Don Stevenson – Buskin' In The Subway

Don Stevenson – Buskin' In The Subway - 2018

Undoubtedly, San Francisco-based MOBY GRAPE belongs to the greats of the West Coast psychedelic scene of the late 1960's and must be named in one go with Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service. With their radical mix of folk, country, psychedelic, blues and jazz they even went a giant step further than their competitors. The first three albums Moby Grape (1967), Wow / Grape Jam (1968) and Moby Grape '69 (1969) are all masterpieces and belong in every well-stocked record cabinet. The band's five founders, Jerry Miller (git), Bob Mosley (bass), Peter Lewis (git) and Don Stevenson (drums) are still sporadically gathering for joint activities, only Alexander Skip Spence, the band's enfant terrible , died in 1999. All band members wrote and sang their own songs, certainly another reason for the enormous diversity of MOBY GRAPE. Don Stevenson had already released a highly acclaimed solo album in 2011 with King Of The Fools. For his current album, he teamed up with Dane Clark, since 1996 drummer in the band of John Mellencamp, who is also responsible for the final mix of the album. An illustrious band of fellow musicians support Don on this album, including his two GRAPE friends Jerry Miller and Peter Lewis. Don left Dane Clark the seat behind the drums and played guitar on the songs. And of course his place was behind the microphone. It is fair to say that Buskin 'In The Subway has become a giant album. Everything that MOBY GRAPE has already identified, this sleepwalking sure fusion of different music styles, succeeds Don Stevenson and his colleagues here again. Folk, blues, rock, jazz - everything is back! It would also have been a wonderful new GRAPE album. A nice idea is also the new version of the title 8:05, which can be found originally on the debut album of MOBY GRAPE.

01. I'm Leaving You

02. Do You Ever Think About Me

03. Buskin In The Subway

04. Dog On A Bone

05. See You Everywhere I Go

06. Driven The Train

07. Regret

08. Almost Feels Good To Feel Bad

09. Walkin' In The Fire

10. It's Getting Late

11. The Letter

12. I Counted On You

13. Urban Angel

14. 805

+@320

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Layla Revisited

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Layla Revisited - 2021

On 9th November 1970, Eric Clapton and his blues rock band Derek and the Dominos released their one and only studio album, ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs’.

Despite critical acclaim, the album met with sluggish sales. Indeed, the now-iconic track ‘Layla’ didn’t find its way into the top ten singles chart until March 1972. 

The Tedeschi Trucks Band is a partnership between guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi (whose birthdate coincidentally happens to be 9th November 1970) and guitarist Derek Trucks (whose parents used to play Clapton’s album to him as bedtime music).

Cosmic connections being what they are, Susan and Derek have now released their homage to the original album with ‘Layla Revisited (Live at LOCKN’)’, a complete live performance of Clapton’s masterwork. 

Recorded at the LOCKN’ Music Festival in Arrington, VA, in August 2019, the album also features Trey Anastasio, lead vocalist/guitarist from Phish, and former Eric Clapton guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. Thirteen of the tracks were recorded live, with the closing track ‘Thorn Tree In The Garden’ recorded in the studio. 

 

01. I Looked Away

02. Bell Bottom Blues

03. Keep On Growing

04. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

05. I Am Yours

06. Anyday

07. Key To The Highway

08. Tell The Truth

09. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?

10. Have You Ever Loved A Woman

11. Little Wing

12. It's Too Late

13. Layla

14. Thorn Tree In The Garden (Studio)

+@320

The Who - The Who Sell Out: Super Deluxe Edition (114 tracks!!)

The Who - The Who Sell Out: Super Deluxe Edition (114 tracks!!) - 2021

In his lengthy essay written for the 80-page hardback book accompanying the discs in this package, Pete Townshend reveals that he initially had little confidence in what was, to all intents and purposes, The Who’s first attempt at a concept album. He’d enthused about presenting the record as a pirate radio show, selling space for advertising jingles between the tracks, but felt the songs themselves were a “ragbag” that didn’t hang together well.

A sure indication of the band’s chief songwriter’s meandering mindset is the inclusion here of 46 previously unreleased tracks (not featured on the comparatively humble two-disc expanded reissue from 2009). Rarely in 1967 had any band, and certainly not The Who, toiled over a single album for so long, and while many of those works-in-progress are alternate versions of numbers that made the final running order, some would be shelved and dusted off another day.

The instrumentals Mrs Walker and Glow Girl contain motifs that would emerge two years later on Tommy, and the gritty charge through Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues found its way into the band’s concert set-list (as evidenced on 1970’s Live At Leeds album). The bigger picture painted by all this unheard material is of the varied …Sell Out sketches the album could have been, an intriguing insight into the creative but restless dynamic of the band at the time.

However, it would be a bold set of ears that listened to this total of 116 tracks and declared all were essential; the third disc devoted to rough first takes and fly-on-the-wall studio chat is interesting but unlikely to warrant many repeat plays, and the majority of new mixes of well-known tracks add little to the story. The flipsides to those surplus-to-requirements selections can be found on Disc Four (flagged here as “the road to Tommy”), giving chronological context to the likes of the last-gasp mod manoeuvres of Little Billy’s Doing Fine and the Byrdsian Faith In Something Bigger before it was finally wheeled out on the 1974 outtakes set Odds & Sods.

Arguably, the major selling point is Disc Five, comprising 14 of Pete Townshend’s never-heard original demos, not least the fascinating embryonic versions of familiar hits I Can See For Miles and Pictures Of Lily, the Beach Boys semi-pastiche Inside Outside USA, the swooning psych folk of Melancholia, and the acoustic picking on Sunrise that would, after a little reupholstering, go on to form the iconic intro to Pinball Wizard. This is where we find him sifting through myriad building blocks, looking for the precise foundations upon which to move the band forward.

The original LP climbed its way to No 2 in the UK charts, one short of another concept album that dominated the top spot in 1967 (Sgt Pepper), but historically The Who Sell Out hasn’t always been given the serious critical attention afforded its successors Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia. Yet, it’s just as significant a touchstone in the Who canon, a pointer to, in particular, Townshend’s desire for the band to test both themselves and their audience. It makes this extensive and richly textured ultimate edition a “ragbag” worth rooting through.

CD ONE: THE WHO SELL OUT – MONO ALBUM

01. Armenia City in The Sky 3:47

02. Heinz Baked Beans 0:58

03. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 2:34

04. Odorono 2:30

05. Tattoo 2:48

06. Our Love Was 3:23

07. I Can See for Miles 4:06

08. I Can’t Reach You 3:27

09. Medac 0:56

10. Relax 2:38

11. Silas Stingy 3:03

12. Sunrise 3:04

13. Rael / Track Records run-off groove 5:54

BONUS TRACKS – MONO

14. Pictures of Lily (original UK Track single mix) 2:46

15. Doctor, Doctor (original UK Track single mix) 3:01

16. The Last Time (original UK Track single mix) 2:51

17. Under My Thumb (original UK Track single mix) 2:37

18. I Can See for Miles (original UK Track single mix) 4:03

19. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (original US Decca single mix) 3:19

20. Someone’s Coming (original US Decca single mix) 2:28

21. Unused Radio London ad / Early Morning Cold Taxi… (original 1967 mono mix) 3:04

22. Unused Radio London bulletin link /Jaguar (original 1967 mono mix) 2:50

23. Unused Radio London ad /Tattoo (early alternate mono mix) 3:05

24. Rael Pt.1 & Pt. 2 (Talentmasters Studio, New York early rough mix) 5:58

25. Sunn Amps promo spots 2:42

26. Great Shakes ad - Unreleased US Radio Commercial 1:07

27. Our Love Was - Take 12 Rejected Mono Mix

28. The Who - Rael - Early Mono Version

29. I Can See For Miles - Early Mono Version

30. Someone's Coming - UK Single Mix Mono Version

31. Magic Bus - US UK Mono Version

32. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - US Single Mix Mono Version

CD TWO: THE WHO SELL OUT – STEREO ALBUM

33. Armenia City in The Sky 3:50

34. Heinz Baked Beans 1:01

35. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 2:34

36. Odorono 2:35

37. Tattoo 2:54

38. Our Love Was 3:25

39. I Can See for Miles 4:10

40. I Can’t Reach You 3:31

41. Medac 0:57

42. Relax 2:41

43. Silas Stingy 3:08

44. Sunrise 3:05

45. Rael Pt1 & Pt2 5:38

BONUS TRACKS – STEREO

46. Rael Naïve (complete with organ coda ending) 1:38

47. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (US single version) 3:27

48. Someone’s Coming 2:33

49. Summertime Blues 2:38

50. Glittering Girl 3:05

51. Early Morning Cold Taxi 2:59

52. Girl’s Eyes 2:52

53. Coke After Coke 1:09

54. Sodding About 2:51

55. Things Go Better with Coke 0:32

56. Hall of The Mountain King 4:27

57. Jaguar 2:58

58. Rael Pt1 & Pt2 (remake; IBC version) / Track Records outro 6:26

CD THREE: STUDIO SESSIONS 1967 / 68

59. Glittering Girl (Take 4) (2018 remix) 3:29

60. Girl’s Eyes (Take 2) (2018 remix) 3:58

61. The Last Time (Take 8) 3:51

62. Under My Thumb (Take 3) (2018 remix with full ending) 3:13

63. Our Love Was (Take 2) 3:21

64. Relax (4-track to 4-track mix with Pete vocal) 3:22

65. Relax (Takes 1 and 2) 1:58

66. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (Takes 1 & 9) 3:43

67. Relax (Remake Take 4) 2:37

68. I Can See for Miles (full version) 4:54

69. Medac (Take 11) 1:13

70. Odorono (Take 3) (2018 remix) 2:47

71. Heinz Baked Beans (Takes 1 & 3) (2018 remix) 2:16

72. Top Gear (Takes 1 & 2) (2018 remix) 3:03

73. Premier Drums (Takes 1 & 3) (2018 remix) 2:17

74. Charles Atlas (Take 1) 0:33

75. Rotosound Strings (Take 1) (2018 remix) 0:15

76. Track Records (2018 remix) 0:34

77. John Mason Cars (Takes 1 – 3) / Speakeasy / Rotosound Strings / Bag O’ Nails (2018 remixes) 1.02

78. It’s A Girl (aka ‘Glow Girl’) (Takes 1 & 3) 3:21

79. Mr Hyde (1st stage mix Take 1) 2:39

80. Little Billy (Takes 1 & 3) 4:14

81. Mrs Walker (aka ‘Glow Girl’) (4-track to 4-track mix, take 7) 2:31

82. Lightning (aka Call Me Lightning) (Take 1 backing track, stereo mix & jam) 6:12

83. Dogs (Take 2) 3:14

84. Melancholia (Take 1) 3:50

85. Shakin’ All Over (Take 3) 1:35

86. Magic Bus (Take 6) 3:00

CD FOUR: THE 1968 RECORDINGS (‘THE ROAD TO TOMMY’)

87. Glow Girl 2:27

88. Faith in Something Bigger 3:09

89. Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde 2:38

90. Call Me Lightning 2:23

91. Little Billy’s Doing Fine 2:19

92. Dogs 3:10

93. Melancholia 3:21

94. Fortune Teller 2:22

95. Facts Of Life (aka ‘Birds And Bees’, backing track) 3:22

96. Magic Bus (single version) 3:20

97. Call Me Lightning (US/UK mono single mix) 2:24

98. Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (UK mono single mix) 2:39

99. Dogs (UK mono single mix) 3:07

100. Magic Bus (mono, longer version) 4:35

CD FIVE: PETE TOWNSHEND ORIGINAL DEMOS

101. Kids? Do You Want Kids 1:43

102. Relax 3:44

103. Glow Girl 3:26

104. Glow Girl (Version 2) 3:00

105. Inside Outside USA 3:06

106. Jaguar 2:59

107. Little Billy 2:11

108. Odorono 3:09

109. Pictures of Lily 3:31

110. Relax (Version 2) 2:26

111. Melancholia (2018 remix) 3:21

112. Thinking of You All the While (‘Sunrise’ Version 2) 3:15

113. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 3:15

114. I Can See for Miles 4:15

+@320

Amy Winehouse - At The BBC

Amy Winehouse - At The BBC - 2021

Amy Winehouse At The BBC, a collection chronicling the many remarkable performances by arguably the greatest and most genuine talent to emerge in British music in decades, will be released on May 7th 2021 through UMC/Island. For the very first time this updated release offers audio-only versions of the songs featured on ‘A Tribute To Amy Winehouse by Jools Holland’ and the ‘BBC One Sessions Live at Porchester Hall’, and so a high proportion of these tracks will be completely new to DSPs. “Stronger Than Me”, “Tears Dry On Their Own” and “You Know I’m No Good” will be available on streaming services from March 24th while the video for “Stronger Than Me” being available on YouTube. This comprehensive collection captures the strong and enduring relationship that Amy enjoyed with the BBC and is further proof of quite what an extraordinarily talented, completely original, and truly engaging performer Amy was.

Amy Winehouse At The BBC includes Amy’s earliest BBC Radio sessions, music from her first ever TV performances, as well as unheard gems, rarities, unique covers and live versions of classic songs from “Frank” and “Back To Black”. The set also includes a beautifully illustrated 20-page booklet featuring rare photographs.

Like Amy’s three previous albums, this collection will prove, once more, a fitting tribute to her peerless artistry, phenomenal talent, and extraordinary powers as a songwriter, a singer and an interpreter of classics.

Disc One - A Tribute To Amy Winehouse By Jools Holland:

01. Stronger Than Me

02. Take The Box

03. Teach Me Tonight Feat. Jools Holland

04. Rehab

05. Tenderly Feat. Jools Holland

06. Tears Dry On Their Own

07. Monkey Man Feat. Jools Holland

08. I Heard It Through The Grapevine Feat. Paul Weller And Jools Holland

09. Don’T Go To Strangers Feat. Paul Weller And Jools Holland

10. Love Is A Losing Game

Disc Two - The Bbc Sessions:

11. Know You Now (Leicester Summer Sundae 2004)

12. Fuck Me Pumps (T In The Park 2004)

13. In My Bed (T In The Park 2004)

14. October Song (T In The Park 2004)

15. Rehab (Pete Mitchell 2006)

16. You Know I’M No Good (Jo Whiley Live Lounge 2007)

17. Just Friends (Big Band Special 2009)

18. Love Is A Losing Game (Jools Holland 2009)

19. Tears Dry On Their Own (Jo Whiley Live Lounge 2007)

20. Best Friends, Right? (Leicester Summer Sundae 2004)

21. I Should Care (The Stables 2004)

22. Lullaby Of Birdland (The Stables 2004)

23. Valerie (Jo Whiley Live Lounge 2007)

24. To Know Him Is To Love Him (Pete Mitchell 2006)

Disc Three - Amy Winehouse- Bbc One Sessions Live At Porchester Hall:

25. Know You Now

26. Tears Dry On Their Own

27. You Know I’M No Good

28. Just Friends

29. He Can Only Hold Her

30. I Heard Love Is Blind

31. Rehab

32. Take The Box

33. Some Unholy War

34. Back To Black

35. Valerie

36. Addicted

37. Me & Mr Jones

38. Monkey Ma

+@320

Eggs Over Easy - Good 'n' Cheap - Eggs Over Easy Story

Eggs Over Easy - Good 'n' Cheap - Eggs Over Easy Story - 2016

Eggs Over Easy, the American band that invented pub rock, influenced the careers of Nick Lowe, Huey Lewis, Loudon Wainwright III and Elvis Costello, and laid the groundwork for a grass roots movement that would spawn UK punk, is finally getting its due with a deluxe 3xLP/2xCD set.

With roots stretching back to late 1960s Berkeley, CA, the three principals in the Eggs – songwriters Jack O’Hara, Austin deLone, and Brien Hopkins – would by early 1971 find themselves ensconced in London’s Olympic Studios, lured by Animals bassist and Jimi Hendrix manager Chas Chandler, and an apparitional record deal.

When said deal went bust the Eggs “did what any American band would do,” Stiff Records co-founder Dave Robinson told a journalist. “They went to the nearest bar and said, ‘Give us your worst night.’” Which is how Eggs Over Easy leapt onto the pages of pop music history.

Their humble Monday night gigs at a former jazz club called the Tally Ho – pub rock ground zero - would become the hub for a network of artists, venues, and music business machers that included back-to-basics groups Ducks Deluxe, Bees Make Honey and Dr. Feelgood, DJs John Peel and Charlie Gillett, and hustlers like Jake Riviera and Mr. Robinson.

For the first time ever, the entire Eggs Over Easy catalog, lovingly remastered and restored, is available as a box set. Included in this collection is their debut album Good ‘n’ Cheap, produced by Link Wray and originally released on A&M Records in 1972, their rarely-heard second LP, Fear of Frying, originally released (barely) on Lee Michaels’ Squish Records in 1980, two songs from the band’s lone single released on Buffalo Records, and the previously unreleased London ’71 sessions produced by Chas Chandler.  Inside the 3xLP/2xCD package you’ll find a hand-crafted, 24-page booklet in the CD package, and 8-page insert in the LP package, containing extremely rare photos, show flyers, early press clippings, musicians and writer credits, and the definitive story of the band by acclaimed music writer Gene Sculatti, who called Good ‘n’ Cheap a “near-masterpiece” when he reviewed it for Creem Magazine in 1972.

Eggs Over Easy, the American band that invented pub rock, influenced the careers of Nick Lowe, Huey Lewis, Loudon Wainwright III and Elvis Costello, and laid the groundwork for a grass roots movement that would spawn UK punk, is finally getting its due with a deluxe 3xLP/2xCD set.

With roots stretching back to late 1960s Berkeley, CA, the three principals in the Eggs – songwriters Jack O’Hara, Austin deLone, and Brien Hopkins – would by early 1971 find themselves ensconced in London’s Olympic Studios, lured by Animals bassist and Jimi Hendrix manager Chas Chandler, and an apparitional record deal.

When said deal went bust the Eggs “did what any American band would do,” Stiff Records co-founder Dave Robinson told a journalist. “They went to the nearest bar and said, ‘Give us your worst night.’” Which is how Eggs Over Easy leapt onto the pages of pop music history.

Their humble Monday night gigs at a former jazz club called the Tally Ho – pub rock ground zero - would become the hub for a network of artists, venues, and music business machers that included back-to-basics groups Ducks Deluxe, Bees Make Honey and Dr. Feelgood, DJs John Peel and Charlie Gillett, and hustlers like Jake Riviera and Mr. Robinson.

For the first time ever, the entire Eggs Over Easy catalog, lovingly remastered and restored, is available as a box set. Included in this collection is their debut album Good ‘n’ Cheap, produced by Link Wray and originally released on A&M Records in 1972, their rarely-heard second LP, Fear of Frying, originally released (barely) on Lee Michaels’ Squish Records in 1980, two songs from the band’s lone single released on Buffalo Records, and the previously unreleased London ’71 sessions produced by Chas Chandler.  Inside the 3xLP/2xCD package you’ll find a hand-crafted, 24-page booklet in the CD package, and 8-page insert in the LP package, containing extremely rare photos, show flyers, early press clippings, musicians and writer credits, and the definitive story of the band by acclaimed music writer Gene Sculatti, who called Good ‘n’ Cheap a “near-masterpiece” when he reviewed it for Creem Magazine in 1972.

CD 1:

Good ‘N’ Cheap Album

01. Party Party

02. Arkansas

03. Henry Morgan

04. The Factory

05. Face Down in the Meadow

06. Home to You

07. Song is Born of Riff and Tongue

08. Don’t Let Nobody

09. Runnin’ Down to Memphis

10. Pistol on a Shelf

11. Night Flight

Buffalo Single

12. I'm Gonna Put a Bar in the Back of My Car (& Drive Myself to Drink)

13. Morny Old Lady

Fear of Frying Album

14. Fire

15. Scene of the Crime

16. Forget About It

17. Louise

18. Lizard Love

19. You Lied

20. Driftin'

21. She Love Me

22. Action

23. Mover's Lament

24. Nonnie Nookie No

CD 2:

London '71 Album

01. Goin’ To Canada

02. I Can Call You

03. Right On Roger

04. Country Waltz

05. Give Me What's Mine

06. Across From Me

07. Waiting for My Ship

08. January

09. Give and Take

10. Funky But Clean

11. I'm Still the Same

12. 111 Avenue C

+@320

Christopher - Christopher

Christopher - Christopher - 1970

Christopher were an underground acid rock trio featuring future Josefus drummer Doug Tull. They evolved from United Gas, a psychedelic band from Houston who rubbed shoulders with legends like The 13th Floor Elevators and Moving Sidewalks . After relocating to Los Angeles, where they changed his name to Christopher, they played at numerous biker parties and recorded their sole album in 1970 for the Metromedia label. It’s an amazing example of West Coast psychedelia / acid-rock featuring strong fuzz-wah guitar, great compositions and superb musicianship.

01. Dark Road

02. Magic Cycles

03. Wilbur Lite

04. In Your Time

05. Beautiful Lady

06. Lies

07. Disaster

08. The Wind

09. Queen Mary

10. Burns Decision

Richard Avitts - Guitar, vocals

Doug Walden - Bass, Piano, vocals

John A. Simpson III, Terrance Hand - Drums

Doug Tull, Ron Kramer - Percussion

+@320

The Bridge - The Bridge

The Bridge - The Bridge - 1971

Bridge materialized in April 1971 consisting of three accomplished musicians: Francis and John Webster and Tony Lecaillon. The Webster brothers have been performing together since 1964 when they started a group called "The Marcatos". In 1967 they moved to Toronto where they joined forces with Tony and reorganized "The Marcatos" into a seven-piece group. In 1969 the group recorded an album at Sound Canada.

The album, entitled David, contained nine original tunes and two commercial tunes, (Hey Jude and House of the Rising Sun), and was played frequently on CHUM FM and other stations. The following Spring Francis and John moved to their farm in the Georgian Bay area where they began cultivating original material and sounds, playing in local churches and nightclubs with great success.

Meanwhile, Tony travelled around England (his native land), and Europe, to open his ears and eyes to the scene there. Francis, John and Tony rejoined last year to produce a unique combination of country, folk, jazz and rock, with original lyrics and music. Bridge answer the question, for anyone who wishes to know, what happened to the Canadian band David after their lone record on Sound Canada in the late 60s.

Guitarist Francis Webster, bassist John Webster, and drummer Tony Lecaillon from David make up Bridge who recorded this ultra obscure and rare record at the same Sound Canada studios in 1971. Next to each song is a brief description of the musical genre of each ranging from "Ego Trip" to "Country" to "jazz shuffle."

What this album is differs drastically from what you'd expect from David.The best way to describe Bridge's album would be "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" on tons of acid! There is no fuzz guitar, but a clean west coast shimmering tone on all tracks, bizarre vocal effects on ; the tripped out "It's My Life" and plenty of weirdness present for the whole album.

The tracks that are labelled "Country" all have a strange bent to them . despite being early back-to-the- roots country rock influenced by Graham Parsons and "real" country artists like Hank Williams. The long "Ego Trip" version of Little Richard's "You're My Girl" is great fun and the only good version I've heard of one of his songs.

There is something here very enjoyable for anyone looking for a bizarre i twisted record of fun music, especially "Brand New Day" with echoes of Spirit and a bit of Freeborne. Very rare and a good one.

01. I Had It But I Lost It

02. It’s My Life

03. Ain’t My Day

04. Simple Blues Form

05. Running Away

06. Brand New Day

07. You’re My Girl

08. Born To The Country

09. Barnyard

Francis Webster - Guitar

John Webster - Bass

Tony Lecaillon - Drums

+@320

B.B. Blunder - Worker's Playtime

B.B. Blunder - Worker's Playtime - 1971

In the mid-to-late 1960s, during the height of the mania stemming from the British Invasion, the UK was teeming with psychedelic rock bands of all shapes and sizes, many of whom enjoyed the din of obscurity beneath the gargantuan shadows of such titans as the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Pink Floyd and, of course, the Beatles.  Among those bands was Blossom Toes, an acid-pop group signed to famed English rock impresario and Yardbirds/Soft Machine manager Gorgio Gomelsky’s Marmalade Records label. The band did not receive the commercial success enjoyed by their peers in the British Invasion, but released two albums to massive critical acclaim and counted Frank Zappa, with whom the group once jammed (as documented on the recently released double-live compilation Love Bomb: Live 1967-69), amongst their fans.

In December of 1969, Blossom Toes were on their way back from a gig when they suffered a terrible auto accident that didn’t kill anyone in the band, but left the lads shaken up enough to decide to dissolve their union shortly thereafter. While guitarist Jim Cregan went on to join the equally underappreciated UK group Family (who also counted Blind Faith’s Ric Grech amongst its ranks), second Blossom git “Little” Brian Godding and bassist “Big” Brian Belshaw still remained tight, temporarily backing up UK folk chanteuse Julie Driscoll for her 1970 tour. The duo continued to casually jam together after the Driscoll gigs, eventually bringing former Toes drummer Kevin Westlake back into the mix. They rechristened themselves B.B. Blunder, picked up on the heavier, more California-inspired sound the Toes left off on with their 1969 swan song, If Only for a Moment, and took it to new creative heights on their single album, 1971’s Worker’s Playtime.

Recorded at Olympic Studios at the same time that the Stones were laying down Sticky Fingers (Godding claims that Mick Jagger even lent the band a right-handed guitar for the album sessions), Playtime was looser and more AOR-oriented than the Blossom Toes material, featuring guest spots from the likes of Driscoll, electric piano guru Brian Auger, and Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The songs B.B. Blunder were creating signified a sonic evolution similar to that of the way the Faces emerged from the Small Faces, or the Pretty Things circa Freeway Madness, with one foot in their British rock roots and the other pointing towards the sounds of the Los Angeles canyons, resulting in a warm, freewheeling sound effectively symbolic of the times while signifying something more progressive altogether. At the same time, songs like “Research”, “Seed”, and “Rise” were quintessential ‘71, and would certainly not sound out of place during a WNEW rock block alongside Bowie’s “Queen Bitch” and “Under My Wheels” by Alice Cooper.

01. Sticky Living

02. You're So Young

03. Lost Horizons

04. Research

05. Rocky Yagbag

06. Seed

07. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

08. Rise

09. Moondance

10. New Day

11. Backstreet

12. Freedom

13. Black Crow's Nest

14. When I Was in the Country

15. A Hard Day's Night

16. Come on Eyes

17. Snippet with Tippett

18. Square Dance

19. Earache

20. Robots

21. Waltz

+@320

Randy California & Spirit - The Euro-American Years - 1979-1983 - 6 CDS

Randy California & Spirit - The Euro-American Years - 1979-1983 - 6 CDS - 2020 

In mid-1979 the trio incarnation of spirit broke up and randy formed a new solo band and embarked on a european tour supporting Ian Gillan. After recording a series of demos further studio sessions produced the recordings which would form his solo album euro-american, released in 1982 (and included in this set). The original boxed set of the euro american years was compiled by spirit archivist mick skidmore and was issued in 2006. The original concept for this box (which sold out very quickly in its first pressing, only to be consistently bootlegged in various countries via downloads and separate cdr discs for which the artists received no compensation) was to pull together the vast amount of music that randy released during 1979-1983 period (although some tracks were recorded earlier and were shelved due to lack of a record deal).

Due to demand from fans, Mick Skidmore has recovered from the archives an additional two cds worth of previously unreleased material, namely a live concert by spirit recorded in greensboro, north carolina in april 1981 before a wildly exuberant audience, along with the randy california band’s entire set at reading festival in 1982 and a part of the band’s set at glastonbury festival from the same year.

Disc 1 

THE RANDY CALIFORNIA BAND

01. You stole my heart

02. California man

03. Song for laura

04. Thinking of you

05. Reeling in the night

06. Lani by the sea

07. Shattered dreams

08. Rock of ages

09. Magic wand

“EURO AMERICAN” – THE ORIGINAL ALBUM

10. Toy guns

11. This is the end

12. Mon ami

13. Rude reaction

14. Calling you

15. Wild thing

16. Easy love

17. Fearless leader

18. Five in the morning

19. Skull and crossbones

20. Breakout

Bonus tracks

21. Man at war

22. Write you a letter

Disc 2

01. Hand guns

02. Come on woman

03. Trouble in mind

04. Cabin de telephone

05. Shane

06. All along the watchtower

07. Don’t bother me

08. Downer

09. Brittany

10. Second child

11. Man at war

12. Killer weed

13. Radio man

14. Superchild

15. Run to your lover

16. Love’s not a game

17. Love is war

18. Childhood’s end

19. Overloaded ships sink (previously unreleased)

Disc 3

SPIRIT LIVE 1980 AND 1981

01. 1984 

02. Turn to the right

03. Five in the morning 

04. Hungry driver

05. I want somebody 

06. Hey joe 

07. Shattered dreams

08. Fish fry road

09. Magic wand

10. Come on woman

11. Breakout 

12. Downer 

13. Song for laura

14. Wild thing 

Disc 4

01. Grosser herrscher

02. His spirit is travelling on (previously unreleased)

03. Pt 109

04. Whispers from heaven

05. Trying to get closer to you

06. Since she’s gone

07. Past love

08. Stepping son

09. Otter in the sea

10. California man

11. Childhood’s end

RANDY CALIFORNIA BAND LIVE IN AYR, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 1979

12. Downer 

13. You stole my heart

14. Move on up

15. California man

16. Rebel’s flight

17. Breakout

18. Song for laura

Disc 5

SPIRIT – LIVE AT LOUIE’S, GREENSBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA 1981: PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

01. 1984 

02. Turn to the right

03. Animal zoo 

04. Magic wand 

05. Nature’s way

06. Five in the morning

07. So little time to fly

08. Mr. Skin 

09. Come on woman

10. All the same 

11. I got a line on you

12. Fish fry road

13. Wild thing 

14. Like a rolling stone

15. Come and get it (magic spirit) 

Disc 6

THE RANDY CALIFORNIA BAND LIVE AT THE READING FESTIVAL 1982 - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

01. Second child

02. Downer 

03. Man at war 

04. Like a rolling stone

05. All along the watchtower

06. Come on woman

07. Nature’s way

08. Killer weed 

09. Run to your lover

10. I got a line on you

11. Song for laura

12. Wild thing 

THE RANDY CALIFORNIA BAND LIVE AT THE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 1982 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. Hand guns

14. Lisa 

15. Don’t bother me

16. Rebel on attack

17. Killer weed

+@320

or

+@320 (other mirror, but interchangeable) (outro servidor, mas intercambiáveis)