Rod Demick & Herbie Armstrong - Little Willie Ramble (Folkrock UK 1971)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Utgången utgåva.)

Former members of Screaming Lord Sutch's backup band, Rod Demick and Herbie Armstrong continued to work together after leaving the British satirist/rock & roller's group in 1971. Billing themselves as Demick & Armstrong, the two instrumentalists joined with keyboardist David Watkins, vocalist Gordon Smith, and drummers Tony Knight and Henry Spinetti to record two impressive albums -- Little Willie Ramble and Looking Through -- before disbanding in 1973. 

Although they briefly reunited with Kenny Young as Yellow Dog, the glory days of their partnership were past.

Northern Wales-born and Belfast-raised Demick and Ireland-born Armstrong were veteran sidemen when they met in England in the early '70s. Initially a guitar player, Demick honed his craft as a member of teenage skiffle band the Vibros, later known as the Telstars. 

Joining a Belfast-based R&B band, The Wheels, in 1963, he remained with the group when they relocated to England two years later. When the Wheels disbanded in 1967, he began writing songs with lead guitarist Armstrong, switching to bass when they played together. They released a single, "I Forgot to Give You Love" b/w "The Truth About It," as the James Brothers.

Armstrong had been a member, along with Van Morrison, of the Manhattan Showband and the Golden Eagles in 1964. After turning down an invitation to join Morrison's new band, Them, he formed the Wheels with ex-members of the Golden Eagles.

Demick and Armstrong have remained active since going in their own respective directions. A highly regarded session player, Demick has worked with Dr. John, Guitar Shorty, George "Mojo" Buford, Ron Kavana, Terry Woods, Taj Mahal, Snooky Pryor, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and Ian Gomm. A member of Bees Make Honey in the mid-'70s and Tex-Mex band Meal Ticket in 1978, he worked with the David Essex Band from 1979-1990 and the Strawbs from 1985-1999. 

Since 1988, he has collaborated on many projects with ex-Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty, including the Top Topham-Jim McCarty Band and the Jim McCarty Group. In 1992, he participated with McCarty and former Yardbirds rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja in a series of concerts celebrating the Yardbirds' election into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has since become a member of the Kingsnakes. Armstrong has performed with Morrison's live band since 1978.

01. Little Willie Ramble
02. Over The Valley
03. You´re My Island
04. Waiting For The Train
05. Morning
06. We Are Free
07. I´ve Got Time
08. We´re On The Right Track
09. I Don´t Care
10. Open Road
11. That´s What Friends Are For

Roy Wood - Boulders (1st Solo Album UK 1973, ex. "The Move")

270:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Relieftryckt utvikomslag. Utgiven av "Strange Days Records" Japan 2007)

An intricate, deliberately idiosyncratic record, assembled piece by piece, Boulders perfectly captures Roy Wood's peculiar genius, more so than anything else he recorded. All of his obsessions are here -- classical music, psychedelia, pre-Beatles pop, pastoral folk ballads, absurdist humor, studio trickery, and good old-fashioned rock & roll -- assembled in a gracefully eccentric fashion. Some listeners may find that eccentricity a little alienating, but it's the core of Wood's music. 

He wrote tuneful, accessible songs, but indulged his passions and weird ideas, so even the loveliest melodies and catchiest hooks are dressed in colorful, odd arrangements. The marvelous thing is, these arrangements never sound self-consciously weird - it's the sound of Wood's music in full bloom. Never before and never again did his quirks sound so charming, even thrilling, as they do on Boulders. As soon as "Songs of Praise" reaches its chorus, a choir of sped-up, multi-tracked Roys kick in, sending it into the stratosphere. 

All nine tunes unwind in a similar fashion, each blessed with delightfully unpredictable twists. It's easy to spot the tossed-off jokes on the goofy "When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo," but it may take several spins to realize that the percussion on "Wake Up" is the sound of Roy slapping a bowl of water. Boulders is a sonic mosaic -- you can choose to wonder at the little details or gaze at the glorious whole, enjoying the shape it forms. Wood has an unerring knack for melodies, whether they're in folk ballads, sweet pop or old-fashioned rock & rollers, yet his brilliance is how he turns the hooks 180 degrees until they're gloriously out of sync with his influences and peers. Boulders still sounds wonderfully out of time and it's easy to argue that it's the peak of his career.

Most of the album was recorded while Wood was still in The Move, although it was not released until he had left the Electric Light Orchestra and was fronting Wizzard. Two singles were taken from the album, "When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo" (February 1972), and "Dear Elaine" (August 1973). The latter reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart.

"Rock Down Low" and "The Locomotive" were sometimes featured by Wizzard in their live performances.

"Songs of Praise" was recorded by the New Seekers and reached the last six for the British entry to the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest.

Wood had previously attempted recording "She's Too Good for Me" in 1968 with Move bandmate Trevor Burton, before re-recording the song entirely himself for "Boulders". These early attempts were released on Anthology 1966–1972.

01. "Songs of Praise" – 04:40
02. "Wake Up" – 03:19
03. "Rock Down Low" – 03:25
04. "Nancy Sing Me a Song" – 03:28
05. "Dear Elaine" – 04:09
06. "Medley: "All the Way Over the Hill"/"Irish Loafer (And His Hen)" – 04:49
07. "Miss Clarke and the Computer" – 04:20
08. "When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo" – 03:12
09. "Rock Medley: "Rockin’ Shoes"/"She's Too Good for Me"/"Locomotive" – 07:31

Bonus:
10. "Dear Elaine" (Rough Mix  - 04.14

Dee Clark - You're Looking Good (Superb Vee-Jay R&B US 1960)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Superb amerikansk R&B från Vee-Jay Records 1960, Gavs ut av Japanska P-Vine 2006, nu utgången sedan länge.)

Dee Clark's third album is a fine collection of 11 songs, some strong originals like the infectious "Kangaroo Hop" and "Gloria" interspersed with covers of standards by Jimmy Reed ("Baby What Do You Want Me to Do"), Ray Charles ("What I Say"), etc. The overall sound is a mix of R&B ballads -- some of them, such as "I Just Can't Help Myself," displaying '50s doo wop elements -- alternating with hard-rocking rhythm numbers, drawn from various sessions and some earlier single releases. 

As a balladeer, Clark sounded uncannily like a young Clyde McPhatter, while his harder songs probe a distinctly tougher side to that same voice, and both sides work well in the context of this album.

Though largely unknown among contemporary audiences, Dee Clark was one of the most successful R&B singers of the late '50s and early '60s, his resonant, expressive tenor gracing classics like "Raindrops" and "(Hey) Little Girl." Delecta Clark was born in Blytheville, Arkansas on November 7, 1938; from the age of three, he grew up on Chicago's West Side, in 1952 joining with schoolmates Sammy McGrier and Ronnie Strong in the Hambone Kids. 

A fad that required performers to slap their thighs, chests, and other parts of the body in emulation of what's now known as a Bo Diddley beat, the Hambone Kids were popular long enough for the teenage trio to collaborate with Red Saunders & His Orchestra for a single, also titled "Hambone," issued on Okeh in 1952. 

The record was a minor hit, but in 1953 Clark moved on, assuming lead duties with the Chicago vocal group the Goldentones — when local DJ Herb "The Kool Gent" Kent took over their management, he rechristened his charges the Kool Gents, landing them a recording deal with Chicago's Vee-Jay label. The group issued its debut single "This Is the Night" in early 1956, followed that summer by "I Just Can't Help Myself." (As the Delegates, they also released "The Convention," a novelty record inspired by that year's presidential election.)

After one final Vee-Jay session yielding 1957's "Mother's Son," the label's general manager Ewart Abner convinced Clark to go solo — his debut "Gloria" was, in fact, a Kool Gents recording, although only Clark's name appeared on the label. He struggled to forge his own style, mimicking Clyde McPhatter on the follow-up "Seven Nights" and aping Little Richard on 1958's "Oh, Little Girl." 

Neither charted, but when Little Richard himself abruptly quit performing to enter Bible college, his booking agent hired Clark to fulfill his remaining live dates; he ultimately spent five months on the road with Richard's backing band the Upsetters, also enlisting the group for studio dates. 

Clark officially came into his own with late 1958's "Nobody But You" — a luminous, uptempo love song ideally matched to his deeply affecting vocals, the single reached number 21 on the pop charts and number three on the R&B charts, creating the template for the remainder of his Vee-Jay output. Its 1959 follow-up "Just Keep It Up (And See What Happens)" was an even bigger pop hit, reaching the number 18 spot (although going only as high as number nine on the R&B rankings), and with the Bo Diddley-inspired rocker "(Hey) Little Girl" Clark solidified his popularity, reaching number 20 pop and number two R&B during a 15-week run on the charts.

In 1960 Clark notched three more consecutive pop chart entries: the Top 40 hit "How About That," "(Crazy Little Mama) At My Back Door," and "You're Looking Good." 

The streak continued in 1961 with "Your Friends," which reached number 34 on the national pop charts and proved an even bigger hit in his hometown Chicago market. 

Inspired by the inclement weather that plagued a road trip back from New York City, the follow-up "Raindrops" was both Clark's biggest hit and his creative apex — a vividly cinematic virtuoso performance that reached number two on the Billboard pop chart, its sophisticated sound anticipated the R&B genre's coming evolution into soul. 

But Clark never again recaptured its success either in the studio or on the charts: none of his next three singles — "Don't Walk Away from Me," 1962's "You Are Like the Wind," and "Dance On, Little Girl" — even charted. "I'm Going Back to School" was a renaissance of sorts, cracking the R&B Top 20, but in 1963 Clark again stumbled, and after three successive singles ("I'm a Soldier Boy," "How Is He Treating You?" and "Walking My Dog") failing to chart, he left Vee-Jay, signing with Ewart Abner's new label Constellation for the dance record "Crossfire Time," which squeaked onto the Billboard Hot 100 at number 92 — his final U.S. chart appearance.

Clark's Constellation tenure is a study in frustration — between 1964 and 1966, he released eight singles for the label, none of which charted. (Some were nevertheless excellent, in particular the Bob Gaudio-penned "Come Closer," "Warm Summer Breeze," and "T.C.B.") In the wake of "Old Fashion Love," issued in mid-1966, Constellation folded and Clark spent the remainder of his career hopscotching from label to label, never again releasing more than one single on any given imprint — these efforts include 1967's "In These Very Tender Moments" (Columbia), 1968's "Nobody But You" (Wand), 1970s "24 Hours of Loneliness" (Liberty) and the self-explanatory "Raindrops '73," which appeared on the Warner subsidiary Rocky. 

Throughout this period he lived in almost as many cities, making a living by headlining local lounges and nightclubs during extended stays in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Orlando. Although 1975's Chelsea label release "Ride a Wild Horse" enjoyed chart success in the U.K., the single was Clark's last — he continued touring relentlessly during the decade-plus to follow, the grind no doubt contributing greatly to the massive heart attack that ended his life on December 7, 1990 at the age of only 52.

01. You're Looking Good Carter, Oliver  02:08
02. Wondering Clark, Nash  02:37
03. Kangaroo Hop Clark  02:21
04. I Just Can't Help Myself Blackwell  02:27
05. Little Red Riding Hood Clark  02:22
06. Gloria Clark  02:29
07. Come to California Diamond  02:19
08. Baby What You Want Me to Do Reed  02:58
09. 24 Boyfriends Clark, Twigs  02:05
10. Just Like a Fool Clark  02:17
11. What I Say Charles  04:35

Bonus Tracks:
12. Nobody But You  02.24
13. Hey Little Girl  01.52
14. Your Friends  02.03
15. Raindrops  02.52
16. Shook Up Over You  02.45

James Brown and the Famous Flames - Live at The Garden (Rare Album US 1962)

220:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition, utgången utgåva sen 2007. Svår James Brown album att hitta.)

Surely one of James Brown's most mysterious opuses: apparently never even reissued on *vinyl*, despite an impressive chart placement. Of course, the somewhat misleading packaging ("somewhat", meaning check out this review box title for the actual venue, another great landmark, though quite different in scale!), and subway station post-production effects, presumeably to make it sound like a huge auditorium event, added to the confusion. [The slow-running master tape didn't help either].

Then again, it's James Brown, who always found a special way of making order out of "chaos" - who else can keep a one-chord riff going for days, with mostly non-verbal emanations ("Hip Bag '67", track four)?

Yes, all of James Brown's live album have good audience sonic inreraction, and here the crowd is up in the mix, which adds to the excitement, although, in a sense, it also is a reminder that a big aspect of the live experience is in the visuals, and typically, though we can hear the crowd, there are no stills from the actual event. 

One can imagine the beatific glow on the on the receiving end of the funk (though that came a few months later).

I say, without hesitation that this is Brown's most exciting live album (the Live in Dallas set has that heart-pounding and foot-stompin' "pop", but is *paced*). Following the greatest vocal introduction in recorded history, we're right into nearly-manic renditions of "Out Of Sight" and "Bring It Up", and the audience is already close to being emotionally spent. Cut five has a tremendous "Prisoner Of Love", his best on record. 

The take recorded at the Apollo about five months later does not have the Soul or warmth this one has - he sounded a bit tired and distracted on that much better-known performance on "....Apollo, Vol. Two". Historians might presume that some of that "lower-impact" approach may have been by design. It's been written that sometime in 1967 JB considered retirement, and during that period changed the "pacing" of his shows. [When the Latin Casino recording was made, it seems that the over-the-top, beginning to end, approach was the key, so listeners can appreciate this intriquing piece of history].

Another tune fares better here than on the forementioned double-album: "It Maybe The Last Time". [For initiates, it is reminiscent of an earlier tune by the Staple Singers, "This Could Be The Last Time", and a later tune by the Rolling Stones]. This one has the power and compression, quite possibly noticed by Bad Company ("Can't Get Enough Of Your Love").

The gospel styled R & B-jazz hit "Ain't That A Groove" has the band at optimum capacity. (Another strong presumption: Paul McCartney referenced this particular track *and* "Please, Please, Please", prefacing the finale, "Bring It Up" [reprise]).


01. Out Of Sight
02. Bring It Up
03. Try Me
04. Let Yourself Go
05. Hip Bag '67
06. Prisoner Of Love
07. It May Be The Last Time
08. I Got You (I Feel Good)
09. Ain't That A Groove-Part 1-Ain't That A Groove-Part 2
10. Please,Please,Please
11. Bring It Up

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Okie Dokie Stomper - Peacock Records Years 1949-59)

220:- (Blues Album från OLDAYS Records, limiterad utgåva. Endast ett exemplar i lager.)

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 - September 10, 2005) was an American musician from Louisiana and Texas. He is best known for his work as a blues musician, but embraced other styles of music, having "spent his career fighting purism by synthesizing old blues, country, jazz, Cajun music and R&B styles". His work also encompasses rock and roll, rock music, folk, electric blues, and Texas blues.

He was an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, who played an array of musical instruments such as guitar, fiddle, mandolin, viola as well as harmonica and drums. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, Alright Again!. He is regarded as one of the most influential exponents of blues fiddle and has had enormous influence in American fiddle circles.

Brown's two biggest musical influences were Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker.

Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was raised in Orange, Texas. His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas. He was given the nickname "Gatemouth" by a high school teacher who said he had "voice like a gate". His career was boosted while attending a 1947 concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub. When Walker became ill, Brown took up his guitar and quickly wrote and played "Gatemouth Boogie," to the delight of the audience right on the spot.

In 1949 Robey founded Peacock Records in order to showcase Brown's virtuoso guitar work. Brown's "Mary Is Fine"/"My Time Is Expensive" was a hit for Peacock in 1949. A string of Peacock releases in the 1950s were less successful commercially, but were nonetheless pioneering musically. 

Particularly notable was the 1954 instrumental "Okie Dokie Stomp", in which Brown solos continuously over a punchy horn section (other instrumentals from this period include "Boogie Uproar" and "Gate Walks to Board"). Okie Dokie Stomp was also recorded by Cornell Dupree in the 1970s and he had success with it as well. As for his gutsy violin playing, Robey allowed him to record "Just Before Dawn", his final release on the Peacock label, in 1959.

In the 1960s Brown moved to Nashville, Tennessee to participate in a syndicated R&B television show, and while he was there recorded several country singles. He struck up a friendship with Roy Clark and made several appearances on the television show Hee Haw. In 1966, Brown was the musical director for the house band on the short-lived television program, The !!!! Beat.

The album of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Peacock Records Years is now Released as a Japanese Cardboard Sleeve CD 2014, Recorded in 1949-1959.

01. Mary Is Fine (1950)
02. My Time Is Expensive (1950)
03. Did not Reach My Goal (1950)
04. Atomic Energy (1950)
05. Mercy On Me (1950)
06. Boogie Rambler (1950)
07. I've Been Mistreated (1950)
08. I Live My Life (1951)
09. Two O'Clock In The Morning (1950)
10. It Can Never Be That Way (1950)
11. Justice Blues (1951)
12. Just Got Lucky (1952)
13. She Walks Right In (1950)
14. Win With Me (1950)
15. Too Late Baby (1951)
16. Taking My Chances (1951)
17. Baby Take It Easy (1952)
18. She Winked Her Eye (1951)
19. Sad Hour (1951)
20. Pale Dry Boogie pt1 (1951)
21. Pale Dry Boogie pt2 (1951)
22. Dirty Work At The Crossroads (1952)
23. You Got Money (1952)
24. Gate Walks To The Board (1953)
25. Midnight Hour (1954)
26. Okie Dokie Stomp (1954)
27. Gate's Salty Blues (1955)
28. Ain't That Dandy (1956)
29. Just Before Dawn (1958)

Booker T. - Evergreen (Rare Memphis Soul/Funk Album US 1974)

220:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Som AMG skriver i sin recension: "one the greatest R&B and soul bands in the history ". Denna Mini LP släpptes 2010.)

Playing organ and keyboards in the MG's, one the greatest R&B and soul bands in the history of pop music, Booker T. Jones was no stranger to the pop world when he recorded Evergreen in 1974. As part of the MG's, he played on innumerable Stax Records sessions backing everyone from Otis Redding to Sam & Dave, and the MG's hit the charts a few times themselves, beginning with the timeless "Green Onions" instrumental in 1962. 

But things began going south for Stax in the early '70s, and Jones could see the writing on the wall, leaving the label well before it filed for bankruptcy in 1975 and signing with A&M Records in 1971 and consequently releasing a series of albums with his then-wife Priscilla Coolidge. He signed with Epic Records in 1974, issued Evergreen, and then returned to A&M Records. Evergreen isn't a soul record, at least not the way the MG's did it, and Jones wore several hats at the sessions, playing some guitar and bass on it in addition to organ and keyboards, handled most of the vocals, and also wrote, arranged, and produced all the tracks (with the exception of a cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Why Me"). 

It's really a laid-back roots album, and one doesn't get any of Jones' famous organ playing until the fourth cut, an instrumental called "Flamingo," and it's there on the title track, "Evergreen," as well, but most of the album is a light-breezed mix of folk melodies, subtle calypso, and reggae rhythms, ragtime, and what is know these days as soul-jazz, and it's all very pleasing, but far from the greasy soul-funk sound of the MG's. Wounded Bird Records reissued Evergreen in 2013, adding in six bonus tracks, which included the single version of "Evergreen" and interesting cover versions of "Take Me to the River" and "Whiter Shade of Pale," none of which change the overall mood and feel of the original album.

Booker T. Jones was one of the architects of the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s as the leader of Booker T. & the MG's, who scored a number of hits on their own as well as serving as the Stax Records house band. But Jones' accomplishments don't stop there, and as a producer, songwriter, arranger, and instrumentalist, he's worked with a remarkable variety of artists, from Willie Nelson to John Lee Hooker, from Soul Asylum to the Roots.

Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee on November 12, 1944. Jones developed an keen interest in music as a boy; while working a paper route, he used to pass by the house of jazz pianist Phineas Newborn, and would often stop and listen to him practice as he folded newspapers. By the time Jones was in high school, he helped to direct the school band and was proficient on saxophone, trombone, oboe, and keyboards; he also played organ during services at his church, and would occasionally sneak out and sit in with R&B combos at local nightclubs. 

In 1960, Jones, a frequent customer at Memphis' Satellite Record Shop, was recruited to play sax on a Rufus and Carla Thomas recording session when the proprietors of the store, Estelle Axton and Jim Stewart, decided to start their own record label. The label soon evolved into Stax Records, and Jones, along with guitarist Steve Cropper (who was managing the record store when he met Jones), bassist Lewis Steinberg (later replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn), and drummer Al Jackson Jr., would form the MG's, who would back up Stax artists Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Albert King, and many others, as well as releasing a steady stream of instrumental recordings on their own, including the smash hit "Green Onions." Jones' productivity in the early to mid-'60s is all the more remarkable as he was also a full-time student at Indiana University, where he studied composition and music theory while doing shows and recording sessions during weekends and vacations.

HomeBooker T. & the MG's enjoyed considerable success in their heyday -- cutting hits, backing Stax's leading artists, touring Europe and the U.K. with the Stax/Volt Revue, and accompanying Otis Redding for his legendary set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival -- but between internal disputes at Stax (mostly regarding the spoils of their successful distribution deal with Atlantic Records) and the increasingly busy schedules of the various members, the group was on the verge of breaking up, and in 1970, Jones relocated to Los Angeles. 

He had already been branching out, appearing on Delaney & Bonnie's 1969 album Home and Mitch Ryder's ambitious The Detroit-Memphis Experiment, and after 1971's Melting Pot, the MG's quietly broke up. Jones stayed busy with session work, playing on albums by Bob Dylan, Steven Stills, Kris Kristofferson, and Rita Coolidge, and in 1971 he released Booker T. & Priscilla, the first of two albums he would record with his then-wife, Priscilla Coolidge-Jones (the sister of Rita Coolidge). 

The same year, Jones produced Just as I Am, the outstanding debut album by Bill Withers, which featured the hits "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands." In 1975, Jones and the MG's were working on a reunion album when Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered; the group continued to record with drummer Willie Hall, but they parted ways again in 1977. In 1978, Jones released his first solo album, Try and Love Again, and enjoyed one of his biggest successes as a producer with Willie Nelson's Stardust, a collection of pop standards that established Nelson as one of country's biggest crossover acts.

01. Jamaica Song  02:25

02. Mama Stewart  02:52

03. Tennessee Voodoo  04:46

04. Flamingo  03:38

05. Song For Casey  04:52

06. Evergreen  06:30

07. Country Days  04:35

08. Why Me  03:35

09. Front Street Rag  02:14

10  Lie To Me  06:00

The Belmonts - Carnival of Hits (Superb R&B/Doo Wop US 1962)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Utgiven av ett nytt litet skivbolag i Japan. Mycket liten upplaga av detta album.)

Angelo D'Aleo, Fred Milano, and Carlo Mastrangelo were all friends from the area around Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. They attended Roosevelt High School and hung out together. They began singing together and named themselves The Belmonts after the street  on which Freddy Milano lived.  As a trio, they recorded for the Mohawk label in 1957, making their debut with the song, "Teenage Clementine.” Dion, who lived in the neighborhood, joined the group for the recording, “We Went Away.”  It was cut for Mohawk Records under the direction of conductor/arranger Hugo Montenegro.

The group moved to Laurie Records, newly founded by Bob Schwartz (who had been a part-owner of Mohawk) and his brother Gene and cut their label debut,  "I Wonder Why"  that made it to the top of the charts. It was followed by a pair of hits, "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me" that also made it to the top of the charts. "A Teenager in Love" made number five and further hits with "Where or When" and "When You Wish Upon a Star" elevated The Belmonts with Dion to a major worldwide act. Their vocal talent as a singing group was displayed prominently on all the recordings with their collective musical tastes ranging  from rock ’n roll to jazz, to country, to pop and blues. Of note is one particular performance at the Surf Ball Room in Clearlake, Iowa, the night on which Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper lost their lives in a plane crash. 

In 1960, Dion and The Belmonts went their separate ways.  The Belmonts continued to enjoy success on the stage as well as on the charts. The group remained with Laurie Records for one single, "We Belong Together,” and then formed their own label -- originally named Surprise, then Sabrina, and finally christened Sabina Records. The label became active (as Surprise) in March of 1961 with the recording of "Tell Me Why" which rose to the top of the charts nationally. The follow-up record late that summer, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," and the next release, "I Need Someone," also became chart hits. 

The Belmonts'  next hit record was their Sabina single, "Come On Little Angel," written by Ernie Maresca.  A major lineup change then occurred when Carlo exited The Belmonts in favor of trying to record solo for Laurie Records. The group replaced him with Frank Lyndon and released their next chart recording, “Diddley Dum,” while continuing to enjoy their busy stage career. 

In 1963 Warren Gradus, a studio musician/song writer, joined The Belmonts. and the group next became visible in the early '70s, amid the oldies boom. They cut an album for Buddah Records, entitled Cigars Acappela Candy, on which they performed several classic oldies tracks and also applied their sound to contemporary hits like "My Sweet Lord" and "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).”  In 1972, The Belmonts reunited with Dion  for a performance at New York's Madison Square Garden, which was not only a sell-out event but was also recorded for posterity in the album entitled Dion and The Belmonts Reunion Live at Madison Square Garden.  Milano, Mastrangelo, D'Aleo, Lyndon, Bank and Gradus were the participants in that performance, which was released on Warner Bros. Records.

01. Come On Little Angel  02:58
02. Don't Get Around Much Anymore  02:00
03. I Don't Know How To Cry  02:25
04. Have You Heard  02:56
05. Searching For A New Love  02:19
06. I Need Someone  02:33
07. Tell Me Why  02:29
08. How About Me  02:40
09. This Love Of Mine  02:24
10. That American Dance  02:46
11. I Confess  02:28
12. Hombre  02:22

+ Bonus Tracks

Dion and The Belmonts - Presenting "Dion and The Belmonts" (Great R/B, Doo Woop US 1959)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. En verklig klassiker med många hitlåtar. Släppt av det japanska skivbolaget "Oldays Records" i en starkt begränsad upplaga.)

1959's Presenting Dion And The Belmonts is the seminal debut album from the Italian American doo-wop group who got their start singing on the street corners of the Bronx. Revealing a musical soul that transcended the limitations of teenage pop (and foreshadowing group leader Dion Di Mucci’s future solo career), the release features such immortal rock and roll hits as “I Wonder Why” and “Teenager in Love,” still among some of the best examples of white vocal R&B to come out of New York in the '50s.

Rock & roll albums were something of a novelty, if not a rarity, in 1959 -- apart from Elvis's releases, few of them sold well, and most that were out there by white artists, apart from hits compilations, didn't always reflect well on the music. The debut album by the Bronx-based doo wop group holds up well, however, and is well worth hearing beyond the hits "I Wonder Why," "Where or When," "Don't Pity Me," and "A Teenager in Love." 

Albumets Baksida

The predominant subject is girls, no surprise as the work of an R&B vocal group in 1959, but there's amazingly little feeling of repetition on these 14 cuts, partly because the producers and the group did vary the sound. There are surprisingly successful attempts at a mild country sound ("You Better Not Do That") as well as pop ("Just You") and an amazing blues ("I Got the Blues") that reveals some of the real depth behind Dion DiMucci even at this early stage of his career -- he may have looked and sounded like a teen idol on some of those records, but he had a musical soul all of his own that transcended the limitations of teen pop; it also goes a long way toward explaining why he was responsible for some of the best white rock & roll to come out of New York during this period. It may not be in a league with Elvis Presley's first three albums as essential listening, but it is all well played as well as beautifully sung, showing off a prodigious array of talent from the group on down to the session players involved.

Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles—and, most recently, straight blues. He was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had more than a dozen Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 60s. He is best remembered for the 1961 singles, "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer", written with Ernie Maresca.

Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s, perhaps due to the public's changing taste in pop music, and perhaps in part due to personal difficulties he had during this period. But toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs with a more mature, contemplative feeling, such as "Abraham, Martin and John". He became popular again in the late 1960s and into the mid-1970s, and he has continued making music ever since. Critics who had dismissed his early work, pegging him as merely a teen idol, praised his later work, and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.

Poster - Sunday, January 25, 1959

Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.

In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz, who had just formed Mohawk Records. They recorded Dion singing lead on a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and pre-recorded with everything but the lead vocals. The backing vocals were by a group called "The Timberlanes", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, "The Chosen Few", was released under the name, Dion and the Timberlanes, and became a minor regional hit. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that that he had never met the Timberlanes and didn't even know who they were. "The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys --three guys-- and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts."

Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed "Laurie" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh', and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, 'Man, those kids are talented.'"

Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won Dion and the Belmonts a place on the tragic "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) and other performers. On February 2, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to take a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly’s place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.

Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The trio's biggest hit, "Where or When", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.

01. I Wonder Why  2:20
02. Teen Angel  2:37
03. Where Or When  2:31
04. You Better Not Do That  2:31
05. Just You  2:45
06. I Got The Blues  2:45
07. Don’t Pity Me  2:36
08. A Teenager In Love  2:37
09. Wonderful Girl  2:13
10. A Funny Feeling  2:13
11. I’ve Cried Before  2:48
12. That’s My Desire  2:31
13. No One Knows  2:36

Gary Benson - The Concert (Pop/Rock Album UK 1973)

170:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Utgången utgåva sedan länge.)

Gary Benson (born Harry Hyams, London) is an English singer-songwriter.

Benson spent eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with his own composition, "Don't Throw It All Away". The single, released on the State label (State Records STAT10), reached No. 20 in the chart, leading to an appearance on BBC Television's Top Of The Pops. 

The song had originally been recorded by The Shadows, and they had performed it in the 1975 A Song for Europe contest, where it finished fourth of six entries.

Benson had further attempts at winning the UK ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest, reaching the UK finals in 1977 with "After All This Time", performed by Wesley, Park and Smith, finishing fifth of 12; in 1981 with "All Cried Out", which he performed himself to place fourth of 8, and was later released on the WEA Records label; and in 1993 with "It's Just a Matter Of Time" performed by Sonia, finishing last of eight entries.

Benson's song "Let Her In", oddly credited to both Gary Benson and Harry Hyams, was recorded by John Travolta in 1975. 

Another of Benson's composition's, "Close To You", was recorded by Maxi Priest. In 1977, he composed and sang one of his sweetest melodies: "You" but never ranked in the UK charts.

01. Concert
02. Let Her In
03. Almost Forgot About Losing You
04. To Kill Another Day
05. Quiet Man
06. Safe Place To Live
07. Help Me Get Through
08. Sausalite
09. Best Things I Can Do
10. Closing Down Of The Old Porland Railway Company
11. No Guarantee