IGL Dance Jamboree ’66

Nice collection (time capsule if you will) of 30 bands who participated in IGL’s first Battle of the Bands, participants were each given 3 hours of free studio time. A monumental task for sure, the next year a similar deal was offered and the number of bands was kept to 14. Judging was done from the tapes, with Huron, South Dakota’s Bird Dogs declared the winner by KIOA disc jockey Jim Michaels. Unfortunately nobody from the studio documented who played what, so you’ll notice a lot of ??? in the artists names. There are two discs to this set the first contains Garage/Folk Rock and the second contains Pop/R’n’B. 

The Elastik Band

Everyone has heard the immortal “Spazz” by The Elastk Band, one of the original garage classics discovered early on. You will most likely be surprised with the rest of the tracks on this great collection as they don’t sound much like the revered classic at all. Instead they head in a more pop/psych direction, a lot of this reminds me of the Strawberry Alarm Clock in spots, which is a positive thing. At any rate this is a nice mix of mid sixties sounds sure to please fans of the era.

HERE

The Soup Greens - That's Too Bad

Essential garage goodness from these New York hipsters. “Like A Rolling Stone” is quite possibly the best interpretation of a Dylan song ever (at least in my world)!!! Too bad these guys didn’t stick around long enough to record more, thankfully we have this collection released on Misty Lane. If you are lucky enough to track down a copy of this, don’t hesitate and snag one for your collection. You need this!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

32 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics - Vol. 4

Volume 4, the last volume of this awesome series of compilations. I personally like this volume more so than the first three. “Steady With Betty” by Benny Joy nearly knocked me off my chair, damn fine stuff. I would like to thank Anonymous for providing these wonderful tunes, thanks you for your generosity. So without further blabbering by myself here are the links, you have two file options WMA part 1 and 2 or M4A, the choice is yours. Either way you’re gonna love it.

32 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics - Vol. 3

Another 32 killer slabs of rockabilly music. Amazingly there is no chaff on this series, every song is a winner. This volume gives me the warm fuzzies on account of the inclusion  of “Rock N’ Rolll Saddles”

 by Johnny Edwards with the Whitecaps. Which was reportedly the first rock n’ roll record to be recorded in Wisconsin, at a studio in Wausau where polka was predominantly recorded. This same studio would later crank out some decent garage records on the Big Sound label, such as “You Can’t Tame Me” by the Benders and “Same Old Grind” by the Spacemen. Anyway...

3

Herschel Sizemore - My Style

Here is a set from bluegrass legend Herschel Sizemore, eight of the tracks are originals penned by Herschel. During his long career Herschel has lent his extraordinary Mandolin playing talents to artists such as Jimmy Martin, Del McCoury, Vassar Clements, Bill Monroe, Allen Bibey, Curly Seckler, The Dixie Gentlemen and the Bluegrass Cardinals. So give this a listen and if you like what you hear please support Herschel by visiting his website and order one of his CD releases,  he has three available including My Style.

MY STYLE

Jerry Douglas - Everything Is Gonna Work Out Fine [1987]

Here is a collection that combines all the tracks from Jerry’s first two albums on one CD. Sorry for the overlap with the vinyl sourced post of Fluxology a few days ago. The track order is a wee bit out of sync compared to the original LP’s but it plays through just fine. It’s exciting to hear Jerry developing his style as this plays along, just the tip of the proverbial ice burg.

HERE

30 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics Vol. 2

Since posting the first volume of this rockin’ series I have located a gently used copy of this CD for my shelf. This is a fresh rip with new scans for your pleasure. Volume 3 should be posted here in the not so distant future. Volume 4 has proven to be elusive, so don’t hold your breath on that one.

2

Utopia

One of my favorite Todd Rundgren projects. It may not be Runt or Something/Anything, it is however a top notch pop album with catchy songs at every turn. Just give Feet Don't Fail Me Now, Princess of the Universe or Hammer In My Heart a spin and see for yourself. Hard to believe this (and Deface The Music for that matter) are out of print, such a shame.

UTOPIA

Nashville West

Another piece of the country-rock pie from Nashville West. With future Byrds Gene Parsons and Clarence White, you know this is going to be good. Also in the band was Gib Guilbeau on rhythm guitar and lead vocals along with Wayne Moore on bass. This live performance at El Monte’s Nashville West club is from early 1967. So give this a spin and get lost in Clarence White’s distinctive guitar sounds.

LINK

Jerry Douglas - Fluxology [Rounder 1979]

Anybody familiar with bluegrass knows the name Jerry Douglas, the rest of you will most likely want to skip over this post. Jerry is arguably the best Dobro player, having played on a multitude of bluegrass albums over the years. Fluxology is Jerry’s first solo record released in 1979 on Rounder Records. Prior to Fluxology Jerry had previously played Dobro on several other records by the likes of Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, JD Crowe and the New South, just to name a few. Here is Jerry’s official website for anyone interested in finding out more.

Michael Nesmith & The First National Band - Magnetic South & Loose Salute

Could there possibly be anyone out there who has not already heard these two classic country-rock albums by Michael Nesmith & The First National Band? Magnetic South and Loose Salute were Michael Nesmith’s first two albums after leaving the Monkees, both albums were released the same year, 1970. Along with Gram Parsons and Gene Clark, Nesmith was a pioneer in the country-rock genre. So if you like country-rock and have never had the pleasure of hearing these two gems...

Magnetic South & Loose Salute

Woronzoid [Various Artists 1989]

WORONZOID

Side 1

The Flyte Reaction - One Hundred Million Miles

The Bevis Frond - Foreign Laugh

The Parthenogenetick Brotherhood - Hillview

The Brainiac Five - I Want You

Side 2

Clive Palmer - Coventry Carol

Psycho’s Mum - Johanna May

Adrian Shaw - The Final Solution

The Vacant Plot - Visions Through Dilated Eyes

Diophantos - Grecian Duck Conjecture

Side 3

Todd Dillingham & The Borogroves - Reality

The Von Trap Family - Brand New Thrill

The Outskirts of Infinity - Tales of Brave Ulysses

Mick Wills - She Looked Down

Side 4

The Ectomorph - Show Me No Mercy

Full Moon - Euphoric Danse

Cyke Bancroft - Empty Days

Room 13 - Cowboy

The Bizaardvarks - Hypnotic Sponge

Snakegrinder - ...And The Shredded Mice

Reissue of this private pressing from Delaware. This has a jammy Dead vibe, with some strange tangents thrown in for good measure. It took me awhile to warm up to this one, I guess you just have to be in the right frame of mind if you get my drift.

SNAKEGRINDER

32 Original Historic Rockabilly Classics - Vol. 1

Here's a super collection of wonderful Rockabilly rarities. If anybody knows the whereabouts of Vol. 2, it would be much appreciated. Meanwhile enjoy the first installment... 32

The Bossmen - The Singles ’64-’67

Michigan’s own Bossmen, featuring Dick Wagner who of course would go on to bigger and better things with Frost, Lou Reed and Alice Cooper. Dick Wagner also has an amazing resume as a studio musician and writer. You can also check out some Frost music here. See where it all started... BOSSMEN

A History of Garage & Frat Bands In Memphis 1960-1975

Overall nice collection sixties sounds from Memphis, with some nice surprises in store (Can't Find A Way by Joe Frank and the Knights being my favourite). To my ears the tracks with horns and soul moves distract, but that may bring joy and elation to others. There are enough garage goodies to entice a garage-a-holic to seek this collection out. There was a second volume released as well, coinciding with a book titled Playing for a Piece of the Door.

MEMPHIS 

Kaleidoscope Presents... Kaleidoscopic Vibrations

This came with a swell 24 page fanzine (Kaleidoscope Issue #4), chock full of band biographies and other interesting stories to peruse while listening to this neat album. I especially enjoy the Third Half’s cover of Four Jacks & A Jill’s “Master Jack.”

KALEIDOSCOPIC VIBRATIONS

Beasts From The East (Voxx 1986)

THE LIBERTINES

Everybody Wants To Be My Sister

Black Garage Door

THE ENDORPHINS

Amazon Wood

THE TIME BEINGS

Why Don’t You Love Me

Spend Your Life

THE SKEPTICS

The Ghost of Abraham Lincoln

What Can I Do

GREEN

She’s Not A Little Girl Anymore

Something About You

THE CYNICS

Waste of Time

Let Me Know

THE DWARVES

Underwater

THE CUNTS

Apocalyptical Breakfast

There Are Electrical Filaments On My Hamburger

BEASTS FROM THE EAST

Bona Fide Records Presents... The Train To Disaster! (1983)

For your listening pleasure I bring you a handful of comp’s from the Paisley Underground. One of the fun things about this blog is listening to shit that hasn’t graced my ears in a few decades in a lot of cases. This should bring back memories for anyone who grew up in the early to mid eighties and was aware of the whole Paisley Underground scene. Listening to these again is probably as close to time travel I will ever achieve. Hope you enjoy.

The Train To Disaster

ÁLVARO URQUIJO - 1998 - SELFTITLED

Los Secretos are a Pop Rock band from Spain born in 1980. In 1998, they were the only survivors to that was called "la Movida Madrileña" (the 80's Madrid Scene). Their music had artists' influences as Dylan, Springsteen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor or Crosby, Still, Nash and Young.
Álvaro Urquijo is a guitarist, composer and singer born in Madrid on 1962. He founded "Los Secretos" together with his brothers Enrique and Javier.
The precedents already are explained; two sufficient points to place the personage. He has been so many years one of Los Secretos, a history plenty of beautiful songs.
An album is not supported only by the name of the artist. If there are no songs, everything exceeds. It's a question of putting to do it and do it fine. This it the success of this album. Ten songs, one after other one, perfectly elaborated. And, which is more important, inspired. All that, though it turns out to be obvious, not all the artists obtain it. Álvaro has demonstrated always with Los Secretos that he could do songs, very good songs. It was necessary to verify, if he knew to do songs alone with another idiosyncrasy and responsibility.
It's necessary to forget of Los Secretos though not completely. It's necessary to think about the songs, about the lyrics. It's necessary to know that he doesn't like the fuss. He likes the very transparent guitars, the smoothness of the sound of the steel-guitar, the sound of the harmonica, the simplicity of a melody and the emotion of a lyric. Slightly very silly in an age of exuberant remixes, of disproportionate miscegenations, of false yellow hairs. Not, his first solo album won't change the history of the rock. In exchange, he recovers the taste for returning to listen songs. No tags. Or if anything, the emotion.

Tracks:

Como En Un Cuento / Promesas / Cada Minuto / Por El Bulevar De Los Sueños Rotos* / Ya No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti / Fruto Del Corazón** / Solo Para Jugar*** / Miénteme / Prisionero / Dame Esa Oportunidad

All songs written by Álvaro Urquijo except:
* Álvaro Urquijo / Joaquín Sabina
** Álvaro Urquijo / José María Granados (Mamá)
*** Ian Gomm ("Hold On" cover)

Personnel:

Alvaro Urquijo: vocals & guitars / Juanjo Ramos: bass / Eric Franklin: drums / Ramón Arroyo: guitars & mandoline / Jesús Redondo: keyboards / Pedro & Enrique Gil: chorus on "Fruto Del Corazón" & "Dame Esa Oportunidad"

Produced by Nigel Walker.

ÁLVARO URQUIJO - CADA MINUTO

Álvaro - Urquijo - Selftiled (Flac)
Álvaro - Urquijo - Selftiled (mp3-320)

Both files with complete HQ scan artworks.

Note: The album is "Out Of Print"

Contents recovery record for repairing corrupted files with Repair Archive function of WinRAR (Alt+R).

The Aces Combo - Introducing

Introducing The Aces Combo is a crude and amateurish Justice title, created by five 14-15 year old kids. Despite their below average musical abilities, or in spite of them, this album has it’s charms and is an enjoyable listen. As a bonus, this album lacks the crappy horn section, which has marred many Justice titles. All in all, this still blows the doors off of The Checkmates album.

The Barracudas - A Plane View Of The

A Plane View Of The Barracudas, a much better Justice title.

The Checkmates - Meet The Checkmates

For Justice label completists only, I can’t find any redeeming qualities on this turd. Horn-O-Phobes beware! Posted for the above mentioned completist(s).

The Rockin’ Ramrods - The Best Of The Rockin’ Ramrods

The Best Of The Rockin’ Ramrods is not really a comprehensive collection as much as it’s an overview of the four phases of this legendary Boston band. They started out as a mainly instrumental group and then added vocals and an updated sound more aligned with the Lost and Barry And The Remains. In 1968 a name change to Puff along with a new musical direction in a more pop psych direction would occur, check out tracks 12 thru 22 for this period. And finally in 1971 the band reformed as the Ramrods and recorded an unreleased album, there are three tracks on here from that album 23-25.