Hatfield and The North - The Rotters' Club (Prog. Rock UK 1975) (SHM-CD)

220:- (SHM-CD Limited Remaster Edition. Utgången utgåva sedan 2009. SHM-CD.)

Hatfield's second album's title prompted longtime fan and writer Jonathan Coe to name his best-known book The Rotters Club in describing what was a youth's life in the mid-70's in Birmingham's working class neighbourhood. An excellent book and a recommended read, but not affecting a single bit this album's music or existence, if only giving it a bit more of light. With a weird 50's-like pin-up decorum on the front cover and a crazy semi-mythical drawing/picture of the said Rotters Club on the back, the same unchanged quartet apparently made this "better" second album for a fraction of the cost of their debut album. Outside the returning of The Northettes vocal trio, two more Henry Cow members guest here ( Lindsey Cooper and Tim Hodgkinson), while Mont "Egg " Campbell and Bother Jimmy (Hastings) replaced Leigh and Bloomdido, all four on wind instruments..

Opening on one of Hatfield most conventional song, Share It, Sinclair plays around telling us please not to take it seriously, a fast tempoed tune ending on rather modern Moog sounds, as if Emerson was toying with them, but it is definitely Stewart's playing. Next up is Miller's jazzy Louging There, trying is a superb guitar-lead piece that is almost uncommon to hear him take such a frontman's role? But Phil is on a roll and he almost becomes bigger than Fripp with the Yes/No Interlude over a fuzzed organ and odd wind instruments first than a Fender Rhodes next. Fitter is back in his bath (remember the non-album single) and Sinclair closes the A-side on the superb Didn't Matter Anyway.

The flipside opens on Miller's Underdub, but this piece is a Fender Rhodes-dominated piece where Stewart adapts to Miller's constant key changes and Brother Jimmy chimes in with a superb flute. The other track on the flipside is the Mumps suite. Mumps!! We're there!! We've gotten to Hatfield's crowning achievement, their magnum opus, their meisterwerk uber alles! Starting over just a very calm and subdued Rhodes and distant Northettes choirs, then abruptly falling into a pit filled with tricky time sigs, demented drum patterns, wild fuzzed-out organ and a fantastic bass, able to tackle lead and rhythm at once. 

Miller is there too, but in the background, waiting for quieter moments (usually when Stewart reverts to the Rhodes) to shine in his own manner. The Northettes then lead us to the more Caravan-)esque moment of the two Hatfield album, even if it's clear than I should say Caravan-plus in this case. Solid, intense, but wait until the end of Lumps when everyone but Pip goes contrapuntal and Richard plays with the alphabet. A tad later Brother Jimmy gives up sax bumps down our spine into a fade-out. 

The group takes up again on a stunning Rhodes line, before cooling it up directly with Jimmy's flute and a cool moody almost spooky (but beautiful) jazz-rock that will slowly bring back the organ and the Caravan-plus of the previous movement?.this time with sax. Grandiose. A fitting exit for a short-lasting band

The bonus tracks on the Virgin re-issue are again a tad different than the ones of the newer Esoteric reissue, the first three on Virgin being modified, but the last two tracks being themes from Matching Mole with their titles being anagrams of their previous version. Rooters Cluc is simply an excellent album, whether looking just over the Kent county or overseeing the full prog spectrum. Not flawless, but bettering it would prove an impossible task.

01. Share It (3:02)
02. Lounging There Trying (3:10)
03. (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw (0:46)
04. Chaos at the Greasy Spoon (0:30)
05. The Yes No Interlude (7:02)
06. Fitter Stoke has a Bath (7:38)
07. Didn't Matter Anyway (3:03)
08. Underdub (3:55)
09. Mumps (20:06)
a) Your Majesty is Like a Cream Donut (quiet) (1:59)
b) Lumps (12:35)
c) Prenut (3:55)
d) Your Majesty is Like a Cream Donut (loud) (1:37)

Bonus Tracks: Live versions of
10. Halfway Between Heaven And Earth 
11. Oh, Lens Nature!
12. Lything And Gracing

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath - Brotherhood (2nd Rare UK Album 1972)

220:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Utgången utgåva och nästan omöjlig att hitta.)

Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990), was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa.

McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Province) where his father was headmaster at a Church of Scotland mission institution called Blythswood. Here he was exposed to the music of the local amaXhosa people.

This music is a rich and varied music which pervaded every aspect of life - from formal rituals to the casual activities and encounters of everyday life, like herding cattle or just walking home in the evening. Music was everywhere. And this music, as explained in Dave Dargie's seminal book Xhosa Music, is complex. Dargie mentions the following as examples of this complexity which might be seen to have influenced McGregor in his own music, both as composser/arranger and as band leader: "... a great number of style characteristics are to be found: relating not only to harmony and scale, but to melody, structure and phrasing, form, rhythm, instrumentation, singing techniques, and so on."

In his book Chasing the Vibration Graham Lock quotes McGregor saying: "I have this strong imaginative reference to African village music, and the thing I know about that music is that it has a strong centre. It builds up, a lot of people do things together that they know."

After school and a stint in the merchant navy training academy The General Botha at Gordon's Bay in the Western Cape, McGregor enrolled at the South African College of Music, then headed by Professor Eric Chisholm. Here McGregor was exposed to a different set of influences, during the day Bela Bartok and Arnold Schoenberg, and at night recordings of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the live music of local jazz musicians like Dollar Brand (now Abdullah Ibrahim), Cecil Barnard (now Hotep Idris Galeta), Christopher Columbus Ngcukana, Vincent Kolbe, "Cup-and-Saucers" Nkanuka, Monty Weber, the Schilder brothers, and many others who were active in the vibrant Cape jazz scene at that time, the middle 1950s. The vibrancy and power of this music has led some to designate the music played around Cape Town as a particular jazz genre called "Cape Jazz." (Miller, 2007).

As McGregor's friend and fellow-student Bruce Arnott wrote in the University of Cape Town's alumni magazine after McGregor's death in 1990: "I am no musicologist, but I believe that Chris was working toward a synthesis of South African black traditional music and the wonderfully evolved black American contribution to jazz." McGregor put together a group to perform at the 1962 Moroka-Jabavu jazz festival in the Johannesburg suburb of Soweto. This group consisted of Mzimkulu "Danayi" Dlova on alto, Chris Ngcukana on baritone, Ronnie Beer on tenor, Willie Netie on trombone, Sammy Maritz on bass and Monty Weber on drums. At the festival, in which the group took second prize, McGregor came into contact with a wider group of musicians such as Dennis Mpali, the legendary altoist Kippie "Morolong" Moeketsi, Churchill Jolobe and the various artists then organised under the banner of the Union of South African Artists, which had put on the famous "jazz opera" King Kong.

These contacts led in the following year to the formation firstly of the now-legendary Blue Notes and secondly of a big band called the Castle Lager Big Band. The Blue Notes at this stage consisted of Mongezi Velelo (and later Sammy Maritz) on bass, Early Mabuza on drums, Dudu Pukwana on alto and Nikele Moyake on tenor. The great young trumpet player Mongezi Feza joined the group soon after. Johnny Dyani replaced Sammy Maritz on bass and Louis Moholo replaced Early Mabuza soon after and the permanent Blue Notes group was complete.

The Castle Lager Big Band was formed after the 1963 Moroka-Jabavu Jazz Festival. This 17-piece group made the album Jazz: The African Sound, which had six tracks, two compositions by Abdullah Ibrahim, two by Kippie Moeketsi and two by McGregor, all in arrangements by McGregor. Apart from the arrangements, one of the most striking things about the album was the wonderful playing by Moeketsi on clarinet, instead of his usual alto. In the band were musicians who had yet to make names for themselves but would become internationally known. Most notable perhaps was Barney Rachabane, who would go on to, among other achievements, play with Paul Simon on the Graceland tour. Simon would describe Rachabane as the "most soulful sax player in the world."

McGregor is perhaps best-known for his foundation and leadership of The Blue Notes, a South African sextet which included collaborators Dudu Pukwana, Nikele Moyake, Louis Moholo, Johnny Dyani and Mongezi Feza. Equally as notable was McGregor's creation of the Brotherhood of Breath in 1969, which branched out from his work as The Blue Notes. He released three albums of solo piano performances, and continued to be a major force in the music after leaving England to live in the French countryside. He also made a contribution to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter album by performing a piano solo on the track "Poor Boy".

01. Nick Tete  05:58
02. Joyful Noises   13:50
03. Think Of Something  07:46
04. Do It  08:56
05. Funky Boots March  01:20

Graham Bell - Selftitled (Blues, Art & Progressive Rock UK 1972)

270:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. (Ex medlem från "Skip Bifferty, Bell + Arc, Arc m.fl. Mycket bra album från 1972)

Graham Bell (vocals) Veteran vocalist from the British scene. He released a solo single in 1966! It was 'How do you say I don't love you / If you're gonna go'.

It was early 1966, when The Chosen Few get a new singer, Graham Bell, and change their band name to Skip Bifferty. They established themselves in London. After several years as a tight unit, they released a self-titled album, Skip Bifferty, in 1968. Some of their songs were produced by Ronnie Lane, and arranged by Steve Marriott. 

In 1969, due to legal problems with their manager Don Arden, they changed their name (again), this time to Heavy Jelly, releasing a single,'I keep singing that same old song / Blue'. But they parted ways that same year. Bell was to reunite with Gibson and White very soon, while Gallagher and Turnbull formed Arc in 1970, but they soon were to rejoin Graham, as we're going to read. After the Skip Bifferty/Heavy Jelly separation, Gibson and White formed a new band, Happy Magazine, still in 1969. 

Skip Bifferty

When their vocalist left, Graham Bell was called, and the band changed the name to Griffin. A terrific lineup. But they only released two singles, being 'I am the dark noise in your head / Don't you know' (1969) the first one.

Colin Gibson and Craddock joined Ginger Baker's Airforce, and Alan White joined Balls (with Denny Laine) for a while, also going to Ginger Baker's Airforce. Graham joined a new band in May 1970: Every Which Way, formed by drummer Brian Davidson (ex-The Nice). The band was short-lived, and after a debut album, Every Which Way, and a successful presentation at The Marquee, they sadly split. Graham started thinking about a solo career. He wrote some demos, and called his old mates (now in Arc) to back him. All went so well, that they decided forming a stable lineup, under the name Bell & Arc.

They released Bell & Arc, with lots of great guests: Kenny Craddock (guitar, keyboards), Bud Beadle (sax), Steve Gregory (sax), Jeff Condon (trumpet), John Woods (percussion), Alan White (drums, percussion). 

But after the album, Rob Tait left, being replaced by John Woods. But John Woods wasn't to stay too much time in the band. For their American tour in November/December 1971, they got Alan White. After the tour, Alan White left, being replaced by a great drummer, Ian Wallace.

In January 1972, Gallagher left, and another great replacement arrives, Kenny Craddock. But, after one month, they disbanded in February 1972. Graham Bell went solo again. He released his first solo album, Graham Bell, that same year, with these musicians (some parts were recorded in UK, some parts in Nashville).

He also appeared in the symphonic version of The Who's Tommy, released in November 1972. It was recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra, The English Chamber Choir, plus a cast of thousands: Sandy Denny, Graham Bell (who sings lead in '1921'), Maggie Bell, Steve Winwood, Richie Havens, Merry Clayton, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Richard Harris, plus The Who, of course.

To celebrate the release, on December 9th, 1972, the whole work was played live at The Rainbow, with mostly the same artists as in the album, plus some added stars, such as actor Peter Sellers, Roy Wood, Roger Chapman, Elkie Brooks, David Essex, Marsha Hunt, Vivian Stanshall, etc. Graham Bell was also there.

And now I have a very big gap in Graham Bell's career. Any help with info would be very appreciated. Some time later, he formed a band with old mate Kenny Craddock. They were called Stotts, but their live was too short. The next (happy) news was finding Graham Bell again! It was in 1988, when he joined exquisite guitarist Snowy White, in a new venture, Snowy White's Blues Agency. They released two albums, Change my life and Open for business (rereleased under the title Blues on me). But they sadly split in 1990. All the members (except Graham) went to play with Mick Taylor All Star Band.

01. Before You Can Be A Man
02. The Thrill Is Gone
03. After Midnight
04. Down In The City
05. Watch The River Flow
06. Too Many People
07. How Long Will It Last
08. The Whole Town Wants You Hung
09. The Man With Angeless Eyes
10. So Black And So Blue

Renaissance - Illusion (2nd Album Progressiv Rock UK 1971)

250:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Utgången utgåva.)

After their debut album's success (especially in France, Germany and Belgium), the group went in the studio for the follow-up in a state of disunion. Indeed, McCarty had become tired of touring, but chose to remain as a songwriter and studio member (and was trying to build as touring version of the band), and before Illusion was finished, the group had disbanded. 

Indeed Keith's failing health was also forcing him to stop touring and wanted to concentrate on writing, Cennamo left for Steamhammer via Colosseum (both the latter would meet up again in Armageddon, Keith's fateful end), Hawken coming and going from the group, then finally splitting for Spooky Tooth and later Strawbs, but was persuaded to finish the album. But by the time things had imploded, the album was still too short for release, and it is the reserve/touring group that produced the final track. So Renaissance's Mk II line-up lasted one studio song, but would tour a few months and be filmed for a Belgian TV special.

Again recorded in the Island studios, but this time produced by Keith instead of Samwell-Smith, Illusion was released in early 71 with no promotion and only in Germany, but comes with a superb cosmic artwork gracing the gatefold sleeve, with a mystic inner gatefold artwork enhancing it. (I base myself on the Repertoire mini-Lp for this, because I've never seen the vinyl with my own eyes.) 

Most of Illusion is very worthy successor of the debut (might even be a tad folkier too) and remains well in its continuity (despite the acrimony about musical direction), even if not quite as inspired. And well beyond the track recorded by the Mk II line-up, you can (barely) see the future Mk III line-up peeking through, as Dunford and future external lyric-writer poetess Betty Thatcher each share a credit, but not the same track.

Opening on the rather-poor Relf-only written song of Love Goes On, while not catastrophic, is certainly not a good omen for things to come, but this is thankfully quickly over. The much better Golden Thread renews with the previous album's style (even if it wouldn't manage to find a space on it) and reassures the fans, and features a humming finale heard on Trespass. Next is a first collab between McCarty and Thatcher (nope, not talking politics here ;-))), the good but also ill-fitting (in the album's context) Love Is All, a song that obviously was lifted (and rearranged) by Roger Glover's Butterfly Ball project. As if not enough confusion, the Mk II track Mr Pine is next (I'd have included it last), but sort of announces sonically the future Prologue album with Hawken playing a rare (for Renaissance's Mk I) Hammond organ. 

In the Belgian TV broadcast, it would be John Tout that would play this track and the other Illusion tracks they played. Face Of Yesterday returns to the first album's soundscapes (and should've been grouped with Golden Thread, IMHO). The album closes on the lengthy (and over-extended) Past Orbits Of Dust, where the original group is joined by an extra organ player. This track is a bit jammy, comes with incantations, but also augurs Prologue's more psychedelic soundscape.

Definitely not as good as the debut, Illusion is a confused and patchy album (for the reasons stated), but surprisingly still good and a definitely a Renaissance-worthy album, that should not be overlooked, but investigated in a second or third wave. And if you manage to find in its Repertoire mini-Lp form, you might want to go for it a little dsooner than expected, because it is a beauty.

*** Biography ***
There were two groups under the banner of RENAISSANCE. The first group included Keith and Jane RELF (vocals) and came from the YARDBIRDS ashes. The second and better known incarnation produced some of the best music that I have ever heard. Annie HASLAM's five octave range fit perfectly with the classical/orchestral rock (lot of piano playing & full symphony orchestra backup) created by the other members. The quick description I usually give is they are sort of like the old MOODY BLUES with a an incredible female vocalist. The soprano voice of Annie and the piano virtuosity of John TOUT allied to the beauty and refreshing melodies, the refinement of the arrangements gave their music its magnificent splendour.

My favorite RENAISSANCE albums are "Ashes Are Burning" and "Turn of the Cards". I also recommend "Novella", "Scheherezade and Other Stories" and "A Song for All Seasons" are must haves. I would add "Live At Carneige Hall" and "King Biscuit Hour Parts 1 and 2" as their 'prime' material. Plenty to fill a day with class, power and ethereal delights. The best introduction to the band would be the "Tales of 1001 Nights" compilation, which together contain of the band's best material from 72 through 80. Also the very first album from '69 is essential. After 1979, the band moved towards a more pop direction, like many other bands did in the late 70's.

01. Love Goes On (2:51)
02. Golden Thread (8:15)
03. Love Is All (3:40)
04. Mr. Pine (7:00)
05. Face Of Yesterday (6:06)
06. Past Orbits Of Dust (14:39)

Bonus Tracks
07. Shining where the Sun Has Been (02:52)
08.All The Fallen Angels (05:27)
09.Prayer For The Light (05:26)
10.Walking Away (04:21)

The Holy Modal Rounders - "Indian War Whoop" (Acid Rock/Folk Psychedelia US 1967)

220:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Amerikansk Acid/Folk Psychedelia. Utgången utgåva sedan 2010. Om du är ute efter äkta US psychedelia, så har du ett album här.)

Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber obviously loved American folk music as much as any of the kids who had their head turned around by Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music in the 1950s, but unlike the many musicians who paid tribute to America's musical past by trying to re-create it as closely as possible, as The Holy Modal Rounders Stampfel and Weber opted to drag the music into the present, shrieking and giggling all the way. 

Even by the standards of The Holy Modal Rounders' first two albums, 1967's Indian War Whoop is a thoroughly bizarre listening experience; loosely structured around the between-song adventures of two seedy vagabonds named Jimmy and Crash, side one veers back and forth between neo-psychedelic fiddle-and-guitar freakouts and free-form (and often radically altered) interpretations of traditional folk tunes such as "Soldier's Joy" and "Sweet Apple Cider," while side two is devoted to like minded originals (including a couple songs from their friend Michael Hurley, who would later join the group). 

Most certainly a product of its time, Indian War Whoop sounds rather dated today, but its buoyant good humor and chemically-altered enthusiasm remains effective, even when the Rounders' reckless pursuit of inner space sounds like it was more fun to create than to observe on record. 

The Holy Modal Rounders were almost the very definition of a cult act. This isn't a case of a group that would be described by such clichés as "if only they got more exposure, they would certainly reach a much wider audience." Their audience was small because their music was too strange, idiosyncratic, and at times downright dissonant for mainstream listeners to abide. What makes the Rounders unusual in this regard is that they owed primary allegiance to the world of acoustic folk -- not one that generates many difficult, arty, and abrasive performers.

The Holy Modal Rounders were not so much a group as a changing aggregation centered around the two principals, Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber. When the pair got together in 1961, the intention was to update old-time folk music with a contemporary spirit. As Stampfel told Folk Roots in 1995, "The Rounders were the first really bent traditional band. And the first traditionally based band that was not trying to sound like an old record." They weren't the only musicians in New York thinking along these lines, and Stampfel and Weber contributed heavily to the first recordings by a similar, more rock-oriented group, the Fugs.

The Rounders began recording in the mid-'60s for Prestige as an acoustic duo. Even at this early stage, they were not for everybody. Although clearly accomplished musicians, and well-versed in folk traditions, they were determined to subvert these with off-kilter execution and strange lyrics that could be surreal, whimsical, or just silly. They outraged folk purists by simply changing melodies and words to suit their tastes on some of their cover versions of old standards; Stampfel once wrote in the liner notes that "I made up new words to it because it was easier than listening to the tape and writing words down."

Indian War Whoop On their 1967 LP Indian War Whoop, Stampfel and Weber added other musicians, including playwright Sam Shepard on drums (Shepard also wrote some material). The resulting chaos was just as inspiring, but both material and performance improved on 1969's Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders. This addled combination of folk and psychedelia was their most inventive work, and featured their most famous song, "If You Wanna Be a Bird" (which was used on the Easy Rider soundtrack).

Good Taste Is Timeless The haphazard style of the Rounders perhaps militated against any sort of stable lineup (Jeff Baxter, later to play with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, was one of the musicians who passed through the group briefly in the 1960s). Good Taste Is Timeless, in the early '70s, was engineered in Nashville by legendary Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore, and generated one of their most renowned songs, "Boobs a Lot." Shortly afterward, Stampfel and Weber separated for a time, although they reunited in 1976 for Alleged in Our Own Time on Rounder. By this time, the Rounders were more of a concept than an ongoing group, and 1979's Last Round was recorded with various musicians who had been part of the group at some point. 1981's Goin' Nowhere, billed just to Stampfel & Weber, was their last recorded joint partnership.

Have Moicy!Stampfel has been much more visible as a solo recording artist than Weber, acting as a key contributor to Michael Hurley's critically lauded Have Moicy! in 1976. He's been recording on his own since the mid-'80s, sometimes with the Bottlecaps, in a fashion that keeps the spirit of the Holy Modal Rounders alive without sounding embarrassingly revivalist.

01. Jimmy and Crash Survey the Universe
02. Indian War Whoop
03. Sweet Apple Cider
04. Soldier's Joy
05. Cocaine Blues
06. Sky Divers
07. The Second-Hand Watch
08. Radar Blues
09. The I.W.W. Song
10. Football Blues
11. Bay Rum Blues
12. Morning Glory

Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames - Sweet Things (Blue-Eyed Blues/R&B UK 1966)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. 10st bonuslåtar. Konvolut med original "Flipback" omslag. Utgången utgåva sedan 2006.)

Born Clive Powell on June 26, 1943 in the English industrial town of Leigh, Lancashire, Georgie Fame’s interest in music initially grew out of his family entertaining in the home and musical evenings in the church hall across the street, where his father also played in an amateur dance band. Although young Clive began piano lessons at age seven, he didn’t stick too long with the formal training. But when rock and roll started to be broadcast on the radio during the mid-fifties, a then-teenage Clive began to take the piano more seriously. Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard were among his idols and that was the basis of his earliest “professional” style. Upon leaving school, shortly after his 15th birthday, he followed the family tradition and took a job as an apprentice cotton weaver in one of the many local mills, but his leisure time was spent playing piano in various pubs and with a local group, “The Dominoes.”

In July 1959, at a summer holiday camp, Clive was spotted by Rory Blackwell, the resident rock and roll bandleader. Blackwell offered the young singer/pianist a full time job and the teenager happily left his job at the weaving mill. Rory and the Blackjacks departed for London, their hometown, when the summer season ended prematurely and Clive went with them. The promise of lucrative work in the music business didn’t materialize, however, and the band broke up. The determined young man from Leigh opted to stay on in London, but for a time it proved rough going. He tried unsuccessfully to make his way back home, and eventually he had the good fortune of finding “lodging” at The Essex Arms pub in London’s Dockland, where the kindly landlord provided him a room where he could sleep.

In October of that year, the Marty Wilde Show was performing at the Lewisham Gaumont and Rory Blackwell arranged for Clive to audition “live” for impresario Larry Parnes. After walking on stage, without any rehearsal, he sang Jerry Lee Lewis’ High School Confidential and was promptly hired as a backing pianist for the Parnes “stable” of singers. As with all the other young talent Parnes had taken on (such as Billy Fury and Johnny Gentle), he renamed Clive Powell “Georgie Fame,” and the name has stuck to this day. By the age of 16, Georgie had toured Britain extensively, playing alongside Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Tony Sheridan, Freddie Canon, Jerry Keller, Dickie Pride, Joe Brown and many more. During this time, Billy Fury selected four musicians, including Fame, for his personal backing group and the “Blue Flames” were born. At the end of 1961, after a disagreement, the band and Fury parted company.

Another gloomy out-of-work period finally ended in March 1962, when Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames took up what was to be a three-year residency as the house band at the Flamingo Club in London’s Soho district. According to Georgie, they played “rhythm and blues all-nighters to black American GIs, West Indians, pimps, prostitutes and gangsters.” The band’s reputation as “the epitome of cool” spread rapidly, and in 1963 their first album, Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo, was recorded live at the club. 

A string of hit records in the following years included the No. 1 best sellers, Yeh Yeh (the first recording that knocked The Beatles off the number one spot in the charts), Getaway and 1967’s The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde. Due to his great popularity, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames were the only UK act invited to perform with the first Motown Review when it hit London in the mid-1960s. During this time, Georgie also pursued his interest in jazz, recording the milestone album, Sound Venture, with the Harry South Big Band. This led directly to successful tours of the UK and Europe in 1967 and 1968, which found Georgie singing with the Count Basie Orchestra.

From 1970 to 1973, Georgie Fame worked almost exclusively in a partnership with fellow musician Alan Price (former keyboard player for The Animals). The duo were featured in their own television series “The Price of Fame,” guested on countless others, and produced the hit single Rosetta. Their partnership came to a close several years later, but the television exposure had made Georgie Fame a household name in Britain.

In 1974, Georgie reformed the Blue Flames and they continue working with him (in one form or another) to this day. At that time, Georgie also began to regularly step away from the keyboards to sing with Europe’s finest orchestras and big bands, a musical tradition he still currently pursues. During the seventies, he also wrote “jingles” for several UK radio and TV commercials and composed the music for the feature films Entertaining Mr. Sloane and The Garnett Saga.

In 1981, Georgie co-produced and performed with jazz vocalist, Annie Ross, on the album In Hoagland, which featured the music of the legendary Hoagy Carmichael. After Georgie met with Hoagy at his home in Palm Springs, California, a film based on the album was made by Scottish television. It went on to win a gold award at The New York Television Festival. A similar tribute to Benny Goodman, In Goodmanland, recorded in Sweden with vocalist Sylvia Vrethammar, followed in 1983. In 1988, during one of his regular visits to Australia, Georgie produced the album, No Worries, with the Aussie Blue Flames. And in 1989, the album, A Portrait of Chet, dedicated to jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, was recorded in Holland.

Another project, completed in the eighties, was a musical written with fellow composer, Steve Gray. This outstanding piece of music remains unperformed in public with the exception of a prototype version that was broadcast on Dutch radio with the Metropole Orchestra, featuring Madeline Bell.

It was also in 1989 that Georgie Fame joined forces with Van Morrison, after having been invited to play Hammond organ on Van’s Avalon Sunset album the previous year. He continued to record and tour with Morrison throughout the nineties. During that time, he and Van co-produced and performed on the Verve albums, How Long Has This Been Going On, released in 1995 and Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison, released in 1996.

In 1990, Georgie Fame signed with producer Ben Sidran’s Go Jazz Records and his first album, Cool Cat Blues, was released on that label in 1991. Recorded in New York City, it featured such musical luminaries as Van Morrison, Jon Hendricks, Boz Scaggs, Will Lee, Robben Ford, Richard Tee and Bob Malach. The follow-up album, The Blues and Me, completed in 1991 and released in 1992, was recorded in similar musical company. It also featured special guests Dr. John, Phil Woods, Stanley Turrentine and Grady Tate. In 1992, the album, Endangered Species, was recorded with the Danish Radio Big Band in Copenhagen and in 1993, the album, City Life, featuring Fame, Madeline Bell and the BBC Big Band was released.

A unique album by Three Line Whip (featuring Georgie’s sons, Tristan and James), Three Line Whip/Will Carling, was released in the UK in May 1994, with close family friends and musical associates of many years standing joining the trio in the studio. They included Guy Barker, trumpet; Peter King, alto sax; Alan Skidmore, tenor sax; Steve Gregory, tenor sax/flute; Anthony Kerr, vibraphone; Brian Odgers, bass guitar and Steve Gray, digital piano. Another Three Line Whip album, Name Droppin', was released in 1997, after being recorded live in true Blue Flames style at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London during one of their annual residencies. A second album, Walking Wounded, from the same sessions, was released the following year.

Also in 1997, bassist Bill Wyman began forming his new band The Rhythm Kings and Georgie Fame became a founding member. Since that time, there have been five CDs and several tours, and The Rhythm Kings "reform" periodically to tour and record to the present day. During 1999, Fame presented several radio programs on BBC Radio, including his own six-week series featuring The Blue Flames plus special guests, including Madeline Bell, Bill Wyman, Zoot Money, Peter King, Steve Gray and Claire Martin. In the year 2000, Georgie’s critically-acclaimed CD, Poet in New York, was voted Best Jazz Vocal Album by the Academie du Jazz in France. In 2001, the latest Three Line Whip CD, Relationships, was released, which included some of Georgie Fame’s finest songwriting to date. In the same year, a compilation CD, Funny How Time Slips Away: The Pye Anthology, was released.

Throughout his 40-year career, Georgie Fame has recorded over 20 albums and 14 hit singles. He is equally at home in the company of jazz groups and big bands, orchestras, rock groups and his own band, The Blue Flames. As a sideman, he has recorded with many artists, including Gene Vincent, Prince Buster, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Andy Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman and Van Morrison. Ever on the road, Georgie Fame continues to perform his unique blend of jazz/rhythm and blues for live audiences at clubs and music festivals throughout Europe.

Amongst his musical influences and heroes, he names Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Mose Allison, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonius Monk, Betty Carter, Peggy Lee, Jimmy Smith, Booker T, Chet Baker, Johnny Griffin, Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Sonny Rollins, Richard “Groove” Holmes and many, many more.

01. Sweet Thing
02. See Saw
03. Ride Your Pony
04. Funny How Times Slip Away
05. Sitting In The Park
06. Dr. Kitch
07. My Girl
08. Music Talk
09. The In Crowd
10. The World Is Round
11. The Whole World´s Shaking
12. Last Night

Bonus Tracks
13. Like We Used To Be
14. It Ain´t Right
15. No, No
16. Blue Monday
17. So Long
18. Sick And Tired
19. Move It On Over
20. Walking The Dog
21. Hi Heel
22. Rockin´ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu

Fairport Convention - Hey Day (Rare BBC Live UK 1968-69)

210:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. 20 BBC livelåtar. Utgången utgåva sedan 2005. Någon senarepressning finns inte.)

Heyday: the BBC Radio Sessions 1968–69 is an album by English folk rock band Fairport Convention first released in 1987. As its title suggests, it consists of live versions of songs recorded for John Peel's Top Gear radio programmes.

Fairport Convention has long been British folk-rock with the emphasis on British and folk, but listeners most familiar with their revved-up interpretation of traditional English ballads (and like-minded originals) often forget that the band started out as the U.K.'s response to Jefferson Airplane. Heyday collects 12 performances (ten of them covers) recorded for the BBC during the early period when Sandy Denny and Ian Matthews were both singing for the group (and a bus accident had not yet taken the life of original drummer Martin Lamble). 

While most of the songs were written by noted American folk-rockers of the day, the Fairports put a very individual stamp on every selection here; if you don't think you ever need to hear another version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" or Bob Dylan's "Percy's Song," you might well change your mind after hearing Fairport work their magic with them, and their takes on Joni Mitchell's "I Don't Know Where I Stand" and Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard" actually improve on the very worthy originals.

Fairport Convention approaches these songs with taste, skill, and subtle but potent fire, and Richard Thompson was already growing into one of the most remarkable guitarists in British rock (and if you're of the opinion that he doesn't know how to be funny, check out his goofy double entendre duet with Sandy, "If It Feels Good, You Know It Can't Be Wrong"). While Fairport Convention would create their most lasting work with Liege and Leif and Full House, Heyday offers delightful proof that this band's talents (and influences) took many different directions, and it captures one of the band's better lineups in superb form

Personnel:
♣ Ashley Hutchings – bass
♣ Martin Lamble – drums
♣ Richard Thompson – guitar
♣ Simon Nicol – guitar
♣ Ian Matthews - Vocal 
♣ Richard Thompson - Vocal 
♣ Sandy Denny – vocal

01. "Close the Door Lightly When You Go" (Andersen) – 2:56
02. "I Don't Know Where I Stand" (Mitchell) – 3:40
03. "Some Sweet Day" (Bryant, Bryant) – 2:18
04. "Reno, Nevada" (Farina) – 2:18
05. "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen) – 5:27
06. "If It Feels Good, You Know It Can't Be Wrong" (Hutchings, Thompson) – 3:12
07. "I Still Miss Someone" (Johnny Cash, Cash) – 2:37
08. "Bird on a Wire" (Cohen) – 2:36
09. "Gone, Gone, Gone" (Everly, Everly) – 2:10
10. "Tried So Hard" (Clark) – 2:48
11. "Shattering Live Experience" (Nicol) – 3:19
12. "Percy's Song" (Bob Dylan) – 5:34

Bonus tracks
13. "You Never Wanted Me" – 3:18
14. "Nottamun Town" – 3:37
15. "Fotheringay" – 3:01
16. "Si tu dois partir" – 2:28
17. "Cajun Woman" – 2:47
18. "Autopsy" (Sandy Denny) – 4:26
19. "Reynardine" – 4:24
20. "Tam Lin" – 7:49

Duane Eddy - $1,000,000,00 Worth of Twang (Klassiskt Album US 1960)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Samlings LP från 1960. Utgiven på ett litet Japanskt skivbolag "Oldays Records" i runt 3-500 exemplar totalt.)

Solid best-of album from 1960 of Duane Eddy's earliest hits, including "Rebel Rouser," "Movin' & Groovin'," "Ramrod," and "Forty Miles of Bad Road."

The first Jamie Records 45 was released in 1957, but it was guitar instrumentalist Duane Eddy who vaulted the label into national prominence in 1958 with “Movin’ and Groovin’” and “Rebel Rouser.” He would eventually garner 20 Top 100 hits before leaving in 1962. Label owner Harold Lipsius’s business partner, Harry Finfer, discovered Eddy, a Phoenix guitarist produced by Lee Hazlewood. 

Finfer’s habit was to play a record over and over to see if he tired of it. The strangeness of Eddy’s catchy, bottom-string melody – reverbed in a 2,000-gallon water tank complete with whoops and hollers – caught his ear, and with Dick Clark’s help (reputedly, he held a share in Jamie in those conflict-of-interest times) on Bandstand, created a formula that would be replicated on many albums, all centered on The Twang: Have Twangy Guitar, Will Travel; The Twang’s The Thang, and this particular assemblage, which features Duane’s greatest hits, including the 1960 movie theme “Because They’re Young” that balances Eddy’s baritone voicings against soaring, uplifting strings, its own raison d’etre.

Svensk EP från 1960

If Duane Eddy's instrumental hits from the late '50s can sound unduly basic and repetitive (especially when taken all at once), he was vastly influential. Perhaps the most successful instrumental rocker of his time, he may have also been the man most responsible (along with Chuck Berry) for popularizing the electric rock guitar. His distinctively low, twangy riffs could be heard on no less than 15 Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1963. He was also one of the first rock stars to successfully crack the LP market.

That low, twangy sound was devised in collaboration with producer Lee Hazlewood, an Arizona disc jockey whom Eddy had met while hanging out at a radio station as a teenager. By the late '50s, Hazlewood had branched out into production. Before Duane began recording, his principal influence had been Chet Atkins, but at Hazlewood's suggestion, he started concentrating on guitar lines at the lower end of the strings. 

His opening riff of his debut single, "Movin' and Groovin'," would be lifted for the Beach Boys five years later to open "Surfin' U.S.A." It was the next 45, "Rebel Rouser," that would really break up him as a national star, reaching the Top Ten in 1958. Opening with a down-and-dirty, heavily echoed guitar riff, it remains the tune with which he's most often identified.

Eddy's phenomenally successful run of hits over the next few years was to some extent a variation on the "Rebel Rouser" theme. With cowboy whoops from the backup band helping drive things along, they weren't nearly as innovative as work of Link Wray during the same era, but they were much more popular. 

The singles -- "Peter Gunn," "Cannonball," "Shazam," and "Forty Miles of Bad Road" were probably the best -- also did their part to help keep the raunchy spirit of rock & roll alive, during a time in which it was in danger of being watered down. Much of that raunch was not solely due to Eddy himself, but to the honking sax solos of Steve Douglas, who would go on to become one of the top session players in the industry. Duane would have his biggest hit, however, in 1960, when he sweetened the twang with strings for the movie theme "Because They're Young."

Eddy's records were also huge influences on legions of budding guitar players. In England, the Shadows no doubt took Eddy as one of their chief inspirations for their spare, moody sound, as one listen to their most famous hit, "Apache," makes obvious. More subtly, his influence can also be heard in the work of George Harrison. For evidence, listen to the growling riffs that decorate the verse of "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Eddy started to lose momentum in the early '60s, and left the Jamie label in 1962 for the much bigger RCA. "(Dance With The) Guitar Man," which featured an atypical chorus of female vocals, would be his last Top 20 hit that same year. His albums -- often based on loose themes, like A Million Dollars Worth of Twang, Twisting With Duane Eddy, and Surfing With Duane Eddy -- kept him afloat to some degree. 

But his style doggedly refused evolution, although scattered cuts indicate he was capable of abandoning the twang for more bluesy or straight-out rock sounds. The British Invasion wiped Duane out commercially, although he recorded intermittently over the next couple of decades. In 1986, he enjoyed a brief comeback when the Art of Noise built their "Peter Gunn" hit around his guest contributions; Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ry Cooder, and Jeff Lynne all helped produce a 1987 album. It's that run of late-'50s and early-'60s hits, though, for which he'll principally be remembered.

01. Rebel Rouser  02:02  (1958)
02. Cannonball  01:52  (1958)
03. The Quiet Three  01:57  (1959)
04. Bonnie Came Back  01:59  (1959) 
05. Because They're Young  01:59  (1960) 
06. Theme For Moon Children  02:15  (1960) 
07. Moovin 'n' Groovin'  02:03  (1958)
08. The Lonely One  01:40  (1959)   
09. Forty Miles of Bad Road  02:10  (1959) 
10. Some Kinda Earthquake  01:17  (1959) 
11. First Love, First Tears  02:05 
12. Kommotion  02:25  (1960)

Bonus Tracks:
13. Ramrod 01:40  (1957)
14. Peter Gunn  02:23  (1959) 
15. Yep!  02:04  (1959) 
16. Shazam!  02:04  (1960)