Friday, November 28, 2008

Finch-Beyond Expression




Info By Progarchives

The foundation of Dutch progrock band FINCH was laid by bass player Peter Vink and drummer Beer Klaasse (both ex-Q65 and The KJOE). They were eager to play progressive music: Peter was impressed by the symphonic rock of YES and BEER by the improvised rock of MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA and CREAM. After some sessions and failed efforts to find a good singer, the new band switched to instrumental music with this line-up: Peter Vink, Beer Klaasse, the 19 year old "guitar virtuoso" Joop van Nimwegen and keyboard player Paul Vink. With two Vink’s in the band the name became FINCH, the English translation from this Dutch name. The EMI sub-label Negram was willing to invest in the new progrock band, in ’75 this resulted in the debut-album "Glory of the Inner Force" (worldwide sold 20.000 copies). New keyboard player Cleem Determeijer’s interplay with guitarist Joop sounded captivating and the first album was hailed by the music press. The single "Colossus" (’75) wasn’t successful but it’s now a hugh collector’s item. In ’76 the second album "Beyond Expression" was released, it was acclaimed as Album of the week by radio and tv broadcasting company Veronica and known music magazines were very positive. The future looked bright for FINCH: sold oud concerts, worldwide sales (15.000 copies) and in Japan FINCH became almost as popular as other Dutch progrock bands FOCUS and EARTH & FIRE! Unfortunately Cleem was no longer able to combine the music with his classical study, he was replaced by Ad Wammes and, due to musical disagreement, Hans Borsboom replaced Beer Klaasse. This new FINCH line-up released the third album entitled "Galleons of Passion" in ’77, it was not received very well though the sales flagged around the 11.000 copies. It turned out to be the band’s swansong until in ’99 the Dutch record company Pseudonym Records released a 2-CD, including fine demos of the "Galleons of Passion" album and exciting live material from ’76.

The first LP "Glory of the Inner Force" contains four melodic and often swinging compositions with strong echoes from YES. The keyboards sound tasteful (Hammond organ and Mellotron), the guitarwork is great with passionate solos and the rhythm-section plays solid (a grunting Rickenbacker bass). The second album "Beyond Expression" sound more original, inventive and dynamic with furious guitarplay and bombastic keyboards in four captivating and compelling tracks. A splendid album, a bit underrated because of the attention for the other Dutch progrock bands EARTH & FIRE, KAYAK and FOCUS. The third album "Galleons of Passion" is more in the vein of mid-GENESIS and sound pleasant but less captivating and contrasting. The 2-CD "The Making of...Galleons of passion/Stage" ’76” is mainly interesting because of the live-material: it’s layered with magnificent electric guitarplay (Jan Akkerman once told he was very impressed by Joop!) and great solos from Ad’s newly purchased Minimoog synthesizer. The live-CD contains the previously unreleased track "Necronomicon" (over 15 minutes), a ‘typically Seventies live progrock composition’ with lots of solos on guitar, keyboards and bass

Line-up/Musicians
- Cleem Determeijer / keyboards
- Beer Klaasse / drums
- Joop Van Nimwegen / guitars
- Peter Vink / bass

Finch-Beyond Expression @320

1. A Passion Condensed (20:05)
2. Scars On The Ego (8:51)
3. Beyond The Bizarre (14:24)

pt1: sharebee.com/6f3d1989
pt2: sharebee.com/e6b4ab11

ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Greenslade-Greenslade




Info By Wiki:
Greenslade is an English progressive rock band. It was originally formed in November 1972 with the following line-up:

Dave Greenslade - keyboards & vocals (born 18 January 1943 in Woking, Surrey)
Tony Reeves - bass guitar (born Anthony Reeves, 18 April 1943, in London)
Dave Lawson - keyboards & vocals (born David Lawson, 25 April 1945, in Hampshire)
Andrew McCulloch - drums (born 19 November 1945)

Greenslade and Reeves had been original members of Colosseum. Lawson was previously a member of Samurai and McCulloch was briefly a member of King Crimson, playing drums on that band's third album, Lizard (1970). Dave Clempson (ex Humble Pie) guests on Greenslade's third album, playing guitar on two tracks. Reeves left around that time and was replaced on the U.S. tour and subsequent fourth album, Time And Tide, by Martin Briley who also contributed on guitar. Greenslade announced their disbandment in 1976.

However, in 2000, Dave Greenslade and Reeves teamed up with drummer John Trotter and vocalist/keyboardist John Young, and recorded a new Greenslade studio album: Large Afternoon. A tour soon followed and this was recorded and subsequently released in 2002, Greenslade 2001 - Live: The Full Edition

Greenslade-Greenslade @320
1 Feathered Friends
2 An English Western
3 Drowning Man
4 Temple Song
5 Mélange
6 What Are You Doin' To Me?
7 Sundance

here: sharebee.com/a62eeb31
ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Pussy-Pussy Plays



Group Info Found on www.progressor.net
Pussy's only self-titled album had been a mega-rarity LP (the collectors' wet dream) for many years before it was reissued on CD by "Hi-Note". Also, this is one of just a few strong albums that show the development of the Progressive Rock at the dawn of the genre. Beginning with Pink Floyd's "The Piper At the Gates of Dawn", 1967 (what a relevant title for the pioneer album of Progressive!) and "Saucerful of Secrets", 1968, through The Beatles self-titled double LP (or "White Album"), 1968, Clear Blue Sky's "Out of the Blue", 1968, Pussy's "Pussy", 1969, Colosseum's "Valentine Suite", 1969, and some others, that wonderful series of the first albums of the genre has been successfully concluded with King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". The latter, as the most mature, integral and interesting album of the genre in the 1960s, the first King of the Rocky Lands (and these are still difficult to access, for sure) also became the first essential landmark for further development of Progressive Rock. I've listened to "Pussy" more times than it is necessary for me to comprehend it and, this way, to get a more or less clear picture of the instrumental equipment the band used on this album. Thus, I am ready to tell you what I think about the album itself, about the band's line-up and those who apparently were just guest musicians on the album (I mean professions, but not the names of the musicians, of course). While it is obvious that Pussy were a quintet (there is a small photo of the band on the CD booklet cover), actually, there were more musicians involved in the recording process of this album.

The Album. So, since most of the songs on the album were performed with the use of all the same instruments (lead and rhythm acoustic and electric guitars, a few different keyboards, bass, drums, and voice), especially because all these instruments sound specifically, with the same character styles of playing them throughout the album, now I am sure that Pussy was exactly a quintet. (No, Pussy was a five-headed monster at the time!) Without guests, Pussy performed the following compositions of the album: All Of My Life, Comets, The Open Ground, Everybody's Song, and GEAB. I guess there were three guest musicians on the album. First of them was a female singer whose back vocals are clearly heard on the album's opening track Come Back June (maybe, she is June here, only masked with the dawn of the summer?) and on We Built the Sun (it must be great to build the sun in June, being in company with June). There are two more guests, however, on "Pussy", but unlike the female singer (she's a lady after all!), they two, oboe and cello players, turned out to be squeezed (involved!) in the only Tragedy on the whole album. Really, there are five songs and three instrumentals on the album, but only one of the latter pieces, Tragedy In E-Minor, is full of drama. But, what a wonderful piece it is in reality! Performed without rhythm-section, slow and loftily sad, Tragedy In E-Minor is filled with a lot of various, always beautiful and quite virtousic roulades and passages of minstrel-alike acoustic guitar and piano, (guest) oboe and cello, duets of acoustic piano and guitar, as well as with electric piano and guitar melancholy solos and interplays between them. Frequent changes of joint arrangements, diverse parts of each instrument, an obvious medieval feel all make Tragedy In E-Minor one of just a handful unique and beautiful (progressive, of course) instrumental pieces to come out of the 1960s. Both the other instrumentals differ from Tragedy more than radically (as well as the majority of tracks on the album in general). GEAB and Comets (what a proper title for this track!), both contain a wide variety of themes, solos and joint arrangements, and these are mostly powerful and sometimes highly bombastic, by no means ordinary things at the dawn of Progressive. Comets, as not Earthly entities, drive all over the universe, sometimes accompanied by an otherworldly growl and their, probably, own ghostly howls (created, though, by an Earthly engine called keyboards), as well as with such essential things as regular changes of themes, tempos and moods (both instrumentally and vocally), guitar, bass and keyboard solos, all of which form sometimes duets and trios. There are enough of unusual moves and sounds on GEAB too, though, I can't understand (up to now) if a real or 'synthetic' flute plays to the accompaniment of bass and rhythm-guitar in the beginning of this composition. Well, it's time to talk about the songs. While a few episodes on each of both the 'bombastic' instrumentals sound sometimes almost as Prog-Metal parts, all five songs are of such a kind of Classic Art Rock, in which the famous band Camel worked and still works. Changing, yet mostly plain (as there are few elements of other musical genres) typical Classic Art Rock structures of Come Back June, All Of My Life, We Built the Sun, The Open Ground, and Everybody's Song sounded very innovative at the time, as lots of those bands once and forever dubbed as the most influential on the creations of other bands, used practically the same structural schemes in their compositions. Changes of themes, moods, etc happen mainly within the same united (Art-Rock, for example) stylistics, while transformations into another genre (Prog-Metal, etc) are rare. The latter, however, doesn't prevent pure Art-Rock or Symphonic arrangements, typical for all songs of Pussy, from being complex and even intricate. The majority of vocals parts on the album I also regard as diverse, because the vocal palette here is really rich in emotions, especially dramatic, though using the female backing vocals only on two tracks doesn't look effective as a whole. Also, the album would have sounded richer if the accidental participants of Tragedy (they were just guests) had worked on each track.

Summary. Not as significant and intriguing as Pink Floyd's "The Piper At the Gates of Down", which is the very first album of Progressive in general, not as fast and skilful as Colosseum's "Valentine Suite", which is the first album of Progressive Jazz-Fusion, not as complex and perfect as King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King", the first album of Classic Art Rock / Symphonic Progressive, not as heavy and quirky as Black Sabbath's self-titled one, the first album of Progressive Metal, Pussy's only album is, nevertheless, also one of the first albums of the Art Rock genre and Progressive in general. The main value of it has little to do with the fact of the birth and the first steps of the genre. "Pussy" is a very original and truly progressive musical work, which first of all is very interesting in itself. This album, released in the distant 1969, surpasses a lot of contemporary progressive albums, especially the so called wannabes and all other boring copyists and imitators of their idols. ("Don't idolize anyone!", - as the Holy Bible says...)


Pussy-Pussy Plays @320

1 Come Back June
2 All Of My Life
3 We Built the Sun
4 Comets
5 Tragedy In E-Minor
6 The Open Ground
7 Everybody's Song
8 GEAB

Here : sharebee.com/83d7a9ba

Crosby Stills and Nash - Suite Judy Blue Eyes (Woodstock 69)

Monday, November 24, 2008

Blue Cheer - Outsideinside




Info By Wiki:

Outsideinside is the second album by Blue Cheer, released on PolyGram in August 1968. This album features writing contributions from all members along with two covers: "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones and "The Hunter" by Booker T. & the M.G.s (also covered by British rock band Free). The album was produced by Abe Kesh and engineered by Eddie Kramer, who had worked with Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and would later work with Led Zeppelin and KISS among others. The cover painting is by "Arab" and design by "Gut," legendary Hells Angel. The album was re-released in 1999 by Akarma Records (Italy based label) with an out-take from the sessions entitled "Fortunes." The album photography is by famed rock photographer Jim Marshall. This is the last album to feature the original Blue Cheer lineup as Leigh Stephens would leave the band after the album was released


Blue Cheer - Outsideinside @320

1 Feathers From Your Tree
2 Sun Cycle
3 Just A Little Bit
4 Gypsy Ball
5 Come And Get It
6 Satisfaction
7 The Hunter
8 Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger
9 Babylon
10Fortunes Bonus


here: www.zshare.net/download/518058886d8cba2a/
ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Mirror: www.zshare.net/download/518888543b59f32a/
No Password

Reuploads

1)Flamengo-Kuře v Hodinkách






Info By Bio by Hugues Chantraine:


Along with The Matadors, Flamengo were one of the earliest Czech groups that started out in the mid-60's as beat bands and recorded a bunch of singles on legal state apparatchik label. Their then-leader Frantisek Francl was a well regarded fuzzed-up guitarist and wrote most of their track (even if they did a cover of John Mayall's No Reply), but with time, the group changed line-up and with the arrival of the now-legendary vocalist Vladimir Misik and woodwind player Jan Kubik, the group's sound was dramatically affected and started sounding like a brass rock band, with a slightly more jazz twist than the better know US groups. They might be compared best with Colosseum and sometimes Traffic. Their sole album was set to be released in 72 on the state label Supraphon, but apparently was quickly banned by the regime. Nothing was heard from the musicians until 76, so most likely, they chose to lay low for a while.

If Vlad Misik remained a high-profile musician, the other members sometimes crossed his path, namely in Misik's Etc... But afaik, no one else from Flamengo remained in the spotlight for long.




Flamengo-Kuře v Hodinkách @320 Artwork Included

1. Kure V Hodinkach (Introdukce)

2. Rám Prístích Obrazu
3. Jenom Láska Ví Kam
4. Já A Dým
5. Chvíle Chvil
6. Pár Století
7. Doky, Vlaky, Hlad A Boty
8. Stále Dál
9. Kure V Hodinkach
10. Kazdou Chvíli Bonus
11. Týden V Elektrickém Meste Bonus

pt1: sharebee.com/96df2f37
pt2: sharebee.com/abe28f09

No Password.The album was downloaded via torrent

2)Blue Cheer-Vincebus Eruptum


Review by The Seth Man:


A crazy singularity, Blue Cheer’s debut album flows with a relentless feeling and attitude from the guts thrown as hard as possible against the studio wall and was captured as the double vulgar non sequitur tripped-out, biker Pig Latin-entitled vinyl slab, “Vincebus Eruptum.” This album shows Blue Cheer as much out of their time as they were ahead of it as they set down a bedrock hard representation of the earliest power trio to disregard the then-current vogue of electric blues and just concentrate on going for broke while slamming together truly groundbreaking noise in an approach null and void of everything except power, energy and a collective sense of defiance funneled through a truly unique barrage that makes “Vincebus Eruptum” an orgy of heaviosity and unanimous proponent of Rock music at one of it’s boldest heights. For its entirety, Blue Cheer keeps their snotty noses to the grindstone while kicking a bigger ass all the time: The overall strafing and forced landings of Leigh Stephens’ staccato-ed, running-pus blister burning guitar, Paul Whaley’s engine-room sweating and wholesale walloping of drums/cymbals/your head and Dick Peterson’s low-slung bass jabs while gruff strutting vocalising combine into a three-tiered crown of powerdrive so forceful and stripped down that the title of a single by Whaley’s previous band, The Oxford Circle accurately describes this decibellicose rampage: “Mind destruction.”Stephens’ overbearing, over-recorded and out of control Gibson SG guitar is strung with high tension wires that soar and sail upon successive waves of roaming feedback, surfing sustain and total disdain of the sonically correct as all three members donate a limb to a sonic third rail they piss on and subsequently jolt upwards into the stratosphere, luckily recording this album as it happened.To discuss “Vincebus Eruptum” in depth without any mention of its amped-up’n’over use of volume as abrasive soul cleanser would be nearly impossible because it defined their sound and set them apart so significantly from the swirling, fading Art Nouveau emanating forth from the majority of their San Franciscan contemporaries of the late sixties (With the possible exception of Shiver, who I’ve yet to hear due to a rare attack of caution I landed recently after checking out the very promising White Lightning, a heavy group formed by Zippy Caplan after his departure from The Litter. By all reports, it was nothing less than MC5-meets-Blue Cheer-meets-The Litter’s own “Emerge” but wound up sounding more molehill than even Mountain, dammit!)“Vincebus Eruptum” is a summation of a group head steeped in one of the most addled and economical rock albums, ever: six tracks equally split over two sides and although half of them are cover versions it’s all reduced to the unique sonic parallelogram pushing into over-amplitude-ness for its entire 31 and a half minute duration (I kid you not.) And Abe “Voco” Kesh’s production is every bit as gruff, crude and effective as Peterson’s vocals, recording the band at just a measure below their actual playing volume in order to capture its impact so the album itself would be as sonically true as possible. The dynamic range tips over from the introductory, pummeling waves that open the album’s first track, the utterly bent and highly flammable cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” into a pace of intentionally slothful viciousness that continues unabated for the rest of the album. Everything sounds like the aural equivalent of a colour photograph printed off-register by an eighth of an inch so that it vibrates in four separate versions of black, magenta, yellow and blue and although obviously wrong, the sensation is so intriguing it keeps you hooked on gazing at its moirι pattern that suspends perceptional realisation but is such a wonder to behold, anyway. They drop their signal overload through six churning tracks: “Summertime Blues,” “”Rock Me Baby,” “Doctor Please,” “Out Of Focus,” “Parchment Farm,” “Second Time Around” and there’s not a single moment wasted at all.Equally impossible would be to leave unmentioned the effect The Jimi Hendrix Experience had on Blue Cheer (especially, their live performance at Monterey that began in distortion and ended in flames and topped off with many spins of their “Are You Experienced?” album) only because at first blush everybody thought that their cover of “Summertime Blues” was a little like ‘retarded Jimi’ (well, at least a high school comrade-in-rock and yours truly did upon first impact with “Vincebus Eruptum” for the first time in early 1980 and consequently were nonplussed by it all for ages) and I think I finally figgered out why. The easy answer is because two guitar phrases in “Summertime Blues” are fantastic purple hazed vamps to be sure, but a more detailed exploration relates more to Blue Cheer’s inspiration with which The Experience wielded their equipment so explosively huge. So they did it in an even HUGER way but they did it their own way and then went ALL the way with it -- by throwing caution to the four winds and bleaching out all the finessing Hendrix qualities by throwing their amps up to the highest contrast possible: to the crushing heights of the feedback intro to Hendrix’s encore at Monterey (“Wild Thing”) and subsequently leaving their amps at THAT level while rendering it all into a shit-and barn-storming thing to mess up your mind forevermore; or leave you with tinnitus trying or girlfriend crying for you to shut the fucking stereo off already.The album closer, “Second Time Around” is truly exceptional. It’s where everything gets thrown into the red/ultra-violet/violent end of the sound spectrum itself: Especially at one point near the end of the album where they finally bring their billowing, rippling sonic parachute down to earth in two clearings of pindrop quietude only for Stephens’ to rend the rare and precious silence with two shrieking guitar lines that run up outta nowhere in swift vengeance as though seeking to erase it forever. He displays all the confidence and recklessness of one who’d re-written the rulebook and then promptly gave it old heave-ho over the shoulder without another thought as his metal-on-metal/gear stripping-ness/fingernails on chalkboard/crosshatching playing hovers just beneath the tempo as it groans and shudders in zig-zags with proto-metal fatigue. The bleeding of the guitar lines into everything else creates a weird lag between the time they’re struck into life and the millisecond it comes coursing outta that heated line of Marshall amplifiers via his distortion stomp box. This in turn creates a further disjuncture with the tempo, tagging onto the delay by slipping in yet another split second of lag time that is subtle but creates a tension that is anything but because this differential interplay has been the surging dynamo powering each and every song on “Vincebus Eruptum” beyond its buckling limits: gathering behind into a momentum that pushes forward unstoppably into a Mφbius strip-tease that feeds on itself like a freakin’ electric ouroboros shitting itself through its eyeballs for the rest of eternity.Despite (or probably because of) this extreme use of volume, there’s something else at play behind that straining wall of amps, and it’s a weird sensation of nearly standing stock still. Of course, there are rhythms, beats and therefore, movement but the tempo is weirdly s-l-l-l-o-o-o-w-w-w: as though groaning under its own weight and that of a protective nitrogen blanket, the result of a messy struggle, against the driving heavy weather of amplitude blowing directly in their faces and rooted to the spot, as though caught in the searchlights of its own power.Blue Cheer were not just knockin’ on Heavy’s door and they weren’t invited, either: they broke on through it, tore off the hinges, tore up the threshold, took a huge chunk outta each side of the wall and then dropped a huge napalm log in the fireplace and split. Casually inventing a genre as they did so, no less.

Blue Cheer-Vincebus Eruptum @320
1.Summertime Blues
2.Rock Me Baby
3.Doctor Please
4.Out of Focus
5.Parchment Farm
6.Second Time Around

here : sharebee.com/f7b0af4d
PS: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com




3)Fleetwood Mac-Collection Gold



Short History Of The Group By Wiki:

Fleetwood Mac are a British/American rock band formed in 1967, that have experienced a high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success. From the band's inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted as long as two years.

The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bassist John McVie, despite his giving part of his name to the band, did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts. Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.

The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green; and from 1975-87, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up that included Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.

Fleetwood Mac-Collection Gold @320

1. Jigsaw Puzzle Blues

2. I Believe My Time Ain't Long
3. Need Your Love So Bad
4. Rattlesnake Snake Shake
5. Sun Is Shining
6. Coming Home
7. Albatross
8. Black Magic Woman
9. Just the Blues - Eddie Boyd, Fleetwood Mac
10. Big Boat - Eddie Boyd, Fleetwood Mac
11. No Place to Go
12. I've Lost My Baby
13. Stop Messin' Round
14. Shake Your Money Maker

15. Love That Burns
16. Rambling Pony

pt1: sharebee.com/e4a8bc94
pt2: sharebee.com/01e4814a
ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com


4)Beatles-Rubber Soul

a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEfw-oEGpI_CGbXOd09SFXsklenTJWNe1hCZH12dkmgWrCHSavAtmgR_mFDd19OWlTzBf7Zxn1fxhdC_0bS8MR0YZxrFIe1tsM5uv1bctjpbqsK3XQrVW-mP8mqM_4nbny_TrkokHJ6YX/s1600-h/Front.jpg">

Info By Wiki:

Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by The Beatles. Released in December 1965, and produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul was recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market. Showcasing a sound influenced by the folk rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan, the album was seen as a major artistic achievement for the band, attaining widespread critical and commercial success, with reviewers taking note of The Beatles' developing musical vision. In 2003, the album was ranked number 5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Beatles-Rubber Soul @320


1 Drive My Car
2 Norwegian Wood
3 You Won't See Me
4 Nowhere Man
5 Think for Yourself
6 The Word
7 Michelle
8 What Goes On
9 Girl
10 I'm Looking Through You
11 In My Life
12 Wait
13 If I Needed Someone
14 Run for Your Life

here:sharebee.com/15ec804e
ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com



5) May Blitz-The Second Of May @320



This the second album from May Blitz

1. For Mad Men Only
2. Snakes and Ladders
3. 25th of December 1969
4. In Part
5. 8 Mad Grim Nits
6. High Beech
7. Honey Coloured Time
8. Just Thinking

here: www.zshare.net/download/501888128b1520e7/
ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Paul McCartney & Wings-Band On The Run





Info By Wiki:
Band on the Run is an album by Wings, released in 1973.McCartney's fifth album since the breakup of The Beatles (and Wings' third), it became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums.It was 1974's top-selling album, and revitalized McCartney's critical standing.
In 2000 Q magazine placed Band on the Run at number 75 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 418 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. A contemporary review by Jon Landau in Rolling Stone (issue #153) described the album as "the finest record yet released by any of the four musicians who were once called The Beatles".
After the success of Red Rose Speedway and "Live And Let Die" - the new James Bond theme song - Wings began contemplating its next album. Paul and Linda McCartney, bored with recording in the UK, wanted to go to an exotic locale. After asking EMI to send him a listing of all its international recording studios, Paul happened upon Lagos in Nigeria and was instantly taken with the idea of recording in Africa. Alongside the McCartneys, guitarist and pianist Denny Laine, lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell also were set to go. However, a few weeks before departing in late August, McCullough quit Wings in Scotland; Seiwell followed suit the night before the departure. This left just the core of the band -- Paul, Linda and Denny Laine -- to venture to Lagos, along with former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, who was needed to record the basic tracks due to the primitive state of the Lagos studios, which Wings had failed to realize prior to planning the trip.

While there, both the McCartneys were mugged at knifepoint, were accosted in the studio by legendary musician Fela Kuti for fear that Paul was plagiarizing African music (fears which McCartney quickly assuaged by playing Kuti the recorded music), and were persuaded to record at Ginger Baker's studio in Lagos (where he lived at the time) by Baker himself once he heard that the McCartneys were in town. During this time, only the recording of the ensuing album's backing tracks, which generally featured Paul on lead guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, bass and drums and Denny on rhythm guitar, keyboards and bass, took place, as Emerick came to realize that EMI Lagos lacked such basic features as high-end vocal microphones.

In October, after the band's return to London, final overdubs and orchestral tracks were added and the album was finished. "Helen Wheels" was released as a non-album single at the end of the month, becoming a worldwide Top 10 by the end of the year. As Band On The Run was being prepared for release, Capitol Records, which distributed the Apple Records label in the United States, slotted "Helen Wheels" into the album - although it was never McCartney's intention to do so. The 1993 international CD reissue of the album - without the single interrupting the album's line-up - confirms this. Although "Helen Wheels" was not included on British versions of the Band on the Run CD (except as a bonus cut on the 1993 "The Paul McCartney Collection" edition of the CD), it has always been included on American editions of the CD (starting with the Columbia Records release of 1984).

Release
Band on the Run was issued that December to glowing reviews. The commercial reaction was slow, with the album gradually inching its way up the charts, but by the spring of 1974, bolstered by the hits "Jet" and the title track "Band on the Run", Band On The Run was a large success. It reached #1 in the US on three separate occasions, a first, and eventually went triple platinum. In the UK, it spent seven weeks at the summit that summer, becoming the top selling British album of 1974. Its lingering success was also beneficial in allowing Wings the time to locate a new guitarist and drummer, and to integrate them into the band before beginning new recordings.

In early 1975, Band on the Run won the Grammy award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo, Group or Chorus."

The lead track, "Band on the Run" generally set the pace for the rest of the album. To tie back in with the album's title, the final track, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (also known as "1985"), fades into the "Band on the Run" chorus, to close off the album

Paul McCartney & Wings-Band On The Run @320

1 Band On The Run
2 Jet
3 Bluebird
4 Mrs. Vandebilt
5 Let Me Roll It
6 Mamunia
7 No Words
8 Helen Wheels
9 Picasso s Last Words
10 Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

here pt1: sharebee.com/a560dd62
pt2: sharebee.com/5035acff

ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Paul McCartney-McCartney




Info By Wiki:
McCartney is the first solo album by Paul McCartney and was released in 1970. It is notable for the fact that McCartney, a multi-instrumentalist, performed the entire album (all instruments and voices) by himself, except for some backing vocals from his first wife, Linda McCartney. McCartney stated that he played "bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano, Mellotron, organ, toy xylophone, and bow and arrow" on the album
Recorded privately at his home in London; at Morgan Studios, London; and at Abbey Road Studios, London under the pseudonym "Billy Martin" from late 1969 to March of 1970; the development of McCartney was undertaken as the Beatles were falling apart.

McCartney had been the most keen to keep the band together after the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1967, but with John Lennon's de facto departure after the Abbey Road sessions, greater interest in performing and being with Yoko Ono, George Harrison's emergence as a fine songwriter and Ringo Starr's growing interest in movies and a solo album in the works, it was clear to the general public and members alike that the Beatles had effectively dissolved.

Accepting that the band was now a sunken ship, McCartney decamped with wife Linda McCartney and their new family, including Linda's daughter from her first marriage, Heather, and their newborn, Mary, to their home in London in the autumn of 1969 so he could plot his next move.

As ever, McCartney had brought his instruments with him, as well as a portable Studer four-track tape recorder, and recorded the ad-libbed "The Lovely Linda" to test the equipment before the year was out. Enjoying the experience, he continued on, composing and improvising new material as he went along and overdubbing himself in the process. By late March 1970, as Phil Spector was concurrently mixing the Let It Be album, the simply-titled McCartney was completed.

Scheduled for release on 17 April 1970 the other Beatles realised that McCartney could conflict with the impending Let It Be album and film. The amicable Ringo Starr, whose own first album was almost ready for release, was sent to request that McCartney delay his solo debut. McCartney later commented, "They eventually sent Ringo round to my house at Cavendish with a message: 'We want you to put your release date back, it's for the good of the group', and all of this sort of shit. He was giving me the party line; they just made him come round, so I did something I'd never done before or since: I told him to get out. I had to do something like that in order to assert myself because I was just sinking. I was getting pummelled about the head, in my mind anyway."

The McCartney album was thus released on 17 April as planned, but not before a major announcement.

On 10 April, after intense disputes with Phil Spector over the final results of the long-delayed Let It Be album, McCartney finally snapped and publicly announced his departure from the Beatles, therefore completing the dissolution of the group. The world was stunned and – whether deliberate or not – the media circus surrounding the band's dissolution proved to be beneficial to market McCartney, which was released a week later. Advance copies sent to the press included a Q & A package containing questions McCartney could – and probably would – have been asked about the Beatles' break-up and their future; he gave a strong impression of his views, but stated that he did not know whether the group's break-up would be temporary or permanent. (The complete questionnaire, as well as McCartney's own song-by-song commentary, was included in Richard DiLello's book, The Longest Cocktail Party, as an appendix.)

As for McCartney, the album quickly shot to #1 in the US for three weeks, eventually going double platinum. In the UK, it was only denied the top spot by the highest-selling album of 1970 (and one of the all-time top-selling albums) Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, which stayed at #1 for 41 (non-consecutive) weeks. There McCartney debuted straight at #2, where it remained for 3 weeks.

Although McCartney contains several pieces that are considered to be less than profound, it also includes "Every Night" and, more importantly, "Maybe I'm Amazed", one of McCartney's many love songs for his first wife, and one of his most enduring songs. McCartney has subsequently revealed that Linda was instrumental in bolstering his spirits and confidence during the album's making, and helping him out of his depression over losing the Beatles.

Shortly after the album's release, George Harrison described "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "That Would Be Something" as "great", and regarded the other tracks as "fair". John Lennon was less than impressed with McCartney, stating in his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner that, given McCartney's penchant for demanding perfectionism in the studio from his fellow Beatles, he was surprised at the lack of quality in the album. Lennon also made several remarks comparing McCartney negatively to his own solo album debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

With a raw honesty that had never typified a McCartney-related recording before, McCartney indeed has an unpolished sound; but its minimalist, intimate feel was – and remains – a refreshing change from much of McCartney's more ambitious recorded works. Although some of its initial critics considered it slight (especially compared with the scope of the recent Abbey Road), the album's reputation has increased with time, and McCartney is a firm favourite with many McCartney devotees

Paul McCartney-McCartney @320

1 The Lovely Linda
2 That Would Be Something
3 Valentine Day
4 Every Night
5 Hot as Sun/Glasses
6 Junk
7 Man We Was Lonely
8 Oo You
9 Momma Miss America

10Teddy Boy
11Singalong Junk
12Maybe I'm Amazed
13Kreen-Akrore

here: sharebee.com/4b36fb98
ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Beck, Bogert & Appice-Beck, Bogert & Appice









Info By Wiki:

Beck, Bogert & Appice was a hard rock power trio composed of guitarist Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group), bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, both of Vanilla Fudge and Cactus. The three attempted a collaboration project in 1970 but Beck suffered a head injury in a car accident that year which sidelined him for well over a year. Bogert and Appice, who previously were members of Vanilla Fudge, instead formed the group Cactus with guitarist Jim McCarty and singer Rusty Day. After several Cactus releases, the band split and Bogert and Appice were again searching for a new band. Beck, after recovering from the head injury, formed a new Jeff Beck Group and released two more LPs before disbanding in 1972.

With all three members out of work they decided to revive the old idea of a collaboration and started work on their eponymous debut album Beck, Bogert & Appice. The album had solid sales in 1973 and had a hit single "Superstition", which was a cover of Stevie Wonder's composition of the same name. Wonder had originally intended to record "Superstition" with Beck, but the latter's automobile accident shelved the plan. Later that year the band released a concert album in Japan, Live in Japan, which was rereleased in 2005. The group began work on a second studio album, but Beck suddenly left the band in early 1974

Beck, Bogert & Appice is the eponymous debut album by the 70s rock and roll band Beck, Bogert & Appice.The album had solid sales in 1973 and produced a minor hit single with a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." This would be the last and only studio album by the band and soon after in 1974 during the recording of their second album, Beck would abruptly leave the band, forcing a sudden dissolution.


Beck, Bogert & Appice-Beck, Bogert & Appice @320

1 Black Cat Moan
2 Lady
3 Oh to Love You
4 Superstition
5 Sweet Sweet Surrender
6 Why Should I Care
7 Lose Myself with You
8 Livin' Alone
9 I"m So Proud

sharebee.com/ede13d26

ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Creedence Clearwater Revival-Best Of




Info By Wiki:
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock and roll band who gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a string of successful songs from multiple albums released in 1968, 1969 and 1970.
The group consisted of singer, lead guitarist, and primary writer John Fogerty, rhythm guitarist and brother of John, Tom Fogerty, bass player Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed rock and roll and swamp rock genres

Creedence Clearwater Revival-Best Of @320

1 Susie Q
2 I Put a Spell on You
3 Proud Mary
4 Bad Moon Rising
5 Lodi
6 Green River
7 Commotion
8 Down on the Corner
9 Fortunate Son
10 Travelin Band
11 Who'll Stop the Rain
12 Up Around the Bend
13 Run Through the Jungle
14 Lookin Out My Back Door
15 Long as I Can See the Light
16 I Heard It Through the Grapevine
17 Have You Ever Seen the Rain
18 Hey Tonight
19 Sweet Hitch-Hiker
20 Someday Never Comes

pt1: sharebee.com/3b35330a
pt2: sharebee.com/09178ff6

ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Jefferson Airplane-Bless Its Pointed Little Head



Info By Wiki:

Bless Its Pointed Little Head is a live album by Jefferson Airplane recorded at both the Fillmore East and West in the fall of 1968 and released in 1969. Five songs on the album had not appeared on any of the band's previous studio recordings. The songs that did appear on previous albums, however, are now completely transformed into much heavier versions. Highlights of the album include Jack Casady's walking line bass playing which dominates the entire set and the blues number "Rock Me Baby" which is a harbinger of Casady's and Kaukonen's later band "Hot Tuna".

Of particular interest is the musician lineup on the Donovan cover "Fat Angel", which demonstrates the versatility of the band. Marty Balin plays bass, Casady is the rhythm guitarist while Kaukonen and Kantner share the lead guitar duties. The album closes with the eleven minute improvised jam "Bear Melt", notable for the exceptional rhythm understanding between drummer Spencer Dryden and bassist Casady.

The Fred Neil composition "The Other Side of this Life" was a particular favorite of the band, having been a staple of their live concerts from the band's earliest days

Jefferson Airplane-Bless Its Pointed Little Head @320

1 Clergy
2 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds
3 Somebody to Love
4 Fat Angel
5 Rock Me Baby
6 The Other Side of This Life
7 It's No Secret
8 Plastic Fantastic Lover
9 Turn Out the Lights
10 Bear Melt
11 Today
12 Watch Her Ride
13Won't You Try

Tracks 2-3, 5-8 recorded October 24-26, 1968 at the Fillmore West, tracks 1, 4, 9 - 10 recorded November 28-30, 1968 at the Fillmore East, tracks 11-13 recorded November 5, 1968 at the Fillmore West


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pt2: sharebee.com/89900c14

ps: echoesof-the-past.blogspot.com