Johnny Cash - With His Hot And Blue Guitar (1st Album US 1957)

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Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar is the debut album by American country star Johnny Cash, released on October 11, 1957. The album contained four of his hit singles: "I Walk the Line," "Cry! Cry! Cry!," "So Doggone Lonesome," and "Folsom Prison Blues." It was re-issued on July 23, 2002 as an expanded edition, under the label Varese Vintage, containing five bonus tracks, three being alternate versions of tracks already present on the original LP. In 2012, Columbia Records reissued the album with 16 additional non-album Sun tracks as part of its 63-disc Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection box set.

This was one of the first albums ever issued on Sam Phillips' Sun Records label.

Background:
Cash auditioned for a place on the music label Sun Records in 1955, but failed to impress its founder Sam Philips after presenting himself as a gospel singer. Cash was told to come back with a more commercial sound, as gospel wouldn't sell. He returned with the songs "Hey Porter!" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!" and subsequently released them as his debut single on Sun Records in July 1955. On the recording, he was backed by Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass, dubbed "The Tennessee Two" by Philips. ("Hey Porter" was not included on the original Sun album, but was included in later reissues by other labels.)

"Cry! Cry! Cry!" became a commercial success, entering the country charts at number fourteen.

His second single, "Folsom Prison Blues", was released in December 1955 and reached the country Top Five in early 1956.

His final single on With His Hot and Blue Guitar, "I Walk the Line", continued his success, reaching number one on the country charts and staying there for six weeks, eventually crossing over into the pop Top 20.

Folsom Prison Blues:
"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song written in 1953[4] and first recorded in 1955 by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash continued to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs. It was the eleventh track on his debut album With His Hot and Blue Guitar and it was also included (same version) on All Aboard the Blue Train. A live version, recorded among inmates at Folsom State Prison itself, became a #1 hit on the country music charts in 1968. In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.

Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria (itself the location of a famous prison). Cash recounted how he came up with the line "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die": "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind."

Cash took the melody for the song and many of the lyrics from Gordon Jenkins's 1953 Seven Dreams concept album, specifically the song "Crescent City Blues". Jenkins was not credited on the original record, which was issued by Sun Records. In the early 1970s, after the song became popular, Cash paid Jenkins a settlement of approximately US$75,000 following a lawsuit.

The song was recorded at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee on July 30, 1955. The producer was Sam Phillips, and the musicians were Cash (vocals, guitar), Luther Perkins (guitar), and Marshall Grant (bass). Like other songs recorded during his early Sun Records sessions, Cash had no drummer in the studio, but replicated the snare drum sound by inserting piece of paper (like a dollar bill) under the guitar strings and strumming the snare rhythm on his guitar. The song was released as a single with another song recorded at the same session, "So Doggone Lonesome". Early in 1956, both sides reached #4 on the Billboard C&W Best Sellers chart.

Live recording, 1968:
Cash opened most all of his concerts with "Folsom Prison Blues," after greeting the audience with his trademark introduction, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," for decades. Cash performed the song at Folsom Prison itself on January 13, 1968, and this version was eventually released on the At Folsom Prison album the same year. That opening version of the song is more up-tempo than the original Sun recording. According to Michael Streissguth, the cheering from the audience following the line "But I shot a man in Reno / just to watch him die" was added in post-production. A special on the Walk the Line DVD indicates that the prisoners were careful not to cheer at any of Cash's comments about the prison itself, fearing reprisal from guards. The performance again featured Cash, Perkins and Grant, as on the original recording, together with Al Casey (guitar) and W.S. Holland (drums).

Released as a single, the live version reached #1 on the country singles chart, and #32 on the Hot 100, in 1968. Pitchfork Media placed this live version at number 8 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s." The live performance of the song won Cash the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, the first of four he won in his career, at the 1969 Grammy Awards.

Original recording, 1957:
01. "The Rock Island Line" Unknown  02:11
02. "I Heard That Lonesome Whistle" Jimmie Davis, Hank Williams  02:25
03. "Country Boy"  01:49
04. "If the Good Lord's Willing" Jerry Reed  01:44
05. "Cry! Cry! Cry!"  02:29
06. "Remember Me" Stuart Hamblen  02:01
07. "So Doggone Lonesome"  02:39
08. "I Was There When It Happened" Jimmie Davis, Fern Jones  02:17
09. "I Walk the Line"  02:46
10. "The Wreck of the Old '97" Traditional (probably Charles Noell); arranged Cash  01:48
11. "Folsom Prison Blues"  02:51
12. "Doin' My Time" Jimmie Skinner  02:40

Bonus: Radio Live 1958-59
13. Rock Island Line (Haven't Recorded it Yet) [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  02:31
14. Folsom Prison Blues [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  03:02
15. Reserve For Youth Training Program” spot [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  01:12
16  Don't Take Your Guns To Town [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  03:11
17. Get Rhythm (“Our latest release on Sun”) [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  02:27
18. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  02.22
19. So Doggone Lonesome [Radio Live Bonus 1956] 02:39
20. Cry Cry Cry [Radio Live Bonus 1956]  02:00

These are vintage radio broadcast transcription discs (at times you can “hear” the vinyl which adds flavor). The sound quality is amazing. Country Style USA is from 1958, Guest Star is from 1959. That’s all the info I have. I received these many years ago in a trade and transferred them from cassette. This is as good as it gets.

Country Style USA was a radio program syndicated by the US Army Band and Recruiting Services and broadcast as a recruiting tool for them.          

Produced by the U.S. Treasury Department in the 1940s and 1950s as a public service program, Guest Star features a different often top-name "guest star" (singer, actor, comedian) each week to promote the sales of savings bonds previoulsy circulated with incorrect dates of 1958 & 1959.

1. Johnny Cash US 1957
or
2. Johnny Cash US 1957
or
3. Johnny Cash US 1957

Various Artist - Whaam Records 1981-84 (Very Rare Compilation UK 1984)

Size: 189 MB
Bitrate: 320
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Compliation albums! Never really given the same kudos as 'proper' studio albums or even 'Live' albums, and yet....there have been a few Compilation albums that have surpassed even the greatest of all studio albums; Lenny Kaye's 'Nuggets' of course, the magisterial 'Pillows & Prayers' and virtually anything on Sarah Records or Bam-Caruso.

But, as far as I am concerned, the most important Comp in my record buying lifetime simply has to be Dan Treacy's Whaam Records catch-all 'All For Art....And Art For All'. This record is one of the very few that ABSOLUTELY changed my life!!

'All For Art....' was released in the Summer of 1984, but I didn't find it till the December of that year. I was going through a 60s psychedelic phase at the time, and when I found this in the record racks I assumed with it's images of Andy Warhol, band names like The Laughing Apple, and song titles like 'Only The Sky Children Know' that this was a collection of obscure 60s tracks. On first play, when I realised it was a contemporary collection, I was a little disappointed, but very quickly the thrill of the music took me over.

This album is bookended by TWO of my Top 10 Favourite songs OF ALL TIME....two EPICS that still make my heart flutter and my head reel furiously....but we'll get to them later.

First, let's deal with The Mixers....their first track on the album, 'Never Find Time' thwacks along driven by a snapping snare that conjures up a tooth-coroding mix of The Jam and The Honeycombs...and is every bit as sweet. Later they serve up 'Love Hurts' laced through with acidic Lalala's....a song SO 1960s it's wearing Cuban Heels.

Next up, The Page Boys.....and a song called 'Honey'. Anachronistic contemporary drum machines and Casio-like keyboards are swept away by a recurring 'Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah' motif (starting to get the picture?). A song that manages to sound 60s and 80s in the same three minutes. 

Tangerine Experience's 'Only The Sky Children Know' probably sounds exactly like you imagine. Like some huge Prog Rock anthem played by sussed hep-cats....it's a gigantic, multi-hued explosion of psychedelic wibblery.
It's left up to The Pastels to follow it up. Aaaaah....The Pastels!!! Here sounding SO young, pale and undernourished it's a wonder social services weren't called. 'I Wonder Why' is a song so fey you want to give it a mug of soup! But it's beauty is every bit as comforting.

Ex-Swell Map Jowe Head follows up with 'Lolita', a weird melange of whistling, fractured vocals and erratic guitar playing. It's the kind of song that could probably give David Tibet nightmares. He appears later with a track called 'February' which is even stranger. Like an underwater medieval folk song....it took me YEARS to appreciate his contributions to the album, I was probably just too young at the time.
The Direct Hits contribute two of the very best tracks on the album, 'Girl In The Picture' and 'What Killed Aleister Crowely'. 'GITP' is a beautifully crafted pop song of pure unrequited love as the vocalist sits in his room fantasising about the titular Girl. It could also be about stalking!! I love the swooshy phasing effect on this track. '...Aleister Crowely...' is another perfectly produced mini-masterpiece which ends with the threatening "I can see through Aleister Crowely's eyes..." I have to confess I didn't know who Crowely was at the time I bought the album, and finding out obviously changed the entire song for me.

Dan Treacy's hand is, obviously, all over this record, from producing it, designing the sleeve, running the label, and being the main man in The Television Personalities and it is they who bring Side One to an end with the wondrous 'The Dream Inspires'. I've often wondered if this is a song about Oxford, but it is SO good that who really cares?

On to Side Two:
Kicking off with The Mad Hatters, 'Dancing With The Dead' is almost pure 1967...in fact the intro is reminiscent of (the then psychedelic) Status Quo's 'Ice In The Sun'. 

Acoustic strumming, a harp, and the most tremulous voice imaginable...yes, it's Jed Dmochowski and his beautifully fragile lament 'I'm Sad'.

Then comes The Laughing Apple and the brilliant, vibrant, amphetamine hit of 'Wouldn't You', featuring on vocals Alan McGee....yes, THAT Alan McGee. The Laughing Apple would later change it's name to Biff Bang Pow and re-record 'Wouldn't You' in a rather over-produced fashion. This is the better version.

The Gifted Children are next with the brilliant 'My Favourite Films', a song that manages to namecheck Malcolm MacDowell, Albert Finney, Tom Courtney, Oliver Reed, Carol White, Wendy Craig and Rita Tushingham. What? No Terence Stamp or Julie Christie?

Which leaves us with the BIG TWO!
The opening track on this album is 'In The Afternoon' by The Revolving Paint Dream; this is, as I've said, one of my favourite songs of all time. It begins quietly enough with what sounds like the oldest, tinniest drum machine, punctuated with occasional LOUD snare whacks. On top of this is a cyclical guitar pattern, and then the vocals kick in; "Dont Go..." they beg, DRENCHED in echo and reverb. 

The verse builds and builds until it collapses under it's own overwroughtness into the chorus "In the afternoon....we made love" The song is full of snatches of impassioned pleading, "Sometimes feelings go beyond words....and I don't feel real at all", "Maybe I could make it better?", "Now this lust was always love" "When she goes away....." Eventually the voices become so overlapping and echoey it begins to sound like a Gregorian Chant and becomes so loud in the mix, it distorts....or that could just be my copy! The Revolving Paint Dream would later release a proper album of their own with a re-recorded version of this track complete with female lead vocals....but THIS is the ABSOLUTE mutt's plums!!! It can still make me cry even just writing about it.

The album ends with another Television Personalities track 'Happy All The Time', and WHAT an incredible song!! "She paints an earthquake" Dan mutters at the start before we're off into another cyclical guitar pattern, heavy drums and weird keyboard effects. It's a song about unhappiness, maybe even depression; "Ha ha ha said the clown// As he fell down// And the audience laughed and cheered//But they never saw the tears" sings Dan before the mighty chorus; "And I'm just looking for rainbows//In a star filled sky//And I'm just waiting for the sun to shine//I remember somebody told me//That God is yours and mine//But nobody ever told me that pigs could fly".

After about three minutes the song ends, then comes a bunch of weird noises, the sound of a tape being rewound, and then three false re-starts before the song goes back into the chorus. If Jean Luc Godard ever produced a pop record, THIS is what it would sound like. The false starts and weird edits give the song a poignancy that has stuck with me for almost 25 years now.

This album would always make my list of Top 10 Albums Of All Time, even if it just had those two tracks on it.

The album has never been properly re-issued on CD, but a grab-bag of all of Whaam! Records output was released under the title of 'Whaam Bam Thank You Dan' which contains a good 75% of the tracks that appeared on this album.

01. Revolving Paint Dream - In The Afternoon
02. Television Personalities - I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives
03. The Mixers - Never Find Time
04. The Page Boys - You're My Kind Of Girl
05. Tangerine Experience - Only The Sky Children Know
06. Direct Hits - Too Shy
07. Television Personalities - The Dream Inspires
08. The Marble Staircase - Still Dreaming
09. 1000 Mexicans - The Art Of Love
10. The Mad Hatters - Dancing With The Dead
11. Jed Dmochowski - Part Of The World
12. Laughing Apple - Wouldn't You?
13. Television Personalities - Bike
14. The Page Boys - In Love With You
15. Direct Hits - Naughty Little Boys
16. The Gifted Children - My Favorite Films
17. The Marble Staircase - Dark Ages
18. Television Personalities - I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives
19. The Mixers - Love Hurts
20. The Gifted Children - Painting By Numbers
21. 1000 Mexicans - News Of You
22. Television Personalities - No One's Little Girl
23. Direct Hits - What Killed Aleister Crowley?

1. Whaam Records
or
2. Whaam Records
or
3. Whaam Records

Video for today...Seasick Steve - Hell

And For Now, New Bands: Various Artist - Ripples Records (Hardrock, Retro-Rock, Stoner etc. 2015-18)

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The home to some of the world's best heavy rock

Ripple Music is a California-based independent record label founded in 2010 by Todd Severin and John Rancik. The company encompasses a record label, a music publishing business, a marketing, promotion and sales team, and a Distribution for independent heavy metal bands (Heavy Ripples Distro).

Ripple Music, the record label, evolved out of the highly successful music site, The Ripple Effect, which Severin and Rancik launched in October 2007. Baring a tagline of "The Best Music You're Not Listening To," the Ripple Effect concentrated on in-depth, expertly written (often humorous) music reviews of new, lost classic, and unheralded artists. 

Early in their existence, Severin (a former radio DJ) and Rancik (former lead singer of San Diego punk/metal cross-over band, Blind Justice) concentrated on reviews from their own extensive record collections. 

But within a short period of time, the Ripple Effect had gained significant recognition within the industry and the format expanded to include new reviews, interviews, streaming songs, video uploads, legal downloads, and previews/sneak peeks. Within a year, The Ripple Effect was ranked as one of the top music sites in the world by GuitarWorld Magazine and several other music sites. Most recently, The Ripple Effect was awarded the Recommended Reading Medal by Jemmsite, the home of Ibanez Guitars.

As the Ripple Effect's popularity grew, a radio show was added which was originally produced by Chris James Ripple Radio, on blogtalkradio.com. Shortly, Ripple Radio was recognized as one of the featured radio shows at blogtalkradio.com, and guests such as Marky Ramone, Fee Waybill, and Cy Curnin, amongst others, stopped by to chat with Severin (Racer) and Rancik (Pope JTE).

As both fronts of the Ripple enterprise continued to grow, Severin and Rancik were approached by legendary protometal heroes, JPT Scare Band, with the proposition of releasing several previously unheard JPT tracks. With that inspiration, Ripple Music, the record label was born. Shortly thereafter, several bands signed with Ripple Music, including two legendary 1970's protometal icons, Poobah and Iron Claw, plus newer, rising acts, Tripdavon, Fen, Modern Day Moonshine, and Kevin Beadles.

In 2010, the company debuted its initial releases "Acid Blues is the White Man's Burden" by JPT Scare Band, a re-issue of "Let Me In," the 1972 early metal classic by Poobah, and "Trails Out of Gloom," an album of dark, mysterious modern prog rock from Vancouver's Fen. Additionally, "You Can't Argue With Water," an album of rootsy americana rock from award-winning songwriter, Kevin Beadles came out on The Ripple Label. 

All titles were sold through international distribution and the Ripple Music website.  Ripple Music released albums in vinyl, colored double vinyl, CD, and digital formats. Due to the high quality of Ripple Music's initial releases, the label garnered immediate national media attention.

Websites: 
http://www.ripple-music.com/  
https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/
http://heavyripples.bigcartel.com/

Disc 1
01. Arcadian Child - Afterglow - 03.39
02. Arrowhead - Weed Lord - 07.12
03. Blackwulf - Sinister Sides - 04.53
04. Blackwulf - Colossus - 04.32
05. Bonehawk - Albino Rhino - 07.56
06. Craneium - Ceasing to Exist - 09.16
07. Doctor Doom - At War With Myself - 07.03
08. Fire Down Below - Universes Crumble - 08.30
09. Geezer - Superjam Maximus - 05.45
10. Kind - The Angry Undertaker - 09.13
11. Kingnomad - Lucifer's Dream - 05.40

Disc 2
01. Mothership - Crown of Lies - 05.41
02. Mothership - Serpent's Throne (Live) - 07.28
03. Mothership - High Strangeness - 03.06
04. Ozone Mama -Moon Pilot - 06.01
05. Ride the Sun - 5 On 4 - 05.24
06. Ride the Sun - Karma Wastes - 04.15
07. Ride the Sun - Get Bent - 03.29
08. Ride the Sun - Step to the Square - 02.33
09. Ride the Sun - Bail - 04.08
10. The Watchers - Alien Lust - 05.16
11. Pretty Thing - Sacred Shrines - 04.40
12. Salem's Bend - Balshazzar - 04.17
13. Salem's Bend - Queen of the Desert - 04.15
14. Salem's Bend - Sun and Mist - 05.16
15. Steak - Living Like a Rat - 04.00
16. Steak - Wickerman - 03.59
17. Steak - The Ebb - 03.53

Disc 3
01. The Hazytones - Free From Your Spell - 04.10
02. The Necromancers - Grand Orbiter - 07.04
03. The Trikes - Sordid Love - 05.07
04. The Trikes - Nowhere - 05.15
05. The Trikes - Forgotten Sins - 05.12
06. The Trikes - Be Yourself - 05.13
07. The Watchers - Call the Priest - 04.24
08. Wo Fat - Riffborn - 04.58
09. Wo Fat - Of Smoke and Fog (Live) - 10.40
10. Wo Fat - Of Smoke and Fog - 10.46

Part 1: Ripple Records
Part 2: Ripple Records
Part 3: Ripple Records
or
Part 1: Ripple Records
Part 2: Ripple Records
Part 3: Ripple Records
or
Part 1: Ripple Records
Part 2: Ripple Records
Part 3: Ripple Records

Heavy Chills - Selftitled (Retro Hardrock US 2017, Sounds Like US 1969)

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Bitrate: 320
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No information about this band, sorry. The Band Released this album in 2017 but sounds like a US Hardrock from 1969. I think you will like it. I bought at "Bandcamp" Link: https://heavychills.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-chills  

★ Nick McKillip - Guitar/Vocals 
★ Mikey Carrillo - Bass 
★ Scott Perrine - Drums

01. Heavy Chills 05:05
02. The Likes of You 04:23
03. Scarlet Night 03:45
04. Moon 03:11
05. On The Run 06:47
06. Lay It Down 06:06
07. The Devil's Answer 04:04

1. Heavy Chills

or

2. Heavy Chills

or

3. Heavy Chills

Agitation Free - Malesch (1st Album German Progressive Rock 1972) & Agitation Free - 2nd (German Progressive Rock 1973)

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Having generated a cult following for years, since the late 60s, it was surprising that this relevant krautrock act had taken so long before they recorded and released their debut album; but again, better late than never. Agitation Free created an excellent first album, full of ethnic vibrations and exotic magic, which appears perfectly combined with the hard rocking guitar riffing and electric keyboard psychedelic effects, mandatory elements in the kraut context. Before the band achieved their first recording contract, they took a trip to Morocco, something that they seemed particularly interested in documenting and manifesting all throughout the repertoire. 

By then Agitation Free had a distinct sound based on the musicians' finesse, which would always show above the wall of psychedelic, blues-tinged noise that stands as a signature pattern of krautrock: their rocking jams always bore a certain magical aura, that made their music ethereal, besides, of course, energetic and trippy. It is not dueling as much as complementing what both guitarists (Ulbrich and Schwenke) recurrently do, while the organ parts create an ethereal wall of sound, confidently flowing in the background; the rhythm section uses lots of exotic cadences (plus the use of marimba) in order to keep on par with the ethnic stuff and, simultaneously, to found a solid pace for the other musicians' jamming. Bassist Gunther is a very skillful in his role (arguably, the most gifted musician in this combo), displaying some intricate, powerful lines that, at times, assume a prominent role in the mix - for example, 'Sahara City'. 

The opening track 'You Play for us Today' sounds really intense without getting overtly aggressive: 'Khan El Khalili' and the namesake track are the most energetic numbers in the album, but let's keep in mind that these guys' main musical concern is to lay out ethereal ambiences and sonic layers, instead of merely creating defying, explosive sonic electric storms (something that Ash Ra Temple or Guru Guru do happily and unabashedly). 

'Pulse' is an amazing jam that sees AF absorbing influences from their fellow countrymen Can and Tangerine Dream, while 'Ala Tull' displays lots of percussive stuff on the frontline. 'Rucksturz' is the shortest track: it closes the album with a recognizable line, something like a tender epilogue. A great album this is, indeed: "Melesch" is one of the definitive cornerstones of kraut. [progarchives.com]

01. You Play For Us Today (6:08) 
02. Sahara City (7:42) 
03. Ala Tul (4:50) 
04. Pulse (4:43) 
05. Khan El Khalili (8:10) 
06. Malesch (8:10) 
07. Rücksturz (2:09)

Bonus
08. Music Factory (15.14) 

Agitation Free - 2nd (German Progressive Rock 1973)

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Bitrate: 256
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In some ways, Second is the logical successor to Malesh with its twin guitar "attack"; these two (Schwenke is replaced by Dietz following drugs problems) are so mellow that it seems a shame to call them an attack. But the name "attack" is now apt for the drumming since the group enlisted a second drummer (ex-ART Burmeister), thus giving an exacting edge that only the Allman Bros Band had before. Losing the second drummer just prior to recording their aptly-titled Second, AF retained all of the inertia and the album has a fantastic ABB fluidness wherever necessary. Graced with a drought, than rain season artwork, this second album lost all ethnic touches of Malesh, one passage excepted, proof that their debut's rep was indeed overdone. 

Starting on the First Communications, you can hear the Floydian cosmic/psych influences of Malesh will also be relatively absent as well. Dialogue & Random is an electronic free jazz improve leading into the two-part Leila, which is strongly reminiscent of the ABB's Elizabeth Reed and fades into Silence Of The Morning sunrise with electronic birds chirping along to tranquil electric guitars gliding along the organ mist layers. Superb music. The birds lead you to a slow Quiet Walk into a cosmic dark hole (Tangerine Dream's Zeit is not far away here) if it wasn't for an electric Indian-laced guitar (the only real ethnic moment of this album), before stretching itself out maybe a tad too long. The closing Haunted Island is the only sung track of the album, filtered, almost recitative over a superb mellotron, and once over, the two guitars take over and soar in the sky for a grandiose finale.

Although AF's second album holds some fairly different influences, trading in the Arabian and cosmic /psych Floyd ambiance, for a more pastoral west coast sound, both albums can be regarded as AF's crowning achievements, although neither reaches perfection.

Well, the second Agitation Free album is different to the first one. The Ethno influences are completely gone as well as the oriental impact. But with everything gone wich made the first album what it is, the second one doesn't weaken, far from it, I consider "2nd" to be even better than "Malesch". Yes it's not as playful but still isn't a slight fare. What makes this album so great is the symbiosis of Hoenig's electrical gadgetry and Keyboard playing (It might be helpful to mention that Hoenig later on gets a member of Tangerine Dream) and the guitar playing by the very talented and often underrated Lutz Ulbrich and Stefan Dietz. The guitar work mainly consists of long and beautiful improvisations wich either alternate or collude with Hoenig's Keyboard and Synth sounds.

"First Communication" is one of the best songs of this album. Here you can impressively experience what I meant with long guitar improvisations. It's Krautrock at it's best and IMO one of the best songs of this genre. In "Dialogue And Random" you get to hear some of Hoenig's nice gimmicks and electrical sounds, very typical for german prog music BTW. The both "Laila" parts feature nice guitar solos and improvisations paired with nice and atmospherical Keyboard and Organ sounds in the background. I think "In the silence of the morning sunrise" again features some really great guitar sounds as well as a talented Hoenig on keyboards. 

The whole tune is introduced by some nice electric sounds wich create the perfect atmosphere concerning the title of the song. Chirping crickets and twittering birds wich also linger throughout the whole song. "A quiet walk" is maybe the prime example for the perfect symbiosis of Hoenig and the guitar players. The first half of the song belongs to the electrical improvisations reminicent of Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze untill after some minutes the guitar and bazouki appear, first very muted and slowly, after a final bulky organ chord take over, terrific. "Haunted Island" is quite queer and features vocals, more recitative than singing. Very dark, I like it. And again, you get some fine guitar work here.

"2nd" by Agitation Free is, at least for me, one of the best Krautrock recordings. The guitar improvisations sound amazing and the symbiosis with the talented Hoenig really put you over the edge. This album is worth every penny and features no single bad song. If there's a Krautrock recoring I would recommend without concern this would be the one. It's an album with the possibility to get you into Krautrock, to discover the wolrd of germany's music from the seventies. It's highly recommended.

01. First Communication (8:10)
02. Dialogue And Random (1:51)
03. Layla, Part 1 (1:41)
04. Layla, Part 2 (6:47)
05. In The Silence Of The Morning Sunrise (6:33)
06. A Quiet Walk (9:15)
a) Listening
b) Two-not Of The Same Kind
07. Haunted Island (7:11)

Bonus
08. Laila '74 (7.41)

Shibuya Nights (Live in Tokyo 2007) (Bonus)

01. You Play for Us Today [Live 2007] - 06.12
02. Malesch [Live 2007] - 05.42
03. Rucksturz [Live 2007] - 02.57
04. First Communication [Live 2007] - 06.25
05. In the Silence of the Morning Sunrise [Live 2007] - 06.22
06. Laila [Live 2007] - 07.37
07. Shibuya Nights [Live 2007] - 06.15
08. Ala Tul [Live 2007] - 06.15

Biography:
In 1967 two beat groups from Berlin were on the verge of splitting up. The leading forces behind these groups were Lutz 'Luul' Ulbrich and Michael 'Fame' Gunther. They decided to join forces, and with some other remaining musicians they took the name Agitation Free. Agitation Free were probably the first German group to use slide projectors and a multi-media show during their live appearances. For this reason they were engaged as the household band at the Zodiac, Berlin's answer to London's U.F.O., where the psychedelic underground was literally flowering. Such later famous groups as Tangerine Dream and Curly Curve (well, not so very famous in this case...) also appeared at the Zodiac regularly. In early 1968 Agitation Flee were expanded by John L. on lead vocals. Not exactly a gifted vocalist, he sometimes entertained the audience by walking around naked with a painted penis on stage! He was fired about a year later, apparently the rest of the group had grown tired of this particular (peculiar) Stage Show. His voice was luckily preserved for later generations when he "sang" on Ash Ra Tempel's brilliant Schwingungen album in 1972.

1970 was a very erratic year for Agitation Free. Lutz Kramer quit, and was temporary replaced by Ax Genrich, soon to be a member of Guru Guru. Agitation Free shared a practice room at the Wilmersdorf music academy with Ash Ra Tempel and Tangerine Dream at (his time, and many experiences and ideas were swapped. There was also quite an exchange of members between these groups. Agitation Free's instructor was Thomas Kessler, a German avant-garde composer. He taught them to play with notations, composition and harmony learning. When Genrich joined Guru Guru, he was replaced with Jorg Schwenke. Chris Franke then accepted Edgar Froese's offer to be the new drummer in Tangerine Dream after Klaus Schulze quit. Gerd Klemke stepped in as Agitation Free's drummer for some months of the last half of 1970. Finally a quintet was stabilised in 1971. At the beginning of 1972 the group went on an expanded tour to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Greece, sponsored by The Goethe Institute. Michael Gunther recorded local musicians they met and jammed with on the tour. Extracts of these recordings were included on Malesch (released Summer 1972), which collected the impressions from their eastern travels. This excellent album revealed a very talented and competent young group, and it was dedicated to their teacher Kessler. "You Play For Us Today" opened with a short dialogue, before a deep, majestic organ tone created a trance-like mood. Gunther came in with a great, steady bass riff, flavoured with eastern rhythms (Uli Popp guested here on bongos). "Sahara City" started with a long and floating guitar glissando, but had a fast, heavy finale. "Ala Tul" and some other tracks featured the leader of Between, Peter Michael Hamel, on hammond organ. "Pulse" was an early experiment with electronic sequencing. "Khan El Khalai", "Malesch" and the short 'Ruckzuck" gave plenty of time for Schwenke and Ulbrich to show off on guitar. An immaculate record!

In March 1973 Jorg Schwenke had to quit due to his increasing drug habits. His replacement was Stefan Diez. A second drummer was also added to the line-up: Dietmar Burmeister who had recorded on Seven Up with Ash Ra Tempel. A 90 minutes long production for radio, consisting of edited live performances (made during a ten days live session in a house in the German countryside) was broadcasted in April 1973. The six-piece group went on a very successful two months tour in France. Recordings for radio were also taped during this tour. Parts of these finally made it to vinyl on Last three years later, namely "Soundpool" (renamed version of "Ruckzuck" from Malesch) and a 17 minute long version of "Laila" (a composition included on their forthcoming second album).

With Diez, but without Burmeister, the band went in the studio to record 2nd in July 1973. This time music was more subdued and meditative in a sophisticated way. The eastern flavour was not so distinctive this time, but the musical quality was certainly intact! "First Communication'' started the album off with white noise, wind and a distant bouzouki played by Ulbrich. A harmonic melody line on guitar slides slowly in and builds up a really great track, almost predating some of Fichelscher's guitar work with Popol Vuh. "Dialogue And Random" was a short synthesizer experiment by Honig, not bearing any resemblance to his solo albums. The tuneful two part "Laila" finished side one. Electronic bird sounds on "In The Silence Of The Morning Sunrise" opened the other side. The track built up to fragile, jazzy rock almost in the melodious Terje Rypdal vein. "A Quiet Walk" included more atmospheric, electronically created environment sounds, before bouzouki and treated guitar introduced melody lines. "Haunted Island" finished the album in a dramatic vein with a heavy rhythm, mellotrons and Burghard Rausch's treated recitation of an Edgar Allan Poe poem.

Shortly after 2nd, Diez quit and the band's activities now decreased. For a last tour of France In January 1974 Gustav Lutjens was engaged as Agitation Free's new second guitarist. Their last studio work was a recording of a Erhard Grosskopf composition ("Looping IV") in February 1974. This would fill up the second side of the Last album, which was only released in France posthumously in 1976. It was a nice testament to a superb band. They performed a few concerts during the Summer of 1974 and then disbanded after a final goodbye concert in Berlin, November 1974.

Lutz Ulbrich teamed up with Manuel Gottsching in 1976 for several Ashra-projects. He has also made scene music for some theatres in Berlin. Michael Honig, as Franke had done five years before him joined Tangerine Dream, but was with them for just two months (including a tour in Australia) in the Spring of 1975. Before that he had a short collaboration with Klaus Schulze (doing concerts in Brussels, Zevenaar and Paris in November and December 1974). It was also planned that Honig should join Ashra for a tour in November 1976, but this didn't happen.


Agitation Free was one of the best groups to appear in Germany in the early seventies, and their albums are obligatory in any German rock collection!

Part 1: Agitation Free
Part 2: Agitation Free
Part 3: Agitation Free
or
Part 1: Agitation Free
Part 2: Agitation Free
Part 3: Agitation Free
or
Part 1: Agitation Free
Part 2: Agitation Free
Part 3: Agitation Free