Blue - `73 debut - RSO Records - 320 kbps

hey all :

here is another lost classic lp , imo.
not much on these guys , but maybe they will comment here , haha.
found a bit of info on AMG. really nice pop rock with touches of beatles , bee gees , perhaps eric carmen over seeing it all ; great stuff - fave song by far "i wish i could fly" , listen to this one 1st ...:)!

Blue was a British pop/rock group formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1973 by Timmy Donald (b. 1946, Bristol, Avon, England) (drums), Ian MacMillan (b. 1947, Paisley, Strathclyde, Scotland) (bass, guitar, vocal), and Hugh Nicholson (b. 1949, Rutherglen, Strathclyde, Scotland) (guitar, vocal, keyboard). Signed to Elton John's Rocket Records label (John also produced them), they released their self-titled debut album, then added Robert "Smiggy" Smith (b. 1946, Kiel, Germany) (guitar) for their second, Life in the Navy. They were then reorganized, with MacMillan and Nicholson remaining and adding Charlie Smith (drums) and David Nicholson (guitar). This lineup scored a U.S. singles chart entry and U.K. Top 40 hit with "Gonna Capture Your Heart" and recorded the third album Another Night Time Flight (1977) and the fourth album Fool's Party (1979), after which Blue broke up.

• Blue - `73 debut - RSO - 320 Kbps - 85 MB
  
• includes high rez front / back cover art

• 1 - Red Light Song
• 2 - Look Around
• 3 - Someone
• 4 - Sunset Regret
• 5 - Timi's Black Arrow
• 6 - Sitting on a Fence
• 7 - Little Jody
• 8 - Let Me Know
• 9 - I Wish I Could Fly
• 10 - Skye Banana Boat Song
• 11 - The Way Things Are
• 12 - Sunshine or Falling Rain

DOWNLOAD - -- HERE --

Tommy James - `71 - Christian of the World

hey all :

ok , here is the 2nd tommy james solo LP. this one is epic as well. bob king & TJ sure crafted some gems here. it has his biggest solo hit , draggin` the line here , i didnt even know that when i bought it. a kewl surprise.. the hope & inspiration that is embedded in these grooves , is still relevant today , if no more so.........enjoy !
[ LP does have christian themes , but none of it comes off as "preachy". more spiritual than religious , the lyrics & total feel to me is ; "inspirational , uplifting , & moving" ] ... aka






AMG Review :
Bruce Staple had the honor of engineering both Tommy James and ex-members of the Shondells for their respective Roulette solo projects (except for James' brilliant My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar, which featured the work of Nashville's Scotty Moore). All of the solo albums by Tommy James show a sparkle and understanding of the magic that makes for great pop recordings; it is absolutely a shame he did not rival Elton John for supremacy of the charts in the '70s. "Bits and Pieces" has a riff taken straight out of Phil Spector's Crystals songbook ("Then He Kissed Me," if you must know), while "I Believe in People" is everything Motown was searching for in the '70s when they signed the Four Seasons and Lesley Gore. There is a smoothness and continuity to all of Tommy James' work, both with the Shondells and on his own. Ritchie Cordell, who almost single-handedly wrote the entire I Think We're Alone Now album, co-writes "Church St. Soul Revival" with Tommy James; it is the only one of the 13 titles not co-written with Bob King and it is absolutely brilliant. So is "Another Hill to Climb," but on another level. On the Cordell co-write, the Stephentown Singers are pure gospel, the definite sequel to "I'm Comin' Home," while the choir gives this Bob King co-write that powerful pop Melanie Safka utilized on her smash "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)." The lyrics are overpowering; much of the sentiment is the antithesis of the psychedelic "Draggin' the Line." "Adrienne" almost seems like an ode to Tommy Roe, his "Sweet Pea" all grown up. The genius of Tommy James is that along with his perfect radio voice and ability to construct and deliver hits, he knows how to nick riffs right and left and reformulate them to suit his compact pop essays. Christian of the World is another top-notch Tommy James album; despite the two final Top 40 hits he received until he switched labels, it has not received the critical acclaim it deserves. It's extraordinary, from the opening track to "Silk Satin, Carriage Waiting." Again, Tommy James should have been battling Elton John throughout the '70s the way the Beatles and the Rolling Stones went back and forth on the charts. The world is a lesser place because these recordings did not get the additional airplay they so richly deserved. Christian of the World is a very strong argument for a four-CD Tommy James boxed set.

ALL TRAX FROM WAX !

• Tommy James - Christian of the World - `71 - Roulette - 320 kbps - 71mb
• includes high rez front & inner art

• #1 - Christian Of The World
  
• #2 - Kings And Things
  
• #3 - I'm Comin' Home
  
• #4 - Sing, Sing, Sing
  
• #5 - Draggin' The Line
  
• #6 - Sail A Happy Ship
  
• #7 - Light Of Day
  
• #8 - Bits And Pieces
  
• #9 - I Believe In People
  
• #10 - Church St. Soul Revival s
• #11 - Another Hill To Climb s
• #12 - Adrienne
  
• #13 - Silk, Satin, Carriage Waiting

download
-- here --

Its a small world after all

hey all :

i dunno how many of you read the comments here. recently i got a great comment from a band member of an obscure band i posted , the band is fringe benefit.
1st i got a comment from the drummers son , then the singer/guitarist son , then the bass player himself ! this is one great comment , one that inspires me to keep the blog alive & keep on keepin` on.
its hard to believe that a small blog such as this could garner the attention of the bands within it , but i guess truth is stranger than fiction after all , eh !?
thanks so much chris haines for your comment & may your music live forever man !
here is the comment..... feel free to comment on the comment , lol......:)

*******

Hello Good Akashaman

I am the older, balder and significantly more ruggedly handsome version of The Bass Player who magnetically etched the original counter-melodies into the lower register of these imperfect recordings as a mere baby.

In short, Chris Haines, Bass & bvs. at your service . . .

I am delighted that this gem of my formative years is at last achieving the recognition it deserves.

Notwithstanding the passings of time and the consequent ebbings-away of familiar familiarities, I would nonetheless vouchsafe an indication that Sir John Jones, Earl 'Dave' Gray & Dame Steven Laurie might be equally chuffed.

If not indeed more so.

We done the demo of AIV in my mum's front room in the house my dad built for us in Corfe Castle.

We went to Willesden to record the album for Lee Gopthal (ex Trojan Records)& Clive Crawley's 'Blue Eyes Productions' company at Morgan Studios.

The album was eventually released in N.America alone through Capricorn.

All the singles were leased to various record companies for release in many territories worldwide.
(One or another went Top Ten in Switzerland, South Africa & Wisconsin USA!)

'All In Vain' was released by Polydor in UK. A-listed on BBC Radio One, and 'PowerPlay' on Radio Luxemburg, it made the national chart at no. 41 in the hot July of 1976. We were warned of impending Top Of The Pops TV treatment. And myself still barely out of the Babygro...

... then came massive personal crashings beyond any seventies-band-of-geniuses' control...

... The British Market Research Bureau pulled all Polydor singles from their chart on summary charge of suspected 'payola' in their kangaroo court - not open to the public - nor to appeal.

Had this not happened, the substantial and burgeoning sales would have jetted Sir John Jones' Fringe Benefit to Number One, and history would be magnificent . . .

All In Vain?

Watch this space.

Thanks to all who like what we did.

Love, light, respect.

Chris Haines.

Tommy James - `70 solo debut - Roulette Records

oh you didnt know tommy james did any psych stuff eh ? you think he was all radio-pop ??? - hahahaha !!!! - soak on this one then mr. seen it all , know it all.
so here we have tommy james `s debut solo outing. very solid debut , only 8 trax but no filler here. real melodic , psych pop at its best , by the forerunner of the craft.
& you thought tommy james wasnt kewl ?

tommy james came roaring back with his first solo album, 1970's Tommy James. It features the hit song "Ball and Chain" and seven other songs that were not a great departure from the sound he had with the Shondells: up-tempo songs with big hooks, great vocals (lead and background), and a slightly psychedelic feeling. Tracks like the driving "Ball and Chain," the anthemic "Come to Me," and the pounding, bubblegum-tasting "I Lost My Baby" are as good as anything James had done recently. The only track where he stumbles is on the attempted hard rock boogie of "Quicksilver." Some people just aren't meant to rock that way -- and James is one of them. The most interesting tune on the record is "Meet the Comer," which sounds musically like the downer version of "Crystal Blue Persuasion," but is actually the beginning of James' shift to uplifting religious themes that would really blossom on his second solo record......
A very cosmic/psychedelic album cover has seven black-and-white Tommy James heads coasting over what looks like an acid trip, rainbow behind him, colors dripping upwards. It's the opposite of the black-and-white psychedelic look of the Cellophane Symphony album and the first of James' three final albums for Roulette. If we are to take the discs as three chapters, this one is Tommy James and Bob King proving that Tommy James was the Shondells. "Ball and Chain" is poppy and intense, the Velvet Underground gone bubblegum. Clearly, drugs had some influence on Tommy James' work, and where his ex-bandmates took a stab at the third Velvet Underground album with their Hog Heaven track "Come Away," "Ball and Chain" from the first Tommy James solo album sounds like it is an outtake from the Velvet Underground's Loaded CD. "Meet the Comer" has bits of Neil Young's "Helpless," all gone pop, of course. Tommy James' reformulation of pop riffs he would create or nick kept the majority of his albums highly listenable. It's a real gift to tune in and grab melodies from the cosmos, and rest assured, memorable hooks and special sounds are all over these grooves. "Midnight Train" continues the party, making this a very underground pop album. No hit single emerged until Bob King and James put the Christian of the World album together. That effort was certainly more commercial and refined, but this Tommy James solo debut has merit, integrity, and inspired insanity. "Come to Me" leads off side two, and it is the lost sequel to "Sugar on Sunday," the big hit for the Clique which first appeared on the Crimson & Clover album. "Come to Me" has a choir of backing vocals and should've been a smash with its flavors of past glories enhanced with a new bridge. Wonderful stuff. As the first part in his solo trilogy, Tommy James pays tribute to Tommy Roe, Billy Joe Royal, and even Bobby Sherman, but shows them all how a pop album is crafted and how Tommy James is the genuine article. It's perhaps the most experimental of all his projects, more cohesive than Peter Lucia and Mike Vale's Hog Heaven, and sets the stage for the refined Christian of the World and the reverent and very satisfying Nashville recording My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar. Where a song like "Quick Silver would be out of place on those aforementioned titles, it fits perfectly on this descent into a pop maestro's psyche. An enlightening project, and like many of Tommy James' other artistic endeavors, tragically overlooked.

[ christian of the world is NEXT ! ]

• "ALL TRAX FROM WAX" - transferred by da` shaman - 2007
  

• Tommy James - `70 debut - 320 kbps - 55 mb
• includes high rez front/back cover art

1. Ball And Chain
2. Meet The Comer
3. Midnight Trian
4. Light Of Day
5. Come To Me
6. I Lost My Baby
7. Lady Jane
8. Quick Silver

download -- here --

Aka covers the Beatles - I am the Walrus

i thought i would start putting up some new tracks i do here for feedback.
since most of you are avid music buffs , & probably musicians , this shouldnt be too hard..:)
let me know what ya think either way , studio tips / recoding hints would be great.
i mix & play on monitors , so might have EQ probs , please let me know thanks.
this is my insane take on the beatles classic , "i am the walrus". it`s not as embellished as the original - but then again , i am no george martin !

enjoy

aka`

download -- here --

Stories - `72 debut - Kama Sutra

hey all :
ok , as promised here is the debut stories LP. this is a great LP , if you have never heard it , you are in for a real treat. more left banke than "about us" , thier 2nd LP.

amg review :
by Richie Unterberger

The Stories' first album is gentler, and closer in mood to the Left Banke, than the subsequent Above Us, which is good news for Left Banke fans. Although the quality of the Brown-Lloyd compositions is uneven, it's generally good, though the songs are a bit modest and self-effacing. It's at its best when Brown whips out those classical/baroque keyboard and melodic flourishes that were among his trademarks since the Left Banke days. Sometimes it's on the edge of the tuneful hard rock style the Beatles and Badfinger essayed on mid-tempo numbers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At other times there's almost a harder rock-vaudevillian meld, somewhat in the style of the late '60s Kinks. It was pretty out of step with most of what else was going on in rock and pop in the early -70s, and not even too well known to power pop revivalists, although to be honest this is on the fringe of power pop since it emphasizes keyboards and dainty ballads more than electric guitars and cheerful up-tempo tunes. Still, it's well worth rediscovery by fans of pop/rock with unusual and inventive melodies and vocal harmonies.

**Please visit Ian Lloyd @ Ian Lloyd for NEW music & a rare , limited 3 track EP that is availiable now...Ian has re recorded brother louie even & it will be released soon as well. -- thanks ~


Stories - `72 debut - Kama Sutra - 70MB - 320 kbps

1. hello people
2. i`m coming home
3. winter scenes
4. step back
5. you told me
6. st. james
7. kathleen
8. take cover
9. nice to have you here
10. high & low

download @ -- here --