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Saturday 27 February 2010

Sufjan stevens -Illinoise -Great Alt-Folk multi-instrumental chorusey fun!!


Community biography from
Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Sufjan Stevens loves thematic concept albums. His first release to come to public attention was the mostly electronic Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001), which was based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. In 2003 he announced plans to record an album for each of the 50 States of the USA, and released the first based on his home state, Michigan. It was widely praised by the media, as was the follow-up Seven Swans (2004). Seven Swans was a folkier album, based around bible stories. The second of his '50 States' project followed in 2005: Illinoise was his best album yet, and became one of the most critically praised albums of the decade so far, winning many Album Of The Year polls. In 2006 he released two more albums: The Avalanche was mostly comprised of out-takes from the Illinoise sessions, while Songs for Christmas was a box-set of Christmas-themed songs he had been giving as gifts to family members over the previous few years.

Since Stevens' announcement that he plans to record 50 State-themed albums, he has released three albums which haven't advanced him towards that target. Although Stevens is a prolific and impressively consistent writer, it's debatable whether he will ever complete the task he set himself.

1. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois

2. Black Hawk War, Or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and ...

3. Come on! Feel the Illinoise!: Pt. 1: The World's Columbian Exposition

4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

5. Jacksonville

6. Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good ...

7. Decatur, Or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!

8. One Last "Whoo-Hoo!" for the Pullman

9. Chicago

10. Casimir Pulaski Day

11. To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea ...

12. Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts

13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About

14. Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens ...

15. Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!

16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from

17. Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It

18. In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth

19. Seer's Tower

20. Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders: Pt. 1: The Great Frontier/Pt. ...

21. Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, ...

22. Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, And I Shake the ...

COME ON FEEL THE ILLINOISE!!

Friday 26 February 2010

***REPOST -Psychedelic Pstones Series-(Quality issues now sorted)***************************************

Hot Smoke & Sassafras- Psychedelic Pstones Vol 1

Track Listings
1. Hot Smoke And Sassafras - Mooche
2. Riding On A Wave - Turnstyle
3. Lavender Popcorn - Scrugg
4. Lazy Old Sun - Kinks
5. Dr Crippen's Waiting Room - Orange Machine
6. Mr Mind Detector - Status Quo
7. All Day All Night - Blonde On Blonde
8. I Can See Through You - Episode 6
9. Cave Of Clear Light - Bystanders
10. Frederick Jordan - Glass Menagerie
11. I Can See The Sky - Fire (1)
12. Stay Indoors - New Formula (1)
13. I Wonder Where My Sister's Gone - Anan (1)
14. Counting Time My Way - Taxi (4)
15. Pictures In The Sky - Orange Seaweed
16. I Won't Hurt You - Neo Maya
17. Where Is My Mind - Pesky Gee
18. Biography - Woody Kern
19. Captain Reale - Gentle Influence
20. Tamaris Khan - Onyx (2)
21. Running Wild - Fresh Air (2)
22. Pink Purple Yellow Red - Sorrows (1)
23. Creeping Jean - Davies, Dave (1)
24. You're Just What I Was Looking For Today - Status Quo

Haunted �Psychedelic Pstones Vol 2

Sgt. Pepper, eat your heart out!!! (and tremble,baby!), 11 Nov 2002 (Amazon.co.uk review)

I bought this album a few months ago and I love it even more now than at first. The standout tracks i consider to be the title track 'Haunted' by Peter Thorogood, both Orange Machine tracks (superior covers of 'Tomorrow' songs),'Valley of the Shadow of Love' by Tuesday's Children, Consortium's totally OTT 'The day the Train Never Came' and The Onyx 'So sad Inside.'Out of the 28 tracks i liked 21 very much. It was a revelation to hear great Psych. tracks by the Tremeloes, and Marmalade!!

the majority of tracks are jolly, whimsical and full of spangled
instrumentation. I was impressed by the two tracks by 'Blonde on Blonde', and pleased to discover from the inner notes that they have a back catalogue available (as do The Rockin' Berries, Marmalade, Episode Six, and The Flying Machine.)

I reccommend anyone who enjoys the silly psych. Beatle songs
of their later years will find a lot to enjoy on this great
compilation..I would also recommend tracking down the 94 same label compilation of 'Paisley Pop' which has other tracks by Anan,The Flying Machine, The Montanas,The Onyx,and Consortium. And if you like Folky rock, i also recommend the superb 'Jingle Jangle Mornings' which has another Montanas track on it, along with lots of other wonderful, quintissentially English, slightly eccentric stuff by other great obscure bands.

Track Listings
1. Haunted - Thorogood, Peter
2. Yellow Rainbow - Rockin' Berries
3. Real Life Permanent Dream - Orange Machine
4. Kaleidoscope - Marmalade
5. Locked In A Room - Poets (2)
6. Suddenly Winter - Tremeloes
7. Time And Motion Man - Episode Six
8. Wicked Annabella - Kinks
9. Spinning Wheel - Blonde On Blonde
10. Crazy Dream - Searchers (1)
11. Haze Woman - Anan (1)
12. Auntie Nellie - Status Quo
13. In The Valley Of The Shadow Of Love - Tuesday's Children
14. Flying Machine - Flying Machine
15. Colour Sergeant Lilywhite - West Coast Consortium
16. Only George - Scrugg
17. Stay Awhile - Orange Seaweed
18. She's A Rainbow - Glass Menagerie
19. So Sad Inside - Onyx (2)
20. She Can't See For Looking - Bobcats
21. Roundabout - Montanas (1)
22. Three Jolly Little Dwarfs - Orange Machine
23. Day The Rain Never Came - Consortium (1)
24. Country Life - Blonde On Blonde
25. Madena - Anan (1)
26. Plastic Love - Episode Six
27. Phenomenal Cat - Kinks
28. Mr Kipling - Tuesday's Children

House of Many Windows �Psychedelic Pstones Vol 3


Track Listings
1. Morning Morgan Town - Jude
2. Renaissance Fayre - Orange Bicycle
3. Utterly Simple - Smoke (1)
4. Come Back June - Pussy
5. Memories - Red Dirt
6. On A Meadow Lea - Motherlight & Bobak Jons Malone
7. Marrakesh - Fortes Mentum
8. Green Mello Hill - Angel Pavement
9. Sister - Wade, Cliff
10. Take It Or Leave It - Cinnamon Quill
11. Amy Peate - Orange Bicycle
12. Mr Partridge Passed Away Today - Fortes Mentum
13. Sydney Gill - Smoke (1)
14. House Of Many Windows - Motherlight & Bobak Jons Malone
15. Mary's Mystery - Chimera (3)
16. It Never Stays The Same - Grimm, Bob
17. Leilla - Neogy, Chiitra
18. Joe Organ And Co - Barnaby Rudge
19. We Should Be Free - America (2)
20. Girl In The Park - Smoke (1)
21. Water Woman - Angel Pavement
22. Saga Of A Wrinkled Man - Fortes Mentum
23. Sam And Sadie - Fickle Pickle
24. Candy - Cinnamon Quill
25. Hyacinth Threads - Orange Bicycle
26. Open Ground - Pussy
27. Peru - Chimera (3)
Under The Silent Tree- Psychedelic Pstones Vol 4

Track Listings
1. Under The Silent Tree - Honeybus
2. Playing With Magic - Smoke (1)
3. Flying Saucers Have Landed - St. John, Paul
4. 1984 - Wishful Thinking
5. Sewing Machine - Tuesday
6. Like To Help You If I Can - Fire (1)
7. She - Fat Mattress
8. Whip Lady - Kinks
9. Around The World In Eighty Days - Stray
10. Son Of God - Parchment
11. Forget Her - Nimbo
12. Visitor - Quiet World
13. Two Of Us - Penny Arcade
14. Hard Time - Tremeloes
15. 3rd Mona Lisa - Brett, Paul Sage
16. Shy Fly - Status Quo
17. Dreams - Kinks
18. Time Machine - Stray
19. Buffalo - Writing On The Wall
20. Love Is Come Again - Parchment
21. Devil's Well - Laurels
22. Hiroshima - Wishful Thinking
23. 10000 Years Behind My Mind - Jordan, Earl

(click on individual volume titles for links!)

Thursday 25 February 2010

Cliff Wade -Looking for Shirley -The Popsike World of Cliff Wade


[**Psychelatte says: This guy is a great British eccentric, at least that's the impression he gives on these songs. Very quirky, playful,tuneful,loveable. Enjoy!]

Cliff Wade is one of those odd figures in British pop/rock music of the 1960s who's managed to survive and thrive across decades without ever quite becoming a household name. In a four-decade career that's seen him cross paths musically with the Who, Cream, and Pink Floyd and provide hit songs to Pat Benatar, fame has somehow eluded him. He came out of York, England, as part of the mid-'60s British soul boom, playing with several early groups including the Misfits, before forming the Roll Movement in late 1965, where he was both the lead singer and lead guitarist. They were good enough to beat Soft Machine into the finals of a 1966 Melody Maker-sponsored competition, ultimately finishing second behind Eyes of Blue. The group was good enough to rate support spots on bills with the Who and Cream, and Wade was good enough to get an offer from Spencer Davis to audition as Steve Winwood's replacement in the Spencer Davis Group, which he declined to do, preferring to stay with his own band. Alas, the Roll Movement never had a chance to show what they could have done on record. Their sole single, "I'm Out on My Own," released on the tiny Go label, was lost amid the gathering psychedelic haze that spread across music in the second half of 1967. The band eventually split up in the wake of the record's failure, and Wade jumped to a new outfit -- called Cucumber -- who didn't last long.

It was then that he moved into a somewhat peripheral end of the music business, going to work for independent producer Monty Babson and his corporate operation, known in the trade as the Morgan empire (home of the Smoke, of "My Friend Jack" fame), as a music copyist and jack-of-all-trades on the studio end of the operation, which eventually spawned its own label, complete with a progressive/experimental offshoot imprint. So it was in 1969 that Wade began recording under his own name with the Mellotron-dominated psychedelic pop single "You've Never Been to My House," released on the Morgan Blue Town label. It sank without a trace, but it was a beginning, and over the next couple of years he cut more sides, and also became a singer for an ensemble called Fickle Pickle, who scored a hit in Holland with a cover of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed." Wade subsequently bounced around the music business, occasionally performing and recording (including some sessions with various old bandmates), under his own name and in association with various groups, including the Beaver Brothers, and playing sessions with promising new performers. He also wrote songs with his Beaver Brothers partner Geoff Gill, and enjoyed a hit with "Heartbreaker," which Pat Benatar took up the charts in 1979, at the outset of her career. Since then he's had occasional success as a songwriter, with Tina Turner, among others, and continued to play and record. His biggest splash in the latter department was in an archival mode, in 2004, when Edsel/Demon Records unearthed 21 tracks from the Morgan vaults representing Wade's mostly unheard late-'60s music, all in a solid pop/soul/psychedelic/sunshine pop mode, and released it as Looking for Shirley. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Content provided by All Music Guide Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC

Featuring 17 previously unreleased tracks, this 21 song compilation contains everything Cliff Wade recorded for Edsel, including his 'great lost album'. Drenched in mellotron, gorgeous string & brass arrangements, the tracks were recorded in 1969 with Geoff Gill of The Smoke who wrote three of the songs. The material can boast a great variety of influences, from Roy Wood & The Move to The Moody Blues, to The Zombies. Includes the bonus track, 'My Little Chicken'.

1.You've Never Been To My House
2.Shirley
3.Dagger Lane
4.I See I Am Free
5.Sister
6.Firework
7.Yes I'm Finding Out
8.Gonna Meet The Man
9.Rose Village
10.Empress Of Perisand, Wandering Maid
11.Fern Meadows
12.Casting The First Stone
13.I Could Have Loved Her
14.You Should Have Seen Me
15.Life Story
16.Sandy
17.November
18.Look At Me I've Fallen Into A Teapot
19.People Get The News
20.Did You Know
21.My Little Chicken

"..I look like a firework..."

Tuesday 23 February 2010

***REPOST - QUALITY ISSUES NOW SORTED! -Franzl Lang -Der Koenigsjodler (The King of Yodlers!)


Franzl Lang Biography

Franz "Franzl" Lang (born December 28, 1930), known as the Yodelking, is a famous yodeler from Bavaria, a southern region of Germany.

Lang also sings and plays the guitar and the accordion; he has further authored several books on yodeling. Lang's genre is German folk music; he typically sings in Bavarian dialect of the rural Alpine regions and its inhabitants. He inevitably breaks into yodeling at some point within each song. Now retired as a performer, he still occasionally records.

By general consensus, Lang is considered to be the best Alpine yodler in the world; he is certainly the best-selling. From Wikipedia

Track Listings
1. Kufsteiner Lied
2. Ich Wunsch' Mir eine Jodlerbraut
3. Jodler zum Juchzen
4. Zillertal du Bist Mei' Freud
5. Wenn Ich auf Hohen Bergen Steh'
6. Jodelexpress
7. Alt- Aussee'r Postillion
8. In d'Hah Is Guat Schiab'n
9. Solang der Alte Peter
10. Tiroler Wollte Jagen
11. Wildschutz Jennerwein
12. Echo-Jodler Vom Konigssee
13. Tiroler Holzhackerbuam
14. Schatz Schenk' Mir a Zwickerbussl
15. Tiroler Bravour: Jodler
16. In Munchen Steht ein Hofbrauhaus
17. Guater Halt's Aus
18. Ja Da Legst Di'nieder
19. Mei Vata Is a Appenzeller
20. Sorgenbrecher: Jodler
21. Jodeln Ist Mein Leben
22. S Kammerfensterln
23. Schutzenliesl
24. Guter Kamerad
25. Klarinettenmuckl: Jodler
26. Munchner Schafflertanz
27. Wenn der Auerhahn Balzt
28. Meine Heimat Sind Die Berge
29. Hoch auf dem Gelben Wagen
30. Hohe Tannen
31. Bergvagabunden
32. Erzherzog-Johann Jodler
33. Aber Dirnderl Sei G'scheit
34. Abschiedsjodler
35. Meine Bayerischen Berge
36. Konigsjodler

Der/Koenigsjodler

***The David -Another Day, Another Lifetime (1967) Great U.S Garagey yet melodic Psych with string orchestra/home made instruments etc***



"Another Day, Another Lifetime" -The David. -Great title track from a super album!


[**Psychelatte says:This is one of my favourite Psych albums. I think its the heady mix of Garagey Rubble-ish sounds and the string laden effects and the driving rhythm of it all plus the kind of sad tone to some of the songs..I think its a good accompaniment to love's 'Forever Changes'. -and I always play the title track each New Year in my room, out loud!

"Memories just seem to disappear..wandering into another year, and you haven't seen all the things you'd like to be, but if you don't mind, I can tell you why..."]

This album is an interesting meeting between scuzzy garage rock and Hollywood-esque orchestration with a touch of sitar and other odd instrumentation. I guess it would be easiest to label this as sunshine pop, but it does tend to be a bit louder and kick up a little more steam than that genre generally implies. Regardless, Another Day, Another Lifetime provides some awesome 1967 vintage West Coast sounds.

The band seems to have been primarily the vehicle of one Warren Hansen, who is responsible for the songwriting, production, and the very strong lead vocals. Although the group apparently existed for at least half a decade, this album makes up almost their complete recorded output (there's a single or two also drifting out there somewhere). It's a shame as the 30 minute platter found here does give you a thirst to hear more.

Everything here is pretty strong in a groovy, go-go dancin' shindig sort of way. That said, the thick orchestration does add a little more gravity to the sound. In fact, it occasionally threatens to drown out the band on tracks like "Tell Me More" or "Down To You." I guess this is why The David garners a lot of Left Banke comparisons. But in contrast to that seminal sunshine pop, the actual members of the band seem to be trying to grind away more like the Electric Prunes.

The highlights here are nicely spread out through the album. As a good album should, the opening title track provides a nice overview of the bands sound, with some amusing sitar breaks adding a little dimension to the song. "I'm Not Alone" gives the band a chance to do their own garage rock stomp without the orchestra getting in the way. I also dig the strange time changes found in the appropriately named "Time M." "Mirrors Of Wood" introduces Hansen's homemade Plasmatar instrument. How could you not love something with that name. Meanwhile, "Of Other Days" gives the disc a almost too happy send off.

For those with an obsession with the sounds of the Summer Of Love, Another Day, Another Lifetime will provide you with a good 30 minutes of top shelf material to chew over. It's certainly an album that begs for rediscovery by the discerning psych-head.

Personnel: MARK BIRD
WARREN HANSEN
TIM HARRISON
CHUCK SPIETH

1. Another Day, Another Lifetime/I Would Like To Know
2. I'm Not Alone
3. Sweet December
4. Tell Me More
5. Now To You
6. Professor Crawford
7. Time M
8. So Much More
9. Mirrors Of Wood
10. Of Our Other Days
11. I Don't Care
12. Mister, You're A Better Man Than I

Young and raw and sweet!

Thursday 18 February 2010

Vigrass & Osborne -Queues (1972) -Soft Psych with folky and country touches, very good and rare. Fading Yellow artist


1.MEN OF LEARNING
2.DON'T YOU WORRY
3.BALLERINA
4.MISSISSIPPI LULLABYE
5.VIRGINIA
6.SAIL AWAY
7.FOREVER AUTUMN
8.AN INVITATION
9.REMEMBER
10.THE END

Queue!

***The Elastik Band- The Elastik Band (US Psych, inc. controversial song 'Spazz' and 19 more very good West-Coast sounding tunes)***



"Fire and Desire" -Elastik Band. Rocking!


If nothing else, you have to give a hand to the folks at Digital Cellars Records for scholarship. When the Elastik Band's infamous 1967 single "Spazz" began appearing on garage rock compilations back in the late '70s, the band was regarded as a complete mystery, and even when the cut appeared on the exhaustive Nuggets box set in 1998, annotator Mike Stax didn't have much to say about them except that they were from Belmont, CA and after releasing a second single they seemingly disappeared. But The Elastik Band collects a whopping 20 tunes from these fabled weirdos, more than most folks ever imagined existed, along with a brief but well-detailed liner essay on their short-lived career (including strange record label dealings, public outcry over their almost-hit, and a private gig playing for a famous organized crime figure). Truth to tell, most folks looking for more of the sneering thunder and gleeful bad taste that made "Spazz" so memorable will be disappointed; much of the material here is actually tuneful and well-crafted pop/rock with folkie or psychedelic overtones, and while these guys certainly display a sense of humor on oddball numbers like "Popcorn," there isn't anything else here that approaches the sound or approach of their most famous number. Lead guitarist Scott Williams shows off some impressive skills, the arrangements are clever and distinctive (especially the mixture of David Cortopassi's four- and seven-string guitars and Russell Kerger's piano), the vocal harmonies are superb, and the best songs suggest sunshine pop with something just a little bit wrong around the edges. The Elastik Band may not be the great lost-'60s garage punk band you'd expect, but judging from this collection they were talented guys deserving of re-appraisal and a more accurate perspective on their body of work. (As a bonus, this disc includes an aircheck of an Australian DJ pulling "Spazz" off the air two-thirds of the way through its first and last airing on 2UW.) ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide


Scott Williams (Vocals (Background)), Cortopassi & Williams (Performer), Dan Morehouse (Orchestration), Scott Williams (Guitar (12 String)), Scott Williams (Guitar (Acoustic)), Scott Williams (Bass), Donn Landee (Engineer), Vince Silvera (Drums), David Cortopassi (Guitar), Scott Williams (Guitar), Brian Gardner (Producer), David Cortopassi (Vocals (Background)), Fred Cohn (Engineer), Scott Williams (Vocals), Russell Kerger (Wurlitzer), David Cortopassi (Vibraphone), Russell Kerger (Vocals (Background)), Normann Gregg H. Ratner (Producer), Vince Silvera (Vocals (Background)), David Cortopassi (Vocals), Brian Gardner (Engineer)

Tracks:

Elastik Band Theme/Got a Better Reason Now
Spazz
Mixed Emotions
Think of Today
The Darkest Corner
Don't Say Love
Popcorn
Paper Maché
Fire & Desire
All I Need
The Word Is You
Pauper's Fugue
Turn Your Head
In a Family Tree
I Would Still Love You
Are You True
Mrs. Pig
Call Me Over
Lose Yourself
Going Going Going Gone
Spazz [Live]

Elastik/Band

Friday 12 February 2010

***Philamore Lincoln -The North Wind Blew South (1970) lovely dreamy soft Psych. Fading Yellow Artist***



Biography
Little is known of this British solo artist other than he issued an obscure single (‘Running By The River’ b/w the outstanding‘Rainy Day’) in 1968, which is strongly rumored to feature some Yardbirds members, including Jimmy Page (guitar) and Chris Dreja (bass), but none were officially credited to the record. In 1970, Lincoln released a U.S. only full length album (‘The North Wind Blew South’) along with a supporting 45 on CBS All songs on the LP were penned by Lincoln, with highlights that include ‘The Plains Of Delight’, ‘Rainy Day’ and of course the spacey title track. Another cut on the album, the simple but quite pleasant ‘Temma Harbour’, had also become a
huge hit for Mary Hopkins in late 1969/early ‘70, prior to the release of Lincoln’s version. The LP has also been rumored to include Page and Dreja as supporting musicians, but it has only been confirmed that Dreja, a then aspiring photographer, took the front and back photos for the album cover. Lincoln later moved out of the spotlight to become a successful record producer. (Info from Last FM)

Artist information sources include: The book, ‘Tapestry of Delights Revisited’ by Vernon Joynson.

Philamore Lincoln - The North Wind Blew South (1970)
Track Listing:
The North Wind Blew South (3:15)
You're The One (3:03)
Lazy Good For Nothin' (2:30)
Early Sherwood (3:18)
Rainy Day (2:27)
Temma Harbour (3:00)
The Plains Of Delight (3:16)
County Jail Band (2:36)
The When You Were Looking My Way (3:17)
Blew Through (5:20)

Perfect dreamy Psych"

***Bob Ray - Initiation of a Mystic (1968) -Beautiful melancholy Pop-Psych. Fading Yellow Artist***


**Psychelatte says: -sorry about the pops and crackles, but it is from a vinyl rip and the only copy I could get. But it is *WELL WORTH* hearing if you like melancholy, gentle, haunting music.

Bob Ray, onetime bass player for Donovan (that's him on Season of the Witch) and later a member of the pop trio Thorinshield. This release doesn't have the sunshine vibe of that band but is certainly as good or better in its own somewhat darker way.

The core band on this one (see below) featured some fine LA session players and the record was produced by Johnny Rivers.

HAL BLAINE drms
JIM GORDON drms
JIM HORN flute, sax
LARRY KNECHTEL bs, keyb'ds
JOE OSBORNE bs
BOB RAY vcls
(There's also some strings (as in orchestral) but players are unknown.)

(Girl With the) Cameo Ring (3:55)
Live Today (3:32)
City of Toys (3:33)
Green Green (Big Big River) (3:16)
Smog Song (5:20)
Resurrection (4:00)
Money Tree (3:40)
Personal Movie (2:58)
Woman of the Highlands (4:15)
Right Relations (3:30)
Islands (Poem) (2:10)

Lovely melancholy

Federal Duck -Federal Duck U.S Psych 1968 (Fading Yellow artist)


Federal Duck were Ken Stover (piano-organ-tuba), Jack Bowers (guitar-dulcimer-recorders), George Stavis (guitars-vocals), Huck White (guitars-french horn-recorders), Timmy ackerman (drums-conga-percussion), Bob Stern (bass-vocals), and Tony Shaftel (bass-vocal) with Thesha Dow (triangle).

The bizarrely-named Federal Duck made its appearance on the Musicor label in 1968. Formed by banjo exponent George Stavis, Federal Duck (named after the Federal Duck Stamp Program which was enacted by conservationist Jay "Ding" Darling and US President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1934) produced this lone musical effort which, once you get past the absurd cover, is a consistently good album that is mildly jazzy, wtih some fine bass and an ever-present darkish vibe. (Internet Source)

Tracklist:
1.Knowing That I Loved You So
2.Easy Virtue Blues
3.Tomorrow Waits For Today
4.Just Like The Snow
5.Bird
6.Hello
7.While You're Away
8.Peace In My Mind
9.Just A Band
10.Friday Morning
11.Dawn Comes Slow
12.Ain't Gonna Be Nobody To Sing The Blues
13.Circus In The Sea

QUACK!

Tuesday 9 February 2010

The Cowsills -the Best of The Cowsills (Great Fading Yellow jolly Psych-pop band)



The Cowsills were a singing group from Newport, Rhode Island specializing in what would later be defined as bubblegum pop. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by four brothers — Barry, Bill, Bob, and John Cowsill. After their initial success, the brothers were later joined by their siblings, Susan and Paul and their mother, Barbara. Rounding out the group was remaining brother Richard, who did not sing with the group but was assigned as road manager and advisor.
Originally inspired by the Everly brothers and later The Beatles, The Cowsills' musical interest started while (their father) Bud Cowsill was stationed in Canton, Ohio in the late 1950s as a Navy recruiter. Bud and Barb encouraged Billy and Bob to take guitar lessons. The boys developed their musical talent and harmonized vocals and they gave performances at school church dances in Stark County, Ohio. The boys' first television appearance was on the "Gene Carroll Show" on WEWS in Cleveland.
The band drew increasing attention through the 1960s.
In late 1965, the initial four members were hired as a regular act on Bannisters Wharf in Newport, where they would sing Beatles songs hour after hour. They also produced their first recordings, and released them on Mercury Records. Despite their appeal, the company passed on a record contract for reasons never specified.
In 1966, the band was signed by MGM records, and Barbara — who would become known to their fans affectionately as "Mini-Mom," due to her diminutive stature — joined the group to record "The Rain, The Park and Other Things." Shortly thereafter the band was expanded yet again, to include siblings Susan and Paul.
With the success of "The Rain...," the band quickly became a popular act in the USA, and achieved significant airplay in England and other parts of Europe. "The Rain..." wound up reaching #2 on the Billboard charts, selling some three million copies in its first release.
In 1968, the band scored another million selling hit with the song Indian Lake which reached #10 on the charts and in 1969, the band had another number two hit and another million seller with their version of the title song from the musical Hair.

01 - The Rain, The Park And Other Things
02 - The Path Of Love
03 - Meet Me At The Wishing Well
04 - In Need Of A Friend
05 - Mister Flynn
06 - Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools
07 - We Can Fly
08 - Indian Lake
09 - Gray, Sunny Day
10 - A Time For Remembrance
11 - Gotta Get Away From It All
12 - Newspaper Blanket
13 - Poor Baby
14 - Hair

sweet!

****The National Gallery - (feat. on Fading Yellow) Performing Musical Interpretations Of The Paintings Of Paul Klee (1968) -Fantastically quirky!****


Literally an 'art-rock' concept album from Cleveland, inspired by the works of artist Paul Klee (1879-1940) and complete with a glossy leaflet with lyrics and pictures of some of his paintings.

A fusion of harmonious folk, pop and avant garde with some psychy touches, culminating in its most memorable track Long Hair Soulful with stoned vocals and acid-etched guitar. This had been released on 45 in 1967 in an abridged form and credited to Bhagavad Gita, backed by an instrumental version of the same (Philips 40485, with PS). The instrumental take can be heard on Beyond The Calico Wall CD (not on the LP version).

The musicians themselves don't get a name-check, just a picture - three guys and a gal.

Composers Roger Karshner and Charles Mangione were involved with several other Cleveland area acts and Karshner was manager of one of the city's more successful sixties bands, The Outsiders.

It's worth noting that several tracks on this album were also recorded, in jazzier versions, by the Gap Mangione Trio on the album Diana In The Autumn Wind(GRC 9001) 1968, with Charles Mangione, Steve Gadd and Tony Levin. Mangione kept on recording throughout the seventies, with at least three albums on A&M between 1976 and 1979. (Max Waller)

arty folk-psych fun!

Friday 5 February 2010

The Gordian Knot -Tones(1968) -Fading Yellow 7 band, harmony pop/pop-psych-should please all FY fans


Originally from Mississippi, the Gordian Knot emerged in Los Angeles in 1967. They recorded this fascinating hybrid of Association-esque soft pop/soft psych/country rock with LA's finest studio musicians and the Hi-Lo's own Clark Burroughs in the producers chair. The result is the finest harmony pop psych offering in the entire Verve catalog.
Fronted by Jim Weatherly, who just a few years later would pen Gladys Knight's finest moment, "Midnight Train To Georgia," the Gordian Knot entertained countless in-crowd LA parties frequented by Hollywood's elite, and performed as part of a USO tour throughout Vietnam with friend and fan Nancy Sinatra.A must for all fans of Softpop, Pop Psych and just plain good music everywhere!
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Gordion Knot was a short-lived band from southern California, by way of Mississippi. They released only one album,"Tones" a terrific soft rock/harmony pop effort produced by Clark Burroughs of the Hi-Los. The group formed at the University of Mississippi and was led by ex-Mississippi all-American quarterback/guitarist/lead vocalist Jim Weatherly, a native of Pontotoc, MI. The group caught their biggest break after they appeared at a party thrown by Nancy Sinatra, who apparently liked them so much that she asked them to accompany her on a USO trip to Vietnam. According to their liner notes, they were "one of the few groups since the Beatles to possess genuine charm...not a phony showbiz glucose charm, but the real thing." The bulk of the songs for their album were written by Weatherly, and have a edgier, husky country-rock vibe compared with those written by Leland Russell, whose beautiful tunes are comparatively similar to the Association (Burroughs, it should be pointed out, was also a vocal arranger on the Association’s “Insight Out” and “Waterbeds In Trinadad” albums). “One Way Street” is the band's lone obligatory jug band entry. The band also appeared as themselves in a 1968 MGM teensploitation flick called ”Young Runaways”, performing an original entitled “Ophelia’s Dream”....[net]

Tracklist:
1.It's Gonna Take Alot
2.We Must Be Doing Somethin' Right
3.Strong Wind Blowin'
4.One Way Street
5.Carnival Lights, Again
6.Carraway Stream
7.The World Keeps Spinnin'
8.The Year Of The Sun
9.I Can't Be Hurt Anymore
10.If Only I Could Fly
11.Broken Down Ole Merry-Go-Round

HERE!!

Monday 1 February 2010

Analogy -Analogy (1972) Psych/Space Prog (Germany/Italy)

(Review from vintageprog.com, progarchives.com)

Analogy wasn't a child of Germany in a strict sense. The members were German (with one exception) but never had an appearance there as a band. They worked together in Italy since 1968 using different names. The band's eponymous debut was released in 1972.

The album consists of seven songs with a krautrock attitude, an impressive mix of psychedelic, symphonic, jazz and blues rock. There is a lot of great hammond appearances to point out and the vocals are very unique -- she could take her voice up in a high soprano on the beautiful "Weeping My Endure" and then in a "lower" tone in the rocking "The Years at the Spring".

The title-track is with its nine minutes the longest and most complex one, going from energetic riffs to quiet parts where the organ and guitar creates some really mystical and haunting atmospheres. The opening track "Dark Reflections" is with its dramatic vocals, excellent melodic chorus and swirling organ-passages one of the very best tracks on the album. "Indian Meditation" features wordless vocals and some flute that fits well to the title of the track.

In September 1972 Pankoff left the band because of some disagreements about the musical direction. 1973 it came to a new collaboration with flute player Rocco Abate who was searching for new experiences. Thurn and Schoene composed a 30 minute set of thematically-linked musical pieces simply entitled "The Suite". In this work the classical music of the Renaissance-period was combined with progressive rock. Analogy played this suite several times live and received good reviews. With the growing money problems the group disbanded in November. "The Suite" was later completed and recorded in 1980.

Line-up :
- H. J. "Mops" Nienhaus / drums
- Jutta Nienhaus / lead vocals
- Nicola Pankoff / keyboards
- Wolfgang Schoene / bass
- Martin Thurn / 12 strings acoustic & electric guitars, flute, bongo, piano

Enjoy!