Masters of Reality - Roadburn Festival Germany 2001 (Bootleg) Soundquality A

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Bitrate: 320

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Masters of Reality are an American rock band formed in 1981 in Syracuse, New York by frontman Chris Goss and guitarist Tim Harrington. Notably the band's sound, along with their lineups, are ever-changing. After the first lineup the band's sound has ranged from hard rock to blues to progressive rock and even sixties-era pop. To date the band has released six studio albums and has managed to tour the world with various alternating lineups, Goss essentially the bandleader. In regards to the alternating lineups Goss has stated that Masters of Reality will always be a project with alternating lineups, stating "I can't afford paying people to tell they're in the band."

Notably the band has close ties to the Palm Desert scene with Goss being a producer and key player in that circle, working with Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age (Along with Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri joining Masters of Reality for a period of time.) among others. While the band's name is taken from the Black Sabbath album of the same name the band's early influences were heavily derived from Sabbath and early King Crimson among a host of other classic rock acts.

Early Years and Masters of Reality (1981 - 1990)

Prior to Masters of Reality's formation Chris Goss started out with a band covering heavy 1970s rock acts (New York Dolls, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Blue Öyster Cult, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin) and writing his own songs since circa 1975. After getting into punk rock for a while (including performing at CBGB's in 1978), he didn't play guitar for a few years, instead preferring electronic music like Kraftwerk and becoming a club DJ.

In 1981 Goss and Tim Harrington started to make experimental home recordings with lo-fi, cheap and/or borrowed equipment that included a Sanyo boombox Rhythm Ace drum machine, a Korg, synthesizers and a Fender Vibroverb amp. The rhythm tracks of synths and a beat recorded on cassette would be played back to "overdub" vocals, guitar, more synthesizers, et cetera. They considered Manson Family as a name for their act, but never actually used it for their performances. They played regularly at CBGB's with a sound reminiscent of Suicide or somewhat like how Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson would sound in the 1990s. Early original songs included "Building the Kingdom," "Voodoo Doll," "Metal Entity," "Cash," "Anchor," "Stones in Every Field" and "Doraldina's Prophecies."

By the late 1980s Masters of Reality would grow into a quartet with the addition of Googe on bass and Vinnie Ludovico on drums, developing a sound with less electronics and more of a rock sound drawing from blues and seventies metal such as Black Sabbath, Cream, Led Zeppelin and King Crimson. A demo tape would reach producer Rick Rubin, who would see the band live in late 1986 and sign the band to Def Jam. According to Goss it was Rubin who would bring out more of that blues rock side. During the recording for the band's debut album Rubin would quit Def Jam and take the band with him to his new label, Def American.

Also known as The Blue Garden, the eponymous Masters of Reality saw release on 24 January 1989 to critical acclaim at the time. According to an interview with Kyuss World, Goss would have many issues and frustrations with the recording of the album. Goss got frustrated with the band while touring the debut album. He quit the tour after Matt Dike invited him to come to Los Angeles and to get signed to his Delicious Vinyl label. They bought the rights from Rubin and released a newly sequenced version of the album with Doraldina's Prophecies as an extra track. Notably the band also played a show with Megadeth and Motorhead as part of BAM Magazine's anniversary. The band even made an appearance in 1990 Steven Seagal movie Marked For Death as Seagal was a fan of the band and personally requested them, which also led to the band interacting with Jimmy Cliff.

Sunrise on The Sufferbus (1992 - 1997)

In 1992 Masters of Reality would resurface with Goss and Googe alongside drummer Ginger Baker of Cream notoriety. Though initially Baker expressed dread thinking it was going to be a "loud and awful" heavy metal band, Baker warmed up to working with the band once he got to jamming with them. Recording in various studios in California, Masters of Reality would sign to Chrysalis Records and release their second album Sunrise on The Sufferbus on 9 February 1993. Despite their sound being altered to a degree the album was also critically acclaimed, even spawning a top ten hit in "She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On)". Notably another song on the record was "T.U.S.A.", a rap by Baker describing the inability of Americans to make a proper cup of tea to which some American radio shows allegedly used this when a British guest would be involved.

Despite this new lineup Baker would not stay with the band and leave shortly after with Victor Indrizzo (Circus of Power, Samiam) taking over on drums. Masters Of Reality recorded the song "Climb Inside My World" for a 1994 Ren & Stimpy episode entitled "Jerry the Bellybutton Elf." The song was written by Steve Mellor who also wrote the episode in which it appeared.

The lineup of Goss, Googe and Indrizzo would then record a full-length in 1994, later titled as The Ballad of Jody Frosty, intended for release in 1995 via Epic Records. However the album would be outright rejected by the label and ultimately shelved, with live and studio versions of the songs surfacing on later albums (And ultimately the entire album leaking on the internet in 2004). In an

excerpt from the Masters of Reality archives, Goss would speak about The Ballad of Jody Frosty:

“The Ballad Of Jody Frosty!? The record company just refused to put it out... I'm glad that they showed their stupidity before the record came out... I mean... I look at it as a fine record... But... I think that the versions of the songs on the live record beat the versions of the studio record... All in all the public got the best versions of songs like 'Alder Smoke Blues'... I just want to put my best foot forward all the time, and the way the songs ended up on the live album are the best ones.”

  — Chris Goss, Masters of Reality Official

Masters of Reality were quiet for several years as Goss was occupied producing music for other bands in California, working extensively with bands that would shape the desert rock scene among others. However, the band did appear at Johnny Depp's Viper Room night club on 22 and 23 September 1996 for a two-night stand. The end result would be How High The Moon: Live At The Viper Room, released on 10 June 1997 via Malicious Vinyl. Notably this live album also featured Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) on the song "Jindalee Jindalie".

Welcome To The Western Lodge and Deep In The Hole (1998 - 2002)

Masters of Reality would establish a new lineup in 1998 to tour Europe surrounding an appearance at Dynamo Festival. This lineup of would consist of Goss, drummer John Leamy (Who would end up becoming the longtime drummer for the band), guitarist Brendon McNichol and bassist Paul Powell. Goss and Leamy would work together to record an album of new material and Welcome To The Western Lodge saw release on 21 June 1999. The same touring lineup would return to Europe that year, adding Mathias Schneeberger on keyboards. Throughout 2000 Goss would work with the likes of Queens of The Stone Age and Ian Astbury among others.

The band's connection to Queens led to Goss and Leamy collaborating with Josh Homme, Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegen, Troy Van Leeuwen, Brandon McNichol and others at Rancho de la Luna and an abandoned Joshua Tree cabin, that Goss christened as "Robby's 511 Studio". The end result, described as "pretty fucked" by Goss, would be Deep In The Hole released on 15 June 2001 to positive reviews. On 17 October it would be announced that Homme and Oliveri would be joining Masters of Reality for a tour of Europe with Mark Lanegan (Who also participated in sets with MoR). This tour would include a headlining appearance at the seventh edition of Roadburn Festival. A collection of recordings from this tour would be made into a live album entitled Flak 'N' Flight, released on 18 February 2003.

Give Us Barabbas (2003 - 2008)

In 2003 Masters of Reality would notably cover "Devil's Radio" for the tribute album Songs From The Material World: A Tribute to George Harrison. Masters of Reality would perform once that year at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles that November (With Tomahawk, The Cramps and Queens of the Stone Age).

The next year on 15 June 2004 saw the release of the band's fifth album Give Us Barabbas. Despite being listed as a studio album, Give Us Barabbas is largely comprised of lost and unreleased tracks, with the majority of the songs culled from The Ballad of Jody Frosty. A tour of Europe was intended for the fall of 2004 but Goss would be hospitalized and forced to postpone, even ending up in critical condition for a portion of his hospital stay though would eventually make a full recovery.

The band would sporadically tour in the meantime, largely in Europe and with occasional festival appearances such as Azkena Rock Festival in Spain circa 2005. Goss would largely keep busy through this time recording and engineering for the likes of Melissa Auf Der Maur and Queens of The Stone Age along with participation in a side project known as Goon Moon.

Pine/Cross Dover and Recent Activities (2009 - Present) Goss would begin work on a sixth studio album (And the first album of new material in a decade) through late 2007 and early 2008 at Rancho De La Luna and The Hacienda with a wide range of collaborators. After a year's worth of delays on 1 June 2009 it would be announced that this new album would be set for an August release via European label Brownhouse and Mascot Records, described by Goss as a "rock n' roll record". This album would see release in the United States via Cool Green Records on 12 October 2010. In a 2010 interview with The Aquarian, Goss would explain the recording process of the album and it's delays:

“We do our records very spontaneously. I get together with John Leamy, our drummer, who lives in New York, and in the meantime a few years go by. I accumulate little bits and pieces of ideas on the mini-recorder and have riffs and beats and ideas, blah blah blah, and bring John to the desert—this is what’s happened the last three albums of new material—and we jam.

We expound on these ideas and in the process of jamming, come up with 20 more ideas in addition to the 20 or 30 I may have had in the first place. It’s wonderful. It said in the press release, we both were so busy with production all the time of other people’s stuff, that when we get in a room together and we just go, we’re playing ourselves, and for the pure joy of it. It’s just wonderful.

It’s us, and it’s what we want to do, and there’s no one dictating anything to us. Totally by instinct. So he comes out for a few years, and we get drum tracks out of the jams, and then I finish the record with vocals and overdubs. This last record that just happened, to answer your question, we got a lot of great drum tracks, and also a lot of jams down on tape, and the task of getting those sorted and edited and made into songs took a little bit longer than I thought.

In my world, three or four months for me is a long time to do a Masters record. In “normal world,” most bands take a year or two to garner enough material to put together a cohesive record. Even though it was delayed over and over again, it really only took, in physical studio time, maybe three months, four months, spread out over a little bit of time.

For example, the last song on the record, that long jam session. We had so many of those kinds of jams for these sessions, that to actually go through and say, “Okay, what here is cohesive? What here is enjoyable and is representative of how we feel at that moment?” what we’re proud of, I guess—took longer than it would, normally.”

Pine/Cross Dover, through both it's release cycles, saw praise from the likes of The Obelisk, Under The Radar and Rock Sound[26] among others. In support of the record Masters of Reality would tour the West Coast in November 2010, followed by a tour of Europe that next January and February with the Cult and finishing with a show in New Orleans that June with Earthlings?.

Masters of Reality would tour Europe again two years later, with several festival appearances and dates supporting Queens of The Stone Age. The band would tour Europe again two years later but would go dormant afterwards. In 2019 and 2020 Masters of Reality would announce a tour of Europe for that May, including headlining appearances at Desertfest London, DesertFest Berlin, Kristonfest and Sonic Whip along with a marquee appearance at Stoned and Dusted. However with the CO-VID19 pandemic that would take place through the Spring of 2020 this tour would likely be canceled.

Studio Albums

◉ Masters of Reality (1989, Def Jam)

◉ Sunrise on The Sufferbus (1993, Chrysalis)

◉ Welcome To The Western Lodge (1999, Brownhouse)

◉ Deep In The Hole (2001, Brownhouse)

◉ Give Us Barabbas (2004, Brownhouse)

◉ Pine/Cross Dover (2009, Brownhouse)

Other Releases

◉ How High The Moon: Live At The Viper Room (Live Album) (1997, Malicious Vinyl)

◉ Flak 'N' Flight (Live Album) (2001, Brownhouse)

◉ The Ballad of Jody Frosty (Unreleased Studio Album) (2004; Recorded 1995)

Tracks:

01 - Deep in the Hole  07:02

02 - Third man on the Moon  06:21

03 - Doraldina's Prophecies  08:53

04 - Annihilation of the Spirit  03:32

05 - Rabbit One  06:15 

06 - Time to Burn  03:28

07 - Blue Garden  07:28

08 - Alder Smoke Blues  08:17

09 - Why the Fly  09:40

10 - Band Intro  03:47

11 - Wish for a Fish  07:03

12 - 100 Years of Tears on the Wind  03:40

13 - Twilight Zone  02:40

14 - High Noon Amsterdam  11:29

15 - She Got Me  07:08

16 - John Brown  16.17 (Talk)

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James Williamson & DenizTek - Two to One (Dirty Rock US 2020)

Size: 99.2 MB

Bitrate: 320

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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock

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2 legendary proto-punk guitar heroes join forces for the first time ever on this odds-defying, razor sharp album!

Rock N Roll Hall of Famer James Williamson was the guitarist for one of the most iconic and influential albums of all-time, Iggy & The Stooges “Raw Power”, while Deniz Tek launched what became Australia’s ground zero for the forthcoming punk movement, the revered Radio Birdman!

Features 11 all-new original compositions highlighted by the first single “Stable” and the explosive lead-off track “Jet Pack Nightmare!”

When two major guitar wielders with the rock ‘n’ roll pedigrees of James “The Skull” Williamson and Deniz “Iceman” Tek join forces, it is a time for celebration, especially in these dark times. The pair have done it again on Two To One, a new album released this week. James “The Hound” Marshall spoke with both James and Deniz for PKM.

In these days of diminished expectations when anyone over 40 who can still hold a guitar gets labeled “legendary”, it’s nice to hear a new record that actually delivers the goods.

You can’t argue the credentials of the players here: James “The Skull” Williamson, bad ass Stooges guitar slinger, the man who wrote and wielded guitar on Raw Power, Kill City and other stone cold Stooges’ masterpieces turned tech wiz turned comeback kid of the century. Then there’s Deniz Tek guitarist/songwriter from Australia via Ann Arbor, Michigan who led Radio Birdman from birth through their 21-century reunion, made a half dozen classic solo albums (the last four Detroit, Mean Old Twister and the instrumental “soundtracks for imaginary films”- Lost For Words,and Fast Freight I think are his best work ever), not to mention the Soul Movers, the Visitors, New Race (with Ron Asheton), Dodge Main (with Wayne Kramer), Powertrane (with the Rationals’ Scott Morgan and Stooges drummer Scott Asheton).  He has also worked with the Lipstick Killers, Angie Pepper, the Flamin’ Groovies’ Roy Loney, Jeff Dahl, and innumerable other one offs. I’m out of breath just listing his musical accomplishments but he also found time to join the Navy and become both a jet pilot and Emergency Physician, holding the latter job until 2017.'

Two To One (Cleopatra Records) really does deliver the goods. On his last album, James Williamson & the Pink Hearts’ Behind The Shade, James spread his musical palette wide. Here, he focuses it on what he’s best known for—powerful guitar riffs and explosive solos. The opener, “Jet Pack Nightmare,” acts as a mission statement with one of those thundering Williamson riffs that would be at home on any Stooges record. Deniz Tek brings his A-game, writing half and singing all the songs, and gets his share of guitar glory. It’s all blood, guts and fire from beginning to end and I can’t imagine any fan of the Stooges or Radio Birdman (is there anyone who is a fan of one and not the other? I think not…) being disappointed.  I spoke with Deniz and James via Facetime recently to get the scoop and context of the eve of the release of Two To One.

01. Jet Pack Nightmare 03:36

02. Progress 02:42

03. Take A Look Around 03:25

04. Good As Gone 03:28

05. Stable 04:01

06. Climate Change 03:41

07. Birthday Present 03:18

08. Small Change 03:28

09. Liar 02:52

10. No Dreams 04:14

11. Melissa Blue 03:55

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Electric Hot Tuna - Live at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California, December 7, 1994

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Contains 22 mp3 Tracks at 320 Bit Rate, Enjoy...

 

B.B. King - Twist with B.B King (Great Blues US 1963) + B.B. King - Better Than Ever (US 1962)

Size: 53.2 MB

Bitrate: 256

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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock

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Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Released as promo album only

His reign as King of the Blues has been as long as that of any monarch on earth. Yet B.B. King continues to wear his crown well. At age 76, he is still light on his feet, singing and playing the blues with relentless passion. Time has no apparent effect on B.B., other than to make him more popular, more cherished, more relevant than ever. Don't look for him in some kind of semi-retirement; look for him out on the road, playing for people, popping up in a myriad of T.V. commercials, or laying down tracks for his next album. B.B. King is as alive as the music he plays, and a grateful world can't get enough of him. 

For more than half a century, Riley B. King - better known as B.B. King - has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over fifty albums, many of them classics. He was born September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, near Indianola. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, TN, to pursue his music career. Memphis was where every important musician of the South gravitated, and which supported a large musical community where every style of African American music could be found. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled B.B. further in the art of the blues. 

B.B.'s first big break came in 1948 when he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM out of West Memphis. This led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and later to a ten-minute spot on black-staffed and managed Memphis radio station WDIA. "King's Spot," became so popular, it was expanded and became the "Sepia Swing Club." Soon B.B. needed a catchy radio name. What started out as Beale Street Blues Boy was shortened to Blues Boy King, and eventually B.B. King. 

In the mid-1950s, while B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, a few fans became unruly. Two men got into a fight and knocked over a kerosene stove, setting fire to the hall. B.B. raced outdoors to safety with everyone else, then realized that he left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, so he rushed back inside the burning building to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later found out that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decided to give the name to his guitar to remind him never to do a crazy thing like fight over a woman. Ever since, each one of B.B.'s trademark Gibson guitars has been called Lucille. 

Soon after his number one hit, "Three O'Clock Blues," B.B. began touring nationally. In 1956, B.B. and his band played an astonishing 342 one-night stands. From the chitlin circuit with its small-town cafes, juke joints, and country dance halls to rock palaces, symphony concert halls, universities, resort hotels and amphitheaters, nationally and internationally, B.B. has become the most renowned blues musician of the past 40 years. 

Over the years, B.B. has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles. He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist's vocabulary. His economy, his every-note-counts phrasing, has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. B.B. has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound. In B.B.'s words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille." 

In 1968, B.B. played at the Newport Folk Festival and at Bill Graham's Fillmore West on bills with the hottest contemporary rock artists of the day who idolized B.B. and helped to introduce him to a young white audience. In ``69, B.B. was chosen by the Rolling Stones to open 18 American concerts for them; Ike and Tina Turner also played on 18 shows. 

B.B. was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received NARAS' Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987, and has received honorary doctorates from Tougaloo(MS) College in 1973; Yale University in 1977; Berklee College of Music in 1982; Rhodes College of Memphis in 1990; Mississippi Valley State University in 2002 and Brown University in 2007. In 1992, he received the National Award of Distinction from the University of Mississippi. 

In 1991, B.B. King's Blues Club opened on Beale Street in Memphis, and in 1994, a second club was launched at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City's Times Square opened in June 2000 and most recently two clubs opened at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002. In 1996, the CD-Rom On The Road With B.B. King: An Interactive Autobiography was released to rave reviews. Also in 1996, B.B.'s autobiography, "Blues All Around Me" (written with David Ritz for Avon Books) was published. In a similar vein, Doubleday published "The Arrival of B.B. King" by Charles Sawyer, in 1980. 

B.B. continues to tour extensively, averaging over 250 concerts per year around the world. Classics such as "Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss," "The Thrill Is Gone," How Blue Can You Get," "Everyday I Have The Blues," and "Why I Sing The Blues" are concert (and fan) staples. Over the years, the Grammy Award-winner has had two #1 R&B hits, 1951's "Three O'Clock Blues," and 1952's "You Don't Know Me," and four #2 R&B hits, 1953's "Please Love Me," 1954's "You Upset Me Baby," 1960's "Sweet Sixteen, Part I," and 1966's "Don't Answer The Door, Part I." B.B.'s most popular crossover hit, 1970's "The Thrill Is Gone," went to #15 pop. 

01.  You Upset Me Baby  03:04  

02.  Woke Up This Morning  02:59    

03.  Please Love 

Me  02:52    

04.  Bad Case Of Love  02:22    

05.  Groovin' Twist  02:22    

06.  Bad Luck Soul  02:19    

07.  Do What I Say  02:23    

08.  Rockin' Twist  03:17    

09.  Come By Here   02:18   

10.  Oh Baby  02:22 

Bonus: B.B. King - Better Than Ever (US 1962) 

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John LittleJohn's - Chicago Blues Stars (Outstanding Blues US 1968)

Size: 92.8 MB

Bitrate: 256

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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock

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This November 14, 1968, session was recorded in Chicago, co-produced by Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records and Willie Dixon. It's decent, though journeyman, '60s electric Chicago blues augmented by a couple of tenor saxes. Littlejohn has a pleasant voice and is a skilled guitarist, but does not have the fire or individuality that leaps from some of the musicians to whom one might compare him. Those might include figures like Buddy Guy, say, or Elmore James' more fully produced sides, or on something like "Catfish Blues," the Muddy Waters approach. Littlejohn did write most of the dozen tunes, interspersed with covers of songs by James, Dixon, Brook Benton (a refreshingly unusual choice for a mainstream '60s Chicago bluesman), and J.B. Lenoir.

John Littlejohn's stunning mastery of the slide guitar somehow never launched him into the major leagues of bluesdom. Only on a handful of occasions was the Chicago veteran's vicious bottleneck attack captured effectively on wax, but anyone who experienced one of his late-night sessions as a special musical guest on the Windy City circuit will never forget the crashing passion in his delivery. Delta-bred John Funchess first heard the blues just before he reached his teens at a fish fry where a friend of his father's named Henry Martin was playing guitar. He left home in 1946, pausing in Jackson, Mississippi; Arkansas; and Rochester, New York before winding up in Gary, Indiana. In 1951, he began inching his way into the Gary blues scene, his Elmore James-influenced slide style making him a favorite around Chicago's south suburbs in addition to steel mill-fired Gary.

Littlejohn waited an unconscionably long time to wax his debut singles for Margaret (his trademark treatment of Brook Benton's "Kiddio"), T-D-S, and Weis in 1968. But before the year was out, Littlejohn had also cut his debut album, Chicago Blues Stars, for Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie logo. It was a magnificent debut, the guitarist blasting out a savage Chicago/Delta hybrid rooted in the early '50s rather than its actual timeframe. Unfortunately, a four-song 1969 Chess date remained in the can. After that, another long dry spell preceded Littlejohn's 1985 album So-Called Friends for Rooster Blues, an ambitious but not altogether convincing collaboration between the guitarist and a humongous horn section that sometimes grew to eight pieces. The guitarist had been in poor health for some time prior to his 1994 passing.

Recorded at Universal Studios - Chicago, III. November 14, 1968

01. What In The World You Goin' To Do (Willie Dixon)  03:53

02. Treat Me Wrong (John Funchess)  03:30

03. Catfish Blues  03:30

04. Kiddeo (Brook Benton)  03:45

05. Slidin' Home (John Funchess)  03:56

06. Dream (John Funchess)  05:15

07. Reelin' And Rockin' (John Funchess)  02:25

08. Been Around The World (John Funchess)  05:20

09. How Much More Long (J.B. Lenoir)  03:53

10. Shake Your Money Maker (Elmore James)  04:19

Bonus Tracks

11. I'm Tired (John Funchess)  04:19

12. Nowhere to Lay My Head (John Funchess)  03:44

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The Beginners Mynd - Don't Lose Your Mind (Good Garagerock US 2013 - 2020)

Size: 155 MB

Birate: 320

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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock

Some Artwork Included

"Don’t Lose Your Mind" (2017)

The glorious 2017 debut full-length album from the Beginner's Mynd has arrived! From the fuzzed-out garage title track opener on through to the dreamy, psych-pop album closer 'No Expectations', the Washington D.C.-based trio present 10 new songs that expand upon their bedrock sound of Byrdsian guitar jangle meshed with '60s-style pop-psych and '80s paisley underground moves. Adding more '60s-style garage rock grit and attitude to the proceedings, along with some the best lyrics and songs written yet by the mind behind the Mynd, Dan McNabb, end to end the album delivers an excellent way to kick your summertime music listening into high gear! - 13 O'Clock Records

“Don’t Lose Your Mind” displays the versatility of The Beginner’s Mynd while never wavering far from the band’s psychedelic roots. McNabb’s songwriting abilities and the band’s multi-instrument versatility are constantly on display. One of the strongest debut albums I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. - It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine

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"The guitars, organ notes, every struck drumhead and cymbal crash resounds to cast the listener into their strange envelope-pushing atmospherics. The entire project recalls the exciting, challenging, and intoxicating world of some of those magical records made between 1965 and '69. It's worth noting that The Beginner's Mynd are not some cheap throwback homage with no substance - this contains depth: it's warm, fluent sounds signalling genuine appeal." - Shindig! Magazine

"This is a fantastic album of perfectly crafted late 60s psychedelic songs which is so cohesive and consistent that it elevates itself from mere album to a whole experience in itself!" - Bananas Magazine

"If the mesmerizing lenticular eye cover doesn't get you, the fuzz-and-mellotron-enhanced pop-psych of this DC aggregation will on their first album... this flows enchantingly like a freakbeat flashback fome to life on tracks like the surreal "Out of Tune", the lilting "I Want Truth" and the jangly "Nothing Wrong"." - Ugly Things Magazine

"The band’s warm guitar jangle, dream inducing keyboard play, and tremulous rhythms pay proper homage to Nuggets era psychedelia and pushes that “now sound” into the modern era, a feat seldom seen since the days of the 80s paisley underground." - Psych Out / Nashville Psych Alliance

"“Don’t Lose Your Mind” is simply a stellar step back in time for anyone who treasures a melodically mind-bending, guitar-heavy, hook-driven garage rock sound with a nostalgic nod to 60s drug-pop. Highly Recommended!" - The Quaker Goes Deaf

"Ego Death" (2018)

The Beginner's Mynd are back with a new single! On this follow-up to their debut album Don't Lose Your Mind, the Washington DC-based group present a new original song on the top side with strong 60's UK-style psych vibes in the vein of good 'ol early Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd meets The Factory. 

On the flipside, their rendition of the Bob Dylan perennial classic, meshes jangly, folk-garage with some baroque pop-psych stylings, harpsichord included! 

A solid, very wellrounded two-sider showcasing all of the facets of the group's bedrock sound! - 13 O'Clock Records

"The garage insistence and thumping intensity that drives 'Ego Death' is punctuated by high register organ flourishes which brings a '67 UFO-style psychedelic image to the fore. This might prove their most potent offering yet." - Shinding Magazine

"Befitting the psychedelic nightmare sleeve, the wall-of-keyboards backdrop on "Ego Death" is considerably darker than this DC pop-psych quartet's previous efforts, while the cover of "Baby Blue" can best be described as early Pink Floyd meets The Byrds" - Ugly Things Magazine

 

"I Wish I Was Five" (2015)

Recorded at home, mixed by Mike Reina at The Brink

"The Beginner's Mynd EP" (2013)

""Hazy" is a supremely authentic two-chord wig-out cut from the same paisley cloth as any number of vintage garage-psych touchstones; it's muted power chords, treated vocals and snaking Farfisa organ lines evoking the Floyd's "Candy and a Currant Bun" and The Factory's "Try a Little Sunshine" in equal measures." - Shindig! Magazine

"A hugely promising debut... these guys have the potential to be pretty big imho" - The Active Listener

"Catchy as Hell and exactly the kind of sweet wobble you want lodged in your cranium. 

Both filler-free and coated with enough swirling baroque frosting to give you what you’re looking for..." - Sunrise Ocean Bender

"Laden with organ and psych tones, the brilliant ‘All The Time’ is followed by the more haunting and voice-effected ‘Shadows’ – a sound that continues the sixties influence of the first singles and makes this a band firmly one to follow." - The Roomshaker

The Band:

◉ Dan McNabb: Vocals, guitars, keyboards (Mellotron, Farfisa, piano, harpsichord), percussion

◉ Larry Ferguson: Drums

◉ Carrie Fergusion: Keyboards (Farfisa, piano)

01. Don't Lose Your Mind - Don't Lose Your Mind [2017]  03.23

02. Don't Lose Your Mind - Unity [2017]  03.17

03. Don't Lose Your Mind - I've Seen Stars [2017]  03.57

04. Don't Lose Your Mind - The Next One [2017]  02.24

05. Don't Lose Your Mind - I Want Truth [2017]  03.01

06. Don't Lose Your Mind - Out of Tune [2017] 05.13

07. Don't Lose Your Mind - Nothing Wrong [2017]  04.27

08. Don't Lose Your Mind - Days of Joy [2017]  03.29

09. Don't Lose Your Mind - I Am Done [2017]  03.20

10. Don't Lose Your Mind - No Expectations [2017]  04.39

11. Ego Death - Ego Death [2018]  02.55

12. Ego Death - Baby Blue [2018]  02.54

13. I Wish I Was Five [2015]  03.20

14. The Beginner's Mynd EP - Hazy [2013]  03.26

15. The Beginner's Mynd EP - Time Dilation [2013]  02.55

16. The Beginner's Mynd EP - Shadows [2013]  03.25

17. The Beginner's Mynd EP - All the Time [2013]  02.56

18. The Beginner's Mynd EP - In the Spring [2013]  03.27

19. Beware [2020]  03.02

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Fred McDowell - Mississippi Delta Blues (Good Blues US 1964)

Size: 150 MB

Bitrate: 256

mp3

Found from my Private Collection

Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

As the period of the Blues Revival began to fade, notably with the emergence of British and contemporary Folk artists who drew their influences from the treasures of the legendary Bluesmen, it was clear that the Blues was about to experience new adventures. Today we are going to talk about an important and pioneering figure of the Hill Country Blues, with Mr. Mississippi Fred McDowell. To first tell you a few words about this musical style, Hill Country Blues originated in northern Mississippi, appeared and defined in the 60s as a mix of Delta Blues, Country and West African sounds. From its less conventional and anesthetic form, Hill Country Blues exudes a certain purity through an energetic groove. Going unnoticed at first, because often too much reserved for something local and rural, from the far north of Mississippi, this musical style became something traditional, before it was an influence on some artists of the 90's/2000's when the Garage Rock Revival period appeared. Fred McDowell was obviously not the only local artist to define this new musical style, but he became the emblematic figure as early as 1964 based on the history and legacy he left behind.

Born in 1906 in Tennessee, he has been known for his retrospective fame, based on the fact that he was the pioneer of the new Blues movement and also thanks to his masterpiece Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll released in 1969. Unfortunately he didn't really enjoy his recognition, because McDowell left us in 1972 because of cancer. This man will forever remain a blues legend who is categorized as a historical artist who never landed in the homes of popular listeners, a job reserved for connoisseurs and historians. While losing his parents at a very young age, McDowell first gave up farming, the family business, for the food industry. Music was originally a passion that he exercised on weekends or evenings to make a few extra pennies. He also learned to play the guitar by himself. It was not until the Blues Revival at the end of the 50s that he had the chance to be recorded in the studio, he was then over 40 years old, which is not really a surprise for the bluesmen of that time. Thanks to the Blues Revival, Fred McDowell managed to become a "popular" artist in the reduced folkloric sphere. He took part in a few American compilations and tours/festivals. The exact origin of Hill Country Blues is difficult to put in context for 2 reasons. The first one is that Hill Country Blues had to be built locally over several years, 1964 remains the symbolic date of Fred McDowell's first album. And the second reason is that legend has it that Fred McDowell never really changed his way of doing blues, even though he certainly made it evolve, he was capable of great musical openness and remarkable versatility.

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But like everything else, there have to be some milestones in the history of Hill Country Blues, which brings us to 1964 and the album which is ironically called Delta Blues. In fact, Hill Country Blues was so familiar to Delta Blues that it is sometimes difficult to put the right label on it. The complete album is nowadays almost impossible to find on any platform, so you have to search the tracks one by one, because this one is one of the pearls lost by history (you will find most of them on the You Gotta Me compilation). Released by the label Arhoolie Records, created in 1960 in the middle of the Blues/folk revival period, which included mostly roots artists, Delta Blues are composed of mostly traditional songs, arranged and reworked by McDowell. McDowell, who also had alaise in both cases, alternates between electric and acoustic, with his famous slide guitar and his multiple techniques. His deep and percussive voice emanates all the rurality from which he comes from. There is this simple, sincere side which is articulated on a frantic instrumental rhythm that complements perfectly his singing. What I also love about this kind of artist and dusty record is precisely this rustic and authentic effect that offers an original flavor that is difficult to find today "because of" the technological and material advances of our contemporary production. [DoubleZ]

Track listing

01. Write Me a Few Lines

02. Louise

03. I Heard Somebody Call

04. 61 Highway

05. Mama Don't Allow Me

06. Kokomo Blues

07. Fred's Worried Life Blues

08. You Gonna Be Sorry

09. Shake 'Em on Down

10. My Trouble Blues

11. Black Minnie

12. That's Alright

13. When I Lay My Burden Down

14. Fred's Rambling Blues [bonus track]

15. Don't Look for Me on a Sunday [bonus track]

16. Good Morning Little School Girl [bonus track]

17. Little Girl, Little Girl, How Old Are You [bonus track]

18. Drop Down Mama [bonus track]

19. Early This Morning [bonus track]

20. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning [bonus track]

21. Get Right Church [bonus track]

22. I'm Going Over the Hill [bonus track]

23. Amazing Grace [bonus track]

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Earl Hooker - 2 Bugs and A Roach (Very Good Blues US 1969)

Size: 125 MB

Bitrate: 256

mp3

Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock

Artwork Included

Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Earl Hooker's Two Bugs and a Roach is a varied lot, with vocals from Hooker, Andrew Odom, and Carey Bell in between the instrumentals, all cut in 1968. All in all, it's one of the must-haves in this artist's very small discography -- a nice representative sample from Chicago's unsung master of the electric guitar, including the title track, "Anna Lee," and the atmospheric instrumental, "Off the Hook." 

For a compact disc reissue, Arhoolie added some tracks to the original lineup, including two tracks from stray sessions in late 1968 and July, 1969, along with four very early sides probably recorded in Memphis in the company of Pinetop Perkins, Willie Nix, and an unknown bass player. Of these, "Guitar Rag" is the least together, hampered by a bass player who can't find the changes, but "I'm Going Down the Line" and "Earl's Boogie Woogie" are both top-notch uptempo boogies full of fleet fingered soloing. "Sweet Black Angel" was the A-side of a stray single from the early '50s and appears to be from another session, although it's an excellent example of Hooker playing in the Robert Night Hawk style.

Earl Hooker (January 15, 1929 – April 21, 1970) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, perhaps best known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", Hooker performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker (a cousin) as well as fronting his own bands. An early player of the electric guitar, Hooker was influenced by the modern urban styles of T-Bone Walker and Robert Nighthawk. As a band leader, he recorded several singles and albums, in addition to recording with well-known artists. His "Blue Guitar", a popular Chicago area slide-guitar instrumental single, was later overdubbed with vocals by Muddy Waters and became the popular "You Shook Me".

In the late 1960s, Hooker began performing on the college and concert circuit and had several recording contracts. Just as his career was on an upswing, Earl Hooker died in 1970 at age 41 after a lifelong struggle with tuberculosis. His guitar playing has been acknowledged by many of his peers, including B.B. King, who commented: "to me he is the best of modern guitarists. Period. With the slide he was the best. It was nobody else like him, he was just one of a kind".

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Around 1946, Earl Hooker traveled to Helena, Arkansas where he performed with Robert Nighthawk. While not booked with Nighthawk, Hooker performed with Sonny Boy Williamson II, including on his popular Helena KFFA radio program King Biscuit Time. Hooker then toured the South as a member of Nighthawk's band for the next couple of years. This was his introduction to life as an itinerant blues musician (although he had earlier run away from home and spent time in the Mississippi Delta). In 1949, Hooker tried to establish himself in the Memphis, Tennessee music scene, but was soon back on the road fronting his own band. By the early 1950s he returned to Chicago and performed regularly in the local clubs. This set the pattern that he repeated for most of his life: extensive touring with various musicians interspersed with establishing himself in various cities before returning to the Chicago club scene.

In 1952, Earl Hooker began recording for several independent record companies. His early singles were often credited to the vocalist he recorded with, although some instrumentals (and his occasional vocal) were issued in Hooker's name. Songs by Hooker and with blues and R&B artists, including Johnny O'Neal, Little Sam Davis, Boyd Gilmore, Pinetop Perkins, The Dells, Arbee Stidham, Lorenzo Smith, and Harold Tidwell were recorded by such labels as King, Rockin', Sun, Argo, Veejay, States, United, and C.J. (several of these recordings, including all of the Sun material, were unissued at the time). The harmonica player, Little Arthur Duncan, often accompanied Hooker over this period.

Among these early singles was Hooker's first recorded vocal performance on an interpretation of the blues classic "Black Angel Blues". Although his vocals were more than adequate, they lacked the power usually associated with blues singers. Hooker's "Sweet Angel" (1953 Rockin' 513) was based on Robert Nighthawk's 1949 "Black Angel Blues" and showed that "Hooker had by now transcended his teacher". (B.B. King later had a hit in 1956 with his interpretation, "Sweet Little Angel".) One of Hooker's most successful singles during this period was "Frog Hop", recorded in 1956 (Argo 5265). The song, an upbeat instrumental, showed some of his T-Bone Walker swing-blues and chording influences, as well as his own style.

Hooker continued touring and began recording for Cuca Records, Jim-Ko, C.J., Duplex, and Globe. Several songs recorded for Cuca between 1964 and 1967 were released on his first album The Genius of Earl Hooker. The album was composed of instrumentals, including the slow blues "The End of the Blues" and some songs which incorporated recent popular music trends, such as the early funk-influenced "Two Bugs in a Rug" (an allusion to his tuberculosis or "TB"). Hooker experienced a major tuberculosis attack in late summer 1967 and was hospitalized for nearly a year.

When Hooker was released from the hospital in 1968, he assembled a new band and began performing in the Chicago clubs and touring, against his doctor's advice. The band, with pianist Pinetop Perkins, harmonica player Carey Bell, bassist Geno Skaggs, vocalist Andrew Odom, and steel-guitar player Freddie Roulette, was "widely acclaimed" and "considered [as] one of the best Earl had ever carried with him". Based on a recommendation by Buddy Guy, Arhoolie Records recorded an album by Hooker and his new band. Two Bugs and a Roach was released in spring 1969 and included a mix of instrumentals and vocals by Odom, Bell, and Hooker. For one of his vocals, Hooker chose "Anna Lee", a song based on Robert Nighthawk's 1949 "Annie Lee Blues". As he had done earlier with "Sweet Angel", Hooker acknowledged his mentor's influence, but extended beyond Nighthawk's version to create his own interpretation. The "brilliant bebop[-influenced]" instrumental "Off the Hook" showed his jazzier leanings. Two Bugs and a Roach was "extremely well-received by critics and the public" and "stands today as [part of] Hooker's finest musical legacy."

Recorded November 12, 14 & 15, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois 

01. Anna Lee   06:30 

02. Off the Hook   03:54 

03. Love Ain't a Plaything   04:58 

04. You Don't Want Me   05:16 

05. Two Bugs and a Roach   04:19 

06. Wah Wah Blues   04:36 

07. You Don't Love Me   05:37 

08. Earl Hooker Blues   05:14 

Bonus Tracks

09. Take Me Back To East St. Louis  04:13   

10. New Sweet Black Angel  05:14 

11. Little Carey's Jump  03:52 

12. Original Sweet Black Angel  03:11 

13. Earl's Boogie Woogie  02:37 

14. Guitar Rag  02:55 

15. Going On Down The Line  02:21

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Lil Son Jackson - Selftitled (Great Blues Album US 1960)

Size: 91.2 MB

Bitrate: 256

mp3

Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock

Artwork Included

Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915, Tyler, Texas - May 30, 1976, Dallas) was an American blues guitarist. He was a contemporary of Lightnin' Hopkins.

Jackson's mother played gospel guitar, and he played early on in a gospel group called the Blue Eagle Four. He trained to be a mechanic and did a stint in the Army during World War II, then decided to pursue a career in blues music. He recorded a demo and sent it to Bill Quinn, the owner of Gold Star Records, in 1946. Quinn signed him to a recording contract and released "Freedom Train Blues" in 1948, which became a nationwide hit in the U.S. He recorded for Imperial Records between 1950 and 1954, both as a solo artist and with a backing band. His 1950 tune "Rockin' and Rollin" was recast by later musicians as "Rock Me Baby".

He was hurt in a car crash in the middle of the 1950s and gave up his music career, returning to work as a mechanic. In 1960 he released albums for Arhoolie and Limelight Records, but he did not make a major comeback in the wake of the blues revival. He died of cancer in 1976 in Dallas, at the age of 60.

B.B. King covered Jackson's "I Got to Leave This Woman", on his 2000 album, Makin' Love Is Good for You. Eric Clapton covered Jackson's "Travelin' Alone", on his 2010 album, Clapton.

JACKSON, MELVIN [LIL' SON] (1915–1976). Blues singer and guitarist Melvin (Lil' Son) Jackson was born near Tyler, Texas, on August 16, 1915. Jackson's father, Johnny Jackson, was a singer and musician who taught his young son to play the guitar; his mother, Ivora Allen, played gospel guitar. Lil' Son grew up near Barry, Texas, on his grandfather's farm and listened to records of Texas Alexander, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Lonnie Johnson. As a child he often sang and performed in the nearby Holiness church choir.

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As a young adult during the Great Depression he quickly became dissatisfied with the harsh life of a sharecropper. After running away to Dallas he formed a spiritual group, the Blue Eagle Four. Throughout the 1930s the band played for local churches, parties, and family get-togethers. Jackson was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He served with the Quartermaster Corps in England, France, and Germany. After the war he returned to work in Dallas, where he cut a cheap demo record that he sent to Gold Star Records owner Bill Quinn in Houston. Quinn signed Jackson to a record contract. Starting in 1948 Jackson cut several records for Gold Star and then for Imperial Records. A few of his recordings had some regional success in Texas and on the West Coast. His 1948 song "Freedom Train Blues" made the R&B Top 10.

In 1956 he was involved in a serious automobile accident. After recovering from his injuries he retired from recording and performing to work as a mechanic in a scrapyard. In 1960, however, he was "rediscovered" by California producer Chris Strachwitz, who was on a field trip through Texas and Louisiana looking for talent. Strachwitz persuaded him to come out of retirement and record some of his old songs. Jackson recorded the album Lil Son Jackson for Strachwitz's Arhoolie label in 1960. He followed that up with another album in 1963 on the Houston-based Ames label. That album included newer versions of several of his older cuts, including "Gambling Blues," "Cairo Blues," and "Roberta Blues." Jackson retired permanently in the mid-1960s. He died of cancer in Dallas on May 30, 1976, and was buried in Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in that city. He was survived by his wife and three sons.

01. Blues Come To Texas

02. Cairo Blues

03. Ticket Agent

04. Louise Blues

05. Sugar Mama

06. The Girl I Love

07. Santa Fe Blues

08. Turn Your Lamp Down Low

09. Groundhog Blues

10. Gambler Blues

11. Charley Cherry (take 1)

12. Charley Cherry (take 2)

13. West Dallas Blues

14. Rollin' Mill Went Down

15. Red River Blues   

16. Roberta Blues

Bonustracks:

17. Buck Dance

18. I Walked From Dallas

19. Rock Me

20. Johnnie Mae

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