bee Gees - August October (1970)

In March 1969 Robin Gibb announced that he was leaving the Bee Gees to pursue a solo career, and so the remaining brothers Barry and Maurice knew that they would have to start working more closely together in order to keep the group going. Maurice has said that he looked forward to it, as it meant that they could bring anyone they liked into things, and he could see that it would enable him to contribute more vocals to the songs. In May 1969 the brothers started recording their next album, laying down 'Don't Forget To Remember', along with other songs 'I Lay Down And Die', 'Give A Hand, Take A Hand' and 'Bury Me Down By The River'. At the time the band was considering a replacement for Robin, but despite auditioning Peter Mason, who recorded a few test vocals with the group, the brothers decided not to offer him the job, and it was in fact at this time that drummer Colin Petersen was sacked from the band, cementing the line-up as just two brothers. Although Maurice could have stepped in, as he was a multi-instrumentalist and could play the drums, Pentangle drummer Terry Cox was brought it to complete the recordings. At the same time as recording the 'Cucumber Castle' album, Barry and Maurice were making a film of the same name as the record, with filming starting on 11 August 1969, and they returned to the studio in September to record seven more songs for the album. When the film was released, all of Petersen's scenes from the film were cut and he is not credited on the accompanying album, though he does play on some songs. The film itself is very much of it's time, and although it includes a host of respected UK comedians such as Frankie Howard, Spike Milligan, Eleanor Bron, and Julian Orchard, plus musicians Lulu, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Ric Grech, Steve Winwood, Roger Daltry, and Donovan as well as an appearance by Vincent Price, it's not really a very good film. The plot revolves around two heirs, Prince Frederick (Barry Gibb) and his brother Prince Marmaduke (Maurice Gibb), and their dying father (Frankie Howerd). On his death bed, The King orders his kingdom divided into two halves, the Kingdom of Jelly and the Kingdom of Cucumbers, but before the king dies, Prince Frederick declares himself the "King of Cucumber" and Prince Marmaduke becomes the "King of Jelly". The film intersperses comedy sketches with Bee Gees songs plus performances by Lulu and Blind Faith, and for many years I assumed that the 'Cucumber Castle' album was the soundtrack to the film, when in fact they just share a title and aren't really connected, although some songs appear on both. Because of this I tended to ignore the album, skipping directly from 'Odessa' to '2 Years On', but after listening to a fascinating podcast about the band I've changed my mind. Christiano and Stuart produce a regular podcast looking at the output of the group, and the latest was a dive into Maurice's 'The Loner', which was posted here some years ago. After I'd listened to that I started to work my way backwards and listened to the one about 'Cucumber Castle', and this is what prompted me to re-evaluate the album. At the end of the podcast, both guys picked four songs from Robin's 'Saved By The Bell' album that they would have liked to have seen on 'Cucumber Castle', and that gave me the idea of doing the same, to see what they could have made if Robin hadn't left. Opinions were very similar on which songs to take from 'Robin's Reign', and which ones to lose from 'Cucumber Castle', and so I've sequenced four of Robin's songs into the body of the album, and also added one out-take which was really too good to leave off, which extended a rather short record into a more acceptable 38 minutes. As this breaks the links with the 'Cucumber Castle' film, it no longer needs that title, so it's also renamed (the original title was mooted to be 'Lay Down And Die' but that was deemed a bit too depressing) and I've also housed it in a new cover featuring all three brothers.  

Track listing

01 If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else
02 August October
03 Then You Left Me
04 The Lord
05 Give Me A Smile
06 Lay Down And Die
07 Saved By The Bell
08 Sweetheart
09 Who Knows What A Room Is
10 Bury Me Down By The River
11 Mother And Jack
12 Don't Forget To Remember

Check out Christiano and Stuart's brilliant Bee Gees podcast 'Words' here:  https://link.chtbl.com/mPGE_Iwm?s=09 

Dr. Dre - Poppa's Got A Brand New Funk - The Chronic II (1996)

Following the release the Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' album in 1992, he swiftly became one of the best-selling American artists of 1993, and so he could pretty much do what he liked without having to worry about the commercial consequences. This included producing Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album 'Doggystyle' in 1993, and then directing the 1994 short film 'Murder Was The Case', in which Dogg acted and Dre wrote the soundtrack. The same year he announced that he was working with Ice Cube on an album to be called 'Helter Skelter', although that has yet to appear, but by 1995/1996 he was ready to release the follow-up to 'The Chronic'. However, in March 1996, just before the album was due to be issued, he left Death Row Records due to incessant infighting, and he formed his own label Aftermath Records, and 'The Chronic II: A New World Odor (Popps'a Got A Brand New Funk)' was cancelled. Instead of releasing it on his own label he issued some of the tracks as singles, but then scrapped the rest and recorded a brand new album, with '2001' coming out on Aftermath in 1999, and including none of the aborted 'The Chronic II' tracks. Of the singles which came out from 1994 onwards, 'Natural Born Killaz' was written for the soundtrack to the 'Murder Was The Case' film in 1994, and featured Ice Cube And Sam Sneed, while 'California Love' was credited to '2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman'. 1997 saw the release of 'Game Over' from Scarface featuring Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Too $hort & B Real, and while all of those songs appear on this album, these are the original versions, including 'California Love' without 2Pac, 'Zoom' with Snoop Doggy Dogg instead of LL Cool J, and 'Natural Born Killaz' with a verse by Sam Sneed. I've said before that I'm not the biggest fan of hip-hop, but since finding these albums from Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and MF DOOM/Ghostface Killah I've come to realise that I was missing out on something by ignoring them in the early 90's, and this album in particular is swiftly becoming one of my favourites.   

Track listing

01 Intro (feat. George Clinton & Chris Tucker)

02 Da Godfather (feat. Baby S)

03 California Love (feat. Roger Troutman)

04 Split Personality (feat. E-A Ski)

05 My Life (Smokin' Weed 4 Hours)

06 It's Entertainment (Skit)

07 Monay (feat. King T. & Dawn Robinson)

08 Street Scholars (feat. J-Flexx & Sam Sneed)

09 Zoom (feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg)

10 211 (Skit) (feat. Nancy Fletcher & Fingas)

11 Natural Born Killaz (feat. Sam Sneed & Ice Cube)

12 Blueberry (feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg & Sam Sneed)

13 Game Over (feat. Scarface, Too $hort & Ice Cube)

14 House Calls (feat. Baby S & the Casino Crew)

The Real Thing - Stone Cold Love Affair (1975)

The Real Thing were founded in 1970 by Chris Amoo, Dave Smith, Kenny Davis and Ray Lake, and were originally called the Sophisticated Soul Brothers, but their manager Tony Hall didn't really like the name, and after seeing a billboard ad for Coca Cola he re-named them The Real Thing. Their progressive soul-influenced covers of American hits attracted enough attention for them to secure a recording deal with EMI, although the singles they released through EMI from 1972 to 1974 were not successful sellers, despite their high quality (how did 'Vicious Circle' miss being a hit single?). Despite this the band persisted, even after the departure of Kenny Davis, who was replaced by Chris's brother Eddie, later appearing on and winning the UK talent show 'Opportunity Knocks'. The turn-around in their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records in 1975, touring internationally with Essex, and recording a number of songs with him, though none were big charters. The band finally found chart success in 1976 with the pop-soul single 'You To Me Are Everything', which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 66 on Billboard's Hot 100. The follow-up 'Can't Get By Without You' didn't chart in the US but was still a success in the UK, where it reached number 2, and this was followed by the release of their debut album 'Real Thing', which included both of their hit singles, as well as a third UK hit 'You'll Never Know What You're Missing'. They continued recording prolifically, releasing a steady stream of albums, following 'Real Thing' with 1977's 'Four from Eight' (originally to have been called 'Liverpool 8' in honour of the racially mixed, economically depressed neighbourhood in which they grew up, before Pye rejected the title), 1978's 'Step Into Our World' (reissued in 1979 as 'Can You Feel The Force'), and 1982's compilation '100 Minutes', as well as scoring eight more British hit singles. In 1982 they returned to working with David Essex, performing as backing vocalists on his tour, and also appearing on his 1982 top 20 hit 'Me And My Girl (Nightclubbing)'. The Real Thing are now considered one of the very best UK soul groups of the 70's, but as is so often the case, it wasn't a case of overnight success, as they'd been slogging away for six years before that first big hit, releasing a number of superb but overlooked singles to an unappreciative audience. This collection brings together both sides of all of them from 1972 to 1975, and shows that in their early days they were adept at playing funk, soul and everything inbetween to try to get noticed, and it's a real shame that until the recent over-arching box set 'The Anthology 1972-1997', none of these songs could be heard as they weren't included on re-issues of any of their albums.  

Track listing

01 Vicious Circle (Parts 1 & 2) (single 1972)
02 Plastic Man (single 1973)
03 Check It Out (b-side of 'Plastic Man')
04 Listen, Joe McGintoo (single 1973)
05 Girl, I Don't Mind (Losin') (b-side of 'Listen, Joe McGintoo')
06 Humpty Dumpty (single 1973)
07 Daddy Dear (single 1974)
08 Sun Gold (b-side of 'Daddy Dear') 
09 Stone Cold Love Affair (single 1975)
10 A Love That's Real (b-side of 'Stone Cold Love Affair')
11 Watch Out Carolina (single 1975)
12 I Want You Back (b-side of 'Watch Out Carolina')