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Request: Loggins and Messina - Selftitled (Great 2nd Rock Album US 1972)

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Loggins and Messina is the second album by singer/songwriters Loggins and Messina, released in 1972.

Following on the success of their first album, this album built on the strengths of their debut outing. It also became the true introduction of the team, Loggins and Messina, not as singles playing together, but rather as a team that played as one.

It featured two songs that charted, with "Your Mama Don't Dance" reaching its peak at #4, their highest charting single. The album itself charted at #16. The album version of "Thinking of You" is a different recording than the hit single. Kenny Loggins played harmonica on more than one song: "Whiskey", "Long Tail Cat", "Thinking of You" and the Jim Messina-penned instrumental "Just Before the News", making it the duo's only album to have harmonica on more than one song.

The first full-fledged L&M album found the duo in good form as songwriters, with Messina turning in the sparkling "Thinking Of You," and the two collaborating on the hit single "Your Mama Don't Dance" and "Angry Eyes." Their backup band was anchored by multi-instrumentalist Al Garth, and also featured keyboardist Michael Omartian and Poco steel guitarist Rusty Young.

Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina were the most successful pop/rock duo of the first half of the '70s. Loggins was a staff songwriter who had recently enjoyed success with a group of songs recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band when he came to the attention of Messina, a record producer and former member of Buffalo Springfield and Poco. 

Messina agreed to produce Loggins' first album, but somewhere along the way it became a duo effort that was released in 1972 under the title Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In. The album was a gold-seller that stayed in the charts more than two years.

Loggins & Messina In the next four years, Loggins & Messina released a series of gold or platinum albums, most of which hit the Top Ten. They were all played in a buoyant country-rock style with an accomplished band. Loggins & Messina (1972) featured the retro-rock hit "Your Mama Don't Dance." Full Sail (1973), On Stage (a double live album, 1974), and Mother Lode (1974) all hit the Top Ten. So Fine was an album of '50s cover songs. The pair's last new studio album, Native Sons, came out at the start of 1976.

The Best of FriendsLoggins & Messina split for two solo careers by the end of that year, their early catalog completed by a greatest-hits album, Best of Friends, and a live record, Finale. The duo reunited in 2005 and hit the road for a summer tour while the compilation The Best: Sittin' in Again was arriving in stores. The tour itself was documented on Live: Sittin' in Again at Santa Barbara Bowl, which appeared late in the year.

Biography:
Loggins and Messina is an American rock-pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina who achieved their success in the early to mid-1970s. Among their well-known songs are "Danny's Song", "House at Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don't Dance". After selling more than 16 million records and becoming one of the leading musical duos of the 1970s, Loggins and Messina broke up in 1976. Although Messina would find only limited popularity following the breakup, Loggins went on to be a 1980s hitmaker. In both 2005 and 2009, Loggins and Messina have rejoined for United States tours.

Jim Messina, formerly of Poco and Buffalo Springfield, was working as an independent record producer for Columbia Records in 1970 when he met Kenny Loggins, a little-known singer/songwriter and guitarist who was signed to ABC-Dunhill as a staff songwriter.

The two recorded a number of Loggins' compositions in Messina's home living room. When Columbia signed Loggins to a six-album contract (with the assistance of Messina), recording began in earnest for Loggins' debut album, with Messina as producer. Messina originally intended to lend his name to the Loggins project only to help introduce the unknown Loggins to Messina's well-established Buffalo Springfield and Poco audiences. But by the time the album was completed, Messina had contributed so much to the album - in terms of songwriting, arrangement, instrumentation, and vocals - that an "accidental" duo was born.

Their debut album was released November 1971 as Sittin' In. The album's first single release, the Caribbean-flavored "Vahevala" (or "Vahevella"), found top 3 success on WCFL on 18 May 1972. Although the album went unnoticed by radio upon release, it eventually gained traction by autumn 1972, particularly on college campuses, where the pair toured heavily. Loggins' and Messina's harmonies meshed so well that what was begun as a one-off album became an entity unto itself. Audiences regarded the pair as a genuine duo rather than as a solo act with a well-known producer. Instead of just continuing to produce Loggins as a sole performer, they decided to record as a duo – Loggins & Messina.

"When our first album, 'Sittin' In,' came out, we started receiving a lot of excitement about the music and good sales," Messina recalled in 2005. "We had a choice. It was either I now go on and continue to produce him and we do the solo career or we stay together and let this work. For me, I did not desire to go back out on the road. I had had enough of that, and I wanted to produce records. But Clive Davis (then president of the record company) intervened and said, 'You know, I think you'd be making a mistake if you guys didn't take this opportunity. Things like this only happen once in a lifetime. It may merit you sleeping on it overnight and making a decision that will be in your best interest.' He was absolutely correct. Kenny made the decision as well. It delayed his solo career, but it gave him an opportunity, I think, to have one."

Messina assembled The Kenny Loggins Band by summoning old friends bassist Larry Sims and drummer Merel Bregante, formerly of The Sunshine Company, multireedist Jon Clarke, violinist/multireedist Al Garth and famed Grammy-winning keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Michael Omartian, who played on the debut album, but did not join them on tour, although he played keyboards on the second and third albums. Los Angeles-based session percussionist Milt Holland played on each of the duo's studio albums, but like Omartian, he did not tour with them either.

Over the next four years they produced five more original albums, plus one album of covers of other artists' material, and two live albums. They sold 16 million records and were the most successful duo of the early 1970s, surpassed later in the decade only by Hall & Oates. Their work was covered by other artists such as Lynn Anderson who recorded "Listen to a Country Song" released in 1972 and reached #3 on the charts, and perhaps most notably Anne Murray, who reached the U.S. top ten with "Danny's Song" in early 1973 and the U.S. top twenty with "A Love Song" in early 1974. A greatest-hits album, The Best of Friends, would be released a year after the duo had separated. The later studio albums often found both Loggins and Messina more as two solo artists sharing the same record rather than as a genuine partnership. As both Loggins and Messina noted in 2005, their collaboration eventually became more a competition - a frequent, almost-inevitable dynamic of show business duos.

Never really a team of true equals due to the "teacher/apprentice" nature of their music experience levels, the pair had by early 1976 quietly, amicably parted to pursue solo careers, following the release of Native Sons. Prior to the duo's final tour, Loggins accidentally cut his hand with a craft knife while practicing his wood-carving hobby at home, which required surgery and prevented him from playing guitar for most of their final tour. After a final concert in Hawaii, the duo split and went on to solo careers. Messina found solo success elusive, but Loggins went on to become one of the biggest hitmakers of the 1980s.

The two reunited in 2005 to choose tracks for an expanded compilation album of singles and album cuts The Best: Sittin' In Again, which proved successful enough for them to embark on tour together. Their successful "Sittin' In Again" tour was launched in mid-2005 and played out the remainder of the year. They also released an album that year of the tour. "Every couple of years we'd talk about it, but I was having too much fun as a solo artist," Loggins said that summer. "It was very rewarding for me, and I wasn't ready to share the reins. I still had a lot of stuff to do on my own, to prove myself and to express myself, in a way that wouldn't have fit in with Loggins & Messina."

The two were pleased enough to consider future Loggins and Messina projects and the two also toured in 2009. "Like most relationships, we were a moment in time," Loggins said. "It's just really fun to be able to go back and celebrate that and just sort of really honor each other as grown men, in a way we never really did back then. We were young and competitive and didn't realize that it wasn't necessarily all about getting your way, but you learn that if you grow up."

Their backing band changed from album to album, with the core members listed below. Many albums featured backing members who were well known in their own right, John Townsend and Ed Sanford, later of the Sanford & Townsend Band ("Smoke from a Distant Fire"), contributed vocals and songwriting to the Native Sons, their final studio album.

Personnel:
★ Kenny Loggins - vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, acoustic guitar
★ Jim Messina - vocals, lead guitar, electric mandolin, acoustic guitar
★ Stephen Stills - vocals
★ Merel Bregante - backing vocals, drums
★ Lester "Al" Garth - violin, recorder, alto and tenor saxophone
★ Michael Omartian - Hammond organ, piano, harmonium, clavinet, tack piano, Wurlitzer electric piano
★ Rusty Young - dobro on "Long Tail Cat"
★ Jon Clarke - flute, oboe, recorder, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
★ Milt Holland - percussion
★ Larry Sims - backing vocals, bass

01. "Good Friend" (Jim Messina) – 04:04 
02. "Whiskey" (Kenny Loggins) – 01:58 
03. "Your Mama Don't Dance" (Loggins, Messina) – 02:48 
04. "Long Tail Cat" (Loggins) – 03:47 
05. "Golden Ribbons" (Messina) – 06:08 
06. "Thinking of You" (Messina) – 02:19 
07. "Just Before the News" (Messina) – 01:09 (instrumental)
08. "Till the Ends Meet" (Loggins) – 03:10 
09. "Holiday Hotel" (Messina, Al Garth) – 02:02 
10. "Lady of My Heart" (Loggins) – 01:44 (lead singer: Kenny Loggins)
11. "Angry Eyes" (Loggins, Messina) – 07:40 

1. : Loggins and Messina
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2. : Loggins and Messina
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3.: Loggins and Messina

The Last Vegas - Seal The Deal (Glam Punk Rock US 2017)

Size: 169 MB
Bitrate: 320
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The Last Vegas are a hard rock band from Chicago whose style draws from glam, punk, and sleaze metal. Composed of Chad Cherry (lead vocals), John Wator (guitar), Adam Arling (guitar), Danny Smash (bass), and Nate Arling (drums), the band released the album Whatever Gets You Off, in April 2009, on Eleven Seven Music. The album was produced by Nikki Sixx, Sixx:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba, as well as Marti Frederiksen.

The Last Vegas are a hard rock band with influences from genres including glam rock, heavy metal, and punk rock, citing influences such as Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Cheap Trick, and Skid Row. They hail from Chicago, Illinois and have performed all over the world since 2003.

The Last Vegas made their recording debut with the full-length album Lick 'Em and Leave 'Em (2004) on the independent label Get Hip Records. A second full-length album, Seal the Deal (2006), followed on the same label.

After leaving Get Hip, the Last Vegas released a five-track EP High Class Trash (2007), spotlighting the song "Raw Dog", which was featured in the popular video game Guitar Hero II (2006). 

The full-length, The Last Vegas (2008), showcased the band growth with new singer Cherry and bassist Smash. 

In December 2008 the Last Vegas won Guitar Center's On-Stage: Your Chance to Make Rock History contest opening for Mötley Crüe. They also won $25,000 cash, $20,000 in new gear from Gibson Guitars, a management deal from 10th Street Entertainment and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music. They beat out 8,000 contestants for the coveted prize.

In 2008, The band was also picked as Spin magazine's "Best New Discovery" at SXSW 2008.

The Last Vegas joined Mötley Crüe on their US winter Saints Of Los Angeles Tour, along with Theory of a Deadman and Hinder. The band released its fourth full-length album and first major label album Whatever Gets You Off, the album was released to mainly positive reviews, produced by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, Sixx:A.M.'s DJ Ashba and frequent collaborator Marti Frederiksen, although most of the material on the album consists of the band's self-released self-titled album from 2008. The first single from the album was "I'm Bad".

With the release of the major label debut, the band toured with many bands, including Mötley Crüe, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Buckcherry, Papa Roach and landed headlining concerts in over 17 countries worldwide, currently touring to promote their latest album.

Hailing from Chicago USA, The Last Vegas serve the rock to the masses with “Seal the Deal”, their latest LP/CD on Get Hip Records. Boasting a 70's hard rock-meets rough-around-the-edges glam punk style, The Last Vegas-honed their gritty sound via DIY touring, signing with Get Hip Records in 2003. Releasing two records on the garage-rock label (in addition a 7 inch single on Italy's Scarey Records), 2004's debut "Lick 'Em and Leave'Em" was met with critical success. 

The Last Vegas landed touring slots supporting acts diverse as Urge Overkill, Turbonegro, Nashville Pussy, Fu Manchu and Get Hip's own The Cynics in addition to headlining their own US, Canada, Mexico and eight-country European tour dates. 

The Last Vegas re-entered the studio May 2005 once again w/ Sanford Parker (Pelican, Venomous Concept, Buried At Sea), this time joining forces with lead singer Chad Cherry. The deal was duly sealed with fresh-to-Chicago Cherry over late night discussion of mutual rock'n'roll intent at Chicago's own Liars Club. No boundaries. 

“After two years of late nights and bad habits supporting Lick 'em and Leave 'em throughout North America and Europe, we were ready to make a new record that expanded our musical range. Seal the Deal is definitely much more rock, psychedelic, and blue collar trash while drawing on all of our earliest influences. This record is bigger, louder, and prouder and we can't wait to spread it around the world." Wator/Arling/Arling January 2006.

01. All the Way 03:21
02. Goddamn Fantastic 03:32
03. Seal the Deal 03:10
04. Ain't a Good Man 02:54
05. Better Off Dead 03:52
06. We'll Drink Three 03:57
07. Raw Dog 03:31
08. Grave Situation 03:23
09. Breaking Away 03:51
10. King of the Red Light 07:54

Bonus:
11. Another Lover 03.58
12. Bloodthirsty  04.21
13. Cherry Red  03.13
14. Dirty Things You Do  03.22
15. High Class Trash  03.32
16. Loose Lips  04.24
17. Love Me Bad  05.18
18. Outta My Mind  03.03
19. Velvet Cream  03.25
20. Whatever Gets You Off  03.48

1: The Last Vegas
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2: The Last Vegas
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3: The Last Vegas

Request: Gary Ogan & Bill Lamb - Portland (Great Folkrock US 1972)

Size: 79.5 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
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Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

The year was 1971 and Elektra Records A&R man, producer, and artist, Marlin Greene, had flown to Portland to hear a promising new band called, The Portland Zoo. Although this band of Reed College kids was quite popular in The Rose City at the time, and managed to impress Marlin, it was soon discovered they had no original material of their own. Marlin needed to sign an act that brought along their own songs.

Lucky for me because Greg Branson, who was hosting Marlin’s visit to Portland, also knew about two local kids fresh out of a highscool who actually did have their own songs. He quickly phoned Bill Lamb and myself to ask if we were interested in auditioning for Eleckta Records. We hussled our butts down to the old Russion Embassy headquarters which was doubling as local country radio station KUPL and an 8-track recording facility called, REX, which stills operates in Portland today.

We sat and traded a few songs with Marlin, who was impressed enough to eventually sign us on to record our first album that he co-produced with Branson.

The rest is rock n’ roll history, and Marlin has remained a very dear friend.

Most people don't recognize the name Gary Ogan although he's shared the stage with many superstars. He's a mainstay of the Portland music scene. Inspired by the Beatles, he developed his talents early with his high-school basement band. Just after graduation he recorded for his first major record label. But despite his association with the likes of Leon Russell and Michael McDonald, he's spurned the short cut to fame, choosing instead to stay true to his music.

As a veteran of 35 years in the music business, and CEO / manager of the new Portland, Oregon based music conglomerate, Sound Ground, Gary maintains a youthful enthusiasm in his quest for new music and fresh projects. From his first major label release on Elektra Records in 1972, called Portland, Gary has created an ever-evolving world of activity. Moving to Los Angeles in 1977 to sign with Leon Russell’s Paradise Records on the Warner Brothers label, Gary released his first self-titled album that year, co-produced with Russell. He also co-produced Leon and Mary Russell’s duet album, Make Love to the Music, and toured the U.S. extensively with them, including shows at Radio City Music Hall and the Universal Amphitheater.

A close cousin to the first album by Aztec Two-Step from 1972, this is one of those classic records that has continued to escape almost everyone. As a fan of this album from day one I can tell you that it deserved to remain in my list of favorite albums even though the original mastering was not quite on par with so many of my other cherished records from that era.

01. Send It Over 3:24
02. Reborn 3:33
03. Portland Rain 2:30
04. Love Lost Lady 3:01
05. Everything You Knew 1:53
06. Kac 2:25
07. Our Sweet Love 3:14
08. Just for Awhile 3:53
09. Ogan Tea 3:00
10. You Make Me Love You 5:05
11. I Wanna Live 4:43

Link: Gary Ogan
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Link: Gary Ogan
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Link: Gary Ogan

Uther Pendragon - San Francisco Earthquake (Heavy Psychedelia US 1966-75)

Size: 291 MB
Bitrate: 320
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A treasure trove of previously unreleased West Coast guitar psychedelia, 1966-1975.

“Uther Pendragon was more than just a band, it was a family. Closer than brothers, they lived together, made music together, worked, played, laughed, cried and dreamed together”. 

This is the incredible story of Uther Pendragon: a lost psychedelic band from San Francisco whose music has remained buried until now.

Formed in the Bay Area in 1966 as a teen garage group called Blue Fever, Uther Pendragon lasted from 1966 until 1978. During that time, the band went through different names and phases, as their music evolved from garage to psychedelia to hard-rock: they were known as Blue Fever, Timne, Hodological Mandala, Mandala, Kodiac, Justus, Pendragon…but the core of the band remained always the same: Mark Lightcap (rhythm guitar, vocals), Bruce Marelich (lead guitar, vocals) and Martin Espinosa (bass, vocals) who after finding their ultimate drummer on Mike Beers, finally settled on the Uther Pendragon name in the early 70s. 

But despite being in active for all that time and recording lot of tapes and demos at different studios (including their own one in Palo Alto), Uther Pendragon never released any recording at the time. They’re not even a footnote on the books about the San Francisco Sound or a small name at those psychedelic posters of the time. Nothing. It’s as if they never existed. Until now. 

Their complex and fascinating story, which involves winning a Bay Area Battle Of The Bands and playing with Country Joe & The Fish, recording a killer garage-psych 7” acetate in 1967, going to the legendary Pacific Sound Recording studios in 1969 to record a demo, living as a family in the same house for many years and rehearsing 7 days a week, building their own recording studio and music corporation, being managed by Craig Pedersen (Something Wild, Tripsichord Music Box), being involved in an occult-themed rock opera called Sabbat, and much more, is being told with all details by Mike Stax from Ugly Things in the extensive liner notes. 

Culled from the band’s vast archive of tapes, “San Francisco Earthquake” includes their unknown until now 7” acetate from 1967 (fab garage-psych in the vein of Human Expression or Music Machine); never released ’66-‘69 tracks including a groundbreaking, moody psycher from 1966; a prev. unreleased demo tape from 1969 recorded at Pacific Recording - an incredible document for any lover of early SF garage-psych (think Oxford Circle, Savage Resurrection, Moby Grape…) and many tracks recorded at their home studio in Palo Alto. We’re talking 100% unadulterated West Coast guitar psych and hard-rock which recall QMS and even Kurihara-era White Heaven. 

Disc 1
01. Intro - You're A Human Now 06:02
02. Side Of The Dawn 04:12
03. Who's Gonna Try 05:43
04. Devil's Due 05:09
05. 10 Miles To Freedom 10:58
06. San Francisco Earthquake 05:26
07. Signify Justice 02:58
08. Love Lock Temperature Drop 02:30
09. Magical Door 03:29
10. Peter Pan Blowup 02:22
11. Luxury's Draft 04:07
12. Realm Of 7 Planes 05:28
13. Man Of Means 05:08

Disc 2
01. Spanish Fly 06:31
02. King Muskrat 06:49
03. See It My way 06:12
04. Rock And Roll Star 02:34
05. Meanie Jeanie - Old Man 10:04
06. Troubles 09:02
07. Woman 04:17
08. Hell's Rock 02:51
09. They'll Never Last 03:29
10. Kristina 04:17
11. Music Box 06:51

Part 1: Uther Pendragon

Part 2: Uther Pendragon

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Part 1: Uther Pendragon

Part 2: Uther Pendragon

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Part 1: Uther Pendragon

Part 2: Uther Pendragon