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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

John Mayall - Looking Back (UK 1969)



Size: 186 MB
Bitrate: 256-320
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.


Personal life
Born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1933, Mayall grew up in Cheadle Hulme. He was the son of Murray Mayall, a guitarist and jazz enthusiast. From an early age he was drawn to the sounds of American blues players such as Lead Belly, Albert Ammons, Pinetop Smith and Eddie Lang, and taught himself to play the piano, guitars, and harmonica.

Mayall was sent to Korea as part of his national service, and during a period of leave bought his first electric guitar in Japan. Back in England, he enrolled at Manchester College of Art and started playing with a semi-professional band, the Powerhouse Four. After graduation, he obtained a job as an art designer, but continued to play with local musicians. In 1963, he opted for a full-time musical career and moved to London. His previous craft would be put to good use in the designing of covers for many of his coming albums.


Mayall began living in the US part time in the late 1960s, living there full time by the early 1970s. A brush fire destroyed his house in Laurel Canyon in 1979, seriously damaging his musical collections and archives.

Mayall has been married twice, and has six children and six grandchildren. His second wife, Maggie Mayall, is an American blues performer, and since the early 1980s she has taken part in the management of her husband's career. They married in 1982, and divorced in 2011.

In 2005, Mayall was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Honours List.

Career
In 1956, with college fellow Peter Ward, Mayall had founded the Powerhouse Four, which consisted of the two men and other local musicians with whom they played at local dances. In 1962 Mayall became a member of the Blues Syndicate. The band was formed by trumpeter John Rowlands and alto saxophonist Jack Massarik, who had seen the Alexis Korner band at a Manchester club and wanted to try a similar blend of jazz and blues. It also included rhythm guitarist Ray Cummings and drummer Hughie Flint, whom Mayall already knew. In 1962 John and his band were frequent and popular artists at all-night R&B sessions at the Twisted Wheel cellar club in central Manchester. 

Alexis Korner persuaded Mayall to opt for a full-time musical career and move to London, where Korner introduced him to many other musicians and helped them to find gigs. In late 1963, with his band, which was now called the Bluesbreakers, Mayall started playing at the Marquee Club. The lineup was Mayall, Ward, John McVie on bass and guitarist Bernie Watson, formerly of Cyril Davies and the R&B All-Stars. The next spring Mayall obtained his first recording date with producer Ian Samwell. The band, with Martin Hart at the drums, recorded two tracks: "Crawling Up a Hill" and "Mr. James". Shortly after, Hughie Flint replaced Hart and Roger Dean took the guitar from Bernie Watson. This lineup backed John Lee Hooker on his British tour in 1964.

Mayall was offered a recording contract by Decca and, on 7 December 1964, a live performance of the band was recorded at the Klooks Kleek. A later studio-recorded single, "Crocodile Walk", was released along with the album, but both failed to achieve any success and the contract was terminated.


In April 1965 former Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton replaced Roger Dean and John Mayall's career entered a decisive phase.

Eric Clapton as guitarist, 1965–66
In 1965, with Eric Clapton as their new guitar player, the Bluesbreakers began attracting considerable attention. That summer the band cut a couple of tracks for a single, "I'm Your Witchdoctor" b/w "Telephone Blues" (released in October). In August, however, Clapton left for a jaunt to Greece with a bunch of relative musical amateurs calling themselves the 'Glands'. John Weider, John Slaughter, and Geoff Krivit attempted to fill in as Bluesbreaker guitarist but, finally, Peter Green took charge. John McVie was dismissed, and during the next few months Jack Bruce, from the Graham Bond Organisation, played bass.

In November 1965 Clapton returned, and Green departed as Mayall had guaranteed Clapton his spot back in the Bluesbreakers whenever he tired of the Glands. McVie was allowed back, and Bruce left to join Manfred Mann, but not before a live date by the Mayall-Clapton-Bruce-Flint line-up was recorded on Mayall's two-track tape recorder at London's Flamingo Club in November. The rough recording provided tracks that later appeared on the 1969 compilation Looking Back and the 1977 Primal Solos. 

The same line-up also entered the studio to record a planned single, "On Top of the World", which was not released at that time. Mayall and Clapton cut a couple of tracks without the others (although some sources give this as occurring back in the summer): "Lonely Years" b/w "Bernard Jenkins" was released as a single the next August on producer Mike Vernon's Purdah Records label (both tracks appeared again two decades later in Clapton's Crossroads box set). In a November 1965 session, blues pianist-singer Champion Jack Dupree (originally from New Orleans but in the 1960s living in Europe) got Mayall and Clapton to play on a few tracks.


In April 1966, the Bluesbreakers returned to Decca Studios to record a second LP with producer Vernon. The sessions, with horn arrangements for some tracks (John Almond on baritone sax, Alan Skidmore on tenor sax, and Dennis Healey on trumpet), lasted just three days. Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton was released in the UK on 22 July 1966. 

Several of the 12 tracks were covers of pure Chicago blues (side 1 kicking off strongly with Otis Rush's "All Your Love" and Freddy King's hit instrumental "Hide Away" [here spelled without a space as "Hideaway"]); Mayall wrote or arranged five (such as "Double Crossing Time", a slow blues with a scorching solo by co-writer Clapton); and Clapton debuted as lead vocalist, and began his practice of paying tribute to Robert Johnson, with "Ramblin' on My Mind". The album was Mayall's commercial breakthrough, rising to No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, and has since gained classic status, largely for the audacious aggressiveness and molten fluidity of Clapton's guitar playing. "It's Eric Clapton who steals the limelight," reported music mag Beat Instrumental, adding with unintended understatement, "and no doubt several copies of the album will be sold on the strength of his name."


In the meantime, on 11 June the formation of Cream—Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker—had been revealed in the music press, much to the embarrassment of Clapton, who had not said anything about this to Mayall. (After a May Bluesbreakers gig at which Baker had sat in, he and Clapton had first discussed forming their own band, and surreptitious rehearsal jams with Bruce soon commenced.) Clapton's last scheduled gig with the Bluesbreakers was 17 July in Bexley, south-east of London; Cream made a warmup club debut 29 July in Manchester and its "official" live debut two days later at the Sixth National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor.

Peter Green as guitarist, 1966–67
Mayall had to replace Clapton, and he succeeded in persuading Peter Green to come back. During the following year, with Green on guitar and various other sidemen, some 40 tracks were recorded. The album A Hard Road was released in February 1967. Today its expanded versions include most of this material, and the album itself also stands as a classic. In early 1967, Mayall released an EP recorded with American blues harpist Paul Butterfield.


But Peter Green gave notice and soon started his own project, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, which eventually was to include all three of Mayall's Bluesbreakers at this time: Green, McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood who was a Bluesbreaker for only a few weeks. Two live albums, Live in 1967 Volumes I and II, featuring this lineup were released on Forty Below Records in 2015 and 2016.

Mick Taylor as guitarist, 1967–69
Mayall's first choice to replace Green was 18-year-old David O'List, guitarist from the Attack. O'List declined, however, and went on to form the Nice with organist Keith Emerson. Through both a "musicians wanted" ad in Melody Maker on 10 June and his own search, Mayall found three other potential guitarists for his Bluesbreakers, a black musician named Terry Edmonds, John Moorshead, and 18-year-old Mick Taylor. The last made the band quickly, but Mayall also decided to hire Edmonds as a rhythm guitarist for a few days.


In the meantime, on a single day in May 1967, Mayall had assembled a studio album to showcase his own abilities. Former Artwoods drummer Keef Hartley appeared on only half of the tracks, and everything else was played by Mayall. The album was released in November titled The Blues Alone.

A six-piece line-up—consisting of Mayall, Mick Taylor as lead guitarist, John McVie still on bass, Hughie Flint or Hartley on drums, and Rip Kant and Chris Mercer on saxophones—recorded the album Crusade on 11 and 12 July 1967. These Bluesbreakers spent most of the year touring abroad, and Mayall taped the shows on a portable recorder. At the end of the tour, he had over sixty hours of tapes, which he edited into an album in two volumes: Diary of a Band, Vols. 1 & 2, released in February 1968. Meanwhile, a few line-up changes had occurred: McVie had departed and was replaced by Paul Williams, who himself soon quit to join Alan Price and was replaced by Keith Tillman; Dick Heckstall-Smith had taken the sax spot.


Following a US tour, there were more line-up changes, starting with the troublesome bass position. First Mayall replaced bassist Tillman with 15-year-old Andy Fraser. Within six weeks, though, Fraser left to join Free and was replaced by Tony Reeves, previously a member of the New Jazz Orchestra. Hartley was required to leave, and he was replaced by New Jazz Orchestra drummer Jon Hiseman (who had also played with the Graham Bond Organisation). Henry Lowther, who played violin and cornet, joined in February 1968. Two months later the Bluesbreakers recorded Bare Wires, co-produced by Mayall and Mike Vernon, which came up to UK No. 6.

Hiseman, Reeves, and Heckstall-Smith then moved on to form Colosseum. The Mayall line-up retained Mick Taylor and added drummer Colin Allen (formerly of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band / Dantalian's Chariot, and Georgie Fame) and a young bassist named Stephen Thompson. In August 1968 the new quartet recorded Blues from Laurel Canyon.

On 13 June 1969, after nearly two years with Mayall, Taylor left and joined the Rolling Stones.

01."Mr. James" John Mayall B-side of Decca F11900  02:55
02."Blues City Shakedown" Mayall B-side of Decca F12120 02:23
03."Stormy Monday" T-Bone Walker Previously unreleased  04:36
04."So Many Roads" Paul Marshall, Paul Williams B-side of Decca F12506  04:46
05."Looking Back" Johnny "Guitar" Watson A-side of Decca F125060  02:37
06."Sitting in the Rain" Mayall A-side of Decca F12545 02:59
07."It Hurts Me Too" Mel London, Hudson Whittaker B-side of Decca F12621  02:57
08."Double Trouble" Otis Rush, M. Melka A-side of Decca F12621  03:22
09."Suspicions (Part Two)" Mayall B-side of Decca F12684  05:29
10."Jenny" Mayall B-side of Decca F12732  04:38
11. "Picture on the Wall" Mayall A-side of Decca F12732  03:02

Bonus Tracks
12. I´m Your Witchdoctor [UK 1965 Bonus]  02.12
13. Telephone Blues [UK 1965 Bonus]  03.57
14. On Top Of The World [Bonus]  02.49
15. Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, John Mayall - Can't Fail Blues [Bonus]  05.39
16. Bye Bye Bird [BBC UK 1965]  02.50
17. Sitting In The Rain [UK 1967 Bonus]  02.52
18. Crocodile Walk [BBC UK 1965]  02.25
19. Riding On The L & N [BBC UK 1966]  02.19
20. Leaping Christine [BBC UK 1967]  01.53
21. Tears in My Eyes [BBC UK 1966]  04.31

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Friday, March 10, 2023

Stevie Ray Vaughan - 1st Unreleased Album (1978) (Bootleg) A+



Size: 163 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in "Dime" 18 years Ago
Superb SoundQuality
Artwork Included

"The Legendary Lost First Stevie Ray Vaughn Album"
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble featuring Miss Lou Ann Barton.


"The one and only surviving test pressing was recently discovered 
in a cupboard in South Austin, Texas where it had lain for the last 19 years, all other recordings of the project have been destroyed after alleged contractual disputes arose.  These recording, notable for their raw energy and rare slide guitar work are essential for all true collectors.  Also featuring four early arrangements of songs that later appeared on the Texas Flood album.


Due to the brevity of the Nashville '78 session the producers  
have added a live soundboard recording featuring Lou Ann Barton and three tracks featuring Johnni Reno on saxophone."

Notes: The above paragraph is the supposed story behind this  recording as told on the cd inlay.  The real story is  that the band didn't like the way the album turned out
and paid a large sum of money to keep it from being  released.  As you would expect, someone got their hands  on a copy and bootlegged it.

◊ Stevie Ray Vaughan: Vocals and Guitar
◊ Jack Newhouse: Bass
◊ Chris Layton: Drums
◊ Lou Ann Barton: Vocals
    Produced by: Joe Gracy

Tracks 1-10: Studio Recordings
Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Jack Clemont's Belmont Studio, early 1978
Tracks 11-17: Austin Blues Festival, 1979
Tracks 18-20: Piona's, October 1979  

01. You Can Have My Husband (Lou Ann vocal)  02:53
02. Rude Mood  03:25  
03. Oh, Yeah (Lou Ann vocal)  03:00
04. Pride And Joy (Stevie vocal)  03:00
05. Love Struck Baby (Stevie vocal)  02:04
06. Ti-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu ("Tina Nina Nu", Lou Ann vocal)  02:44
07. Gonna Miss Me ("Empty Arms", Stevie vocal)  02:23
08. I Wonder Why ("Will My Man Be Home Tonight?" > Lou Ann vocal, Stevie slide guitar)  05:31
09. I'm Crying ("I'm Crying", Stevie vocal)  03:30
10. Sugar Coated Loving ("Sugar Coated Love", Lou Ann vocal)  03:22
Bonus Tracks
11. Natural Born Lover  03:41
12. Ti-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu ("Tina Nina Nu")  02:54
13. Scratch My Back  04:00
14. I'll Change  03:11
15. Shake A Hand, Shake A Hand  04:32
16. Oh Baby  03:34
17. Sugar Coated Love  03:40
Extra Bonus
18. Love In Vain  04:29
19. You Can Have My Husband (starts off with "So Excited")  05:16
20. My Baby's Gone ("Oh Yeah")  02:53

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Blue Cheer - Crossroads Festival April 11 2008 FM Broadcast (Bootleg) A+



Size: 100 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in OuterSpace
No Artwork

Blue Cheer is an American blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and has been sporadically active since. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues-rock style, and are also credited as being pioneers of heavy metal music. According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom, "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia. The band was rumored to have been named for a brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley.


The band's sound was something of a departure from the music that had been coming out of the Bay Area: Blue Cheer's three musicians played heavy blues-rock, and played it very loud.

1966-1969: Golden Years
The group came together in 1966. It was co-founded by Eric Albronda and Jerry Russell, music aficionados who wanted to become involved with the San Francisco music scene of the 1960s. Both moved with Dickie Peterson from Davis, California, to San Francisco. Peterson had previously been with the Davis-based band, Andrew Staples & The Oxford Circle. Later Blue Cheer members Paul Whaley and Gary Lee Yoder also played with this band at the time. Original personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and Eric Albronda as a drummer. Then Albronda was replaced by Paul Whaley, who was joined by three others: Dickie's brother Jerre Peterson (guitar), Vale Hamanaka (keyboards) and Jerry Whiting (vocals, harmonica). Albronda continued his association with Blue Cheer as a member of Blue Cheer management, as well as being the producer or co-producer of five Blue Cheer albums.


Early on, it was decided that the lineup should be trimmed down. It is said that Blue Cheer decided to adopt a power trio configuration after seeing Jimi Hendrix perform at the Monterey Pop Festival. Hamanaka and Whiting were asked to leave. And Jerre Peterson didn't want to remain in the group without them. So he departed as well, leaving Dickie, Leigh and Paul as a trio. Their first hit was a cover version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (1968). The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, their only such hit, and the album peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The group's sound was hard to categorise, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and loud.

The
"Summertime Blues" single was backed with Dickie Peterson's original song "Out Of Focus". Petersen also contributed to the album the eight-minute "Doctor Please" and "Second Time Around", which features Paul Whaley's frantic drum solo. Filling out the record, the band cranks out blues covers "Rock Me Baby" and Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" (titled "Parchment Farm").

The group underwent several personnel changes, the first occurring after the 1968 release of Outsideinside after Leigh Stephens left the band due to musical differences or, as some report, deafness, He was replaced by Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles garage rock band The Other Half On 1969's New! Improved! Blue Cheer there were different guitarists on side 1 and 2, Randy Holden and Bruce Stephens, due to Holden's unanticipated departure from the band. Ralph Burns Kellogg also joined the band on keyboards. Blue Cheer's style now changed to a more commercial hard rock sound à la Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. For the fourth album Blue Cheer, Bruce Stephens left and was succeeded by Gary Lee Yoder who helped complete the album.

The new line-up of Peterson, Ralph Burns Kellogg, Norman Mayell (drums) and Yoder in 1970 saw the release of The Original Human Being and then 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope. When Oh! Pleasant Hope failed to dent the sales charts, Blue Cheer temporarily split up by 1972.

There was a temporary resumption in 1974 with Dickie Peterson being joined by brother Jerre, Ruben de Fuentes(guitar) and Terry Rae(drums) for some tour dates. This grouping continued on briefly in 1975 with former Steppenwolf bassist Nick St. Nicholas replacing Dickie. The group was then largely inactive for nearly three years, until 1978.

Dickie returned in 1978-79 with a fresh line-up of Tony Rainier on guitar and Mike Fleck on drums. This version of the group never got out of rehearsal studios. Blue Cheer was then inactive for a further three years.

Blue Cheer was inactive from 1980 to 1983. In 1984, Peterson had better luck when he returned with Whaley and Rainier as Blue Cheer and a brand new album The Beast is Back, which was released on the European label Megaforce Records . Whaley left again in 1985, as drummer Bret Heartman took over, only to be succeeded by Billy Carmassi in 1987. That same year, Dickie led yet another new lineup of the Cheer that had Ruben de Fuentes back on guitar and Eric Davis on drums. In 1988, the trio further changed, being now composed of Dickie Peterson (bass), with Andrew "Duck" McDonald(guitar) and Dave Salce(drums).

From 1988 to 1993, Blue Cheer toured mainly in Europe. During this time, they played with classic rock acts as well as then-up-and-coming bands: Mountain, Outlaws, Thunder, The Groundhogs, Ten Years After, The Yardbirds, Danzig, Mucky Pup and others.

1989 saw the release of Blue Cheer's first official live album, Blitzkrieg over Nüremberg. This album was recorded during Blue Cheer's first European tour in decades.

1990 saw the release of the Highlights & Lowlives studio album, composed of blues-based heavy metal and one ballad. The album was produced by notable grunge producer Jack Endino. The line-up was Peterson, Whaley on drums and McDonald on guitars.


Blue Cheer followed up "Highlights" with the much heavier Dining with the Sharks. McDonald was replaced by German ex-Monsters guitar player Dieter Saller. Peterson was on bass and vocals again, and Paul Whaley was again on drums. Also featured is a special guest appearance by Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee. The album was produced by Roland Hofmann.

Gary Holland, (ex-Dokken), replaced Whaley on drums in 1993.

In the early 1990s, Peterson and Whaley re-located to Germany. Whaley still lives there, while Peterson moved back to California in 1994. After Peterson came back to the U.S., Blue Cheer was dormant from 1995 to 1998.

In 1999, Peterson & Whaley got together with guitarist McDonald, to resume touring as Blue Cheer. This band configuration has remained largely constant from 1999 to the present.

In 2000, Blue Cheer was the subject of a tribute album, Blue Explosion - A Tribute to Blue Cheer, featuring such bands as Pentagram, Internal Void, Hogwash and Thumlock.

Peterson and Leigh Stephens were together once again in Blue Cheer with drummer Prairie Prince at the Chet Helms Memorial Tribal Stomp in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on October 29th, 2005, and their lively performance drew old rockers like Paul Kantner and others from backstage to observe. They did some recordings in Virginia in Winter 2005 with Joe Hasselvander of Raven and Pentagram on drums, due to Paul Whaley choosing to remain in Germany. 

While Hasselvander played on the entire album, his contribution was reduced to drums on five songs, with Paul Whaley re-recording the drum parts on the balance of the album. 

This was because Whaley was set to rejoin the band and it was felt that he should contribute to the album, prior to touring. 

The resulting CD, What Doesn't Kill You..., released in 2007, features contributions from both Whaley and Hasselvander as a consequence.

Blue Cheer's video for Summertime Blues made an appearance in 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, where Geddy Lee of Rush referred to the group as one of the first heavy metal bands.

The band is also regarded as the godfathers of stoner rock. Bands like Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Nebula and Monster Magnet have cited their "heavy-fuzz rock" as a massive influence on them.

April 11, 2008, Crossroads Festival, Harmonie, Bonn, Germany

01. Parchment Farm  07:41
02. Rollin' Dem Bones  05:13
03. Out Of Focus  05:18
04. Just A Little Bit  04:22
05. Maladjusted Child  05:58
06. Summertime Blues  06:53
07. The Hunter  05:46 

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Wednesday, March 08, 2023

Not to be missed: Allmen Joy - Family Dog Denver, Colorado 1967-12 (Bootleg)



Size: 147 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in The DC++ World
Some Artwork Included

Allmen Joy 1967-12-xx Denver,CO Family Dog [EXCELLENT uncirculated 2nd gen. stereo SBD (NOT pre-Allmans band) SUPER HEAVY Haight Ashbury ACID PSYCH GUARANTEED to bLoW yR MiNd 

If Blue Cheer made cream cheese outta the air, then these guys musta crystalised the heavens on a good night. Some kind of a mix of Blue Cheer & Big Brother guitars, Country Joe & The Fish style ethereal moves & organ, & occasional Dead-like feedback & vocal insanity, mixed with 60s garage sounds & a nod to the Chambers Brothers... 60s West Coast manna from the vault.

Thanks to the original taper & traders! When this came along it was a welcome addition to my West Coast music library as I'd seen the name on so many cool psychedelic posters but never actually heard the band. Most everything about it is great, jamming, instrumentation & vocals & only a couple of funk numbers overdo it a bit for me, though they more than have their good moments as they contain extensive jams & feedback sessions. The drugged-out material is staggeringly great, with astonishing SUPER HEAVY psychedelic lead guitar. Nice to have entered an age where one can increase one's listening pleasure in so many ways with home mastering. 

Aside from a couple of bad splices, this is massively improved over my original tape. Anyway, according to "Fist", the band name was changed to Allmen Joy in part because of the candy bar (loved by band members) & partly, "because the band was very promiscuous & was a hit with many of the female followers"! Many posters with Allmen Joy exist as they were Avalon Ballroom regulars & played the Straight Theatre, Matrix & most Bay Area venues, toured California, & played as far afield as the Vancouver Retinal Circus. There certainly are more tapes out there. 

Please consider letting us hear some of them. In the meantime, your heart will nearly stop at times. Be sure the pacemaker & air guitar fuzzbox have fresh batteries. If you had trouble coming down from your last acid trip, however many days, months or years ago that was, then be careful with the volume on "You're Gonna Miss Me", cause it SURE ain't for those who aren't into doin' some cerebral travelin'. Pretty well guaranteed to leave whatever mind noodles ya got left all over the floor & the ghosts of Christmas past howling down your chimney. Get ready to ENJOY the Allmen Joy!

Kudos to Zongo for life support, Lochner for mikes&more & Fast Freddie for runnin' Video Dick's Record Emporium with the bathroom office full of tape decks. Thanks to Hanwaker (few among us can keep his pace). Mountains of gratitude to Davmar, D.White, Sanchez, Elliot, The Florida Kid, Kloiber, Zingg, JTW, Bershaw, Boston Gold, Dixon, Moore, Gough & SO many more for all that collecting & sharing... Royal thanks to The Man In The Palace, Doc Tinker, Brinkhoffs, Barely Eating', Reel Master Gaule, Parrish & all the traders who housed me thru my music acquisition & travel years. 

Hats off to Brother Kent, Uncle Jake, Little Queenie (& her neighbor Frank) & his honor Ptomaine Thomas. Glasses raised to Byron for musical horizon expansion & much obliged to J & Thurston for keepin' my concert fires burnin' since my continental shift.


This recording demands some real volume so hang out the freak flag & hope the neighbors are on vacation. A missing link in the 60s Bay Area music puzzle & undoubtably one of the finest uploads I have offered so far on DIME. 

Not sure what might crawl out of the cave in the future, but this should shiver some timbers & shake some angel dust outta yr trees. Here's one from the depths of 1967 Hashbury, where & when the love children were playing on the street* & dancing in the park with rainbows in their eyes, flowers in their hair & the Allmen Joy filling their ears on many a night. (*tho' by the time I wandered there in the 70s they were huffing glue). Must be some of you DIMERs out there who remember seeing the Allmen Joy band. Here's your chance to re-live those precious days of yesterday.

I hope this one takes the cake & goes down a storm as they say & some folks take notice AND listen. It's like a mega audio fireworks display all on its own, a MELTDOWN of the first order. If you do like it, do feedback, as it does motivate one for future mastering attempts on other recordings. 

VERY cool to think the SF bands were paying attention to the 13th Floor Elevators as what Roky & crew were doing was off in another galaxy altogether - but just as fabulous in its own way. 

Come back & tell me/us how this altered your mind after you have listened thru. It should leave your synapses toasted like a night after seeing one of Owsley's ghosts. What better late xmas gift for you than an ELEVEN minute San Francisco acid rock style version of "You're Gonna Miss Me"... 

"You came here to enjoy yourselves, so why not trip out?"

Allmen Joy
1967-12-xx Denver, Colorado Family Dog 1601 West Evans Avenue

Line-up
Lu "Fist" Stephens - organ, vocals 
 Roger “Rog” Alan Saunders - lead electric guitar, vocals  
 Ken Zeidel - rhythm electric guitar, vocals 
 Dennis "Funky" Parker - electric bass, vocals  
 Rod Harper - drums

01. ...Walk With Me  06:38
02. Funky Broadway  11:02
03. On Broadway  09:58
04. You're Gonna Miss Me  10:55
05. Need Your Love  06:55
06. The// Merry Tripster  07:01
07. The Monkey Time  06:43
08. 'Freak Out' -> ? (instrumental)...  04:22

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Crosscut Saw - Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know (Private Press US Acid Rock 1974)



Size: 70.2 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped By: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included

A wild Florida acid blues-rock outfit with raw vocals and good guitar leads. 

Almost completely unknown, Private pressed album but with a powerful sound that deserves rediscovery! Florida natives Crosscut Saw recorded one rare album for the independent Surprise label in 1975, which had never been digitally remastered until now! Pat Ramsey, vocals and harmonica, cut his teeth in the court of 'His Majesty' Johnny Winter, playing with him both live and on several albums. 


He is the real deal and amazes both for his technical ability and style - harmonica lovers be warned! Julien Kasper could be called a kind of Eddie Van Halen of the blues, not only for his talent and speed but also for his impeccable style. 

If you need proof just listen to the slow burning "Dead Shrimp Blues". This album is a concentrate of high voltage blues and boogie rock, and will surely appear to fans of Groundhogs, Killing Floor, Nighthawks, Taste and Johnny Winter... "Allergic To Work" is an unforgettable track!

01. One's Too Many        
02. Allergic to Work        
03. Love Her with a Feeling        
04. Steppin' Out        
05. Vegetable Oil        
06. Dead Shrimp Blues        
07. Treat Her Right        
08. Hear My Song        
09. Hippie Song        
10. Mud Bee 

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Crystals - Crystals (Italian Progressive Hardrock 1974)



Size: 68.7 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped By: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included

The ultra rare 1973 release from this Italian prog supergroup formed by members of PFM and Banco which hasn't been available for over three decades. Due to wrangles at the time it was never issued and is an undeniable piece of genuine Italian rock history. Sung in English by Carlo Degani with superb guitar by Marcello Todaro.


Crystals is a sort of supergroup composed in the 1973 year by experienced and famous musicians, former members of name bands like
PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI (Giorgio Piazza), BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO (Marcello Todaro), RACCOMANDATA RICEVUTA DI RITORNO and SAMADHI (Nanni Civitenga), ALPHATAURUS (Giorgio Santandrea), and under the guidance of Paolo Tofani (AREA and ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN) that composed all of their tracks.

They recorded an album that was intended for release on Cramps label, but for mysterious reasons, it never appeared, and has only seen the light on CD in the early 90's.
The record shows an excellent musicianship. The lyrics are sung in english and the album has long instrumental parts. A Led Zeppelin influence is evident even if two guitarists make the sound original.


Attention: this is a clear ISP/ RPI related supergroup. For me the only place for this band is between the ISP/ RPI bands/ artists. This not only for the musician involved (Degani, Todaro, Piazza, Santandrea and Civitenga with the songs written by Tofani) but also because this is a real Prog version of the Led Zeppelin. In this sense the arrangements help more my conviction. In fact the arrangements is more present in the Crystals music that in the music of Led Zeppelin. Where the Zep is more Blues/ Folk the Crystals is more Folk/ Blues. 

And this is a very big difference. It is true that Carlo Degani is a photocopy of Robert Plant, but when it have to be more personal this characteristic it isn't present. But the Cramps records where is it in 1974 for Crystals? Attractive question, because only in 1992 Mauro Moroni and Ciro Perrino recovered this masterpiece. All the songs deserves a long and attentive listen but i think that "Wrong Out", "Time Out", "Feelings", If She's Mine", "Sad Story", "Policeman (very Zep Folk Style with personal electric insertions) and "Woman Under Water" are the best songs. Practically I exclude only "Persian Carpet" because he is anonymous (but in this quite of God!!!). Attention, I repeat, this isn't ISP/ RPI band but a very interesting related ISP/ RPI supergroup. But very Prog and convincing.

I (and not only I) don't know because the Cramps Records not published this album in 1974. But likely that exist the Mellow Records that in 1992 published this little masterpiece. Because the story so have the just weight and recognition. 

01. Wrought Iron
02. Time Out
03. Feeling
04. If She's Still Mine
05. Sad Story
06. Persian Carpet
07. Policeman
08. Women Under Water 

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Bob Smith - The Visit (Superb Psychedelia US 1970)



Size: 117 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped By: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included

A double album that was released in 1971, this didn't recieve adequate distribution for a considerable period, so it wasn't really available until late '72.This is a classic psych album in every sense: trippy effects, phased/wah'd guitars, searing leads, wasted vocals/subject matter and the obligatory 'experiment' pieces, tho' these are not as prominent as you'd figure knowing that this is a double lp. Despite the title, this is not a solo album by any means, as Mr. Smith had a large backup band that featured members of the Mothers of Invention.I got this out today and have been enjoying it all morning- it's not gimmicky or wacked-out or anything, just good, solid psych that still holds up well today. Personal favorite is 'Don't Tell Lady', a loud psycher about hiding the ingestions of certain substances from a spouse:  "If you go out tonight/And I can't stand up tonight/I said don't tell lady/Tonight"... Ha! This is (of course) sung over a snaky flanged out stoner guitar lead, heh-heh. A reasonable buy if you have all of the 'mainstream' psych albums and are still hungry. Great sounding CD reissue of a rare and highly prized double album, from the west coast. Chock full of psychedelic goodness fuzz, effects, harpsichord and lost drifting vocals. A superb CD. 


Another significant collectable from the California rock scene that will interest readers. Not really a solo album at all, as Smith is backed by eight very capable musicians. Much of the music is instrumental, achieving a mystical and 'psychedelic' atmosphere, although there are a few more mainstream tracks and some nice bluesy guitar work in places. Interesting and a must for fans of psychedelia. The original pressing (especially with the amazing psychedelic poster) has skyrocketed in value in recent years; as such, the recent reissue is most welcome. It includes a bonus disc of material recorded by Stop, Bob's later band from the early seventies. 

Prior to the Kent album, Bob was with Silverskin, and before that, Lid (not to be confused with The Lyd), who recorded an album in 1968 which remains unissued. 

Don Preston was a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention and Daryl Dragon was with The Dragons. Daryl worked on various projects with his brothers Doug and Dennis (Farm, A Sea For Yourself, et. al.) before finding fame and fortune as the 'Captain' in Captain and Tenille. Bob Smith continues performing locally in Florida and has finished a new recording, The Visit - Destiny 2000 From Bob Smith which he will make available on his own Southern Rose label.

01 - Please - 3.14
02 - Don´t Tell Lady tonight - 3.09
03 - Constructive Critique - 4.43
04 - Ocean Song - 4.50
05 - The Wishing Song - 5.04
06 - Can You Jump Rope - 5.47
07 - Latter Days Matter - 3.31
08 - India Slumber - 7.47
09 - Source You Blues - 6.02
10 - Sunlight Sweet - 3.10
11 - Of She, Of Things - 3.17
12 - Mobeda Dandelions - 3.18
13 - The Path Does Have Forks - 5.25
14 - Try, Try To Understand Yourself - 3.22

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