Very Rare, Not to be missed: The Rolling Stones - Pro Master Series by JFLabs (Bootleg)

The Rolling Stones - France EP 1965

Size: 393 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in Internet
Some Artwork Included

First, JFLabs is a fictitous name i'll be using to denote bootlegs that have been mastered by myself & assistant.  I used to work as an audio mastering engineer in the music industry for almost 20 years. Now my health is not so good & i'm disabled & retired.  This gives me the time to work on projects like this one...as long as my health is decent.  

The Rolling Stones - France Single 1965

I wish to remain anonymous for any possible legal issues regarding bootlegs...ya never know in today's world:-(  I treat each track as if they were final mixes placed on my desk to be mastered.  I only deal with high quality recorded & mixed tracks...stuff I'm gonna listen to myself after they are mastered. On to this series of tracks.

First, I chose only tracks that were recorded & mixed somewhat pretty good (except for the 2 Bonus songs...i couldn't resist adding them even though they have their share of hiccups & the quality of recording is not up to par). I did some edits (removed clicks, crackle, hiss, corrected speed/pitch, fades...etc.), then went about the mastering procces. I tried hard to stay away from compressing the mids & was real careful not to limit them to death so as to keep the dynamics/transients intact. 

The Rolling Stones - France Single 1968

They are limited to around 12.3db--15db, which is a good comprimise between loudness & dynamics. Don't expect them to sound like officially released tracks...although i do prefer some of these over their official counterpart. Some tracks were just not recorded good enough (wild horses, sweet virginia, all down the down_acoustic...etc.), but still sound pretty good. The songs are in no particular order, i figure you can make your own cd's with the tracks you like best. My deepest gratitude goes out to all who have shared/uploaded these gems...you know who you are!





The Rolling Stones - Professional Master Series by JFLabs Outtakes & Alternates (1960's - 1978)

01 - Brown Sugar (altered Mick Taylor version COTHSBurlesque)
02 - Jiving Sister Fanny (Itchy Fingers-IU)
03 - Good Time Women (Exile Outtakes)
04 - I'm Going Down (Itchy Fingers-IU)
05 - Shine A Light (Lost Sessions EVSD 332)
06 - Dance Little Sister (Extended Mix) (USMasters)
07 - Criss-Cross Man - (AGNTTW_GHSoup)
08 - Dead Flowers (Acoustic Version - Sotheby Reel)
09 - Stop Breaking Down (Best of Exile Sessions)
10 - Dear Doctor (Unplugged-IU)
11 - Memo From Turner I (ORSessions-IU)
12 - Family (Trident)
13 - Fiji Jim (Accidents)
14 - Do You Think I Really Care aka Yellow Cab (Accidents)
15 - Drift Away (AGNTTW_GHSoup)
16 - Downtown Suzie [take II] (Black Box CD2)
17 - Travelling Man (IORnR--IU)
18 - You Got The Silver (Unplugged-IU)
19 - Living In The Heart Of Love (IORnR-IU)
20 - I Ain't Lying (Best of Exile Sessions)
21 - I Don't Know Why (Itchy Fingers-IU)
22 - Sister Morphine (Unplugged-IU)
23 - Get A Line On You (Sotheby Reel)
24 - All Down The Line II (Itchy Fingers-IU)
25 - Brown Sugar (1969 Shot Of Salvation)
26 - Let The Good Times Roll (Necrophilia)
27 - Child Of The Moon (Session Impossible MUCD 027)
28 - You Can't Always Get What You Want (Unplugged-IU)
29 - Wild Horses (Unplugged-IU)
30 - Too Many Cooks (1973 MJ Single--Shot Of Salvation)
31 - Pay Your Dues (Early SFMan) (Necrophilia)
32 - Memo From Turner II (ORSessions-IU)
33 - Parachute Woman (Alternate Mix) (USMasters)
34 - Family (Retake) (Trident)
35 - All Down The Down_Acoustic (MYTPHOuttakes)
36 - Stuck Out All Alone (aka Give Me A Hamburger) (Trident)
37 - Everything's Turning To Gold (COTHSBurlesque)
38 - Sweet Virginia (USMasters)
39 - Cocksucker Blues II (Cocksucker Blues)
40 - If You Can't Rock Me (USMasters)

Bonus Tracks:
41 - Brown Sugar (w Eric Clapton 1969) (Itchy Fingers-IU)
42 - I Don't Know The Reason Why (Itchy Fingers-IU)
43 - Sympathy For The Devil (COTHSBurlesque)

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The Rolling Stones - France Single 1968

The Rolling Stones - German Single 1968

The Rolling Stones - UK Export Single 1968

The Rolling Stones - US Single 1966 

Various Artist - Assorted Rock, Folk, Kraut & More Radio FM 1968-71 (Bootleg)

Amon Düül II

Size: 945 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found When i Cleaned my PC
Some Artwork Included

Progressive rock, also known as prog rock or prog, is a rock music subgenre that originated in the United Kingdom, with further developments in Germany, Italy, and France, throughout the mid-to-late 1960s and 1970s. It developed from psychedelic pop (rather than psychedelic rock, as is often stated) and originated, similarly to art rock, as an attempt to give greater artistic weight and credibility to rock music. Bands abandoned the short pop single in favor of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz or classical music in an effort to give rock music the same level of musical sophistication and critical respect. Songs were replaced by musical suites that often stretched to 20 or 40 minutes in length and contained symphonic influences, extended musical themes, philosophical lyrics and complex orchestrations. The genre was not without criticism, however, as some reviewers found the concepts "pretentious" and the sounds "pompous" and "overblown".

Champion Jack Dupree

Progressive rock saw a high level of popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in the middle of the decade. Bands such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) were the genre's most influential groups and were among the most popular acts of the era, although there were many other, often highly influential, bands who experienced a lesser degree of commercial success. The genre faded in popularity during the second half of the decade. Conventional wisdom holds that the rise of punk rock caused this, although in reality a number of factors contributed to this decline. Progressive rock bands achieved commercial success well into the 1980s, albeit with changed lineups and more compact song structures.

Delaney & Bonnie And Friends

The genre grew out of the 1960s space rock of Pink Floyd and the classical rock experiments of bands like The Moody Blues, Procol Harum and The Nice. Most of the prominent bands from the genre's 1970s heyday fall into the "symphonic prog" category, in which classical orchestrations and compositional techniques are melded with rock music. Other subgenres exist, including the more accessible neo-progressive rock of the 1980s, the jazz-influenced Canterbury sound of the 1960s and 1970s, and the more political and experimental Rock in Opposition movement of the late 1970s and onward. Progressive rock has influenced genres such as krautrock and post-punk, and it has fused with other forms of rock music to create such sub-genres as neo-classical metal and progressive metal. A revival, often known as new prog, occurred at the turn of the 21st century and has since enjoyed a cult following.

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s. The genre was pioneered by the Los Angeles band The Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan-penned material with rock instrumentation, in a style heavily influenced by The Beatles and other British bands The term "folk rock" was itself first coined by the U.S. music press to describe The Byrds' music in June 1965, the same month that the band's debut album was issued. The release of The Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its subsequent commercial success initiated the folk rock explosion of the mid-1960s. Dylan himself was also influential on the genre, particularly his recordings with an electric rock band on the Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde albums. Dylan's July 25, 1965 appearance at the Newport Folk Festival with an electric backing band is also considered a pivotal moment in the development of folk rock.

Edgar Broughton Band

The genre had its antecedents in the American folk music revival, the beat music of The Beatles and other British Invasion bands, The Animals' hit recording of the folk song "The House of the Rising Sun", and the folk-influenced songwriting of The Beau Brummels. In particular, the folk-influence evident in such Beatles' songs as "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was very influential on folk rock. The repertoire of most folk rock acts was drawn in part from folk sources but it was also derived from folk-influenced singer-songwriters such as Dylan. Musically, the genre was typified by clear vocal harmonies and a relatively "clean" (effects- and distortion-free) approach to electric instruments, as epitomized by the jangly 12-string guitar sound of The Byrds. This jangly guitar sound was derived from the music of The Searchers and from George Harrison's use of a Rickenbacker 12-string on The Beatles' recordings during 1964 and 1965.

This original incarnation of folk rock led directly to the distinct, eclectic style of electric folk (aka British folk rock) pioneered in the late 1960s by Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Alan Stivell. Inspired by British psychedelic folk and the North-American style of folk rock, Pentangle, Fairport, and other related bands began to incorporate elements of traditional British folk music into their repertoire. Shortly afterwards, Fairport bassist, Ashley Hutchings, formed Steeleye Span with traditionalist folk musicians who wished to incorporate overt rock elements into their music and this, in turn, spawned a number of other variants, including the overtly English folk rock of The Albion Band (also featuring Hutchings) and the more prolific current of Celtic rock.

Guru Guru

In a broader sense, folk rock includes later similarly-inspired musical genres and movements in the English-speaking world (and its Celtic and Filipino fringes) and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Europe. As with any genre, the borders are difficult to define. Folk rock may lean more toward folk or toward rock in its instrumentation, its playing and vocal style, or its choice of material; while the original genre draws on music of Europe and North America, there is no clear delineation of which folk cultures music might be included as influences. Still, the term is not usually applied to rock music rooted in the blues-based or other African American music (except as mediated through folk revivalists), nor to rock music with Cajun roots, nor to music (especially after about 1980) with non-European folk roots, which is more typically classified as world music.

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It often uses new recording techniques and effects and draws on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music.

Hardin & York

It was pioneered by musicians including the Beatles, the Byrds, and the Yardbirds, emerging as a genre during the mid-1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in the United Kingdom and United States, such as Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, the Doors and Pink Floyd. It reached a peak in between 1967 and 1969 with the Summer of Love and Woodstock Rock Festival, respectively, becoming an international musical movement and associated with a widespread counterculture, before beginning a decline as changing attitudes, the loss of some key individuals and a back-to-basics movement, led surviving performers to move into new musical areas.

Psychedelic rock influenced the creation of psychedelic pop and psychedelic soul. It also bridged the transition from early blues- and folk music-based rock to progressive rock, glam rock, hard rock and as a result influenced the development of sub-genres such as heavy metal. Since the late 1970s it has been revived in various forms of neo-psychedelia.

Mick Abrahams Band

Hard rock (or heavy rock) is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock. It is typified by a heavy use of aggressive vocals, distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards.

Hard rock developed into a major form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and AC/DC, and reached a commercial peak in the 1980s. The glam metal of bands like Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard and the rawer sounds of Guns N' Roses followed up with great success in the later part of that decade, before losing popularity with the commercial success of grunge and later Britpop in the 1990s. Despite this, many post-grunge bands adopted a hard rock sound and in the 2000s there came a renewed interest in established bands, attempts at a revival, and new hard rock bands that emerged from the garage rock and post-punk revival scenes.

Krautrock is rock and electronic music that originated in Germany in the late 1960s. The term was popularized in the English-speaking press. Later, German media started to use it as a term for all German rock bands from the late 1960s and 1970s, while abroad the term specifically referred to more experimental artists who often but not always used synthesizers and other electronic instruments.

Vanilla Fudge

The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one particular scene, style, or movement, as many krautrock artists were not familiar with one another. BBC DJ John Peel in particular is largely credited with spreading the reputation of krautrock outside of the German-speaking world.

Largely divorced from the traditional blues and rock & roll influences of British and American rock music up to that time, the period contributed to the evolution of electronic music and ambient music as well as the birth of post-punk, alternative rock and New Age music. Key artists associated with the tag include Can, Amon Düül II, Ash Ra Tempel, Faust, Popol Vuh, Cluster, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Neu!, and Kraftwerk.

Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the 1960s with influences from art (avant-garde and classical) music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Art rock was a form of music which wanted to "extend the limits of rock & roll", and opted for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music. Art rock took influences from several genres, notably classical music, as well as experimental rock, psychedelia, avant garde, folk, baroque pop, and in later compositions, jazz.

Due to its classical influences and experimental nature, art rock has often been used synonymously with progressive rock; nevertheless, there are differences between the genres, with progressive putting a greater emphasis on symphony and melody, whilst the former tends to focus on avant-garde and "novel sonic structure". Art rock, as a term, can also be used to refer to either classically driven rock, or a progressive rock-folk fusion, making it an eclectic genre. Common characteristics of art rock include album-oriented music divided into compositions rather than songs, with usually complicated and long instrumental sections, symphonic orchestration, and an experimental style. Art rock music was traditionally used within the context of concept records, and its lyrical themes tended to be "imaginative", philosophical, and politically oriented.

Whilst art rock developed towards the end of the 1960s, it enjoyed its greatest level of popularity in the early 1970s through groups such as Jethro Tull, Electric Light Orchestra, 10cc, the Moody Blues, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Procol Harum. Several other more experimental-based rock singers and bands of the time were also regarded as art rock artists. Art rock's success continued to the 1990s. Several pop and rock exponents of the period, including Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, incorporated elements of art rock within their work. Art rock, as well as the theatrical nature of performances associated with the genre, was able to appeal to "artistically inclined" adolescents and younger adults, especially due to its "virtuosity" and musical "complexity".

 Medieval folk rock developed as a sub-genre of electric folk from about 1970 as performers, particularly in England, Germany and Brittany, adopted medieval and renaissance music as a basis for their music, in contrast to the early modern and nineteenth century ballads that dominated the output of Fairport Convention. This followed the trend explored by Steeleye Span, and exemplified by their 1972 album Below the Salt. Acts in this area included Gryphon, Gentle Giant and Third Ear Band. In Germany Ougenweide, originally formed in 1970 as an acoustic folk group, opted to draw exclusively on High German medieval music when they electrified, setting the agenda for future German electric folk. In Brittany, as part of the Celtic rock movement, medieval music was focused on by bands like Ripaille from 1977 and Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock from 1979. However, by the end of the 1970s almost all of these performers had either disbanded or moved, like Gentle Giant and Gryphon, into the developing area of progressive rock. In the 1990s, as part of the wider resurgence of folk music in general, new medieval folk rock acts began to appear, including the Ritchie Blackmore project Blackmore's Night, German bands such as In Extremo, Subway to Sally or Schandmaul and English bands like Circulus.

In Britain the tendency to electrify brought several Progressive Folk acts into rock. This includes the acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, who became the electric combo T. Rex. Others, probably influenced by the electric folk pioneered by Fairport Convention from 1969, moved towards more traditional material, a category including Dando Shaft, Amazing Blondel, and Jack the Lad, an offshoot of northern progressive folk group Lindisfarne, who were one of the most successful UK bands of the early 1970s. Examples of bands that remained firmly on the border between progressive folk and progressive rock were the short lived (but later reunited) Comus and, more successfully, Renaissance, who combined folk and rock with elements of classical music. [List of Rock genres: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rock_genres]

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Not to be missed: Led Zeppelin - Chicago Soundcheck 1973-07-06 & Control Monitor Mixes 1973

Size: 159 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in OuterSpace
Some Artwork Incuded

Friday and Saturday, Led Zeppelin landed at the Chicago Stadium, with nearly 20,000 turning out for each night’s show. Apparently anticipating possible problems, someone had seen to it that the place was crawling with security as well. Friday night, at least, things were peaceful enough – in fact, by current concert standards, the whole evening proceeded according to script.

For a band that attracts such an eager-for-action audience, Led Zeppelin is curiously controlled. They are not the type to urge the audience to surge forward; in fact, they play with barricades in front of the stage and Plant expressed distaste more than once for the pushing confrontations going on practically at his feet.

For a band that once relied so much on sheer musicianship, augmented by the stage sexuality of lead singer and vocal gymnast Plant, Led Zep’s picked up a lot of theatrical trappings since their last tour. A stage setting with complete lighting system, mirrored panels and silver balls, plus puffs of smoke and enveloping fogs, represents some borrowings from Pink Floyd, though it works well with Zeppelin’s style too. So does the weird electronic music of the theremin which guitarist Jimmy Page doubled on during Whole Lotta Love.

Page took a couple of solos with some flashy guitar work, and drummer John Bonham managed to make a 15 minute or so drum solo in Moby Dick, not only powerful but incredibly engrossing.

His is the first show of the second leg of the 1973 US Tour and a very rough performance for Robert's voice. At the start of the show it is completely gone and he cannot even hit his middle range. By the middle he warms up a bit but he is still rough and weak throughout. Also were there some PA problems as well as problems with fighting audience so Plant called them down several times during the show "I'd really be obliged if you could cool all that! There's no need to be fighting. I'm sure there's plenty of fights to eatch outside ... There is some sensible reason why these people are doing this ... I have never seen so much leeriness and violence, so cool it! Can you dig that?" Plant blamed the audience several times during the show). The band, however, is tense and thus brutal in their readings while PA system is invalid at some points. Jimmy's soloing is out of this world and the rhythm section commands the long improvisations in Dazed And Confused. A very poor choice for an encore due to Robert's voice and overall, an uneven performance.

Chicago Soundcheck 1973-07-06

01. Sugar Baby (Strawberry Jam) 5:06
02. Wanton Song 2:57
03. The Rover 
    live recording of: The Rover
    writer: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant 7:01
04. The Rover / A Quick One / All Along the Watchtower 5:11
05. Night Flight 
    live recording of: Night Flight
    writer: Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones (UK rock musician of Led Zeppelin & Them Crooked Vultures), Robert      Plant 7:14
06. School Days 
    live cover recording of: School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)
    composer: Chuck Berry 
    lyricist: Chuck Berry 2:48
07. Nadine  1:03
08. Round and Round 0:40
09. Round and Round 3:41
10. Move on the Down the Line 1:50
11. Please Don't Tease  2:50
12. Move It (C'mon Pretty Baby) 1:28
13. Dynamite  1:32
14. Shakin' All Over 3:06
15. Hungry for Love 2:13
16. I'll Never Get Over You 2:16
17. Reelin' and Rockin' / Surrender / Rock and Roll 5:18

Led Zeppelin - "Salt Lake City 1973"
Control Monitor Mixes, Watchtower Records

01. Four Sticks 05:38
02. Black Dog 05:19
03. Wanton Song 04:15
04. Trampled Underfoot 04:14
05. When The Levee Breaks 05:21  

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

Size: 75.5 MB
Birate: 256
mp3
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
mp3
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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