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
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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
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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
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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

Bram Stoker - Heavy Rock Spectacular (Heavy Progresive UK 1972)

Size: 98.4 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

Bram Stoker is an interesting band from the Early British Progressive Rock Movement (like Julian's Treatment, Gracious, Fantasy, Rare Bird, etc.) featuring great Hammond organ work and fiery electric guitar play. The climates often have dark overtones.

Who were BRAM STOKER and the mysterious T. Brodson who composed all the tracks? This enigmatic 1972 release was recorded for Woolworths generic Windmill label and recorded presumably by session players to cash in on the early seventies success of bands like Black Sabbath, Atomic Rooster and Black Widow. 

The BRAM STOKER moniker evokes macabre gothic atmospheres, and so does their music with tracks like "Blitz" conjuring up a doom laden sound. The LP "Heavy Rock Spectacular" is a true lost pearl of original prog, dominated by moody Hammond organ that owes much to keith Emerson's influence. There are NICE overtones too with their own "Fingals Cave" whilst the sounds on "Poltergeist" seem to come straight from a gothic 'Hammer Horror'.

Bram Stoker was one of the first prog rock bands on the music scene in the 1970s, often compared to early Genesis and Yes. The band was formed by Keyboard player Tony Bronsdon in 1969; they soon built up a strong and devoted following at live shows. Playing the Marquee in London, they were supported by a little known band called ‘Queen’. They played regularly in London at The Roundhouse, The Marquee, The Heavy Rock Spectacular Greyhound – Croydon and The Speakeasy. Touring clubs, colleges and University in the UK and Holland they were appreciated by many well known artists of the time and their bootlegged releases became collector’s items.

Bram Stoker music is pure, classic, symphonic prog composed and played by some of the first original artists of the time. Two original band members – keyboard player Tony Bronsdon, whose classically influenced Hammond organ led Bram Stoker’s trademark sound, and guitarist / bassist Tony Lowe – recruited talented drummer / vocalist Will Hack to co-write and record ‘Cold Reading’. Original bassist Jon Bavin also collaborated in writing two of the new compositions. 

‘Cold Reading’ was produced by Tony Lowe, who subsequently worked as a musician with the likes of Julian Lennon, Roger Daltrey, Simon Townshend, Visage, Pet Shop Boys and Phil Ramone, plus has produced artists such as Flying Colours, Toyah, John Foxx since the band broke up in 1972. Tony Lowe has also just completed work on an album with David Cross (King Crimson). David’s wonderfully evocative instrumental work is grown from the famous ‘Starless’ theme and is due for release later this year.

He Gothic drone of Bournemouth band Bram Stoker is singularly England’s most ignored Prog entity. The fundamental core of Bram Stoker was organist Tony Bronsdon who started out with Renaissance Fare in 1968 later fusing with ex Feel guitarist Pete Ballam and ex Feel drummer Rob Haines freshly defected from Freedom Village. A remarkable bassist called John Bavin from the floral village of The Incredible String Band joined the combo, replacing Jet Harris and Tony Lowe after a defunct Harris Tweed basically evolved into Bram Stoker. 

Bram Stoker 1972

In 1972 Bram Stoker launched their Heavy Rock Spectacular which holds more emotive stirrings than any ELP refrain, harking to the tremors of Julian’s Treatment or Dr Z. The Bram Stoker live performances were sensational largely due to Ballam’s legendary "Doppler" (spinning speaker cabinet) and Bronsdon’s stirring organ tones and changing tempos. Bram Stoker stand next to Van Der Graaf as one of the first Gothic Prog groups, often supporting The Who and even booked to play the ‘Isle Of Wight Festival’. Who vocalist Roger Daltrey helped the group to record a home demo which got them a contract with the ‘Woolworth’s budget label ‘Windmill Records’. Bavin’s eerie vox is sheer rupture on the fuzz riffing “Extensive Corrosion” while Bavin’s bass rumbles superbly on “Ants” and the Wakeman styled “Fast Decay”. 

Bavin’s production skills later infiltrated Dave Stewart and Kiki Dee. Haines is best heard on the cymbal signatures that embellish “Poltergeist” while Bronsdon’s classical virtues power through Felix Mendelssohn’s “Fingal’s Cave”, severed sensitively by Ballam’s exquisite breaks. Stoker’s post apocalyptic “Blitz” is the epic highlight with Ballam conjuring drone lead that evokes visions of misty bomb shelters and nuclear rain. Bram Stoker re-formed in 2004 with added Pat Flynn (guitar) & Pete Rumble (drums) for Rock Paranoia (includes unreleased material).

♣ Tony Bronsdon (organ) 
♣ Pete Ballam (guitars) 
♣ Rob Haines (drums) 
♣ Jon Bavin (bass) 

Original Album Windmill UK 1972
01. Born to be free (3:43)
02. Ants (3:48)
03. Fast decay (3:49)
04. Blitz (5:33)
05. Idiot (4:28)
06. Fingal's cave (7:42)
07. Extensive corrosion (4:19)
08. Poltergeist (4:35)

Bonus Disc 
01. Collusion Illusion (4:50)
02. Scarborough Fair (3:10)
03. Queen of Sheeba (2:38)
04. Faith Healer (1:47)

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Some Black Sabbath...

Mapledurham Watermill,  Oxfordshire, England

Advertise for Black Sabbath's 1st album NME 1970
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Terry Reid - Selftitled (Great Rock Album UK 1969)

Size: 141 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan SHM-CD

Terry Reid (born 13 November 1949, Huntingdon, England) is an English rock vocalist and guitarist. He has performed with high profile musicians, as a supporting act, a session musician, and sideman.

After leaving school at the age of 12, Reid joined Peter Jay's Jaywalkers after being spotted by the band's drummer, Peter Jay. At the time Reid was playing for a local band, The Redbeats. His public profile was enhanced in 1966 when The Jaywalkers were named as a support act for The Rolling Stones for their concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Graham Nash of The Hollies became friends with Reid at that concert and suggested The Jaywalkers sign up with Columbia Records to record with producer John Burgess. Their first single, the Soul-inspired "The Hand Don't Fit the Glove" was a minor hit in 1967, but by then The Jaywalkers had decided to disband.

Reid came to the attention of hits producer Mickie Most, who became his manager. His first single with Most, "Better By Far," became a radio favourite, but the album, Bang Bang, You're Terry Reid, was not a commercial success. With accompanying musicians Peter Solley on organ and Keith Webb on drums, a 1968 tour of the United States with Cream did much to gain Reid a loyal following. His final performance of the tour at the Miami Pop Festival garnered positive reviews from the music press.

The song "Without Expression" by Reid and Graham Nash, from Bang Bang, You're Terry Reid, was recorded by The Hollies in 1968 as "A Man With No Expression" and by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in 1969 as "Horses Through a Rainstorm", with Nash singing lead on both. Both versions were not released until years later.

Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page became interested in Reid's work, and when The Yardbirds disbanded, Page wanted Reid to fill the vocalist spot for his proposed new group, the New Yardbirds, which was to become Led Zeppelin. Reid had already committed to go on the road with Cream (as an opening act on the 1968 US Tour). So he suggested to Page that he consider a young Birmingham based singer, Robert Plant, instead, having previously seen Plant's Band of Joy as a support act at one of his concerts. Reid later was offered a position as a member of Deep Purple when they decided to replace singer Rod Evans; Ian Gillan was given the position instead.

In 1969, Reid supported British tours, notably Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac. Reid, Solley and Webb toured the United States again when he opened for The Rolling Stones on their 1969 American Tour. He did not appear at the infamous Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Music Festival.

In December 1969 Reid had a falling out with producer Mickie Most, who wanted Reid to become a balladeer, and to strictly follow his own formula. Reid left England and settled in California to sit out the remainder of his contract with Most, making only sporadic live performances during that period. In 1970, he returned briefly to England to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival, supported by David Lindley and Tim Davis. During this period he also performed at the Atlanta II Pop Festival.[3] Reid was filmed performing in Glastonbury Fayre, the 1971 film by David Puttnam and Nicolas Roeg. In 1973, Reid returned with a new contract with Atlantic Records and a new album entitled River. Produced by Yes' Eddie Offord, the album received favourable reviews, but failed commercially.

Over the next decade, Reid switched to different labels in search of a winning formula; Seed of Memory released by ABC Records in 1976 (produced by Graham Nash), and Rogue Waves released by Capitol Records in 1979. He retired his solo career in 1981 to concentrate on session work, appearing on albums by Don Henley, Jackson Browne, UFO, High Stakes & Dangerous Men and Bonnie Raitt. In 1991, Reid returned with former Yes producer Trevor Horn, on the album The Driver. The album featured a cover version of the Spencer Davis Group classic written by Steve Winwood: "Gimme Some Lovin'", which had earlier appeared on the Days of Thunder soundtrack. "The Whole of the Moon", written by Mike Scott, was released as a single and received considerable airplay, with backing vocals performed by Enya. Reid has since been playing occasional live gigs with a band which has included Brian Auger. In the 1990s he also toured in the US and Hong Kong with ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. In 1998, Rich Kid Blues was the eponymous song on an album released by Marianne Faithfull, produced by Mike Leander in 1984 but unreleased for 14 years. Touring in support of her 2002 album Kissin Time, Faithfull included a performance of Rich Kid Blues in her playlist.

In late 2005, Reid returned to the UK for his first tour in years. One venue billed him as 'The Man With A Hell Of A Story To Tell'. That same year, three of his songs, "Seed of Memory", (the title track to Seed of Memory), "To Be Treated Rite", and "Brave Awakening", appeared in the movie The Devil's Rejects (2005), directed by Rob Zombie. Also, his song "Faith To Arise" was in the 2003 film Wonderland. In July/August 2007 Reid returned for another six week UK tour being backed by The Cosmic American Derelicts, a band out of northern New Jersey and Southern New York.

On 26 June 2009, Reid appeared with Cosmic American Derelicts guitarist Eddie to perform at ex-band mate Peter Jay's Great Yarmouth club The Residence. At this gig Terry appeared on stage with the local support band Second Hand Blues to perform a cover of the Donovan song "Season of the Witch", this song has become one of the most watched videos of Terry Reid on YouTube, Terry also performed with Peter Jay for the first time in over 15 years on a cover of The Beach Boys song "Don't Worry Baby". On 28 June 2009, Reid and his band performed on The Park stage at the Glastonbury Festival.

The American rock group Cheap Trick recorded Reid's "Speak Now" for their debut album. Also, in 1973, the American rock group REO Speedwagon recorded Reid's "Without Expressions (Don't Be The Man)" for their Ridin' The Storm Out album. Without Expression (Don't be the man) was also recorded by John Mellencamp on his greatest hits album, The Best That I Could Do: 1978-1988.

The Raconteurs with Jack White recorded a version of Reid's "Rich Kid Blues" for their second album Consolers of the Lonely in 2008.

The pairing of Shine and Reid debuted at the Pigalle Club in London on 26 August 2009. A studio collaboration, Shine featuring Terry Reid, was released as an MP3 EP in November 2009.

01. Superlungs My Supergirl 2:42  
02. Silver White Light 2:54  
03. July 3:32  
04. Marking Time 3:46  
05. Stay With Me Baby 4:11  
06. Highway 61 Revisited/Friends/ 8:00  
07. May Fly 3:41  
08. Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace 4:25
09. Rich Kids Blues 4:15

Bonus Tracks:
10. Zodiac Blues 2:57
11. Penny 6:03
12. Funny How Time Slips Away (First 'Demo' Version) 3:57
13. I'll Take Good Care Of You (First 'Demo' Version) 2:07
14. It's Gonna Be Morning (w. Jaywalkers) 2:58
15. I'll Take Good Care Of You (w. Jaywalkers) 2:07
16. Funny How Time Slips Away (w. Jaywalkers) 3:40
17. Just Walk in My Shoes (w. Jaywalkers) 2:21
18. The Hand Don't Fit the Glowe (w. Jaywalkers) 2:56
19. This Time (w. Jaywalkers) 1:51
20. Highway 61 Revisited [Demo] 4:26

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