Felt: Felt 1971 (Remaster 2010)

 

Not much is known about this mysterious Prog-hard rock/psych group. Felt hailed from Alabama and released their only album on the Nasco label in 1971.  Formed in the late 60s, Felt’s lineup featured two solid guitarists in Myke Jackson and Stan Lee. The latter would eventually play guitar for the legendary (and great) late 70s/early 80s punk band, the Dickies. Other group members were bassist Tommy Gilstrap and drummer Mike Neel.

A very little information is available about this obscure US group. Felt came from Alabama. Their self  titled album was recorded for Nasco in 1971. The bands leader, Myke Jackson also made a solo album. Tommy Gilstrap can also be found on recordings by Mychael (LP "Neon Dreams" 1978,  Free Flight No. 3400). LP "Felt" is a very interesting and unique album. The opening cut, "Look at the sun" is a very melodic and a bit like Lennon - McCartney compositions. Instrumentally their sound was dominated by organ and
guitar. The band played an imaginative amalgam of psychodelia and progressivism. They managed to make a great album with complex
arrangements,  rich instrumental textures and soulful vocals. Great songs are here, like "The Change" and "Destination"a real fusion of main jazz, rock and blues.
                                                                

This record is Genuine Treasure! 

Their album is a sterling example of late 60s/early 70s American underground rock n roll – a very strong disc. Felt alternates between crunchy blues based rock (with biting teenage vocals) and Beatlesque psych.  Their ten minute epic, “The Change,” is two or three songs wrapped into one. Most bands would never be able to pull a trick like this off but Felt gets by on great musicianship and interesting arrangements: plenty of potent guitar solos, fresh organ interplay, blistering drums and brooding hard rock vocals.
                                                                                                   

“Weepin Mama Blues” and “World” are similar cuts with more of a blues influence – solid early 70s hardrock with none of the histrionic wailing or 10 minute guitar solos that plagued so many LPs of the era. The remaining half of this disc sports more of a psych feel. “Look At The Sun” is a downbeat popsike gem while “Now She’s Gone” and “Destination” are great tracks that feature jazzy time signatures and good psychedelic guitar work.  Felt is definitely a keeper without any real weaknesses – a solid 4 star album.

The mostly blues-styled songs on this album are full of great guitar work and contain fine Beatles-esque harmony vocals. While most of this album has a blues feeling to it, some of the songs hint of progressive rock with swirling keyboards, intense drumming, and blistering guitar solos. The album has recently been discovered for its musical excellence and has become a very rare collectors' item.
Guitarist Lee would later go on to become a member of punk band the Dickies in the late '70s. This welcome re-release by Akarma Records features a reproduction of the original foldout album graphics in the mini-LP-styled Akarmapack.

Akarma reissued this lost gem several years ago. Flawed Gems followed Akarma in 2010. In spring of 2012 they completed their second album after forty one years!
                                                                    

[Myke Jackson and Mike Neel were high school buddies in Arab, Alabama, a small town of about 5,000 people 20 miles south of Huntsville,  my home town. We met at a music festival at an ampitheater atop Monte Sano in  Huntsville summer of 1969.
Myke's dad was a fiddle (violin) player for a lot of  top Nashville country music artists in the 50's and 60's and was a regular on  the Grand Old Opry so Myke was immersed in the music business from an early age. Myke was blessed with not only extraordinary talent for guitar playing and singing but is also a very prolific songwriter, having written literally hundreds. He was looking for some musicians to bring his creations to life and our paths crossed. We sat down at a picnic table and he played me a couple of  his tunes and I was blown away. Some friends of mine were playing at the  festival so I talked them into loaning us some equipment and we actually played  our first show ("World" and "Weepin' MamaBlues") for about 1,000
cheering fans after knowing each other less than an hour! We needed a fuller sound so I  recruited Stan, a high school friend of mine , to play rhythm guitar a few weeks later.
                                                                                    

Myke Jackson

This quartet rehearsed intensly, and within a couple of months had a  repertior of 25-30 of Myke's original tunes, with the band mates contributing to the arrangements. We were rehearsing one night when a local radio disc jockey  happened to hear us as he was driving by. He knew a man in Birmingham, Alabama (about 100 miles south of Huntsville) that owned a small recording studio and  took us there to record a demo. The studio
engineer liked our stuff so much that  the scheduled 3 hour session turned into an all night affair that yielded 5 pretty good songs complete with triple tracked harmony vocals. Not long after  the demo session we met Alan, a couple years older than the rest of us. He asked to jam with us and his Hammond B-3 organ really completed the sound that we all  had in our heads.
We gave the demo tape to Myke's dad and he shopped it around  to some labels in Nashville but at that time, Nashville was strictly country  music.
                                                                       

A small company called Nashboro/Nasco, which at the time was primarily bluegrass, gospel and country, decide to give rock music a try. We recorded the album in 2 days at Woodland Sound Studios on Nashville's east side.
Our producer, Bob Tubert, gave us an incredible amount of freedom in the studio considering our young age and relative lack of knowledge concerning the  differences between playing live and recording. A couple months after completing  the album, Myke was busted with an ounce of pot in his pocket. Being 17 years old in the state of Alabama in 1970 that got him 6 months
in state reform school  and effectively spelled the end of Felt as a band. I must sign off for now, some band stories at a later date.
  Tommy Gilstrap, Orange Park,
June, 2007]

Finally, in April, 2010, Sweden company called Flawed Gems issued another compact disc.

Mike Neel - in 70s, he played with Myron and the VanDells
Alan Darlymple - he died in a car accident in the mid 70's
Stan Lee - he plays jazz and classical guitar in Huntsville. He is coowner Redstone Audio. T.Gilstrap said:"I'm pretty sure that Stan was not a part of The Dickies"
Myke Jackson - He continued his musical career.

MEMBERS

Myke Jackson - Lead Vocals, Guitar
Mike Neel - Drums  
Tommy Gilstrap - Electric Bass  
Stan Lee - Electric Guitar   
Allan Dalrymple - Keyboards
Rex Collier - Engineer   
Jimmy Moore - Photography   
Bob Tubert - Producer  

Label: Flawed Gems Records GEM 11
Country: Sweden
Released: 1971
Format: CD Remastered 2010
Genere: Rock
Style; Psych - Hard Prog - Blues, Jazz Rock

TRAXS

 

01. Look At The Sun     3:18
02. Now She's Gone     5:29
03.Weepin' Mama Blues     4:40
04. World     5:36
05. The Change       10:00
06. Destination     6:43

MP3 @ 320 Size: 84  MB
Flac  Size: 240 MB

Felt: Absolute Classic Masterpieces 1992

 

Felt was the project of Britain's enigmatic Lawrence Hayward, a singer/songwriter who transformed his

long-standing obsession with the music of Tom Verlaine and Television into an impressive catalog of minimalist pop gems and, ultimately, cult stardom. The first Felt single, "Index," was produced by Hayward alone in his bedroom on a portable cassette player; released in 1979, its primitive, impressionistic sound stood in stark contrast to the sleek solemnity of the new wave (as did Hayward's much-discussed "new puritan" stance, a rejection of alcohol, smoking and drugs), and as a result the record became the subject of lavish critical praise, leading to a contract with the Cherry Red label.
                                                                                   

Hayward then set about assembling a band, although Felt was clearly his project and his alone; in fact,

his control was so absolute that according to legend, original drummer Tony Race was fired primarily because he had curly hair. After a series of roster shuffles, a steady group including guitarist Maurice Deebank and drummer Gary Ainge began to take shape in time to record 1981's Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty EP.
                                                                                                           

 

 The addition of the classically-trained Deebank allowed Hayward to realize a level of guitar interplay similar to the twin attack of Television's Verlaine and Richard Lloyd; Hayward's understated vocals brought comparison to another downtown New York icon, however -- Lou Reed.
                                                                                                

After one more EP, 1984's The Splendour of Fear, Felt issued its long-awaited full-length LP The

Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories, in 1984. The group's ranks swelled to include keyboardist Martin Duffy prior to recording 1985's Ignite the Seven Cannons with producer Robin Guthrie, whose fellow Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser guested on the single "Primitive Painters," a major British indie chart hit.
                                                                                                             

Despite their success, internal friction plagued the group -- Hayward and Ainge were once forced to

mount an infamously disastrous two-man improvisational festival performance after Deebank and Duffy abruptly walked out -- and finally Deebank left for good prior to the release of 1986's Ballad of the Band EP, Felt's first effort for the Creation label.
In the wake of the guitarist's exit, the group's next album, 1986's Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads, became a brief instrumental outing, but its follow-up, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, was acclaimed as Felt's masterpiece.
                                                                                                                   

Mayo Thompson produced 1987's Poem of the River EP, while Guthrie returned to man the spartan

mini-album The Final Resting of the Ark. Two dramatically different LPs, The Pictorial Jackson Review and Train Above the City -- the latter of which did not even include Hayward -- followed in 1988, and upon issuing 1989's Me and a Monkey on the Moon, Felt announced its break-up. Hayward soon resurfaced in the 1970s glam rock project Denim, then moved to novelty pop with Go Kart Mozart. ~ Jason Ankeny
                                                                          

Felt – Absolute Classic Masterpieces
Label: Cherry Red – cd bred 97
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: UK
Released: Apr 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Indie Rock

TRACKS

                                                                            

01. Primitive Painters  (Vocals – Elizabeth Fraser [Cocteau Twins - This Mortal Coil])  5:58
02. The Day The Rain Came Down    2:57
03. My Darkest Light Will Shine    2:55
04. Textile Ranch    2:56
05. Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow    2:53
06. Crystal Ball    2:56
07. Dismantled King Is Off The Throne    2:50
08. Fortune    3:35
09. Dance Of Deliverance  (Bass – Da'ave Elson)  8:23
10. The Stagnant Pool    8:25
11. Red Indians    1:52
12. The World Is As Soft As Lace    4:15
13. Penelope Tree  (Keyboards – John Rivers)  3:00
14. Trails Of Colour Dissolve  (Bass, Synthesizer – John Rivers)  3:05
15. Evergreen Dazed    5:00
16. Templeroy    5:30
17. Something Sends Me To Sleep  (Drums – Tony Race)  2:52
18. Index  4:06

Credits

Bass – Marco Thomas (tracks: 1 to 4), Maurice Deebank (tracks: 16), Mick Lloyd (tracks: 5 to 8, 10 to 13), Nick Gilbert (tracks: 17)
Bongos – Gary Ainge (tracks: 14)
Drums – Gary Ainge (tracks: 1 to 8, 10 to 14, 16)
Guitar – Lawrence  (tracks: 6, 7, 11 to 18), Maurice Deebank (tracks: 1, 5, 8, 9)
Guitar [Second Solo] – Lawrence (5) (tracks: 10)
Keyboards – Martin Duffy (tracks: 1 to 4)
Lead Guitar – Lawrence  (tracks: 5), Maurice Deebank (tracks: 2 to 4, 6, 7, 10 to 12, 15 to 17)
Producer – John Rivers (tracks: 8 to 16), John Leckie (tracks: 5 to 7), Robin Guthrie (tracks: 1 to 4)
Vocals – Lawrence  (tracks: 1 to 8, 10, 12 to 14, 16 to 18)
Written-By – Lawrence  (tracks: 1 to 8, 10 to 18), Deebank (tracks: 1 to 12, 15 to 17)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 167 MB
Flac  Size: 450 MB

Akritas: Akritas 1973

 

Few music and musicians from Greece have propulsated progressive rock greatly and with resonance, not to mention originally (and none so extensively). Along with the monumental APHRODITE'S CHILD (with whose conceptual merge they're actually far from identifying) and with AXIS or SOCRATES (with whom they match better), AKRITAS is strongly recommended for its lasting vintage sound up to an exciting mix of impressions. Definitely hidden from the amateur eye (also, given the music, against it) and exceptionally regarded, although exactly inside the level and the story of Greek passionate prog, the band made a tasteful effort.
                                                                           

AKRITAS formed in the late moments of 1972, being made of vocalist, guitarist and bassist Stavros Logaridis, former member of POLL, drummer Giorgos Tsoupakis and keyboardist Aris Tasoulis, former member of BOURBOULIA. Their praised effort came later in 1973, crediting a collaboration with guitarist Dimos Papachristou, and also benefiting of greek magic lyrics from Kostas Ferris.
                                                                                

Akritas is not only a full portrait of the band's passion, creativity and standards, but also gains itself the price of admission towards a sort of prog rock killer mood (with demanding bits, here and there). Drawn as a concept of particular obscurity and experimentality, judging the multi-instrumental complexity, it saves some space though for the vocal originality and emotiveness. Mixing the sound of psych-(s)paced guitar play, baroque organs, pianistic tunes, driving drumming, art vocalizing and sound high effect, the material can be an uncomparable stigma or a curiosly scaled revelation. A varied project, therefore, with entairtaing parts for the deep listening soul and with the tricks that make it entirely artistic, perhaps only missing the classic recognition. The organ and keyboard work is especially appreciable for its special technique of Mellotron and Moog, while the guitar holds the traditional sonority.]
PROG ARCHIVES                                                                                                      

Ο Σταύρος Λογαρίδης γεννήθηκε στην Κωνσταντινούπολη στις 21 Σεπτεμβρίου 1953, ξεκίνησε τη μουσική πριν πάει δημοτικό με την καθοδήγηση του παππού του που ήταν άρχων πρωτοψάλτης στο ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου στο Πατριαρχείο χειροτονημένος από τον Αθηναγόρα. Από παιδί είχε κλίση στον ήχο καθώς και στην ρυθμική αγωγή. Όταν ο παππούς του κατάλαβε ότι ο μαθητής του δεν ήταν παιδάκι που συγκεντρωνόταν εύκολα για να τον μάθει γραφή, άρχισε να του μαθαίνει ήχους και ρυθμούς: τον έπαιρνε μαζί του στην εκκλησία και τον άφηνε να ακολουθεί τους ψάλτες εξ ενστίκτου με τενούτες που αυτοσχεδίαζε ο μικρός Σταύρος. Ο πατέρας του έπαιζε κιθάρα και η μητέρα του ακορντεόν.
                                                                                            

Ο τότε διευθυντής της Polydor Ν. Αντύπας επιμένει να τον γνωρίσει σε κάτι μουσικούς με «πολύ ωραία τραγούδια», όπως έλεγε, για να δημιουργηθεί ένα συγκρότημα το 1970. Ο Σταύρος προσπαθούσε να εξηγήσει στον Αντύπα ότι τα συγκροτήματα δεν φτιάχνονται με συνοικέσια εταιρειών αλλά μέσα από φιλίες. Μετά όμως από επιμονή και πιέσεις τον πείθει να πάει στο σπίτι των μουσικών να ακούσει τα τραγούδια και να τους γνωρίσει. Εκεί γνωρίζεται για πρώτη φορά με τον Κ. Τουρνά, τον Robert Williams και τον Κ. Παπαϊωάννου. Ενθουσιάζεται από τα τραγούδια, και τιμά τίς αρχές του περί «group φιλίας». Ξεκινάνε οι πρόβες και φτιάχνεται το συγκρότημα Poll που θα κάνει δύο μεγάλους δίσκους ορόσημο στην ελληνική σκηνή, το Άνθρωπε και το Λευκό Album. Καθώς και μια σειρά 45άρια singles. Ο Σταύρος αποχωρεί από το συγκρότημα όταν οι υπόλοιποι του συγκροτήματος παίρνουν την απόφαση να εμφανιστούν στο φεστιβάλ Θεσσαλονίκης το 1972.
                                                                        

Μετά τη διάλυση των Poll, φτιάχνει το συγκρότημα Ακρίτας, κυκλοφορεί ομώνυμο άλμπουμ που πουλιέται στη Γερμανία, Ιαπωνία και θεωρείται ένα από τα πιο προοδευτικά άλμπουμ όλων των εποχών στον κόσμο. Το συμπεριλαμβάνουν και το μνημονεύουν ακόμα και σήμερα τα πιο προοδευτικά sites μουσικής σε Ευρώπη και Αμερική. Στην Ιαπωνία κυκλοφόρησε με γιαπωνέζικο εξώφυλλο, που θεωρείται σπάνιο συλλεκτικό αντικείμενο στους κύκλους των μουσικόφιλων σήμερα. Οι Ακρίτας συνεργάστηκαν live με τα Μπουρμπούλια της εποχής εκείνης και ηχογράφησαν έξι τραγούδια στη Γερμανία με τον Δ. Παπαχρήστου, τον Α. Τασούλη και τον Γ. Τσουπάκη. Αργότερα θα έρθει στο συγκρότημα και η Α. ΜacKinnon και ο Γ. Παπαδόπουλος με τους οποίους ταξίδεψαν στο Λονδίνο για να γράψουν με τον Βαγγέλη Παπαθανασίου. Ηχογράφησαν 5 τραγούδια που έχουν μείνει ακυκλοφόρητα μέχρι σήμερα.
                                                                         

[Οι Ακρίτας, ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα ροκ συγκροτήματα της δεκαετίας του 1970, που δημιούργησαν ο Σταύρος Λογαρίδης με τον Άρη Τασούλη, έχουν να επιδείξουν μιαν αξιοζήλευτη επίδοση: όντας Ελληνική μπάντα και κυκλοφορώντας μονάχα ένα άλμπουμ σε γλώσσα Ελληνική, κατάφεραν να

περάσουν στην ιστορία αυτού του δημοφιλέστατου οικουμενικού μουσικού ιδιώματος, γράφοντας εξαιρετικά πρωτοποριακή μουσική.
Οι αναφορές διεθνώς γύρω από το όνομα και το έργο τους δεν λείπουν ακόμα και σήμερα, ενώ ο ίδιος ο αυθεντικός δίσκος βινυλίου, αποτελεί επίζηλο και σπάνιο συλλεκτικό κομμάτι.
Επιπροσθέτως, η μουσική τους με το πέρασμα των χρόνων δεν έχασε τίποτα από την φρεσκάδα και την δύναμή της, και αυτό το γεγονός εξηγεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό το συνεχώς ανανεούμενο ενδιαφέρον γύρω από το έργο τους, διότι κατά τα άλλα ούτε οι Ακρίτας υπήρξαν ποτέ ιδιαίτερα δημοφιλείς – τουναντίον – ούτε και ο δίσκος τους θα μπορούσε να χαρακτηριστεί ακριβώς ευπώλητος, αφού όταν κυκλοφόρησε, υπήρξε μια λίγο έως πολύ εμπορική αποτυχία.
                                                     

Προς τα τέλη του 1972, ο Σταύρος Λογαρίδης βρίσκεται στο φημισμένο για το ευχάριστο κλίμα του Λονδίνο. Έχει προηγηθεί η οριστική διάλυση των Poll, του μακράν πιο επιτυχημένου Ποπ – Ροκ συγκροτήματος που πέρασε από τον Ελληνικό χώρο, στο οποίο ιδρυτικό μέλος υπήρξε και ο ίδιος.
Αφορμή για την διάλυση των Poll στάθηκε η απόφαση των δύο άλλων ιδρυτικών μελών του γκρουπ, των Κώστα Τουρνά και Ρόμπερτ Ουίλιαμς να λάβουν μέρος στο Φεστιβάλ Τραγουδιού της Θεσσαλονίκης τον Σεπτέμβριο εκείνου του έτους.
Ο Σταύρος Λογαρίδης διαφώνησε, με το σκεπτικό πως δεν είναι δυνατόν να συμμετέχουν σε έναν θεσμό τον οποίον η χούντα, που θέλαν να ανατρέψουν, χρησιμοποιούσε ως προπαγανδιστικό μηχανισμό – κυρίως απέναντι στην νεολαία.
                                                             

Στο Λονδίνο λοιπόν ο Λογαρίδης έρχεται σε επαφή με την πληθωρική προσωπικότητα του Κώστα Φέρρη. Ο Κώστας Φέρρης, που είχε γράψει τους στίχους για το εμβληματικό ‘666’ του Βαγγέλη Παπαθανασίου και των Aphrodite’s Child, πυρπολεί την φαντασία του Λογαρίδη προτείνοντάς του διάφορα, μεταξύ των οποίων και το ανέβασμα μιας Rock όπερας με θέμα την ζωή και την διδασκαλία του Βούδα.
Εντέλει καταλήγουν στο δοκίμιο του Νίκου Καζαντζάκη, την ‘Ασκητική’, και στον εκεί σκιαγραφούμενο Ακρίτα.

Ο Λογαρίδης, αμέσως μετά, αφήνει το Λονδίνο και επιστρέφει στην Ελλάδα, αναζητώντας μουσικούς για την δημιουργία μιας καινούργιας ροκ μπάντας, που θα δουλέψει πάνω στον Ακρίτα.
                                                             

Στα τέλη του 1972 σχηματίζεται το νέο συγκρότημα. Το όνομά του είναι βέβαια Ακρίτας, και έχει για μέλη του, εκτός από τον Σταύρο Λογαρίδη, που παίζει μπάσο και είναι η βασική (μεγάλη) φωνή του γκρουπ, τους Άρη Τασούλη, Γιώργο Τσουπάκη και Δήμο Παπαχρήστου.
Ο Άρης Τασούλης, που είχε φύγει από τα θρυλικά Μπουρμπούλια, παίζει πλήκτρα, ο Δήμος Παπαχρήστου, ο οποίος είναι παιδικός φίλος του Λογαρίδη από την Κωνσταντινούπολη, τον γενέθλιο τόπο και των δυο, παίζει ηλεκτρική κιθάρα, και ο Γιώργος Τσουπάκης τύμπανα.
Η συμμετοχή του Τσουπάκη έχει ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον αφού επιλέχθηκε κατά την διάρκεια μιας ασυνήθιστα σύντομης οντισιόν: όντας ο πρώτος προς δοκιμήν ντράμερ, με το που κάθισε στα τύμπανα, υποχρέωσε τον Λογαρίδη να ευχαριστήσει τους λοιπούς συμμετέχοντες και να τους στείλει σπίτια τους.]
ΚΑΛΛΙΕΡΓΕΙΑ

Ακρίτας – Ακρίτας
Label: Polydor – 521 197-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Stereo 1994
Country: Greece
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock

TRACKS

 

01. Εισβολείς   (Invaders)    2:01
02. Γέννηση    (Genesis)    2:17
03. Τα Παιδιά    (The Family)    3:23
04. Μνήμη    (Memory)    1:46
05. Επιστροφή    (Return)     2:49
06. Αγάπη    (Love)    4:24
07. Ego    (Ego)    0:59
08. Τραγούδι    (Song)    3:50
09. Το Πανηγύρι    (The Festival)    2:35
10. Το Θαύμα    (The Miracle)    1:36
11. Το Όνειρο    (The Dream)    3:19
12. Και Ιδού Ίππος Χλωρός    (Look Both Horse & Green)    1:02
13. Κατάκτηση & Ζέτα Ζωρζέτα    (Conquest & Z Force) [Engineer [Ζέτα Ζωρζέτα] – Γιάννης Σμυρναίος, Lyrics By – Σταύρος Λογαρίδης]  3:07

MP3 @ 320 Size: 80 MB
Flac  Size: 175.5 MB

Sugarloaf: Sugarloaf 1970 + Spacrship Earth 1971 (Released 1997)

 
The end of the 1960s set the stage for Sugarloaf, as the cream of several Denver bands came together.

SUGARLOAF is a heavy progressive rock band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1969 by Keyboardist/vocalist Jerry Corbetta and guitarist Bob Webber of the Moonrakers (Denver’s most popular group during the middle of the decade), plus Bob Raymond on bass and Myron Pollock on drums, recorded demos that got them signed to Liberty Records as Chocolate Hair. SUGARLOAF's psychedelic-inspired accessible progressive blues rock will appeal to fans of 70s heavy prog groups such as URIAH HEEP and ATOMIC ROOSTER with a crossover prog edge to their music.
                                                                                                                         

The seven-song demo, a mix of rock, R&B and jazz licks, became the basis for the debut LP, but only after new drummer Bob MacVittie came on board to record the last song for the album, which scored the band a big national hit—“Green-Eyed Lady” peaked at #3 in October 1970. Prior to the release of

“Green-Eyed Lady,” there had also been a name change. Told by the legal department at Liberty that Chocolate Hair had racial overtones, the band took the name of a mountain summit in the foothills above Boulder where Webber lived, transforming the rock quartet into Sugarloaf. Non-stop touring gave the band little time for songwriting, so they invited Robert Yeazel from the Colorado band Beast to join on guitar and vocals.
                                                                            

An edit of his “Tongue in Cheek,” a track on the second Sugarloaf album, Spaceship Earth, became a minor hit in 1971. For the follow-up album, 1971's Spaceship Earth, Sugarloaf added guitarist/songwriter Bob Yeazel, who had previously played on two albums as part of a Denver band

called the Beast. Spaceship Earth didn't produce any hits, and disagreements over the band's choice of producers followed. Yeazel wound up leaving prior to the release of 1973's I Got a Song, which appeared on the smaller Brut label and featured former Beast drummer Larry Ferris. Resurfacing on Claridge in 1975, Sugarloaf finally scored that elusive follow-up hit with the title track from their fourth and final album, Don't Call Us -- We'll Call You. However, they subsequently disbanded. Corbetta went on to release a solo album on Warner Bros., and later worked with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons as a writer, producer, and backing musician.
                                                                                 

In trying to regain a recording deal, Corbetta was spurned imperiously, which resulted in “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You.” An amusing song about the fickle music industry, the dance-friendly new track spelled out the CBS Records phone number and a general White House number—touch-tone style—for

the world. Recorded with initial drummer Pollock back in the fold, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” by Jerry Corbetta/Sugarloaf became a hit, reaching #9 in March 1975.
The song Don't Call us, we'll call you is particularly noteworthy because it contains an ironic reaction to the denial of a record deal by the company CBS Records . At the beginning and at the end of the song you can hear the tone dialing melody of a secret insider number from CBS Records. In addition, a sample of the Beatles song I Feel Fine and the Stevie Wonder song Superstition are used in this song .
                                                           

                                                                                 
The band was best known for two top 10 hits from the US single charts: Green-Eyed Lady from the fall

of 1970 and Don't Call Us, We'll Call You from 1975. Other songs that made it into the Billboard Hot 100 came with Mother Nature's Wine (1971), Tongue in Cheek (1971), and Stars In Our Eyes (1976).
The 1975 album Don't Call US, We'll Call You was a re-release of their 1973 album I Got A Song , in which one of the older tracks was replaced by the title track of their later album and became a hit single.
                                                                       

There were active from 1970 until disbanding 1978. In 1985 they reformed for a one-off reunion. After

Sugarloaf broke up, Jerry Corbetta played with the groups Wild Cherry , which had a number one hit with Play That Funky Music , and Disco-Tex and His Sex-O-Lettes , which made it into the charts with Get Dancing . In 1980 Corbetta became a member of The Four Seasons . Today he plays in the group Classic Rock All Stars
                                                            

MEMBERS

Jerry Corbetta - keyboards, vocals, celesta, tubular bells
Bob Webber - guitar, dobro, vocals
Bob Raymond - bass guitar, vocals
Bob Mac Vittie - drums
Robert Yeazel - guitar, vocals, harmonica

Label: Collectables – COL-5871, EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets – 72438-19541-2 6
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1997
Genre: Rock
Style: Classic Rock

TRACKS

                                                         

01. Green-Eyed Lady  (Written-By – D. Riordan, J.C. Phillips, J. Corbetta)  6:49
02 The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Stroll On)  (Written-By – Drega, Beck, Page, Relf)  2:25
03. Medley: Bach Doors Man / Chest Fever  (Written-By – B. Webber, J.R. Robertson, J. Corbetta)  9:05
04. West Of Tomorrow  (Written-By – B. Raymond, J.C. Phillips, J. Corbetta)  5:28
05. Gold And The Blues  (Written-By – B. Raymond, B. Webber, J. Corbetta, M. Pollock)  7:20
06. Things Gonna Change Some  (Written-By – B. Raymond, B. Webber, J. Corbetta, Van Dorn)  6:41
07. Spaceship Earth  (Written-By – R. Yeazel)  4:28
08. Rusty Cloud  (Written-By – R. Yeazel)  3:02
09. I Don't Need You Baby  (Written-By – B. Webber, J. Corbetta, R. Yeazel)  5:15
10. Rollin' Hills  (Written-By – R. Yeazel)  3:39
11. Mother Nature's Wine  (Written-By – D. Riordan, J.C. Phillips, J. Corbetta)  2:58
12. Country Dawg  (Written-By – R. Yeazel)  2:39
13. Woman  (Written-By – B. MacVittie, B. Raymond, B. Webber, J. Corbetta, R. Yeazel)  4:19
14. Music Box  (Written-By – R. Yeazel)  2:28
15. Tongue In Cheek  (Written-By – R. Yeazel)  7:37
16. Don't Call Us, We'll Call You  (Written-By – Corbetta, Carter)  3:24

MP3 @ 320 Size: 178 MB
Flac  Size: 471 MB

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Discography 1995 - 1999 (6 Albums) + 2 EPs (1999 + 2005)

 
The ever-evolving musical vehicle for notorious psych-rock brain trust Anton Newcombe, the Brian Jonestown Massacre has endured numerous phases and iterations since arriving in the mid-'90s, becoming something of an independent institution in the process. Early highlights like 1996's Their

Satanic Majesties' Second Request showed Newcombe's propensity for melding late-'60s psychedelia with textured shoegaze, while later standouts like 2015's imaginary soundtrack Musique de Film Imaginé took a more cerebral and experimental approach. Undoubtedly, their most visible period followed the release of the 2004 documentary film DIG!, which focused on the contentious relationship between Newcombe and Dandy Warhols frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor. With the film criticized by members from both bands for what they considered to be an unfair portrayal, the Brian Jonestown Massacre nonetheless survived the media attention and moved into a particularly fertile period of creativity that continued well into the 2010s.
                                                                       

Named in tribute to the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and his influence in introducing Eastern

culture and music into the world of Western rock & roll, the Brian Jonestown Massacre formed in San Francisco, California in 1990. Some 40 different members passed through the group's ranks over the next half-decade, but the focal point always remained singer/guitarist Anton Newcombe, who, along with bassist Matt Hollywood, guitarist Dean Taylor, organist Mara Regal, accordionist Dawn Thomas, drummer Brian Glaze, and percussionist Joel Gion, recorded the band's 1995 shoegaze-influenced debut LP, Methodrone.
                                                                                

A collection of early recordings, Spacegirl and Other Favorites, followed on the band's own Tangible

label in early 1996, and was the first of four Brian Jonestown Massacre LPs to appear that year; next up was the brilliant Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request, a full-blown homage to the Stones' glorious psychedelic-era excesses. Recorded live in the studio, the grittier Take It from the Man! found the band exploring even broader territory. Finally, the year ended with the release of Thank God for Mental Illness, a showcase for their strong country and blues leanings.
                                                                           

In 1997, the BJM -- now consisting of Newcombe, Hollywood, Gion, Taylor, guitarists Jeff Davies and

Peter Hayes, and drummer Brad Artley -- resurfaced with Give It Back! After signing to TVT, they released Strung Out in Heaven the following year, but the band and Newcombe's own eccentricities kept them from staying on the label. After a few scattered EPs, they resurfaced in 2001 with Bravery Repetition and Noise, distributed by Bomp. And This Is Our Music followed in 2003.
                                                                            

Despite a continued lack of major distribution, the Brian Jonestown Massacre earned the largest profile

of their career in 2004, when the band became the unlikely focus of an award-winning documentary, DIG!, which charted the trials of Newcombe and those of his former friend and perceived rival, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, leader of the Dandy Warhols. The We Are the Radio EP followed in August 2005. Three years later, the band reinvented itself with My Bloody Underground, featuring yet another lineup and a hint of shoegaze and noise pop, and marking the first release for Newcombe's own A Records label. The noisy experimentalism continued on 2010's Who Killed Sgt Pepper?, which Newcombe recorded partly in Iceland and Berlin.
                                                                      

By this time, DIG! was fast becoming a cult classic, and even though the lineup had changed many

times over since the movie premiere, the BJM's popularity remained thanks to a bevy of solid releases. In 2012, Newcombe and Matt Hollywood teamed up again to record what he considered his most cinematic record, Aufheben. In 2014, the project's 14th full-length album, Revelation, materialized, featuring tracks toiled over in Newcombe's Berlin studio between 2012 and 2014.
                                                            

In 2015, Newcombe returned to the themes of Aufheben with Musique de Film Imaginé, a collection of

soundtrack cues for a nonexistent movie, inspired by his love of classic French cinema. A seven-song collection of new, more rock-based material arrived later that year under the amusing title of Mini Album Thingy Wingy.
                                                                

Ever prolific, Newcombe and his collaborators returned first in October 2016 with the lush psych-

shoegaze LP Third World Pyramid, followed four months later by Don't Get Lost, their 16th album overall. Something Else, the first of two albums released in 2018, found the BJM eschewing some of the experimentalism of their later period in favor of a more straightforward rock approach akin to their early releases. The band's 18th album, the eponymously-titled The Brian Jonestown Massacre, arrived in 2019, as did the non-album single "Forgotten Graves."
Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

METHODRONE  1995

                                                  

Label: A Records ‎– auk 008cd
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2007
Country: UK
Genre: Rock
Style: Indie,Alternative

TRAXS

01. Evergreen     3:24
02. Wisdom     5:20
03. Crushed     6:08
04. That Girl Suicide     3:41
05. Wasted     4:21
06. Everyone Says     4:15
07. Short Wave     2:47
08. She Made Me     4:42
09. Hyperventilation     9:53
10. Records     1:50
11. I Love You     4:11
12. End Of The Day     5:09
13. Outback     4:07
14. She's Gone     7:18
15. Untitled (Methodrone)   4:52

MP3 @ 320 Size: 168 MB
Flac  Size: 410 MB

SPACEGIRL AND OTHER FAVORITES  1995

 

 
Label: The Committee To Keep Music Evil ‎– EVIL11
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2003
Country: US
Genre: Rock
Style: Indie Rock

TRAXS

01. Crushed     5:53
02. That Girl Suicide     3:36
03. Deep In The Devil's Eye & You     5:22
04. Kid's Garden  (Drums – Ricky Maymi)   7:21
05. When I Was Yesterday  (Bass – Ricky Maymi)   3:56
06. Spacegirl     11:39
07. Spacegirl (Revisited)     5:20
08. After The Fall     4:30
09. Thoughts Of You     5:23
10. Hide And Seek     3:58
11. Never Ever!  (Tambourine – Ricky Maymi)   6:01
12. Ashtray     5:12
13. Fire Song  (Bass – Ricky Maymi)   4:04

MP3 @ 320 Size: 168 MB
Flac  Size: 457 MB

THANK GOD FOR MENTAL ILLNESS  1996

 

 
Label: A Records ‎– auk 007cd
Format: CD, Reissue  2007
Country: UK
Genre: Rock
Style:Folk Rock

TRAXS

01. Spanish Bee     3:48
02. It Girl     2:11
03. 13     2:34
04. Ballad Of Jim Jones     2:14
05. Those Memories     2:01
06. Stars     3:15
07. Free And Easy, Take 2     2:28
08. Down     3:52
09. Cause I Love Her     1:14
10. Too Crazy To Care     1:21
11. Talk-Action=Shit     2:06
12. True Love     3:31
13. Sound Of Confusion     33:02

MP3 @ 320 Size: 148 MB
Flac  Size: 383 MB

TAKE IT FROM THE MAN! 1996

 

Label: A Records ‎– auk 005 cd
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 25 Jun 2007
Country: UK
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRAXS

01. Vacuum Boots     2:57
02. Who     2:53
03. Oh Lord     3:21
04. Caress     2:29
05. (David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six     3:24
06. Straight Up And Down     4:30
07. Monster     3:15
08. Take It From The Man     2:41
09. B.S.A.     4:42
10. Mary Please     4:10
11. Monkey Puzzle     4:03
12. Fucker     2:12
13. Dawn     2:04
14. Cabin Fever     7:56
15. In My Life     2:22
16. Be Song     3:26
17. My Man Syd     1:49
18. Straight Up And Down     11:01

MP3 @ 320 Size:162 MB
Flac  Size: 509 MB

GIVE IT BACK!  1997 

 

Label: BOMP! ‎– BCD 4068, BOMP! ‎– BCD-4068, Tangible ‎– tan 1067
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRAXS

01. Super-Sonic  5:14
02. This Is Why You Love Me  1:54
03. Satellite   3:37
04. Malela   3:09
05. Salaam   1:42
06. Whoever You Are   4:40
07. Sue  8:28
08. (You Better Love Me) Before I Am Gone  3:33
09. Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth   2:45
10. #1 Hit Jam   4:53
11. Servo   3:23
12. The Devil May Care (Mom & Dad Don't)   5:52
13. Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request   5:35

MP3 @ 320 Size: 130 MB
Flac  Size: 336 MB

STRUNG OUT IN HEAVEN  1998

 

Label: TVT Records ‎– TVT 5780-2
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition
Country: US
Released: 1998
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Alternative Rock

TRAXS

01. Going To Hell     2:58
02. Let's Pretend It's Summer     3:37
03. Wasting Away     3:13
04. Jennifer     3:31
05. Got My Eye On You     3:10
06. Nothing To Lose     2:52
07. Love     3:53
08. Maybe Tomorrow     4:13
09. Spun     4:14
10. I've Been Waiting     4:24
11. Dawn     2:13
12. Lantern     3:26
13. Wisdom     5:28

MP3 @ 320 Size: 108 MB
Flac  Size: 322 MB

BRINGING  IT ALL BACK HOME - AGAIN (EP)  1999

 

 

Label: A Records ‎– AUK-001CD, A Records ‎– AUK001CD, A Records ‎– auk- 001
Format: CD, EP, Reissue, Stereo 02 Oct 2006
Country: UK
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Alternative Rock

TRAXS


01. The Way It Was     2:50
02. Mansion In The Sky     2:19
03. Reign On     4:31
04. Gospel According To A.A. Newcombe     3:18
05. All Things Great And Small     3:06
06. Arkansas Revisited     13:26

MP3 @ 320 Size: 72 MB
Flac  Size: 182 MB

WE ARE THE RADIO (EP)  2005

 

Label: Tee Pee Records ‎– TPE062
Format: CD, Mini-Album
Country: US
Released: 2005
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRAXS

01. Never Become Emotionally Attached To Man, Woman, Beast Or Child     3:42
02. Seer    2:31
03. Time Is Honey (So Cut The Shit)     2:54
04. Teleflows Vs. Amplifaction     3:05
05. God Is My Girlfriend   3:21

MP3 @ 320 Size: 41 MB
Flac  Size: 98 MB

 

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request HERE