Nils Lofgren - Selftitled (Great 1st Album US 1975)

Size: 75.5 MB
Birate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

Nils Lofgren is a 1975 album by Nils Lofgren, also known as the "Fat Man Album". It was his first solo album, following the breakup of his group, Grin.

The album was critically praised at the time of its release, most notably in a 1975 Rolling Stone review by Jon Landau. The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said it was a "tour de force of unquenchable vitality and disarming subtlety." In 2007, nearly 32 years after the release of Nils Lofgren, the album was again praised by Rolling Stone in the "Fricke's Picks" column, where David Fricke said it was one of 1975's best albums.

When Nils Lofgren released his first solo album in 1975, most fans were expecting a set confirming his guitar hero status, and more than a few listeners were vocally disappointed with the more laid-back and song-oriented disc Lofgren delivered. However, with the passage of time Nils Lofgren has come to be regarded as an overlooked classic, and with good reason -- Lofgren has rarely been in better form on record as a songwriter, vocalist, musician, and bandleader. While Lofgren doesn't lay down a firestorm of guitar on each selection (with his piano unexpectedly high in the mix), when he does solo he makes it count, and the rough but tasty chordings and bluesy accents that fill out the frameworks of the songs give the performances plenty of sinew. Just as importantly, this is as good a set of songs as Lofgren has assembled on one disc, consistently passionate and forceful, from the cocky "If I Say It, It's So" and "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet" to the lovelorn "I Don't Want to Know" and "Back It Up," while "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twins)" comes from the heart of a true fan and "Rock and Roll Crook" suggests Lofgren had already learned plenty about the music business by this time. 

The production on Nils Lofgren is simple but simpatico, giving all the players plenty of room to shine, and Lofgren's rhythm section (Wornell Jones on bass and Aynsley Dunbar on drums) fits the album's funky but heartfelt vibe perfectly. Lofgren has made harder rocking and flashier albums since his debut, but he rarely hit the pocket with the same élan as he did on Nils Lofgren, and it remains the most satisfying studio album of his career.

Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a former member of Crazy Horse, and founder/frontman of the band Grin. Lofgren was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band in 2014.

Lofgren was born in Chicago in 1951 to Swedish/Italian parents. He moved to the suburban town of Garrett Park, Maryland, near the northern border of Washington, D.C. as a very young child. Lofgren's first instrument was classical accordion, beginning at age 5, which he studied seriously for ten years. After studying classical music and jazz, throughout his youth, Lofgren switched his emphasis to rock music, and focused on the piano and the guitar. By 1968, Lofgren formed the band Grin originally with bassist George Daly (later replaced by Bob Gordon), and drummer Bob Berberich, former players in the DC band The Hangmen. The group played in venues throughout the Washington, D.C. area. Lofgren had been a competitive gymnast in high school, a skill that popped up later in his career. During this time, Lofgren met Neil Young and played for him. Young invited Lofgren to come to California and the Grin trio (Lofgren, Daly and Berberich) drove out west and lived for some months at a home Neil Young rented in Laurel Canyon.

Lofgren joined Neil Young's band at age 17, playing piano and guitar on the album After the Gold Rush. Lofgren worked on his parts around-the-clock when recording was not in session. Lofgren maintained a close musical relationship with Young, appearing on his Tonight's the Night album and tour among others. He was also briefly a member of Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1971 LP and contributing songs to their catalogue.

Lofgren used the Neil Young album credits to land his band Grin a record deal in 1971. Lofgren had formed the band originally with bassist George Daly and drummer Bob Berberich, and the group played in venues throughout the Washington D.C. area before going to California. Daly left the band early on to become a Columbia Records A & R Executive and was replaced by bassist Bob Gordon, who remained through the release of four critically acclaimed albums of catchy, hard rock, from 1971 to 1974, with guitar as Lofgren's primary instrument. The single "White Lies" got heavy airplay on Washington, D.C.-area radio. Lofgren wrote the majority of the group's songs, and often shared vocal duties with other members of the band (primarily drummer Bob Berberich). After the second album Nils added brother Tom Lofgren as a rhythm guitarist. Grin failed to hit the big time, and were released by their record company.

In 1974 Grin disbanded. Lofgren's eponymous debut solo album was a success with critics; a 1975 Rolling Stone review by Jon Landau labeled it one of the finest rock albums of the year, and NME ranked it 5th in its list of albums of the year. Subsequent albums did not always garner critical favor, although Cry Tough was voted number 10 in the 1976 NME Album round up; I Came To Dance in particular received a scathing review in the New Rolling Stone Record Guide. He achieved progressive rock radio hits in the mid-1970s with "Back It Up", "Keith Don't Go" and "I Came to Dance". His song "Bullets Fever", about the 1978 NBA champion Washington Bullets, would become a favorite in the Washington area. Throughout the 1970s, Lofgren released solo albums and toured extensively with a backing band that again usually included brother Tom on rhythm guitar. Lofgren's concerts displayed his reputation for theatrics, such as playing guitar while doing flips on a trampoline.

In 1971 he appeared on stage on the Roy Buchanan Special, PBS TV, with Bill Graham. In 1973 he appeared with Grin on NBC on Midnight Special, performing three songs live. In 1978 he wrote and sang the "Nobody Bothers Me" theme for a D.C. Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do advertisement, and also appeared in the notorious Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Nils is credited on 2 of Lou Gramm (of Foreigner) solo albums: "Ready or Not" released in 1987 (Nils listed as lead guitarist) and "Long Hard Look" released in 1989 (Nils listed as one of the guitarists). In 1987 he contributed the TV Show theme arrangement for Hunter. In 1993 he contributed to The Simpsons, with two Christmas jingles with Bart. In 1995 he appeared on a PBS tribute to the Beatles along with Dr. John. From 1991–95 he was the CableAce Awards musical director and composer.

In 1984, he joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as the replacement for Steven Van Zandt on guitar and vocals, in time for Springsteen's massive Born in the U.S.A. Tour. Following the tour he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, to promote his 1985 solo release Flip. The E Street Band toured again with Springsteen in 1988 on the Tunnel of Love Express and Human Rights Now!. In 1989 Springsteen broke up the E Street Band, but Lofgren and Van Zandt rejoined when Springsteen revived the band in 1999 for their Reunion Tour, followed by The Rising and another massive tour in 2002 and 2003, then again for the Magic album and world tour of 2007/2008, and most recently in 2012-2013 for the Wrecking Ball Tour and in 2014 for the High Hopes Tour.

Personnel:
♦ Nils Lofgren - guitars, piano, vocals
♦ Wornell Jones - bass
♦ Aynsley Dunbar - drums
♦ Stu Gardner - backing vocals

01. "Be Good Tonight" 0:50
02. "Back It Up" – 2:23
03. "One More Saturday Night" – 3:09
04. "If I Say It, It's So" – 3:00
05. "I Don't Want to Know" – 2:45
06. "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)" – 4:23
07. "Can't Buy a Break" – 3:19
08. "Duty" – 2:57
09. "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet" – 2:48
10. "Rock and Roll Crook" – 2:55
11. "Two by Two" – 3:07
12. "Goin' Back" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 3:51

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Eric Clapton - Turn Up Turn Down (Studio Sessions 1980) (Bootleg)

Size: 98.5 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Some Artwork
Source: Bootleg

The MidValley version has slightly better sound quality, but it’s tough to tell the discs apart on the average home sound system or if listening in your car. These tracks were recorded in March / April 1980 at Surrey Sound Studios. Turn Up Down is a copy of the album that Clapton submitted to his record company. They rejected it and he was forced back into the studio to record Another Ticket. It is interesting to hear how tracks like “Rita Mae”, “Catch Me If You Can”, and others evolved.

What a shock, another knockout remaster from Mid Valley. This is one of those "Good News and Bad News" stories, the "Good News" is that the tracks here are clearly superior in quality to those released on the DJ Copy label. However, this release does omit several tracks found on the earlier release, so both are required listening to any dedicated Claptonologist. Recommended.

Eric Clapton
Studio Session - Turn Up Down 
March-April 1980, Surrey Sound Studios 
Leatherhead, Surrey

Personnel
♣ Guitar/Vocals: Eric Clapton  
♣ Guitar/Vocals: Albert Lee
♣ Keyboards: Chris Stainton
♣ Keyboards/vocals: Gary Brooker
♣ Drums: Henry Spinetti
♣ Bass: Dave Markee 

01. There Ain't No Money  04:30
02. The Game's Up  03:12 
03. Rita Mae  03:37 
04. Freedom  03:42 
05. Eveangelica  03:54 
06. Home Lovin'  05:01 
07. Hold Me Lord  03:26
08. Something Special  02:43 
09. I'd Love to Say I Love You  04:17 
10. Catch Me If You Can  07:55

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Picture of The Day...

The Roulettes - Stakes and Chips (Very Rare Beat Album UK 1965)

Size: 66.5 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

An underrated British quartet made up of John Rogan (bass), Russ Ballard (lead guitar), Peter Thorpe (rhythm guitar), and Bob Henrit (drums), the Roulettes featured future Argent alumnus Russ Ballard on lead guitar. They were originally formed as a backing band for vocalist Adam Faith, who enjoyed a massively successful light rock & roll career in the early '60s in England. Beginning in 1963 with the start of the rock & roll explosion coming out of Liverpool, the group was somewhat reorganized, and their and Faith's work together became much more assertive; the result was Faith's last big hit "The First Time" in August of 1963.

The group began recording on their own for EMI in late 1963 and revealed themselves as an above-average group, fully competitive on a musical level with acts like the Searchers and the Hollies. Their records, though fewer in number, display many of the same virtues found on the better-known work of the Beatles and the Searchers, including soaring harmonies behind strong lead vocals, crisp guitar playing, and a good ear for memorable hooks. Ballard and Henrit also appeared on "Concrete and Clay," a major hit for the acoustic rock outfit Unit Four Plus Two, but the Roulettes' own records stubbornly failed to make the charts. By 1965, they'd split with Adam Faith, but the concentration on their own careers didn't change the inexplicably lackluster performance of their records.

The group soldiered on through 1967 without any chart success, playing shows on the European continent, where any good British rock band could still earn a decent living. Finally, Ballard and Henrit joined Unit Four Plus Two, while Thorpe and Rogan left the music business. 

Following the breakup of Unit Four Plus Two in 1968, Ballard and Henrit hooked up with Rod Argent and Chris White, late of the Zombies, and formed Argent, a quartet that, for a brief time in the early '70s, enjoyed some of the chart success that had eluded the Roulettes throughout their history.

The Roulettes were a British rock and roll group formed in London in 1962. They were shortly recruited to play as the backing group to singer Adam Faith, in order for him to compete with the beat bands then emerging from Merseyside. With Faith, they subsequently enjoyed a run of chart hits in the 1960s, billed as Adam Faith with The Roulettes on the Parlophone label. 

They backed Faith on the UK chart hits; 'The First Time', 'We Are in Love', 'I Love Being in Love With You', 'If He Tells You', and 'Someone's Taken Maria Away' (between 1964–65) In 1963, The Roulettes signed to EMI and began releasing their own material, scoring one UK chart hit 'A Bad Time' and releasing a now verey rare album for Parlophone 'Stakes And Chips', and in addition they continued to work with Faith as well until October 1965, most notably backing him on a 'Live' album. Their own later records, however, were less successful, although they toured in Europe until 1967, when the group split up.

Members Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit went on to join Unit 4 + 2 formed by original Roulettes' member Brian Parker (on whose 1965 number one song, "Concrete and Clay", they had both previously played); the two would later also become members of rock band Argent. In addition Ballard had later success as a solo artist and songwriter, whilst Henrit became a renowned session drummer and also replaced The Kinks' long serving drummer Mick Avory in their later years.

Original Album Tracks:
01. Bad Time  
02. What You Gonna Do?  
03. Settle Down  
04. Taste Of Honey
05. Find Out The Truth  
06. I'll Remember Tonight
07. You Don't Love Me  
08. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow
09. I Hope He Breaks Your Heart  
10. I Can't Think Of Anyone Else
11. Shake
12. Soon You'll Be Leaving Me  
13. Me Body  
14. This Little Girl

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The Roulettes - UK Single 1966

The Roulettes Promotion Photo 1965

Taj Mahal - Ultrasonic Studios, NY 1974-10-15 FM Broadcast (Bootleg)

Size: 150 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Source: A cassette Hit my head
Some Artwork

One of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues, singer/multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal played an enormous role in revitalizing and preserving traditional acoustic blues. Not content to stay within that realm, Mahal soon broadened his approach, taking a musicologist's interest in a multitude of folk and roots music from around the world -- reggae and other Caribbean folk, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco, various West African styles, Latin, even Hawaiian. The African-derived heritage of most of those forms allowed Mahal to explore his own ethnicity from a global perspective and to present the blues as part of a wider musical context. Yet while he dabbled in many different genres, he never strayed too far from his laid-back country blues foundation. Blues purists naturally didn't have much use for Mahal's music, and according to some of his other detractors, his multi-ethnic fusions sometimes came off as indulgent, or overly self-conscious and academic. Still, Mahal's concept was vindicated in the '90s, when a cadre of young bluesmen began to follow his lead -- both acoustic revivalists (Keb' Mo', Guy Davis) and eclectic bohemians (Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart).

Taj Mahal was born Henry St. Clair Fredericks in New York on May 17, 1942. His parents -- his father a jazz pianist/composer/arranger of Jamaican descent, his mother a schoolteacher from South Carolina who sang gospel -- moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, when he was quite young, and while growing up there, he often listened to music from around the world on his father's short-wave radio. He particularly loved the blues -- both acoustic and electric -- and early rock & rollers like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. While studying agriculture and animal husbandry at the University of Massachusetts, he adopted the musical alias Taj Mahal (an idea that came to him in a dream) and formed Taj Mahal & the Elektras, who played around the area during the early '60s. After graduating, Mahal moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and, after making his name on the local folk-blues scene, formed the Rising Sons with guitarist Ry Cooder. The group signed to Columbia and released one single, but the label didn't quite know what to make of their forward-looking blend of Americana, which anticipated a number of roots rock fusions that would take shape in the next few years; as such, the album they recorded sat on the shelves, unreleased until 1992.

The Natch'l Blues Frustrated, Mahal left the group and wound up staying with Columbia as a solo artist. His self-titled debut was released in early 1968 and its stripped-down approach to vintage blues sounds made it unlike virtually anything else on the blues scene at the time. It came to be regarded as a classic of the '60s blues revival, as did its follow-up, Natch'l Blues. The half-electric, half-acoustic double-LP set Giant Step followed in 1969, and taken together, those three records built Mahal's reputation as an authentic yet unique modern-day bluesman, gaining wide exposure and leading to collaborations or tours with a wide variety of prominent rockers and bluesmen. During the early '70s, Mahal's musical adventurousness began to take hold; 1971's Happy Just to Be Like I Am heralded his fascination with Caribbean rhythms and the following year's double-live set, The Real Thing, added a New Orleans-flavored tuba section to several tunes. In 1973, Mahal branched out into movie soundtrack work with his compositions for Sounder, and the following year he recorded his most reggae-heavy outing, Mo' Roots.

BrothersMahal continued to record for Columbia through 1976, upon which point he switched to Warner Bros.; he recorded three albums for that label, all in 1977 (including a soundtrack for the film Brothers). Changing musical climates, however, were decreasing interest in Mahal's work and he spent much of the '80s off record, eventually moving to Hawaii to immerse himself in another musical tradition. Mahal returned in 1987 with Taj, an album issued by Gramavision that explored this new interest; the following year, he inaugurated a string of successful, well-received children's albums with Shake Sugaree. The next few years brought a variety of side projects, including a musical score for the lost Langston Hughes/Zora Neale Hurston play Mule Bone that earned Mahal a Grammy nomination in 1991.

Like Never Before The same year marked Mahal's full-fledged return to regular recording and touring, kicked off with the first of a series of well-received albums on the Private Music label, Like Never Before. Follow-ups, such as Dancing the Blues (1993) and Phantom Blues (1996), drifted into more rock, pop, and R&B-flavored territory; in 1997, Mahal won a Grammy for Señor Blues. Meanwhile, he undertook a number of small-label side projects that constituted some of his most ambitious forays into world music. Released in 1995, Mumtaz Mahal teamed him with classical Indian musicians; 1998's Sacred Island was recorded with his new Hula Blues Band, exploring Hawaiian music in greater depth; 1999's Kulanjan was a duo performance with Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté. Maestro appeared in 2008, boasting an array of all-star guests: Diabaté, Angélique Kidjo, Ziggy Marley, Los Lobos, Jack Johnson, and Ben Harper.

TAJ MAHAL – 1974-10-15 Ultrasonic Studios, Hempstead, NY
FM radio broadcast (WLIR) 

01. Introduction
02. Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue
03. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
04. Black Jack Davey
05. Why Did You Have To Desert Me
06. interview
07. Further On Down The Road
08. Stealin'
09. instrumental
10. Johnny Too Bad
11. Take A Giant Step

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Foggy - Selftitled (Great and Very Rare Folk From York Records UK 1972)

Size: 78.7 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Korea 24-Bit Remaster (Big Pink Records)

British folk duo Foggy's first album, which originally was released on York Records in 1972. You may expect nice remakes of well-known classic pop and folk tunes. A must for collectors of British folk rock!

Danny Clarke and Lennie Wesley formed this soft folk duo in the late 60s, initially called Foggy Dew-O, but later shortening the name to just Foggy. Brian Willoughby was a member briefly in 1973. On Born To Take The Highway they covered four Strawbs songs. Dave Cousins and Tony Hooper produced and various Strawbs played on their album, Simple Gifts. These days Granville Clark is a watercolour artist.

Foggy (originally Foggy Dew-o) were the duo of Danny Clarke and Lennie Wesley, who had a strong Strawbs connection over the course of their three-album career. Future Strawb Brian Willoughby played with them briefly, they covered no fewer than four Strawbs songs on Foggy Dew-o's second album, Born to Take the Highway, and half of the band guested on the sole Foggy album, 1972's Simple Gifts.

It's a reasonable enough folk-rock release, although nowhere near the level of Fairport, Steeleye et al., or even some of the better lesser-known acts (Trees, Mellow Candle). Much of the album has a faint country flavour, which doesn't do it many favours with the benefit of hindsight, while ill-advised covers (The Byrds' I Wasn't Born To Follow, The Beatles' Let It Be) would have been better left quietly on the shelf. 

The occasional song stands out, notably the Eastern-flavoured She's Far Away and the opening and closing versions of the title track, an old Shaker hymn whose tune was annexed for Sydney Carter's Lord Of The Dance, but I'm afraid there's far too much filler here for this to be regarded as in any way a lost classic.

Like most of The Strawbs' contemporaneous releases, there's some Mellotronic input here. Then-Strawb Blue Weaver plays full-on strings on My Song and Kitty Starr, plus flutes (under a real one) on Old Moot Hall, although they don't always enhance the material in quite the way you might expect. 

Top playing from Blue, though, with a high-speed flute run in the last-named that you'd have trouble doing on a well-gigged machine. All in all, then, a passable album with some nice 'Tron work, but nothing you desperately need, unless you have to a) own every British folk-rock album from the early '70s, or b) have to own every album containing Mellotron. Who said, "Me"?

01.Simple Gifts
02.Baby Day
03.She's Far Away
04.My Song
05.Let It Be
06.Madelaine
07.I Wasn't Born To Follow
08.Kitty Starr
09.Was It Only Yesterday
10.How Come The Sun
11.Nobody Knows
12.The Very First Time
13.Take Your Time
14.Old Moot Hall
15.Simple Gifts

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Grin (Nils Lofgren) - Gone Crazy (Great Rock US 1973)

Size: 96.2 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

Lofgren was born in Chicago in 1951 to Swedish/Italian parents. He moved to the suburban town of Garrett Park, Maryland, near the northern border of Washington, D.C. as a very young child. Lofgren's first instrument was classical accordion, beginning at age 5, which he studied seriously for ten years. After studying classical music and jazz, throughout his youth, Lofgren switched his emphasis to rock music, and focused on the piano and the guitar. By 1968, Lofgren formed the band Grin originally with bassist George Daly (later replaced by Bob Gordon), and drummer Bob Berberich, former players in the DC band The Hangmen. 

The group played in venues throughout the Washington, D.C. area. Lofgren had been a competitive gymnast in high school, a skill that popped up later in his career. During this time, Lofgren met Neil Young and played for him. Young invited Lofgren to come to California and the Grin trio (Lofgren, Daly and Berberich) drove out west and lived for some months at a home Neil Young rented in Laurel Canyon.

Lofgren joined Neil Young's band at age 17, playing piano and guitar on the album After the Gold Rush. Lofgren worked on his parts around-the-clock when recording was not in session. Lofgren maintained a close musical relationship with Young, appearing on his Tonight's the Night album and tour among others. He was also briefly a member of Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1971 LP and contributing songs to their catalogue.

Grin:
Lofgren used the Neil Young album credits to land his band Grin a record deal in 1971. Lofgren had formed the band originally with bassist George Daly and drummer Bob Berberich, and the group played in venues throughout the Washington D.C. area before going to California. Daly left the band early on to become a Columbia Records A & R Executive and was replaced by bassist Bob Gordon, who remained through the release of four critically acclaimed albums of catchy, hard rock, from 1971 to 1974, with guitar as Lofgren's primary instrument. 

The single "White Lies" got heavy airplay on Washington, D.C.-area radio. Lofgren wrote the majority of the group's songs, and often shared vocal duties with other members of the band (primarily drummer Bob Berberich). After the second album Nils added brother Tom Lofgren as a rhythm guitarist. Grin failed to hit the big time, and were released by their record company.

Gone Crazy is a 1973 album by Grin. The original album was a gatefold. The outside front and back covers feature a colorful drawing, by Lanny Tupper, of animals, dishes, and musical instruments going crazy. A photo of Nils Lofgren doing a flip is also on the front cover. The inside cover has nineteen photos of the band, performing and hanging out with an old man, identified as Mr. Carter.

Solo career:
In 1974 Grin disbanded. Lofgren's eponymous debut solo album was a success with critics; a 1975 Rolling Stone review by Jon Landau labeled it one of the finest rock albums of the year, and NME ranked it 5th in its list of albums of the year. Subsequent albums did not always garner critical favor, although Cry Tough was voted number 10 in the 1976 NME Album round up; I Came To Dance in particular received a scathing review in the New Rolling Stone Record Guide. He achieved progressive rock radio hits in the mid-1970s with "Back It Up", "Keith Don't Go" and "I Came to Dance". His song "Bullets Fever", about the 1978 NBA champion Washington Bullets, would become a favorite in the Washington area. Throughout the 1970s, Lofgren released solo albums and toured extensively with a backing band that again usually included brother Tom on rhythm guitar. Lofgren's concerts displayed his reputation for theatrics, such as playing guitar while doing flips on a trampoline.

In 1971 he appeared on stage on the Roy Buchanan Special, PBS TV, with Bill Graham. In 1973 he appeared with Grin on NBC on Midnight Special, performing three songs live. In 1978 he wrote and sang the "Nobody Bothers Me" theme for a D.C. Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do advertisement, and also appeared in the notorious Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Nils is credited on 2 of Lou Gramm (of Foreigner) solo albums: "Ready or Not" released in 1987 (Nils listed as lead guitarist) and "Long Hard Look" released in 1989 (Nils listed as one of the guitarists). In 1987 he contributed the TV Show theme arrangement for Hunter. In 1993 he contributed to The Simpsons, with two Christmas jingles with Bart. In 1995 he appeared on a PBS tribute to the Beatles along with Dr. John. From 1991–95 he was the CableAce Awards musical director and composer. [Source Wikipedia]

Grin discography:
♦ 1971: Grin (Spindizzy/Epic)
♦ 1972: 1+1 (Spindizzy/Epic)
♦ 1973: All Out (Spindizzy/Epic)
♦ 1973: Gone Crazy (A&M)

Personnel on "Gone Crazy" album:
► Nils Lofgren - Guitars, Keyboards, Lead Vocals
► Bob Berberich - Drums, Lead Vocals
► Bob Gordon - Bass, Background Vocals
► Tom Lofgren - Guitars, Background Vocals

01. "You're the Weight" - 5:11
02. "Boy and Girl" - 4:31
03. "What About Me" - 4:27
04. "One More Time" - 5:10
05. "True Thrill" - 3:08
06. "Beggar's Day (Eulogy to Danny Whitten)" - 4:18
07. "Nightmare" - 3:42
08. "Believe" - 3:55
09. "Ain't for Free" - 4:17

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Jimi Hendrix Experience - Konserthuset 1969-01-09 (Bootleg) (Two Different Sources of Same Concert)

Size: 659 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found under my Bed
Some Artwork
Swedish FM Broadcast

Jimi Hendrix was amazing, even on a bad night. And January 9, 1969 was clearly not the best night for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was the second night of the group’s European tour, and Swedish television was there to capture the first of two shows that evening at the Stockholm Concert Hall, or Konserthuset.

“We’re gonna play nothing but oldies-but-baddies tonight,” Hendrix says at the start. “We haven’t played together in about six weeks, so we’re going to jam tonight and see what happens. Hope you don’t mind.” As he steps away from the microphone he can be heard to mutter, “You wouldn’t know the difference, anyway.”

Hendrix looks irritated throughout the 56-minute set. He and the other two members of the band–particularly bassist Noel Redding–hadn’t been getting along, and there were problems with the equipment. In the book Are You Experienced: The Inside Story of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Redding describes the scene:

On the whole, I can’t understand how anyone who saw us on this tour could have liked us. There was a lot of filming for Swedish TV and compared to similar films in 1967, we were a different group. Jimi was sullen and removed and actually slagged off the audience during the first set. He rarely bothered to sing. I paced grimly in my corner and turned my back on him. The sparkle was gone, very gone, replaced by exhaustion and boredom which showed in the sloppy repeats of the hits as we stared at the crowd with dead eyes. We hated playing Sweden. Always the same problem–no drugs. We were forced to drink the killer Schnapps, and it brought on Jimi’s mood for the first set.

“Hendrix was listless and tired,” writes critic Ludvig Rasmusson in the next day’s Dagens Nyheter. “He seemed like he had a desire to run away from it all. The joy of playing was gone. He played his guitar carelessly…. All the other things were gone–liveliness, engagement, impudence, and poetry.”

In the filmed set, the band plays four original songs and three covers:

“Killing Floor” by Howlin’ Wolf
“Spanish Castle Magic”
“Fire”
“Hey Joe” by Billy Roberts
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
“Red House”
“Sunshine of Your Love” by Jack Bruce, Pete Brown and Eric Clapton

Perhaps the most satisfying moment comes near then end, when Hendrix trades his Fender Stratocaster for a white Gibson SG guitar and plays a soulful version of his traditional-sounding 12-bar blues, “Red House.” But things go downhill again, and the concert ends in pathos. After a desultory instrumental performance of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” Hendrix trades back to his main guitar for another song when the master of ceremonies strides out onto the stage. 

“That’s the lot, folks,” the man says, and the audience begins to boo. The musicians look at each other quizzically, shrug their shoulders and walk off the stage without saying a word as the crowd continues to boo. “Well,” says the M.C., “they told me that you should finish at nine o’clock. But I guess everyone wants some more–so here they are!” At which point a bored-looking roadie walks out and unplugs Hendrix’s guitar.

Feeling uncomfortable revealing the details of my penis's two states of fluctuation, I declined to give this woman an answer. Apparently Jimi Hendrix did both. Why the Good Lord felt Hendrix had to have two incredible blessings is beyond me. I've always comforted my delicate ego by believing that a man can only possess one great human characteristic in his lifetime. But the mere assumption that Mr. Hendrix's male anatomy supposedly resembled a baby's arm holding an apple, and the fact that Jimi was one of the most talented rock guitarists of all time, pretty much takes a giant shit on my theory. If this isn't divine injustice, I'm afraid I don't know what is.

Purple Haze Records' third Jimi Hendrix release comes in the form of the now famous '69 Stockholm concert recordings. The double disc is separated into the both sets that the band performed on that day. The early show, on the first disc, begins with Hendrix exercising his frontman rock banter skills. 

"We haven't played together in about six weeks, so we're just gonna jam, see what happens tonight...," Hendrix tells the crowd about his band, the Experience. A strange remark, considering the band had been touring and played two shows the previous evening.

Regardless, the Jimi Hendrix Experience gets off to a rough start with opener "Killing Floor," struggling through a sloppy, bastardized rendition of the studio version. I get lost in a visual image of Hendrix being fucked up beyond belief as the rest of his band tries to keep up with his improvised self indulgence.

But just as I was about to classify this recording as balls, Jimi and the Experience begin to wail with a genuine intensity. The band begins slamming into "Spanish Castle Music." Finally, they're in tune with each other, and it's as if they could do no wrong. Not even halfway through the song, Hendrix's fingers seem to explode with power as he rips into an improvised guitar solo.

I was sucked into a trance, a trance that was broken when the next song, "Fire," came on. The track was rushed and lacked every bit of energy that the song in its original form possesses. Unfortunately the rest of the first CD continues with a "let's get this over with so we can get high" feeling. Powerful rock songs like "Hey Joe," and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" are unfortunately performed half assed.

The second disc features the band's later -- and overwhelmingly regarded as better -- performance that evening. Hendrix converses with the crowd enthusiastically and proceeds to lead the Experience through each song with an animalistic force that can only be summed up as "completely natural."

The set list from the second show is a bit different than the first. Hendrix and the band rip through a powerful version of "Purple Haze," do a much better version of "Fire," and Hendrix strings through his famous rendition of the "The Star Spangled Banner." This one is cooler, though, simply since it was recorded before Woodstock.

It's tough for a live recording to translate the same energy that a live show can. But this kind of musical intensity is found only at times on this double-show recording. The majority of the Jimi Hendrix Experiences' magic is captured on the second disc only. 

Now, a confession. I neither show, nor do I grow. Not only does this confession confirm the pathetic size of my own genitalia, it has left me to ponder what my talent/blessing actually is. And I've come to the conclusion that If excessive back hair is considered a blessing, than I guess I'm winning.

Source 1: "On The Killing Floor"

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "On The Killing Floor"
Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, 09th January 1969

Personal:
Jimi Hendrix: Vocals, Guitar
Neil Redding: Bass
Mitch Mitchell: Drums

Early show
01. Killing Floor  07:36
02. Spanish Castle Magic  08:04
03. Fire  02:52
04. Hey Joe  04:19
05. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)  14:41
06. Red House  11:04
07. Sunshine Of Your Love  08:06

Late show
01. I Don´t Live Today  11:24
02. Spanish Castle Magic  06:05
03. Hey Joe  06:51
04. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)  10:36
05. Sunshine Of Your Love  11:31
06. Red House  11:41
07. Fire  03:46
08. Purple Haze  03:50
09. The Star Spangled Banner  03:28

Source 2: Stockholm 1969, "The Electric Church"

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Konserthuset, 1969-01-09  Stora Salen, Stockholm, Sweden (Complete Show)

First Show Disc 1
01. MC Intro  00:43
02. Jimi Intro  01:35
03. Killing Floor  05:15
04. Spanish Castle MAgic  07:55
05. Fire  02:52
06. Hey Joe  04:12
07. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 13:56
08. Red House  11:33
09. Sunshine Of Your Love  07:33
10. MC Outro  00:29

Late Show Disc 2
01. Jimi Intro  01:49
02. I Don't Live Today  08:47
03. Spanish Castle Magic  06:19
04. Hey Joe  06:53
05. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)  10:33
06. Sunshine Of Your Love  10:47
07. Red House  12:20
08. Fire  03:46
09. Purple Haze 03:59 
10. Star Spangled Banner  03:16

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Nils Lofgren - Back it Up!!, Live (Great Album US 1975)

Size: 84.5 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

Back It Up!! is a promotional "live" album from Nils Lofgren initially released 1975. The title of the original vinyl LP was Back It Up!! – Nils Lofgren Live – An Authorized Bootleg. Although the recording was officially released by A&M Records, the artwork was designed to give the appearance of a live bootleg recording, similar to Decca Records' original vinyl release of the Who's Live at Leeds in 1970, which was a legitimate live album designed to look like a bootleg. Back It Up!! was not officially available to the public until it was issued on CD in 2007, 32 years after its original release.

The songs were recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, on October 31, 1975, and primarily features material from Lofgren's first solo album which had been released earlier in the year. At the time of the recording, Lofgren had recently signed with A&M and had just begun a solo career following the dissolution of his previous group, Grin. Despite its limited release, songs from Back It Up!! were featured on FM radio broadcasts during the 1970s and had been generally praised by the musical press as worthy of a proper release.

Before backing Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren’s 1975 “authorized” bootleg guaranteed more than a Grin.

Nils Lofgren was already a Rock & Roll Renaissance Man by the time he turned twenty. He worked with Neil Young on After The Gold Rush, with Neil’s band Crazy Horse, appeared on Stephen Stills 2 and even had his own band – the aptly named Grin. And, that was just the beginning. After a few albums with Grin, Nils went solo in 1975 and released a brilliant, self-titled album featuring the soon-to-be-classic track, “Back It Up.” 

Label on side 1

Even though the critics and the audiences for his live shows knew the magic was there, the record-buying public was still largely unaware of Lofgren. The question became how to get everyone else on board. The answer was to take a radio concert, press it up, disguise it as an “authorized bootleg” and do a then unheard of commando run on the masses. 1,000 records with hand-pasted, photocopied cover art found their way to rock radio, and the legend of Nils Lofgren became a reality.

Featuring the iconic Al Kooper on keyboards (who just happened to be producing Nils’ follow-up studio release at the time), former Grin-mate (and brother) Tommy on guitar and the rhythm section of Mike Zack and Scott Ball, Back It Up!! Live…An Authorized Bootleg showcased tracks from Nils’ current release and four Grin classics. This band was truly on top of their game, and while the listener may not have been able to see Nils do his back-flips, they felt them in blistering versions of tracks like “Keith Don’t Go”, “I Don’t Want To Know” and the Goffin/King penned “Goin’ Back.”

Most who’ve heard this record place it near, if not at the top of Nils’ recorded achievements. In fact, were it not for Nils not wanting to potentially divert attention from his upcoming, second solo release, it might have seen the light as an “official” album. 

Personnel:
♦ Nils Lofgren – guitars, piano, vocals
♦ Tom Lofgren – guitar, backing vocals
♦ Scotty Ball – bass
♦ Michael Zak – drums
♦ Al Kooper – electric piano (special guest)

01. "Take You To The Movies Tonight/Back It Up" – 6:59
02. "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)" – 6:26
03. "I Don't Want to Know" – 3:48
04. "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet" – 3:41
05. "Goin' Back" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 6:04
06. "Like Rain" – 6:21
07. "Beggar's Day/Soft Fun" – 10:53

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Nils Lofgren and GRIN