Love - Love Lost and Found (1971 us psychedelic, blues rock and hard rock released by sundazed records in 2009 - MP3 320K and FLAC)

[ Classic Albuns Series # 69 ]

Arthur Lee's seminal work as leader of the '60s band Love is treasured by discerning rock fans around the world. Lee's status as one of his era's preeminent musical cult heroes has grown immensely in recent years, leading to generations of new fans rediscovering the artist's remarkable catalog.

Unfortunately, Lee and the band's body of available recordings is relatively small, making Sundazed Music's release of a previously-unheard full-length vintage Arthur Lee and Love album a major musical event.

Love Lost was recorded in 1971, during a brief, little-known period during which Love was signed to Columbia Records. Lee and the then-current Love lineup--bassist Frank Fayad, guitarist Craig Tarwater and drummer Don Poncher--recorded an album's worth of new material for the label.

But after the band left the company, the recordings sat unreleased and unheard until now.

The material on Love Lost--comprised of the unreleased Columbia sessions, plus five unreleased acoustic demos from the same period.

Captures Love in a transitional phase, charting the next step in Lee's idiosyncratic musical trajectory, following the lush garage-psychedelia of the classics Da Capo and Forever Changes, and the bluesier direction of the hardrocking False Start and Out Here.

Many of the songs included on Love Lost would resurface, often in radically different form, on subsequent Love releases, and on Lee's fabled solo album Vindicator.

But the original versions included on Love Lost, boast a playful looseness that's absent from most of Lee's later work, as well as a raw, edgy urgency that underlines his credentials as an early progenitor of punk-rock attitude.

Love Lost also features three songs--"For a Day," "Trippin' & Slippin'" and "C.F.I. Instrumental"--that have not previously been released, in any form.

With a treasure trove of vintage Love music that has never before been heard by fans, Love Lost is a major addition to Arthur Lee and Love's body of work, and its release is a major event for Lee's fervent fan base.

Tracklisting:
01.Love Jumped Through My Window
02.I Can't Find It
03.He Said She Said
04.Product of the Times
05.Sad Song
06.Everybody's Gotta Live
07.Midnight Sun
08.Good & Evil I
09.He Knows a Lot of Good Women
10.Find Somebody
11.For a Day
12.Good & Evil II
13.Looking Glass
14.Trippin' & Slippin'/Ezy Ryder

Love:
Arthur Lee: Vocals
Frank Fayad: Bass
Craig Tarwater: Guitar
Don Poncher: Drums

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Nils Lofgren - Night After Night (1977 us arena and classic rock live album excellent vynil rip - MP3 320K and FLAC)

Night After Night was an attempt to fill the cavernous gap left by Back It Up as A&M were reluctant to release it.

Anyhow, in retrospect, the album, a double LP and not available on CD in the UK or USA, is one collection of live recordings containing the best of the first three albums and classic Grin songs.

Lofgren's muscular guitar playing is particularly evident on tracks such as "Keith Don't Go" (an ode to Rolling Stone Keith Richards) and "Cry Tough."

Lofgren has long been underrated as a guitar player and songwriter, and although this album does not have the dynamic energy that some of his live shows of the '70s had, it does catch the former E Street guitarist playing some fine lead guitar (by Steve Kurutz)

Recorded at:

Hammersmith Odeon, London, England

Apollo Theater, Glasgow, Scotland

The Roxy, Los Angeles, California

Tracklisting:

01.Take You To The Movies (0:58)
02.Back It Up (6:32)
03.Keith Don't Go (Ode To The Glimmer Twin) (5:55)
04.Like Rain (6:12)
05.Cry Tough (4:35)
06.It's Not A Crime (4:55)
07.Goin' Back (6:45)
08.You're The Weight (5:09)
09.Beggars Day (5:52)
10.Moon Tears (5:21)
11.Code Of The Road (9:12)
12.Rock And Roll Crook (2:56)
13.Goin' South (4:59)
14.Incidentally... It's Over (4:08)
15.Came To Dance (8:34)

Nils Lofgren:
*Nils Lofgren - lead vocals, guitars (piano on "Goin' Back")
*Tom Lofgren - guitar, organ, background vocals
*Wornell " Sonic Prince" Jones - bass guitar, timbales, background vocals
*David Plashton - drums, percussion
*Rev. Patrick Henderson - piano, organ, background vocals

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Link in the comments (full artwork at 600 DPI included).

Source of rip and scans: torrent.

Joe South Anthology: A Mirror Of His Mind - Hits & Highlights (1968-75 us country and folk rock blended psych and pop rock - MP3 320K and FLAC)

[ Classic Albuns Series # 68 ]

It's hard to call Joe South a neglected artist, since so many of his songs have become pop standards, often through covers by other artists.

"Hush" was Deep Purple's breakthrough, "Down in the Boondocks" was Billy Joe Royal's big hit, Lynn Anderson is forever identified with "Rose Garden," the Tams had a hit with "Untie Me," and Elvis Presley turned "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" into a signature anthem late in his career. Plus, South himself had big hits with "Don't It Make You Want to Go Home?" and "Games People Play," the latter of which won two Grammy Awards.

His lack of recognition may stem from his notoriously temperamental personality, which helped push him to the sideline and eventually had him stop performing as an active recording artist, but it could also be because his music doesn't neatly fit into any one category.

It manages to be rooted in both country and soul, but its presentation is pop, completely with psychedelic overtones and singer/songwriter ambitions. As evidenced by his hits, it was hardly inaccessible and, in many ways, it summarizes the sounds of mainstream pop in the late '60s and early '70s quite well, even as it stretches far beyond mere radio material.

Because it was pop music in a progressive age, it didn't get much serious attention at the time, but as Raven's superb 23-track Anthology: A Mirror of His Mind -- Hits and Highlights 1968-1975 illustrates, South's music stands as some of the finest pop music of his time -- familiar enough to be genuinely pop, yet ambitious and idiosyncratic enough to qualify as a discovery.

South's 1968 debut, Introspect, is considered his best and it is heavily represented here, with seven of its 11 tracks, but his work was consistently interesting and strong.

He was an excellent songwriter, to be sure, writing songs sturdy enough to be covered convincingly by artists from a number of different genres, but what makes the music on Anthology so good is that the overstuffed productions and committed performances are equally as good.

This is great, consistently satisfying music that delivers on the promise of his hits and makes a case that Joe South is a bit of an overlooked treasure in American pop music (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine).

Tracklisting:

01.Hush

02.Down in the Boondocks

03.Games People Play

04.Mirror of Your Mind

05.All My Hard Times

06.Rose Garden

07.Greatest Love

08.Redneck

09.These Are Not My People

10.Don't You Be Ashamed

11.Birds of a Feather

12.Untie Me

13.Concrete Jungle

14.Clock Up on the Wall

15.Children

16.Be a Believer

17.Walk a Mile in My Shoes

18.Don't It Make You Want to Go Home?

19.High on a Hilltop

20.Real Thing

21.Save Your Best

22.Midnight Rainbows/It Got Away

23.Home and Homesick

See others Joe South albums posted at PHROCK Blog:

*Joe South - Introspect & Don't It Made You Want To Go Home? (1968-1969)

*Joe South - Games People Play & Joe South (1969-1971)

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By Request: Paris - Paris (1975 uk hard rock with ex members of Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull and Nazz - MP3 320K and FLAC)

[ Hard Rock Series # 84 ]

Fronted by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist Robert Welch, Paris recorded their self-titled debut LP for Capitol Records under the production reign of Jimmy Robinson, at the Record Plant in Los Angeles.

The quickly-assembled power trio, filled out by ex-Jethro Tull bassist/keyboardist Glenn Cornick and one-time Nazz drummer Thom Mooney, wasted little time laying down the ten tracks that comprise the under-the-radar recording.

The big brass from Capitol did little to promote Paris, outside of a few industry ads and sending the band out on the road.

As a result, the Paris LP became a long, lost collection of cuts in the wake of the big earthquakin' riffs set off by the hard rock landslide of 1976, that featured killer recordings and headlining tours from the likes of Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Despite being overshadowed by the competition, Paris delivered the hardware throughout their first studio shot.

Each song from Paris was composed by Welch, which opens with the stop/start action of "Black Book", which segues into the Zep inspired big block rockin' "Religion".

The chaotic "Religion" cruises off the rails to an out-of-control conclusion. Side one of Paris adds the heavy keyboard roller "Starcage", the open space "Beautiful Youth", which features Welch's clear vocals over dirty, biting guitar work, and the thumping bass mover "Nazarene".

The mellow, six-minute "Narrowgate (La Porte Etroite)" starts side two in a laid back manner. "Solitaire" is a melodic rock track with an edge and a thick bottom end, while the three-piece get down and funky on the wide-open "Breathless".

The raucous "Rock of Ages" is banged out is short order before the Southern styled "Red Rain" closes out Paris (By Jon Fox).

Tracklisting:
01."Black Book"
02."Religion"
03."Starcage"
04."Beautiful Youth"
05."Nazarene"
06."Narrow Gate (La Porte Etroite)"
07."Solitaire"
08."Breathless"
09."Rock Of Ages"
10."Red Rain"

Paris:
*Bob Welch - Vocals, Guitar
*Glenn Cornick - Bass, Keyboards
*Thom Mooney - Drums

[ Is not my rip and scans. Source: torrents ]

Links in the comments (artwork included except scan of CD seal ).

Mott The Hoople - All the Young Dudes (1972 uk mix of hard rock mixed glam rock remastered edition with 06 bonus tracks - MP3 320K and FLAC)

[ Hard Rock Series # 83 ]

On the whole, classic rock radio is a pretty macho affair, full of "Hot Legs", "Big Balls", and "Radar Love". In a certain respect, Mott the Hoople's biggest hit (and only contribution to American classic rock playlists) fits right in: "All the Young Dudes" is upfront with its sexual desire and horny, twenty-something lust. There is one catch: It's also a celebration of the glam's gender-bending aesthetic.

At the time of its release, Mott the Hoople were wallowing in obscurity despite releasing four albums of high-powered boogie. They were ready to pack it in, but David Bowie encouraged them to soldier on, offering Mott the chance to record "Suffragette City". The band, though, wanted "Drive-In Saturday", which Bowie wasn't willing to part with. "All the Young Dudes" was the compromise.

In the short term, Bowie came out looking the genius, as the band briefly achieved the stardom they felt was rightfully theirs, kicking out their two best albums in the process. But it couldn't last, and by 1974, guitarist Mick Ralphs was off playing in Bad Company and Mott faded back to the margins.

Mott the Hoople are still a widely respected and influential band, and it's pretty easy to hear why-- they've got the swagger, confidence, and riffs of glam and the basic approach of punk. That's not to mention vocalist Ian Hunter, whose voice was so limited and colorless that he probably made more than a few kids with guitars think "if this guy can sing in a band, surely I can."

The band, however, found countless ways to work around Hunter, from melodic harmonizing on the choruses that he could yelp and talk-sing over to clever lead guitar parts that Ralphs used to inject hooks into the verses.

So Hunter becomes the everyman, just trying to get by, and the tension between the band's chops and his lack of skill and range is oddly poignant. All the Young Dudes closes with the dejected piano ballad "Sea Diver", a crushingly sad song that uses a diving bell as a metaphor for being trapped in a failed relationship. Hunter's inability to get through half an octave without cracking or morphing into a dock worker's shout sucks out all the maudlin potential of the piano part and string arrangement, turning them instead into a kind of security blanket.

It's a strikingly emotional capstone to an album that mostly trades in funky rock and roll and leather-pantalooned swagger. Young Dudes highlight "Sucker" is a slow, cowbell-guided rocker adorned with sax interjections from Bowie; it features a killer call-and-response between a harpsichord and a wordless backing vocal phrase on its chorus.

The reissue appends a thunderous live version that suggests the band's true power wasn't really captured on any of its records. However, there's also a live version of "Sweet Jane" that's as forgettable as the studio version that leads off the original album.

Conventional revisionist rock crit wisdom says this is a five-star record, but in truth it's not even close, and that song is a big part of the reason.

Elsewhere, a primordial version of "Ready for Love" pales in comparison to the version Bad Company took into the charts two years later, but the band gets in some strong hard boogie tunes on "Momma's Little Jewel" (the early demo version added here, called "Black Scorpio", is even nastier) and "One of the Boys", the rocking follow-up single to "All the Young Dudes".

Bowie-philes will love the version of "All the Young Dudes" featuring his vocal, even though it's weaker than the version everyone knows(By Joe Tangari).

Tracklisting:
01."Sweet Jane" (Lou Reed) – 4:21
02."Momma's Little Jewel" (Ian Hunter, Peter Watts) – 4:26
03."All the Young Dudes" (David Bowie) – 3:32
04."Sucker" (Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Watts) – 5:03
05."Jerkin' Crocus" (Hunter) – 4:00
06."One of the Boys" (Hunter, Ralphs) – 6:46
07."Soft Ground" (Verden Allen) – 3:17
08."Ready for Love/After Lights" (Ralphs) – 6:47
09."Sea Diver" (Hunter) – 2:53
10."One of the Boys" (Demo version) (Hunter, Ralphs) – 4:18
11."Black Scorpio" (Demo version of "Momma’s Little Jewel") (Hunter, Watts) –
12."Ride on the Sun" (Demo version of "Sea Diver") (Hunter) – 3:36
13."One of the Boys" (UK single version) (Hunter, Ralphs) – 4:21
14."All the Young Dudes" (David Bowie; Ian Hunter - vocal) (Bowie) – 4:25
15."Sucker" (Hunter, Ralph, Watts) – 6:27 Live 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon
16."Sweet Jane" (Reed) – 5:00 Live 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon

Mott THe Hoople:
*Ian Hunter – vocals, piano
*Mick Ralphs – guitar, vocals except on bonus tracks 6, 7
*Verden Allen – organ, vocals on "Soft Ground" & "Ready For Love" except on bonus tracks 5, 6, 7
*Pete "Overend" Watts – bass guitar, vocals
*Dale "Buffin" Griffin – drums, vocals, percussion

Additional Musicians
*Ariel Bender – guitar, vocals on bonus tracks 6, 7
*Mick Bolton – organ on bonus track 7
*David Bowie – saxophones, vocals on bonus track 5
*Morgan Fisher – organ, Mellotron on bonus track 3; piano, synthesizer, vocals on bonus tracks 6, 7
*Ray Majors – slide guitar on bonus track 2
*Mick Ronson – strings, brass, arrangement on "Sea Diver"
*Buddy Bauerle - pan flute
*Mike Walls - Hammond B3 organ
*Jeff Hanover - vibraslap

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Point Blank - Point Blank (1976 us southern blues rock and hard rock - MP3 320K and FLAC)

[ Hard Rock Series # 82 ]

This is the first offering from a little known band from Texas that was actually part of ZZ Tops management team "Lone Wolf Productions". Why Point Blank didn't prosper I can only chalk up to bad timing. Disco, Punk was invading (punk I liked,Disco? I was it's worst enemy).

Even so this first album from Point Blank is full of killer songs. There are few singers that wipe me out. I like Paul Rogers and of course Steve Marriott is at the top of the list,but this guy John O'Daniel is outstanding.

"Wandering" and "Distance" are great songs but also tunes where JOD can completely cut loose. I know they realesed more albums like "Second Season" that was great and "Roll With It" or something and "Airplay" that were not so great(I have both but never listen to them-they tried to be too '80s-I know,it was the '80s).

Edit here-I checked out Airplay again recently after reading favorable comments about this record here at amazon and "Penthouse Pauper" surprised the heck out of me. Outstanding! (I admit, I had just skipped through this album when I first got it.)

I wish could have read a Guitar Player magazine or something about this band. The tones are awesome(a little phase shifter thrown in here and there),unique (don't sound like Pauls and Marshalls; Firebirds, V's and Peaveys? Wish I knew) and smokin' any where one chooses to start.

My faves? Free Man, Moving, Bad Bees and In This World totally rock but the kicker for me has always been Lone Star Fool (gotta plug in for this one). Check out this cd and see. Highly recommended (by Glen Kepic).

Tracklisting:
01.Free Man (Burns, O'Daniel) - 5:08
02.Moving (Burns, Davis, Gruen, O'Daniel) - 2:57
03.Wandering (Burns, Davis, Gruen, O'Daniel) - 5:19
04.Bad Bees (Burns, Petty) - 2:31
05.That's the Law (Burns, Davis, Gruen, O'Daniel) - 3:41
06.Lone Star Fool (Davis, O'Daniel) - 4:18
07.Distance (Burns, Davis, Gruen, O'Daniel) - 5:12
08.In This World (Davis, O'Daniel) - 3:09

Point Blank:
*Rusty Burns: Guitar, Vocals, Slide Guitar
*Kim Davis: Guitar, Vocals
*Peter Gruen: Percussion, Drums
*John O'Daniel: Vocals
*Philip Petty: Bass


[ Tank you CHRIS41K for the links courtesy ]
Links in the comments (full artwork scan included).

By Request: Nils Lofgren - Nils (1979 us pop rock 5nd album of solo carrer - MP3 320K and FLAC)

"No Mercy," with special effects recorded at Madison Square Garden, has the sentiment of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer." The double entendre being the rock musician oftentimes works on the same stage as the fighter, of course, punching away in the ring of life.

Nils Lofgren is a veteran who has performed with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and so many others, working here with producer Bob Ezrin who helped create Pink Floyd's The Wall.

As with any great artist, Ezrin brings in his various contacts which color the recordings he makes, insuring a product that is as much the producer's as it is Nils Lofgren's. Dick Wagner co-wrote the hits "Only Women Bleed" and "You And Me" with Alice Cooper. Their "I Never Cry" gets a sequel of sorts as Wagner rejoins his former singer Lou Reed to compose "I'll Cry Tomorrow"

Ezrin also brought Reed in to co-write some of the Kiss album The Elder, and all these recordings share a thread which is worth noting. With backing vocals and a big sound, "I'll Cry Tomorrow" is smooth and blends in nicely with this collection.

Randy Newman's "Baltimore," with solid drumming by Alan Schwartzberg and a great hook, gets six minutes plus to play out. It's is fun to hear Newman's work put in this setting. Wagner and Lofgren write the semi-acoustic pop "Shine Silently," with a charming vocals by Nils.

It, and the Lou Reed/Nils Lofgren song "I Found Her," are the two best tracks on the album. "I Found Her" sounds like '60s pop that neither Lou or Nils have been affiliated with, truly unique for both artists. It is more sugary than "Sunday Morning" by the Velvet Underground, bringing that side of Reed out when he was a staff songwriter for Pickwick.

"A Fool Like Me," also written by the duo, has more pop sensibilities than Reed's work on some of his own recordings during this period -- his three titles with Nils Lofgren here are a good addition to his songbook. "You're So Easy" is a Wagner/Ezrin/Lofgren composition.

The dancey beat, elegant guitars, and clearcut chorus make it a fun track. With a different feel from the Ezrin produced disc by guitar hero Steve Hunter who performed with Dick Wagner in both Lou Reed and Alice Cooper's bands -- Hunter and Wagner having reunited in 2000 for about six dates, and continuing to work together -- Lofgren seems to bring out something different in Ezrin's approach to working with another guitar master (by Joe Viglione).

Tracklisting:
01."No Mercy" 4:06
02."I'll Cry Tomorrow" (Dick Wagner, Lou Reed) 4:28
03."Baltimore" (Randy Newman) 6:43
04."Shine Silently" (Lofgren, Dick Wagner) 3:48
05."Steal Away" 4:08
06."Kool Skool" 3:17
07."A Fool Like Me" (Lofgren, Lou Reed) 3:11
08."I Found Her" (Lofgren, Lou Reed) 3:36
09."You're So Easy" (Lofgren, Bob Ezrin, Dick Wagner) 5:54
*All tracks composed by Nils Lofgren; except where indicated

Nils Lofgren:
*Bob Babbitt - bass
*Stu Daye - guitar, vocals
*Bob Ezrin - percussion, keyboards, vocals, vibraphone
*Jody Linscott - percussion, conga
*Nils Lofgren - guitar, accordion, keyboards, vocals
*Tom Lofgren - guitar, vocals
*Doug Riley - organ on "Baltimore"
*David Sanborn - saxophone on "A Fool Like Me"
*Allen Schwarzberg - drums

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