Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Marianne Faithfull : Dangerous Acquaintances 1981




Few stars of the '60s have reinvented themselves as successfully as Marianne Faithfull. Coaxed into a singing career by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham in 1964, she had a big hit in both Britain and the U.S. with her debut single, the Jagger/Richards composition "As Tears Go By" .

Considerably more successful in her native land than the States, she had a series of hits in the mid-'60s that set her high, fragile voice against delicate orchestral pop arrangements .

Not a songwriter at the outset of her career, she owes more of her fame as a '60s icon to her extraordinary beauty and her long-running romance with Mick Jagger, although she offered a taste of things to come with her compelling 1969 single "Sister Morphine," which she co-wrote (and which the Stones later released themselves on Sticky Fingers).

In the '70s, Faithfull split up with Jagger, developed a serious drug habit, and recorded rarely, with generally dismal results. This occurred until late 1979, when she pulled off an astonishing comeback with Broken English .

Displaying a croaking, cutting voice that had lowered a good octave since the mid-'60s, Faithfull had also begun to write much of her own material, and addressed sex and despair with wrenching realism.

After allowing herself to be framed as a demure chanteuse by songwriters and arrangers throughout most of her career, Faithfull had found her own voice, and suddenly sounded more relevant and contemporary than most of the stars she had rubbed shoulders with in the '60s.

Faithfull's recordings in the '80s and '90s were sporadic and erratic, but generally quite interesting .

" Dangerous Acquaintances " seemed to be moving back to more mainstream rock territory, particularly in the arrangements. It's always a possible sign of trouble when there are over a dozen session musicians in the credits, and much of the record's music has a sort of anonymous feel.

                                                                    
The songs, too, are less striking (and less angrily risque) than those of Broken English, although Faithfull was still carving her own identity with lyrics about romantic duplicity. The most commercially accessible track, "For Beauties Sake," was co-written by Faithfull and Steve Winwood( Blind Faith,Traffic).
                                                                          
" Strange Weather ", a Hal Willner-produced 1987 collection of standards and contemporary compositions that spanned several decades for its sources, was her greatest triumph of the decade.

In 1994, she published her self-titled autobiography : The biography "As Tears Go By" by Mark Hodkinson is an objective and thorough account of her life and times.

Faithfull returned to recording in 2002 with " Kissin' Time ", an eclectic collection of songwriting collaborations with Beck, Damon Albarn, Billy Corgan, Jon Brion, and Jarvis Cocker, among others.

In 2004, Before the Poison was released in the U.K., making its entrance into the U.S. market in early 2005. This album continued in the vein of its predecessor, with songwriting and production contributions from PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Brion, and Albarn, but with far more consistent results.

Faithfull and Willner released " Easy Come Easy Go " in 2008, an all new collection of typically eclectic covers from the likes of Morrissey, the Decemberists, Billie Holiday, Black Rebel Motorcycle, and Dolly Parton.

Faithfull and Willner re-teamed for 2011's " Horses and High Heels ", a collection of covers and originals recorded at the famed Piety Street studio in New Orleans. The album features the talents of local musicians including renowned guitarist John Porter, as well as cameos by Dr. John, Lou Reed, and Wayne Kramer.



   TRACKS

  01.   Sweetheart  (Marianne Faithfull, Barry Reynolds) 
  02.   Intrigue  (Ben Brierley)
  03.   Easy in the City    (Faithfull, Reynolds) 
  04.   Strange One   (Joe Mavety, Terry Stannard) 
  05.   Tenderness   (Faithfull, Reynolds) 
  06.   For Beauty's Sake  (Faithfull, Steve Winwood) 
  07.   So Sad   (Faithfull, Reynolds, Steve York) 
  08.   Eye Communication   (Faithfull, Reynolds, Fuzzy Samuel, Stannard) 
  10.   Truth, Bitter Truth  (David Courts, Faithfull, Reynolds) 

                                                               

     INTRIGUE   LYRICS




Intrigue  surrounding me
Intrigue  surrounding you
I was only looking for a bit of harmony and grace,
I swear I only meant it in good faith.

In league  enfolding you
Fatigue   I feel it, too.
I guess I never thought I had a thing or two to lose,
I never thought I’d end up as good news.




Believe in what you hear.
Concede to what you fear.
And if you think that I have so much love to go to waste,
Cut out the running home, make the pace.

Intrigue  surrounding me  you
Intrigue  surrounding you  me
I was only looking for a bit of harmony and grace,
I swear I only meant it in good faith.

And if you think that I have so much love to go to waste,
Cut out the running home, make the pace.

Intrigue
Intrigue
Intrigue


Who is he — do you know ?
This man of power but a fool.
They said he was so high and pure,
They also said that he was cruel.









Year  :  1981
Format  :  Vinyl  LP
Label  :  Island Records - WEA
Made in  :  Greece





FLAC  HERE
                            

Sunday, May 27, 2012

VA - Nuggets, Vol. 7: Early San Francisco [1985]




















Various – Nuggets Volume Seven: Early San Francisco
Label: Rhino Records – RNLP 031
Series: Nuggets – RNLP 031
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Pop, Rock
Style: Folk Rock   [discogs]

Review  by Richie Unterberger [allmusic]
A fine collection of pre-Summer of Love rarities from the mid-'60s. Besides hits by The Beau Brummels and We Five, it features rarities by The Vejtables, the Great Society (featuring a pre-Jefferson Airplane Grace Slick), and Country Joe & The Fish.

Tracklist
A1 Beau Brummels, The – Laugh, Laugh
A2 Beau Brummels, The – Just A Little
A3 Mojo Men, The – Dance With Me
A4 Mojo Men, The – She's My Baby (M)
A5 Vejtables – I Still Love You
A6 Vejtables – Last Thing On My Mind (M)
A7 Jan Ashton – Cold Dreary Morning
B1 We Five – You Were On My Mind (M)
B2 We Five – You Let A Love Burn Out
B3 Charlatans, The – Codine (M)
B4 Great Society, The – Somebody To Love
B5 Great Society, The – Free Advice
B6 Country Joe & The Fish – Bass Strings (M)
B7 Tikis, The – I Must Be Dreaming

mp3@320 & scans 106MB
here


 Liner Notes
Revolutions don't grow on trees. Nor do they just pop up, 'shroom-like, overnight. They all start somewhere, sometimes in the unlikliest places. San Francisco's psychedelic tea party didn't catch the world's eyes and ears until 1967; suddenly that summer, its Quick and Dead and 'Plane and Brother were news, noisy international front-page stuff. They had arrived, so the story went, to rearrange the face of pop; in fact to punch out the lights of the whole hit single/Tin Pan Brill Bldg./Beatle-beat music biz — with a megadose of solo-spiked acid rock. Which they in effect did, with all sorts of historical consequences. In the ensuing haze and hype, the "San Francisco Sound" came to mean freaked-out "cosmic" lyrics and deliberately obtuse music — perhaps best described by the Mystery Trend's Ron Nagle as "psycho-babble in A minor." But it wasn't always thus. Two short years before, Frisco rock had walked a straighter, but still adventurous, Pop line. Over at Autumn Records, local Top 40 deejays Tom Donahue and Bob Mitchell, with the help of producer Sylvester Stewart (Sly Stone), were trying to cut hits. Across town, Kingston Trio manager Frank Werber was after the same thing, having just found the recently electrified folk group We Five; and so was Lovin' Spoonful producer Erik Jacobsen, who thought he'd stumbled onto the next big thing in the dandified, pistol-packin' Charlatans.
EARLY SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS is a roots record, a souvenir album of the opening shots of Frisco's rock revolution. Collected here for the first time, those shots sound primitive and powerful, occasionally naive but always brimming with promise. Tune in, turn on, and dig . . .
The BEAU BRUMMELS were the city's premier pre-psychedelic band, and Autumn Records' biggest act, a folk-rocking fivesome who scored two national hits in 1965. Despite (or maybe because of) the success of "Laugh Laugh" and the sublime "Just A Little," Ron Elliot, Sal Valentino & co. were denied membership in S.F. 's emerging rock underground. One listen to these two tracks proves it was the underground's loss.
Following the Brummels, Autumn's next pick-to-click was a semi-pro bar band called the MOJO MEN. The quartet (which featured Steve "Where the Action Is" Alaimo's brother Jim) enjoyed a Northern California hit in '65 with "Dance With Me," a gruff novelty item with heavy "Alley Oop" influences. "She's My Baby" is tougher stuff, buzzy Stonesish blues with echoed harp, penned by Sly himself.
The VEJTABLES toiled in the same post-Brit Invasion fields as the Beau Brummels, with one major difference; a mainstay of the Vejs' sound was a striking female vocalist-drummer, JAN ASHTON. After singing lead on I he local hit "I Still Love You" and a twelve-strung version of Tom Paxton's "Last Thing On My Mind," she left the Vejtables to join the Mojo Men, who subsequently scored ('67) with a Van Dyke Parks arrangement of Steve Stills' "Sit Down, I Think I Love You." Before doing so, Ashton cut the affecting "Cold Dreary Morning," a thick slab of electro-folk with vague Sandy Denny overtones.
The WE FIVE occupy a pivital place in the Frisco rock saga. With the perky, six-string strum of "You Were On My Mind," the University of San Francisco folkniks scored a Top 5 smash in the fall of '65, then vanished. Their achievements, though, didn't go unnoticed; singer Marty Balin used their two gals-one guy harmony approach in assembling his folk-rock band, as suggested by the dramatic, highly Airplane-esque arrangement of "You Let A Love Burn Out."

If the We Five were the transitional link, the CHARLATANS were the genuine article, Frisco's pioneer psychedelic band. They were also the first to record — through their debut single, a stark reading of Buffy Saint Marie's "Co'dine," makes its first vinyl appearance on this LP, exactly 20 years after it was cut. Kama Sutra Records' cold feet over the song's druggy subject matter blocked its initial release; subsequent smart moves k.o.'ed the Charlatans' career. Dig Mike Wilhelm's vintage acid-blues solo, Dan Hicks on drums.

It took more than 50 takes before Darby Slick, his sister-in-law Grace and their band got "Somebody To Love" down right. Or before producer Sly Stone threw up his hands; nonetheless, the original GREAT SOCIETY version of the Airplane supersmash remains a classic, from its raga-drone rhythm down to Darby's surging power-mower solo. Released as a single, with "Free Advice" as its whirling derv flip, on Autumn's North Beach subsidiary.
The TIKIS, a preppy foursome from Santa Cruz, almost didn't make it onto Autumn at all. Donahue and Mitchell considered the band's' whole Bermuda shorts-and-loafers style supremely unhip, and thought only slightly better of their xerox Beatlesongs ("If I've Been Dreaming"). The hits, however, didn't start until the Tikis became Harper's Bizarre ('67); founder Ted Templeman went on to produce the Doobie Bros, and Van Halen.
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH's "Bass Strings" resembles few records that came before or after it. Eschewing the Autumn route, the Berkeley-based jugband cut their own EP shortly after electrifying late in '65. While CJ&TF are best remembered for their politics ("Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag"), their flipside is revealed in "Bass Strings" — an exotic echo-and-organ piece that uncannily succeeds at summing up the phrase "psychedelic music" in all its glory. What's striking is the fact that all of these tracks — despite their diversity — really do belong together under the psychedelic parasol. They give an evocative and accurate account of the peculiar mix of musics that was San Francisco '65: bubbling under, not yet cooked down or cooled. For the next batch, you won't have to wait long; Rhino's already at work on Volume Two.
GENE SCULATTI
(For a full exploration of the S.F. scene, we recommend SAN FRANCISCO NIGHTS: The Psychedelic Music Trip, by Davin Seay & Gene Sculatti, published by St. Martin's Press 1985.)

Nuggets is a series of releases dedicated to preserving the hits and undiscovered gems of the first psychedelic era...

Vol. 01  Vol. 02  Vol. 03  Vol. 04 
Vol. 05  Vol. 06                Vol. 08
Vol. 09   Vol 10  Vol. 11  Vol. 12

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Straight Ahead ?





Αναρωτιόταν ο Μπάμπης λίγο καιρό πριν εδώ, και εγώ είμουν ένας από αυτούς που έλεγα προχώρα...



Μετά και την ψήφιση αυτού, δες  και το ποστ του Rosa Del Foc (fanzinita.blogspot.com ) εδώ αρχίζω να αναρωτιέμαι ξανά...
Ήταν και μια κουβέντα με έναν φίλο που μας συνέστησε προσοχή και μας έκανε εμένα και τον Κώστα να ψαχνόμαστε τι κάνουμε από εδώ και πέρα...
Βλέπουμε και πόσοι από σας αναρωτιέστε, καθώς και πόσα μπλοκς έκλεισαν τον τελευταίο καιρό,
οι "περίφημοι" νόμοι Άκτα και Πίπα  και Σώπα [τα γράφω Ελληνικά] και ρωτάω:

Μήπως εμείς και όλοι εσείς που προσφέρετε ελεύθερη πρόσβαση σε μουσικά αρχεία είμαστε εγκληματίες; Πάντως, προσπαθούν να μας κάνουν.

Με τον φίλο μου τον Κώστα, έχουμε ξεκινήσει κουβέντα για το τι κάνουμε από εδώ και πέρα με τούτο το blog. Θα βάλουμε τα πράγματα κάτω και θα δούμε τι γίνεται από δω και πέρα. Θα μας είναι χρήσιμες και οι δικές σας σκέψεις - απόψεις πάνω στο θέμα, και θα χαρούμε να σας ακούσουμε...

Το Κόμμα Πειρατών για την προσπάθεια φίμωσης του Διαδικτύου εδώ

Τροφή για σκέψεις και δράσεις αν θέλετε, αυτό,  αυτό  αυτό αλλά και αυτό....


 Μπορούμε να κάνουμε κάτι , ή μήπως θα καταθέσουμε τα όπλα ? Ολοι Εμείς έχουμε ΔΥΝΑΜΗ .
Οι φυλακές είναι γεμάτες . Θα φτιάξουν καινούργια κελλιά για τους Blogers ? Θα μας χώσουν όλους μας σε κάποια ξεχωριστή πτέρυγα του Κορυδαλλού ?

Δίπλα στον Τσοχατζόπουλο ή δίπλα στους δολοφόνους ? Θα έχουμε VIP κελλιά ή θα έχουμε ξεχωριστή μεταχείρηση ?

... Κι όταν μας κλείσουν μέσα , θα μπορέσουμε να διαλέξουμε πως να πεθάνουμε ?
Από Σοδομισμό ή από Ναρκωτικά ?

Αυτό είναι το νέο νομοθέτημα περί Ανάπτυξης , Πνευματικών Δικαιωμάτων , Ελευθερίας
του λόγου και διακίνησης Ιδεών  .
 Της  ΞΕΦΤΙΛΑΣ !!!

Η Χούντα δεν τελειώνει ΠΟΤΕ !!!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

VA - Nuggets, Vol. 10 Folk Rock [1986]

                                                                 
Label: Rhino Records  – RNLP 70034
Series: Nuggets – RNLP 70034
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Pop, Rock
Style: Folk Rock [discogs]

Review    by Richie Unterberger (allmusic)
One of the weakest offerings in the series, with oft-anthologized hits by The Byrds, Turtles, Scott McKenzie, and Barry McGuire. The non-hit cuts tend toward the lightest, poppiest facets of folk-rock. An exception is the powerful acoustic, original version of "Dazed And Confused" by Jake Holmes, which was transformed into heavy metal by Led Zeppelin.
Tracklist

A1 The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man 
A2 The Turtles – It Ain't Me Babe  
A3 The Grass Roots – Only When You're Lonely
A4 The Deep Six – Rising Sun       
A5 Jake Holmes – Dazed And Confused 
A6 The Sunshine Company – Back On The Street Again 
A7 Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) 
B1 Barry McGuire – Eve Of Destruction 
B2 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Buy For Me The Rain 
B3 M. F. Q. – Nighttime Girl
B4 The Peanut Butter Conspiracy – It's A Happening Thing 
B5 The Love Exchange – Swallow The Sun 
B6 P.F. Sloan – The Sins Of A Family
B7 Hearts And Flowers – Rock 'N' Roll Gypsies
mp3@320&scans 131 MB
Dazed And Confused  here


 Liner Notes
Hey. we were tense, right? After all, the world had actually come close to destroying itself during 1961's horrible Cuban Missile Crisis. (Look it up kids, it's in all the books.) Nikita was alive and pounding his red shoes all over our democratic tables, shouting, "We will bury you!" and millions of Americans were beginning to believe that Kubrick's brilliant Doctor Strangelove nightmare was an all-too-possible reality. Then JFK was assassinated in 1963, and Bye Bye Miss American Pie—that seemed to be The Day The Music Died.
Or at least, evolved... began to think. Oh, we had had our share of thinkers in the past, of course; the social conscience of America, don't ya' know: pioneer Woody Guthrie and his contemporary and protege, Pete Seeger; Tom Paxton pleading with us not to go to war; and Peter, Paul and Mary crying for us because they knew we had no choice.
The answers were, indeed, "Blowing In The Wind." That's what the messiah, rebel Dylan, had written in '62, and that's what he and Baez had sung to a crowd of forty thousand at Newport, a year later. That same 1963 was not a banner year for the pop music scene in the good ol' U.S. of Α., either. Rock'n'roll in America, post-Elvis and pre-Beatles, was bleak territory. Bobby Vee and Connie Francis were not exactly breaking new ground, and although the Beach Boys were rockin' and rollin' and surfin', they weren't thinking. At least, their music required absolutely no thought from their listeners.
Then, the Beatles hit the fan and nervous Americans were, at least momentarily, content to tap their toes to Ringo and cast aside their lingering fears that their lives might actually hinge on a bad case of indigestion contracted by whomever might push the Big Red Button on a given day. So, we were thinking. Yes. And Rocking. Yes. But not at the same time And then, he did it. Bobby did it. The Zimmer-Man.
He strapped on an electric guitar at the very same Newport Folk Festival in 1965, and the polar caps shifted. Bob was rocking out. Thousands of sensitive Forest Hills elitists screamed that he was "selling out." But the public didn't think so. The times, they were a changing, and if The Big One was going to drop, American kids wanted to go out dancing. Dylan gave them "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and they danced. And when everyone decided that it was 0. K. to dance and to think at the same time, along came The Byrds.
Newsweek magazine called The Byrds "Dylanized Beatles," although there are healthy arguments that it was the other way around. At any rate, "Mr. Tambourine Man" was the first official folk-rock hit. It zoomed to Number One and today remains the quintessential example of the genre. For myself and for the other members of my musical group, the Byrds' debut performance at Ciro's on Sunset prior to their record's release, was the beginning of the rest of our lives.
McGuinn, Crosby, Hillman, Clark and Clarke—I owe these guys a lot. (Of credit, fellas, not money!) Millions of us do. They started the ball rolling. They got thousands of us to buy 12-string guitars and find something to protest. In 1965 there was plenty to protest about. So, if the Byrds could make a Bob Dylan classic into a rock hit, why couldn't we? Immediately, six South-Bay surfer-types from Los Angeles changed the name of their band, washed the pomade out of their hair, quit college, and released "It Ain't Me Babe—the second  Dylan song to be a huge national hit, and the record that launched the on-going careers of The Turtles. I thank you.
As the war in Vietnam escalated, the youth of America got angry. And as the Baby Boomer Population was of monumental proportion, it became increasingly popular to be angry. Popular enough to make the public's anger commercial.
Barry McGuire's classic "Eve of Destruction" was the first Number One record to prophesy doom, a statement a little strong for many AM radio programmers who refused to play the record despite its sales. (For a real collector, try to find "The Dawn Of Correction" by the Spokesmen, on Decca. the right wing reply.)
McGuire may have sounded angry-perhaps he was-but those weren't his own words he was espousing The song, in fact, had been written by a rebellious young songwriter named Phil Sloan. Or P.F. Sloan, if you will. Or Flip, as his friends used to call him. Flip had asked the Turtles to record "Eve Of Destruction" as our second record, but we told him that the song was, in our opinion, far too radical to ever make it Sure. What instinct! We chose his "Let Me Be" instead, but it all worked out, Barry had a hit, we had a hit, and Flip put out his own album including "Sins Of The Family," a classic opus of genetic inevitabilities (included on Rhino's recently released "Best of P.F. Sloan"). Sloan, together with co-writer Steve Barri, wrote a zillion hit records during Dunhill Records' heyday. I wonder where he is today? Everything changes.
M.F.Q. changed, too. Before on-stage electricity became chic, they had been the Modern Folk Quartet- Cyrus Farrar, Jerry Yester, Chip Douglas, and Henry Diltz. Acoustic and multi-ethnic, the Quartet played all the same coffee houses that Theodore Bikel and Judy Collins had, with an up-beat comedic cabaret-type show. Then, they found rock'n'roll.
The gypsy-caravan approach of"Nighttime Girl" was a bit too experimental for the era (and for Dunhill), and their second effort, "This Could Be The Night" remains a classic of Phil Spector's record publication but did little to propel the MFQ's popularity.
One of their label-mates, however, had considerably more success. Scott McKenzie had a national Number One record with "San Francisco," a song penned by Papa John Phillips. Scott and John had performed together in the Journeymen just prior to the Mamas and Papas' surprise stardom, and was nearly a "Papa" himself. Though "Like An Old Time Movie" almost followed-up his initial entry to the charts. Scott's second biggest claim to fame is being godfather to Laura (McKenzie) Phillips. In fact, he is currently on tour with the presently reformed Mamas and Papas, opening the show with Flowers in his hair.
While Lou Adler was producing slick, Hollywood-folk hits, others on the West Coast were deliberately trying to get back to Roots. Anybody's roots. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took up the gauntlet in 1966 with influences from Spike Jones to the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. Their big hit, "Buy For Me The Rain," from 1967, is included here, although since then, they've changed band names nearly as often as members. (Jackson Browne started his career with them.) They've been the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; Nitty Gritty; The Dirt Band: you name it. Next week they're changing their name to simply "Dirt" Well, maybe not.
Also from California, following the optimistic tone set by the Kinks, the Lovin' Spoonful and yes, the Turtles, came The Sunshine Company.Initially a duo, Mary Nance and Maury Manseau were doing an acoustic club act until they fell in with a surf group's rhythm section and began to make records. Their first was Jimmy Webb's "Up Up And Away," but it bombed. Go figure. Jackson Browne wrote songs for this band, too (boy, does he get around!), but it was Steve Gillette who's responsible for their single chart success.
Hearts And Flowers were Mary Murray, Rick Cunha and Dave Dawson. Already this is probably more than you need to know about Hearts And Flowers, but let's continue. The group formed in Hawaii and later moved on to the L.A. area playing Randy Spark's Ledbetter's Club and the Ice House in Pasadena. Future Burrito Brother, Bernie Leadon joined the group for their second album, but despite the flowing hippie imagery of their first single release, no one cared.
Back on the more profitable side of the fence, Adler's Dunhill Records was still churning out non-stop hits fueled, to a large degree, by the songwriting team of Sloan and Barri, and the seemingly endless amount of quality singles by The Grass Roots. Warren Entner crooned and Rob Grill harmonized. It was smooth; it was professional; it was about as folky as the Turtles had become, which is to say that the Grass Roots were a Hit Machine Songs like "Midnight Confessions" and "Live For Today" became instant anthems, and will probably outlive us all. "Only When You're Lonely" was not one of the Roots' biggest hits, but certainly was among their best,
Driving around Hollywood in those halcyon days, i can remember seeing a bumper sticker that said, "The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading!" I wondered for three solid months what the hell that was supposed to mean-one of those new Psychedelic bands no doubt... harrummpff! Then I heard their new record, "It's A Happening Thing"—real AGo-Co stuff aimed at the "Love American Style" audience. But cute. Sandi Robinson was the singer's name: I remember Sandi—with an "I". Cute. A bit wimpy, but it was on Columbia Records for heavens sakes—instant credibility! "Turn On A Friend" was their follow-up single, only no one turned it on and the PBC disappeared. I never saw that bumper sticker again, either.
But I have lived through deja-vu flashbacks. No, not the old drugs kicking in. I'm referring to the strange feeling I got only recently hearing Jake Holmes' 1967 version of "Dazed And Confused" for the first time Silly me, I had attributed that classic urban blues to Led Zeppelin even though their version followed Jake's by several years. So, who says that Page and Plant were innovators? Just kidding.
Jake's been a Greenwich Village mainstay as long as 1 can remember: an ethereal enigma who quoted Dostoevski on his 1969 album, but now makes a healthy living singing the praises of McDonald's (among other products) on television commercials. Who deserves a break today anyway?
I know absolutely nothing about Deep Six, except that I bought their record after hearing it one time on local LA. radio. That guitar line sounding like a French horn got to me I guess. The record, I discovered upon purchase was a) on Liberty Records-very reputable, b) by a group from San Diego, and c) not to become a very big hit—oh well. C est la vie... they got Deep Six after all.
Likewise, 1 feign ignorance about the limited careers of Love Exchange represented here by "Swallow The Sun." Hang on... I've just been told that they originally attended my old alma mater, Westchester High School, and that their former name was the Crusaders... hummm... the Crusaders-wasn't that Freddy Barnett and his brother, and before that they called themselves Freddy and the Fanatics? Yes! Yes! I've never heard their record, but I've still got their business card.
See, what comes around goes around. Same as it ever was. So, what have we learned here? If it's true that by combining relevant socio-political statements and derivative African folk rhythms, a new form of music evolved in the mid-sixties, who then are the artists carrying on this tradition in the eighties? Folk-rock in the eighties is Springsteen and Mellericamp, the Roches and the Del Fuegos. Lou Reed and the Talking Heads or indeed the Dream Academy and the Pet Shop Boys.
Folk music is (and always was) music of the people, by the people and for the people And you know what? The people still want to rock!
Howard Kaylan
The Turtles

Nuggets is a series of releases dedicated to preserving the hits and undiscovered gems of the first psychedelic era...

Vol. 01  Vol. 02  Vol. 03  Vol. 04 
Vol. 05  Vol. 06  Vol. 07  Vol. 08
Vol. 09              Vol. 11  Vol. 12

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

THE DEVIL'S ANVIL : HARD ROCK FROM THE MIDDLE EAST 1967


                                                                         

The Devil's Anvil was a Hard Rock/Psychedelic band based out of New York City in the 1960s. They released one album entitled "Hard Rock from the Middle East" in 1967 showcasing a mix of 1960s hard rock and psychedelic sound with Turkish, Arab and Greek vocals and traditional instrumentals.

MISIRLOU VIDEO :


 

Their middle-eastern acid-rock was unique and bizarrely modern (it predates the British transglobal-dance bands by about 30 years). The fuzzed-out guitar mingled with oud,bouzouki, tamboura, Goblet drum .

It was in 1966, while hanging out in the Village that he chanced upon a group of Middle Eastern-born or -descended musicians, playing at the MacDougal Street Cafe Feenjon.


Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.As a producer, Pappalardi is perhaps best known for his work with British psychedelic blues-rock power trio "Cream" ,"The Flock","Hot Tuna" , "The Youngbloods " and others.

Felix Pappalardi began playing with them, and eventually they became the unofficial house band at Feenjon -- the core members of the group, which took the name The Devil's Anvil, were Steve Knight (rhythm guitar, bass, bouzouki), Jerry Satpir (lead guitar, vocals), Elierzer Adoram (accordion), and Kareem Issaq (oud, vocals).

Knight and Pappalardi developed a good working relationship, trading the bass and guitar spots during the recording of the group's one album, Hard Rock from the Middle East, which set the stage for their subsequent team-up together in Mountain

Instrumental in the band's formation was producer Felix Pappalardi, who helped sign them with Columbia Records.


As a musician, Pappalardi is widely recognized as a bassist, vocalist, and founding member of the American hard rock band "Mountain", a band born out of his working with future bandmate Leslie West's soul-inspired rock and roll band "The Vagrants", and producing West's 1969 Mountain solo album.


Label : Fantazia Records – DVA 1031
Format : Vinyl
Made in : UK
Released : 1967
Genre : Ethnic , World , Rock
Style : Rock & Roll, World Music , Psychedelic Rock


Tracklist

SIDE ONE


A1         Wala Dai     2:40     Rock'n'Roll Arab Ethnic
A2         Nahna Ou Diab     2:57     Ethnic
A3         Karkadon     2:23     Hard Rock Ethnic
A4         Selim Alai     2:25     Psychedelic Arab Ethnic
A5         Isme             5:58     Arab  Ethnic
A6         Besaha       1:53    Hard Rock Arab Ethnic, Psychedelic

SIDE  TWO

   
B1         Shisheler     2:47     Rock'n' Roll Arab Ethnic
B2         Kley             4:38     Mikis Theodorakis (Music)- Tasos Leivaditis(Lyrics)
B3         Hala Laya     2:47    
B4         Treea Pethya     2:22  Traditional  Greek  Song
B5                Misirlou     3:00  Traditional  Greek  Song




"Misirlou" (Greek: Μισιρλού means : "Egyptian Girl"  is a popular old Greek song . The song was first performed by "the Michalis Patrinos rebetiko band" in Athens, Greece in 1927.

As with almost all early rebetika songs (a style that originated with the Greek refugees from Asia Minor in Turkey), the song's actual composer has never been identified .

The lyrics of "The Devi's Anvil" are not the same as the original Greek song .   

These are the original Greek Lyrics of the song :

My Misirlou (Egyptian girl), your sweet glance
Has lit a flame in my heart.
Ah, ya habibi, ah, ya le-leli, ah ( Arabic: Oh, my love, Oh, my night )
Your two lips are dripping honey, ah.

Ah, Misirlou, magical, exotic beauty.
Madness will overcome me, I can't endure [this] any more.
Ah, I'll steal you away from the Arab land.

My black-eyed, my wild Misirlou,
My life changes with one kiss
Ah, ya habibi, one little kiss, ah
From your sweet little lips, ah.


ΚΛΑΙΕΙ  Η  ΜΑΝΑ  ΜΟΥ   ΣΤΟ   ΜΝΗΜΑ
   
Στίχοι: Τάσος Λειβαδίτης
Μουσική: Μίκης Θεοδωράκης
Πρώτη εκτέλεση: Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης



Saturday, May 19, 2012

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band : Volume Two 1967


The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band was an American psychedelic rock band of the late 1960s, based in Los Angeles, California.
If a band could ever be called an average psychedelic group, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band fit the bill.

This somewhat mysterious collection of L.A. players issued several albums in the late '60s that plugged into the era's standard folk-rock, freakouts, and trippy lyrics without establishing a solid identity of their own.

But because the currents they were riding were themselves so inspired, average in this case doesn't necessarily mean bad.

They cut a fair number of tracks, moving without rhyme or reason from straightforward Byrds and Kinks cops to zany orchestrated self-absorbed psychedelic pop to self-conscious exercises in hippy outrageousness (including, of all things, a cover of the Mothers' "Help I'm a Rock").


The band’s recording debut in 1966, Volume One, featured Michael Lloyd, Shaun Harris, Dennis Lambert (guitar) and Danny Belsky (drums), with Markley on some vocals.

It seems that much of the material was completed before the time Markley became involved. The rudimentary album included contemporary hits and original compositions and was recorded in a self-made studio on San Vincente Blvd, just outside Beverly Hills.
Recorded and released in 1967, Volume Two – Breaking Through was a more ambitious and coherent album, with all of the tracks credited either in whole or in part to members of the band.

It featured Markley’s anti-war rant "Suppose They Give A War And No One Comes?" – partly based on a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt and later covered by Punk band T.S.O.L. – and the song "Smell of Incense", featuring Morgan’s guitar work and later covered by Southwest F.O.B. The album also started to demonstrate Markley’s lyrical obsession with young girls.

Though their legacy reeks of determined trendiness, the best of their output holds up reasonably well.





Year : 1967
Label : Reprise Records – RS 6270
Format : Vinyl LP
Made in : Germany
Genre : Rock
Style : Psychedelic Rock


 Tracklist 

1.    In The Arena     4:10    
2.    Suppose They Give A War And No One    Comes     3:38    
3.    Buddha     2:05    
4.    Smell Of Incence     5:47    
5.    Overture - WCPAEB Part II     1:28    
6.    Queen Nymphet     2:19    
7.    Unfree Child     3:58    
8.    Carte Blanche     2:42    
9.    Delicate Fawn     2:30    
10.  Tracy Had A Hard Day Sunday     4:35


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Mushrooms – Scarecrow Princes [1989]




















Label: Pegasus Records – PEG 006   [discogs]
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Greece
Released: 1989
Genre:Rock
Style: Rock'n'Roll, Psychedelic, Garage Rock

Tracklist
A1 Midnight Love
A2 Cinderella Blues
A3 Sleeping In The Lizard's Mouth
A4 Happy Hellbound
B1 Scarecrow Princes
B2 Huana
B3 Nightride
B4 Death Escalator 

Credits
Bass – Tripsunny
Drums – Atmas
Guitar – Apostolis, Asklepios, Grandfather
Vocals, Lyrics By – George D.P. Mushroom
Producer, Mixed By – The Mushrooms, Nikos Papazoglou
Written-By, Performer – The Mushrooms
Recorded At – Αγροτικόν Studio

Take it HERE

The Mushrooms were a garage/rock n’roll band from Thessaloniki, Greece.The Mushrooms came together in December 1984 having already played with other groups (Atmas and Asklepios with Silent Movies, Tripsunny with Loop, Asklepios and Grandfather with International Comedy, Grandfather with Life In Cage). The band recorded two albums ("Taste Of ..." 1986 and "Scarecrow Princes" 1989 plus 2 songs in "Cicadas (An Electric Guide To The Greek Underground) " collection 1987 ) that are included in the top moments of Greek rock n’roll ever. They played with The Dream Syndicate, The Chills, Robyn Hitchcock, T.V. Personalities and Died Pretty when those bands visited Greece.
They disbanded in1991.
Asklipios Zampetas, guitarist, later joined the legendary Greek punk rockers Trypes, while vocalist Pluto was found dead in 2004 after a lethal drug overdose.

* * * * *

Το δεύτερο τους άλμπουμ, κάποιος μου το είχε ζητήσει παλαιότερα, συγνώμη δεν θυμάμαι ποιος. Δυστυχώς δεν έχω πλέον το πρώτο τους, και αναρωτιέμαι αν κάποιος θέλει να το ξανά - ripάρει και να το ανεβάσει...
Οι στίχοι ανήκουν αποκλειστικά στον Πλούτο (Γιώργος Αντωνιάδης ή Purple Jelly ή George D.P. Mushroom).
Την μπάντα ανακάλυψε ο Χρήστος Δασκαλόπουλος, και τα υπόλοιπα είναι ιστορία. Λέγεται ότι πριν διαλυθούν, είχαν ηχογραφήσει ακόμη 4 τραγούδια για μια συλλογή της Pegasus που δεν κυκλοφόρησε...
Δείτε οπωσδήποτε το post του no future εδώ
για περισσότερα και κάποια ενδιαφέροντα άρθρα καθώς και live ηχογραφήσεις τους.
Ο Ασκληπιός Ζαμπέτας μιλά στο Mic για τους Mushrooms εδώ

Friday, May 11, 2012

Suicide : Zero Hour EP 1997

This is not an official album , it's very rare and it's not available on CD .

Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo.

Suicide took their name from the title of a Ghost Rider comic book titled Satan Suicide, a favorite of Alan Vega



The Project served as a stomping grounds for the likes of the New York Dolls, Television and Blondie as well as the 15-piece jazz group Reverend B., which featured a musician named Martin Rev on electric piano. Soon, Vega and Rev formed in 1970 Suicide, whose minimalist, aggressive music .

Suicide was never painless , and their music could never be filed under easy istening .
Watching them live was akin to an extremesport as Alan Vega revelled in goading the
audience : When they supported "The Clash" and Elvis Costello in 1978 , violence ensued .

Vega , sculptor , painter , gallery owner , all-round artiste , would act out a kind
of Elvis Presley routine - a mumbling , roaring , angry Elvis - over a backdrop of
primitive synth and drum patterns provided by his partner - in - crime Martin Rev .
Suicide had been a part of the performing arts scene in New York City's Lower East Side in the early/mid-'70s New York Dolls era.

Their approach to music was simple: Rev would create minimalistic, spooky, hypnotic washes of dissonant keyboards and synthesizers, while Vega sang, ranted, and spat neo-Beat lyrics in a jumpy, disjointed fashion. On stage, Vega became confrontational, often baiting the crowd into a riotous frenzy that occasionally led to full-blown violence, usually with the crowd attacking Vega.



Without the trailblazing Rev and Vega, there would have been no Soft Cell, Erasure, Bronski Beat, Yaz, and while many would tell you that that's nothing to crow about, the aforementioned synth-poppers merely appropriated Suicide's keyboards/singer look and none of Rev and Vega's extremely confrontational performance style and love of dissonance.

Suicide disbanded in 1980, and both Vega and Rev undertook solo careers.



Suicide – Zero Hour EP
Label : Munster Records – MR 136
Format : Vinyl, 10", EP
Made in : Spain
Released : 1997
Genre : Electronic, Rock
Style : Electro, Minimal

Tracklist

Side One :

                 A1   :      Ghost Rider        
               A2    :     Rocket U.S.A.  
  
                                               A3 :        Cheree

Side Two : 
       
       B1   :      Harlem        
B2  :       96 Tears

Take it HERE

MP3   109 MB

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Εκτός Ελέγχου - Εκτός Ελέγχου (1994) Επανακυκλοφορεί





Το μοναδικό και καταπληκτικό άλμπουμ των Εκτός Ελέγχου επανακυκλοφορεί!
Κυκλοφόρησε - τελικά - το 1994 από την Lazy Dog και περιλαμβάνει όλα τα γνωστά τους τραγούδια, ένα μοναδικό δείγμα rock'n'roll και punk αισθητικής, ένα από τα κορυφαία - και για πολλούς το κορυφαίο - άλμπουμ της Ελληνικής σκηνής.
Εξαφανισμένο από χρόνια, ήρθε ο καιρός του να επανακυκλοφορήσει και πάλι σε βινύλιο σε 500 τεμάχια, αυτή την φορά με δύο extra tracks, τα “Ο κύριος από πάνω μας ”(πρώτα στην κασετοσυλογή) ΡΑΔΙΟ ΟΥΤΟΠΙΑ 4 - Workcamp (1993) & “Κανείς δεν είναι αθώος” . [απόσπασμα στίχων:
Ναι είναι αλήθεια, η γνωστή μας τάξη κάνει καλά πισωκολλητά
Κι έτσι μπορεί κι αφήνει, τα χέρια των πλούσιων ελεύθερα
Για αυτό μην περιμένεις, να γίνει πανηγύρι
Όσο σου αρκούν τα ψίχουλα που σου δίνουν, κάνεις των πλούσιων το χατίρι
]

Η Labyrinth of thoughts σε συνεργασία με την Wipe Out και την βοήθεια της Lazy Dog μέσα στον Ιούνη, θα επανακυκλοφορήσει σε βινύλιο τον μοναδικό δίσκο των Εκτός Ελέγχου.
Wipe Out











Για όλους όσους δεν έχουν τον δίσκο, αυτή είναι η ευκαιρία σας...
Οι Εκτός Ελέγχου στο Mic και στην Anexartisi

Enki Bilal - Jean-Pierre Dionnet : Exterminateur 17



Exterminateur 17 is a French comic written by Jean-Pierre Dionnet and drawn by Enki Bilal. It appeared on the magazine Metal Hurlant in 1979.


Jean-Pierre Dionnet (born 25 November 1947) is a French cartoonist and TV presenter.



He was the co-founder of the comics magazine Metal Hurlant in 1974. His works include Exterminateur 17, with art by Enki Bilal.
















Enki  Bilal



Born in Yugoslavia, his mother was Czech and his Bosnian father used to be Tito's tailor. His family fled the country to France in 1960, where Enki learns French and discovers cinema and comic books. In 1971, he wins a contest organized by the famous comics magazine Pilote with his first story "L'appel des etoiles".






 It's published in Pilote and later re-released under the title "Le bol maudit", and it allows Enki Bilal to start working for the magazine by drawing politicians.




He then meets Pierre Christin (at the time scenarist of "Valerian" for Pilote) and starts his collaboration with him in 1975 with "La croisieres des oublies".





 In 1979, they release "Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir", which receives great critics and a Prix RTL. 




Bilal also draws "Exterminateur 17" in 1978 for magazine Metal Hurlant, with a scenario by Jean-Pierre Dionnet (later released as an album in 1989).








Enki Bilal releases his first solo comic book, "La foire aux immortels", in 1980, which is the first episode of his famous "Nikopol Trilogy" (followed by "La Femme piege" in 1986 and "Froid equateur" in 1993,






 which will be the first comic book to be chosen as best book of the year by the litterature magazine Lire).





This is the story of a Droid made by humans in order to exterminate , to fight ,
to attack , and kill .
His creator dies , but his spirit and his soul is been tranfered into the Droid E 17.



The Droid E 17 does n't want to follow all this orders ,
so the ribellion of the "Thinking Droids" is here
and a new era is rising .