Monday 18 March 2024

Dexter Gordon - Go (1962)

Year: Third week of December 1962 (CD 1999)
Label: Blue Note Records (UK & Europe), 7243 4 98794 2 3
Style: Jazz, Bop, Saxophone Jazz
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S. (February 27, 1923 - April 25, 1990)
Time: 37:44
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 283 Mb

Unanimously hailed by jazz critics as one of his greatest ever albums, Go was Dexter Gordon’s third LP for Blue Note Records. It heralded a remarkable upturn in the tenor saxophonist’s career, which briefly bloomed in the late 40s before floundering during the next decade as a result of his battle with heroin addiction.
But by 1960, Gordon, a gentle giant from Los Angeles who stood at six-foot six-inches tall, appeared to have gained control of his demons and was driven by a newfound sense of purpose. The first tenor saxophonist to fully absorb the argot of bebop, Gordon visited New York in 1960 and attracted the attention of Blue Note boss Alfred Lion, who signed him to his label on November 7 of that year. It was the start of what was arguably the most fruitful recording period in the saxophonist’s career.
Gordon’s first two sessions for the label, in May 1961, resulted in the classic albums Doin’ Allright and Dexter Calling, whose critical success prompted Lion to put Gordon in the studio again. He scheduled a session for Monday, August 27, 1962; it would yield Go, an album that the saxophonist himself regarded as his favorite recording.
Lion had arranged for Gordon, who was then six months shy of his 40th birthday, to record with a younger rhythm section comprising 31-year-old pianist Sonny Clark (who had been making his own records for Blue Note since 1957) alongside two musicians still in their 20s: bassist, Edward "Butch" Warren and drummer Billy Higgins, whom Gordon was already familiar with, having played with them on Herbie Hancock’s debut album, Takin’ Off, three months earlier.
Go begins with an original Gordon composition, "Cheese Cake," which quickly became a stalwart of Gordon’s live performances right up until his death, in 1990. The song was an unofficial homage to fellow tenor titan Lester Young and drew inspiration from the latter’s song "Tickle Toe," though it was recast in a minor key. After Gordon’s statement of the song’s memorable "head" theme, he then breaks off for a magnificently fluid solo and shows that, despite the difficulties he encountered in the 50s, his musical ability never suffered.
Ballads were Dexter Gordon’s specialty and his interpretation of the Jules Styne-penned "I Guess I’ll Hang Out My Tears To Dry" is an exquisite example of his ability to show his softer, lyrical side. Nonetheless, his tone is virile and muscular, but his phrasing, which is sensuous and delicate, reveals a more vulnerable side. Gordon instinctively knows how to squeeze every drop of emotion out of a melodic phrase, but in a subtle way without being maudlin or melodramatic.
"Second Balcony Jump" is Gordon’s revamp of a 1946 swing record by crooner and bandleader Billy Eckstine. Gordon’s version is less frenetic than the original, though it’s still imbued with a propulsive sense of rhythmic elan. After stating the infectious main riff, Gordon embarks on an expansive solo that highlights his melodic invention. It also includes a melodic snippet from Nat "King" Cole’s 1950 hit "Mona Lisa," reflecting Gordon’s love of quoting from other songs in his solos.
Gordon also drops in a quote from "Mexican Hat Dance" on his jaunty interpretation of Cole Porter’s jazz standard "Love For Sale," where the rhythm section initially creates a Latin-style undertow before launching into a passage of full-throttle swing.
Go’s second and final ballad is "Where Are You?," co-authored by noted songwriter Jimmy McHugh, who was also responsible for penning the standards "I Can’t Give You Anything But Love" and "The Sunny Side Of The Street." Prior to Gordon’s Blue Note recording, the song had been covered by singers Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis, as well as jazz instrumentalists such as Ben Webster and Kenny Dorham. But Gordon, with simpatico accompaniment from his young quartet, summons up the essence of late-night loneliness with a tender interpretation that captures the forlorn mood of the song’s lyrics.
The mood is lighter on the gently swinging "Three O’Clock In The Morning," which ends the album on an upbeat note. The original song was a hit in 1922 for bandleader Paul Whiteman, but here Dexter Gordon transforms it into a bebop-inspired vehicle that highlights the fluency of his saxophone improvisations.
Though Gordon would go on to release three more superb albums for Blue Note (including A Swingin’ Affair, recorded with the same personnel just two days after Go), it is the LP he made on August 27, 1962, that stands tallest in the saxophonist’s catalogue.
(udiscovermusic.com/stories/dexter-gordon-go-blue-note-album/)

01. Cheese Cake (06:33)
02. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (05:22)
03. Second Balcony Jump (07:05)
04. Love For Sale (07:37)
05. Where Are You (05:21)
06. Three O'Clock In The Morning (05:43)

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Sunday 17 March 2024

Elton John - A Single Man [Vinyl Rip, Russian Ed. 9 tracks] (1978)

Year: 16 October 1978 (LP 1986)
Label: Melodia Records (Russia), C 60-15147-8
Style: Rock, Pop
Country: Pinner, Middlesex, England (25 March 1947)
Time: 41:24
Format: Flac Tracks 24/96 kHz
Size: 905 Mb

Russian Edition 9 tracks - original version 11 tracks.
A Single Man is the first of Elton John's albums to not include work by lyricist Bernie Taupin, and the first since his debut Empty Sky without producer Gus Dudgeon. The returning members of his band are percussionist Ray Cooper and guitarist Davey Johnstone; the latter played on only one song on the album. Paul Buckmaster would not appear on another Elton John album until Made in England. Unlike previous compositions in which lyrics came first, John started writing melodies at a piano, and an album unintentionally came about from this. This is also John's first album on which he sings in a lower register. "Song for Guy" was written as a tribute to Guy Burchett, a young messenger employed by John's record label Rocket Records, who was killed in a motorcycle accident.
The staff and players of Watford Football Club, of which John was chairman at the time, provide backing vocals on "Big Dipper" and "Georgia". Also featured on these tracks are the backing vocals of the female staff from Rocket Records, credited as 'The South Audley Street Girls' Choir'.
The photo for the front cover was taken in the Long Walk, which is part of Windsor Great Park in Berkshire. The inside cover shows John in a Jaguar XK140 FHC. John stopped wearing his trademark glasses in public for a period during the late 1970s, and the album photo reflects this.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Single_Man_(album))

01. A1 Shine On Through (03:42)
02. A2 Return To Paradise (04:13)
03. A3 I Don't Care (04:23)
04. A4 It Ain't Gonna Be Easy (08:17)
05. B1 Georgia (04:47)
06. B2 Shooting Star (02:43)
07. B3 Madness (05:50)
08. B4 Reverie (00:51)
09. B5 Song For Guy (06:34)

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Petula Clark – Petula Clark's Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Vinyl Rip] (1968)

Year: 1968 (LP 1968)
Label: Warner Bros / Seven Arts Records (US), WS 1765
Style: Pop, Ballad, Vocal, Oldies
Country: Born November 15, 1932, Epson, Surrey (England)
Time: 33:02
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 221 Mb

Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.
Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II. During the 1950s she started recording in French and having international success in both French and English, with such songs as "The Little Shoemaker", "Baby Lover", "With All My Heart" and "Prends Mon C?ur". During the 1960s she became known globally for her popular upbeat hits, including "Downtown", "I Know a Place", "My Love", "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "Colour My World", "This Is My Song" and "Don't Sleep in the Subway". The timing and popularity of these songs caused Clark to be dubbed the First Lady of the British Invasion. She has sold more than 68 million records throughout her career. (Wikipedia).
Matrix side A: S-39427-1S, side B: S-39428-2S

01. A1 Downtown (03:07)
02. A2 You'd Better Come Home (02:54)
03. A3 Round Every Corner (02:37)
04. A4 Two Rivers (02:30)
05. A5 A Sign Of The Times (02:56)
06. A6 Color My World (02:52)
07. B1 My Love (02:44)
08. B2 Who Am I (02:23)
09. B3 Call Me (02:47)
10. B4 I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (02:56)
11. B5 You're The One (02:27)
12. B6 I Know A Place (02:43)

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Saturday 16 March 2024

Otis Rush - Lost In The Blues (1991)

Year: 1991 (CD 1991)
Label: Alligator Records (U.S.), ALCD 4797
Style: Blues, Chicago Blues
Country: Philadelphia, Mississippi, U.S. (April 29, 1934 - September 29, 2018)
Time: 47:35
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 276 Mb

Breaking into the R&B Top Ten his very first time out in 1956 with the startlingly intense slow blues "I Can't Quit You Baby," southpaw guitarist Otis Rush subsequently established himself as one of the premier bluesmen on the Chicago circuit. Rush is often credited with being one of the architects of the West side guitar style, along with Magic Sam and Buddy Guy. It's a nebulous honor, since Rush played clubs on Chicago's South side just as frequently during the sound's late-'50s incubation period. Nevertheless, his esteemed status as a prime Chicago innovator is eternally assured by the ringing, vibrato-enhanced guitar work that remains his stock in trade and a tortured, super-intense vocal delivery that can force the hairs on the back of your neck upwards in silent salute. If talent alone were the formula for widespread success, Rush would certainly have been Chicago's leading blues artist. But fate, luck, and the guitarist's own idiosyncrasies conspired to hold him back on several occasions when opportunity was virtually begging to be accepted. Rush came to Chicago in 1948, met Muddy Waters, and knew instantly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. The omnipresent Willie Dixon caught Rush's act and signed him to Eli Toscano's Cobra Records in 1956. The frighteningly intense "I Can't Quit You Baby" was the maiden effort for both artist and label, streaking to number six on Billboard's R&B chart. His 1956-1958 Cobra legacy is a magnificent one, distinguished by the Dixon-produced minor-key masterpieces "Double Trouble" and "My Love Will Never Die," the tough-as-nails "Three Times a Fool" and "Keep on Loving Me Baby," and the rhumba-rocking classic "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)." Rush apparently dashed off the latter tune in the car en route to Cobra's West Roosevelt Road studios, where he would cut it with the nucleus of Ike Turner's combo. After Cobra closed up shop, Rush's recording fortunes mostly floundered. He followed Dixon over to Chess in 1960, cutting another classic (the stunning "So Many Roads, So Many Trains") before moving on to Duke (one solitary single, 1962's "Homework"), Vanguard, and Cotillion (there he cut the underrated Mike Bloomfield-Nick Gravenites-produced 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, with yeoman help from the house rhythm section in Muscle Shoals). Typical of Rush's horrendous luck was the unnerving saga of his Right Place, Wrong Time album. Laid down in 1971 for Capitol Records, the giant label inexplicably took a pass on the project despite its obvious excellence. It took another five years for the set to emerge on the tiny Bullfrog label, blunting Rush's momentum once again (the album is now available on HighTone). An uneven but worthwhile 1975 set for Delmark, Cold Day in Hell, and a host of solid live albums that mostly sound very similar kept Rush's gilt-edged name in the marketplace to some extent during the '70s and '80s, a troubling period for the legendary southpaw. In 1986, he walked out on an expensive session for Rooster Blues (Louis Myers, Lucky Peterson, and Casey Jones were among the assembled sidemen), complaining that his amplifier didn't sound right and thereby scuttling the entire project. Alligator picked up the rights to an album he had done overseas for Sonet originally called Troubles, Troubles. It turned out to be a prophetic title: much to Rush's chagrin, the firm overdubbed keyboardist Lucky Peterson and chopped out some masterful guitar work when it reissued the set as Lost in the Blues in 1991. Finally, in 1994, the career of this Chicago blues legend began traveling in the right direction. Ain't Enough Comin' In, his first studio album in 16 years, was released on Mercury and ended up topping many blues critics' year-end lists. Produced spotlessly by John Porter with a skin-tight band, Rush roared a set of nothing but covers, but did them all his way, his blistering guitar consistently to the fore. Once again, a series of personal problems threatened to end Rush's long-overdue return to national prominence before it got off the ground. But he's been in top-notch form in recent years, fronting a tight band that's entirely sympathetic to the guitarist's sizzling approach. Rush signed with the House of Blues' fledgling record label, instantly granting that company a large dose of credibility and setting himself up for another career push. It still may not be too late for Otis Rush to assume his rightful throne as Chicago's blues king. After another decade performing and recording albums, Live and in Concert from San Fransisco was released in 2006.
(sputnikmusic.com/bands/Otis-Rush/6680/)

01. Hold That Train (06:20)
02. You've Been An Angel (05:04)
03. Little Red Rooster (04:39)
04. Trouble, Trouble (06:48)
05. Please Love Me (04:17)
06. You Don't Have To Go (04:20)
07. Got To Be Some Changes Made (07:44)
08. You Got Me Running (04:27)
09. I Miss You So (03:51)

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures At An Exhibition [Japan Ed. K2HD Coding] (1971)

Year: November 1971 (CD Sep 28, 2005)
Label: Victor Records (Japan), VICP-63173
Style: Symphonic Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 38:20
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 262 Mb

The rush of joy from the Newcastle crowd following Keith Emerson’s opening announcement that “We’re gonna give you Pictures at an Exhibition” is the audio equivalent of adrenalin. From that point forward, the floodgates of imagination are thrown wide as we take in the sights and sounds of these musical paintings.
The trio had first premiered their interpretation (the piece might just as well be called an inspiration) of Mussorgsky’s masterpiece at their first official performance at the Isle of Wight Festival. The version captured here is from a March 26, 1971 performance at the grand Newcastle City Hall. In a sense, the Hall and its inhabitants are the invisible fourth member, adding deep acoustics and emotions to the music that fairly approximate what it must have felt like to be in the room.
The entire work follows the outline of Mussorgsky’s original, alternating promenades between various paintings. The promenades are given slightly different treatments: the second features vocals, the third is bombastic. ELP slips a few of their own creations into the gallery—The Sage, Blues Variation, The Curse of Baba Yaga—and mixes them with adaptations of Mussorgsky’s pieces (The Hut of Baba Yaga, The Gnome, The Old Castle). The song cycle culminates with the majestic close of The Great Gates of Kiev, a dreamed-of gateway now a gateway to dreams. Oddly, the group seems stumped for a suitable encore, parading out the novelty Nutrocker, which seems terribly trite after such a walk with giants.
For my money, this is one of ELP’s best albums, one of the greatest live prog albums ever recorded, and reason enough to classify Newcastle City Hall as an historically important building. Though chronologically this is the band’s third album, it is rather the firstfruits of an amazing alignment of talent that represented perhaps the pinnacle of progressive rock when it was first performed in 1970. The bar had been raised, the gates opened, and the wave of prog warriors were coming to lift the fallen standard of musical art once more. So, naturally, critic Robert Christgau gave it a D+, begging the question of what the plus was for, since I’m sure we can all agree on what the D means.
(progrography.com/emerson-lake-palmer/review-emerson-lake-palmer-pictures-at-an-exhibition-1971/)

01. Promenade (01:57)
02. The Gnome (04:18)
03. Promenade (01:23)
04. The Sage (04:42)
05. The Old Castle (02:33)
06. Blues Variation (04:23)
07. Promenade (01:28)
08. The Hut of Baba Yaga (01:12)
09. The Curse of Baba Yaga (04:10)
10. The Hut of Baba Yaga (01:06)
11. The Great Gates of Kiev (06:37)
12. Nutrocker (04:25)

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Friday 15 March 2024

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV [Vinyl Rip] (1971)

Year: 8 November 1971 (LP 19??)
Label: Atlantic Records (US), SD 19128
Style: Hard Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 42:31
Format: Flac Tracks 24/96 kHz
Size: 915 Mb

The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly in the country house Headley Grange. The album is notable for featuring "Stairway to Heaven", which has been described as the band's signature song.
The informal setting at Headley Grange inspired the band, and allowed them to try different arrangements of material and create songs in a variety of styles. After the band's previous album Led Zeppelin III received lukewarm reviews from critics, they decided their fourth album would officially be untitled, and would be represented instead by four symbols chosen by each band member, without featuring the name or any other details on the cover. Unlike the prior two albums, the band was joined by some guest musicians, such as vocalist Sandy Denny on "The Battle of Evermore", and pianist Ian Stewart on "Rock and Roll". As with prior albums, most of the material was written by the band, though there was one cover song, a hard rock re-interpretation of the Memphis Minnie blues song "When the Levee Breaks".
The album was a commercial and critical success and is Led Zeppelin's best-selling, shipping over 37 million copies worldwide. It is one of the best-selling albums in the US, while critics have regularly placed it highly on lists of the greatest albums of all time.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin_IV)

01. A1 Black Dog (04:55)
02. A2 Rock And Roll (03:41)
03. A3 The Battle Of Evermore (05:50)
04. A4 Stairway To Heaven (07:59)
05. B1 Misty Mountain Hop (04:38)
06. B2 Four Sticks (04:43)
07. B3 Going To California (03:34)
08. B4 When The Levee Breaks (07:07)

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David Bowie - Scary Monsters (1980)

Year: 12 September 1980 (CD 1999)
Label: EMI Records (Europe), 7243 521895 0 2
Style: Pop, Punk
Country: London, England (8 January 1947 - 10 January 2016)
Time: 45:36
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 331 Mb

Charts: UK #1, AUS #1, AUT #20, GER #8, NL #3, NOR #3, NZ #1, SWE #4, SWI #75, US #12. Australia, Canada and UK: Platinum.
It's his first album following the Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes" and Lodger), Scary Monsters was Bowie's attempt to create a more commercial record after the trilogy proved successful artistically but less so commercially.
Co-produced by Tony Visconti, Scary Monsters was recorded between February and April 1980 at the Power Station in New York City, and later Good Earth Studios in London. Much of the same personnel from prior releases returned for the sessions, with additional guitar by Chuck Hammer and Robert Fripp, and a guest appearance by Pete Townshend. The music incorporates elements of art rock, new wave and post-punk. Unlike the improvisational nature of prior releases, Bowie spent time writing the music and lyrics; several were recorded under working titles and some contained reworked elements of earlier, unreleased songs. The album cover is a large-scale collage featuring Bowie donning a Pierrot costume, with references to his prior releases on the rear sleeve.
The album's lead single, "Ashes to Ashes", revisited the character of Major Tom from "Space Oddity" and was promoted with an inventive music video. Scary Monsters garnered critical and commercial acclaim: it topped the UK Albums Chart and restored Bowie's commercial standing in the US, reaching No. 12. Scary Monsters would later be referred to by commentators as Bowie's "last great album" and a benchmark for subsequent releases.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_Monsters_(and_Super_Creeps))

01. It's No Game (No. 1) (04:20)
02. Up the Hill Backwards (03:15)
03. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (05:12)
04. Ashes to Ashes (04:25)
05. Fashion (04:49)
06. Teenage Wildlife (06:56)
07. Scream Like a Baby (03:35)
08. Kingdom Come (03:45)
09. Because You're Young (04:54)
10. It's No Game (No. 2) (04:22)

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Jimi Hendrix - Crash Landing (1975)

Year: March 1975 (CD 1988)
Label: Polydor Records (Germany), 827 932-2
Style: Rock
Country: Seattle, Washington, U.S. (November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970)
Time: 29:56
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 200 Mb

Charts: UK #5, US #35, Canada #5. US: Gold (RIAA. Recording Industry Association of America).
In the '70s, there was no shortage of posthumous Jimi Hendrix releases. Reprise and other labels knew that Hendrix's fans were an incredibly loyal and devoted bunch, and they knew that serious collectors would snag any Hendrix LP they could get their hands on. One of those posthumous releases was Crash Landing, which Reprise assembled in 1975. The LP's best-known tracks include "Message to Love" and "With the Power," both of which find Hendrix leading his Band of Gypsys power trio. Also enjoyable is a remake of the famous "Stone Free." But despite the presence of some gems, Crash Landing isn't essential -- this record is strictly for collectors, and they are the ones who will want to hear such rarities as "Captain Coconut" (a psychedelic instrumental) and "Peace in Mississippi" (which is also instrumental and is the heaviest thing on the album). Listening to "Peace in Mississippi," it isn't hard to see why Hendrix has been described as the first heavy metal artist -- he was certainly a major influence on such early headbangers as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Budgie and Deep Purple. Novices would do well to skip this LP and start out with essential titles like Are You Experienced?, Electric Ladyland and Axis: Bold as Love, but those who are seriously into Hendrix will find that Crash Landing isn't a bad record to have in their collections.
(allmusic.com/album/crash-landing-mw0000195022)

01. Message To Love (03:15)
02. Somewhere Over The Rainbow (03:32)
03. Crash Landing (04:18)
04. Come Down Hard On Me (03:18)
05. Peace In Mississippi (04:22)
06. With The Power (03:37)
07. Stone Free Again (03:27)
08. Captain Coconut (04:04)

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Thursday 14 March 2024

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [Vinyl Rip. 2LP] (1973)

Year: 5 October 1973 (LP 1980)
Label: Direct Disk Labs (US), SD-2-16614
Style: Rock, Pop Rock, Glam Rock
Country: Pinner, Middlesex, England (25 March 1947)
Time: 76:10
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 464 Mb

Rip by PBTHAL.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by English singer, pianist, and composer Elton John, first released on 5 October 1973 as a double album by DJM Records. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magnum opus. Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind," US number-one single "Bennie and the Jets," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", along with the live favourite "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding."
Recorded at the Studio d'enregistrement Michel Magne at the Chateau d'Herouville in France, the album became a double LP once John and his band became inspired by the locale. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003, and continues to be highly regarded in various rankings. It was ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye_Yellow_Brick_Road)

01. A1a Funeral For A Friend (05:27)
02. A1b Love Lies Bleeding (05:40)
03. A2 Candle In The Wind (03:48)
04. A3 Bennie And The Jets (05:20)
05. B1 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (03:14)
06. B2 This Song Has No Title (02:22)
07. B3 Grey Seal (04:00)
08. B4 Jamaica Jerk-Off (03:37)
09. B5 I've Seen That Movie Too (05:57)
10. C1 Sweet Painted Lady (03:53)
11. C2 The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (04:22)
12. C3 Dirty Little Girl (05:02)
13. C4 All The Girls Love Alice (05:08)
14. D1  Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock And Roll) (02:42)
15. D2 Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting (04:54)
16. D3 Roy Rogers (04:08)
17. D4 Social Disease (03:41)
18. D5 Harmony (02:46)

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Wednesday 13 March 2024

Dexter Gordon - A Swingin' Affair (1962)

Year: Recorded August 29, 1962/Released Early October 1964 (CD 2006)
Label: Blue Note Records (Europe), 0946 3 55501 2 2
Style: Jazz, Bop, Saxophone Jazz
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S. (February 27, 1923 - April 25, 1990)
Time: 38:29
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 279 Mb

A Swingin’ Affair was the second of Gordon’s 1962 recorded Blue Note sessions, taped a day after the similarly iconic Go. Connoisseurs of the label will doubtless fondly remember the original red-washed cover shot of a laughing Dexter and Barbara Long’s evocative sleeve notes. Buyers of this reissue will find the former added – minute-sized and seemingly as an afterthought – on the back cover, while the latter are slashed in half for no readily apparent reason. One can only hope that the current owners of the Blue Note catalogue will come up with the definitive answer to all this revisionist nonsense in what is the label’s 80th anniversary year. Fingers crossed. Apart from a wholly unnecessary addition of a solo track by Sonny Clark recorded two years earlier, the albums’ musical virtues have fortunately been allowed to stand as they are, confirming that the 1960s were Gordon’s peak. Everything from the joyous opener ‘Soy Califa’ through the melancholy balladry of ‘Don’t Explain’ to the groovy ‘The Backbone’ is the stuff from which the leader’s legend was carved. However, it’s a little difficult to gauge who might buy this version, which, to this writer’s mind, is only one step up from the line of horrendously rejigged Italian bootlegs that proliferated in the 1980s. Blue Notes were always records you could judge (and which sold) by their covers: I just can’t help thinking that there’s something a tad dishonourable in trying to palm off a gatefold sleeve and a couple of photos we’ve seen already as a USP. You pays your money.
(jazzwise.com/reviews/review?slug=dexter-gordon-a-swingin-affair)

01. Soy Califa (06:27)
02. Don't Explain (06:06)
03. You Stepped Out Of A Dream (06:34)
04. The Backbone (06:48)
05. Until The Real Thning Comes Along (06:49)
06. McSplivens (05:43)

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Yello - Touch Yello (2009)

Year: 2 October 2009 (CD 2009)
Label: Polydor Records (Germany), 0602527194851
Style: Synth Pop, Electro Pop, Techno Electronic
Country: Zurich, Switzerland
Time: 54:48
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 359 Mb

It makes perfect sense that Yello have lasted longer and aged better than any other synth pop outfit. When the Swiss group started out in 1979, the bandmembers were already older and wiser than most of their peers -- singer Dieter Meier was already in his mid-thirties back then, and Touch Yello finds him a sultry, smoky-voiced sexagenarian. He has effectively become the Leonard Cohen of European electro-pop, with a touch of Paolo Conte's Continental class and maybe a dash of Serge Gainsbourg's genteel sleaze, and the comely female guest vocals that pop up throughout the album make for a perfect Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin kind of contrast. On what is only Yello's second album of the last ten years, the duo of Meier and synth wizard Boris Blank has taken a somewhat schizophrenic route; roughly half of Touch Yello is based around the kind of pulsating, electronic dance-pop grooves that have been the group's strength for three decades. On the other half, they venture too far into moody, downtempo pieces full of chillout atmospheres and bathtub jazz. By the end, one wishes the contributions of German trumpeter Till Bronner would have been left in trash can of Blank's laptop, as his parts take things entirely too close to smooth jazz territory. Thankfully, the funkier, more dance-oriented cuts where Meier's deep, dusky voice is right up front pretty much save the day. Listening to tracks like the disco-drenched "Part Love," where Meier comes across like some fever-dream combination of Barry White and the guy from Trio, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to mess with such a winning formula. Still, when you've been around as long as Yello have, you should be allowed to take a few detours, even if some of them wind up leading you down the occasional blind alley.
(allmusic.com/album/touch-yello-mw0001804556)

01. The Expert (02:54)
02. You Better Hide (04:08)
03. Out Of Dawn (03:10)
04. Bostich (Reflected) (03:57)
05. Till Tomorrow (04:16)
06. Tangier Blue (02:39)
07. Part Love (03:43)
08. Friday Smile (03:30)
09. Kiss In Blue (03:33)
10. Vertical Vision (04:19)
11. Trackless Deep (03:19)
12. Stay (03:02)
13. Electric Frame (03:35)
14. Takla Makan (08:35)

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Tuesday 12 March 2024

Steppenwolf - For Ladies Only [Japan Ed.] (1971)

Year: November 1971 (CD Apr 24, 2013)
Label: Universal Music (Japan), UICY-75561
Style: Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 57:39
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 343 Mb

Steppenwolf is like the football club that always wins more than it loses, and perennially finishes second or third in its conference -- something like Purdue. Sound in the skills but hardly ever brilliant. Always in contention, but never the champ.
Steppenwolf does have a gifted quarterback in John Kay, whose voice has always seemed to me to be the growl of the archetypal lead singer. Kay normally writes or cowrites most of the songs; he also directs the group in most of its undertakings. Ironically, it is Kay, Steppenwolf's strongest component, who has most often underlined the group's effectiveness as an unsophisticated but hard-driving rock & roll band. He's never statisfied with a more collection of good rock tunes -- he has to tie them together under some over-all theme. Kay has always been a bit too ambitious for his own good -- or the good of Steppenwolf as a whole. That is what derailed a seemingly unstoppable Steppenwolf after two fine straightforward albums in the form of an abominable pseudo-concept album called Birthday Party. And it was ambition that caused Steppenwolf to exploit the political cliche in Monster.
Well, it's happened again. This time, however, the other four group members are equally responsible, having shared the songwriting duties democratically with the boss. After making a heartening comeback with a surprisingly powerful live album and a spotty but much improved studio recording (Steppenwolf 7), they've decided once again to sacrifice rock & roll relevance on For Ladies Only. It's another critical setback, made even sadder by the inclusion of a couple of great stinging rock songs, one of which ranks with Steppenwolf's early best.
Good Steppenwolf is usually short Steppenwolf: this is an excellent singles band when it wants to be. Bad Steppenwolf is interminable: when this group makes one of its "major statements," a 15-minute album side can seem endless. So it follows that the monumental moments on For Ladies Only -- Mars Bonfire's "Ride with Me" and "Sparkle Eyes," by Kay and George Biondo -- move swiftly, while the bad parts -- the title song and the cruddy "Jaded Strumpet" -- hang in there tenaciously. "Ride with Me" is the ultimate mythic biker-as-buccaneer anthem. It's ironic that Steppenwolf, whose memorable work is romantically reactionary (Kay's publisher is Black Leather Music), should make an album about the oppression of women. But never fear, Steppenwolf fans -- the boys do it in a gloriously reactionary way.
After listening to the album, I'm still not certain whether the fellows are for or against, but the songs within do little to dispel that feeling of steaming hostility toward women. I must admit that I find myself without the burning desire to find out where Steppenwolf stands in regard to women's liberation: the music accompanying the group's politics isn't much more exciting than the tired issues discussed in the lyrics. In the title song, for example, a passable rocker is interrupted by a piano section that tries valiantly for a "Layla"-like effect, but adds little to the song itself (except for duration -- the piano bridge is longer than the song it surrounds, blowing it up past nine minutes altogether). In Bonfire's "Tenderness," Kay attempts, not without some success, to sound like a country singer, but there's little else notable about it. The group even does an instrumental, "Black Pit," that is nothing of the sort -- somebody plays vibes on it. "Jaded Strumpet" would be offensive if it weren't so dull, and that's worse.
(superseventies.com/spsteppenwolf2.html)

01. For Ladies Only (09:15)
02. I'm Asking (04:27)
03. Shackles And Chains (04:59)
04. Tendermess (04:54)
05. The Night Time's For You (02:58)
06. Jaded Strumpet (04:43)
07. Sparkle Eyes (04:31)
08. Black Pit (03:48)
09. Ride With Me (03:25)
10. In Hopes Of A Garden (02:14)
11. For Madmen Only / Bonus Track (08:49)
12. For Ladies Only (Single Version) / Bonus Track (03:31)

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Derek And The Dominoes - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs [Vinyl Rip. 2LP] (1970)

Year: 9 November 1970 (LP 1981)
Label: Direct-Disk Labs (US), SD-2-16629
Style: Pop, Pop Rock
Country: UK / US
Time: 76:52
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 447 Mb

Unknown "Rip".
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is the only studio album by the English–American rock band Derek and the Dominos, released on 9 November 1970 as a double album by Polydor Records and Atco Records. It is best known for its title track, "Layla", which is often regarded as Eric Clapton's greatest musical achievement. The other band members were Bobby Whitlock (vocals, keyboard), Jim Gordon (drums, percussion), and Carl Radle (bass). Duane Allman played lead and slide guitar on 11 of the 14 songs.
Initially regarded as a critical and commercial disappointment, it failed to chart in Britain and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States. It returned to the US albums chart again in 1972, 1974 and 1977, and has since been certified Gold by the RIAA. The album finally debuted on the UK Albums Chart in 2011, peaking at number 68. In 2000, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2003, television network VH1 named Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs the 89th-greatest album of all time. In the same year, Rolling Stone ranked it number 117 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was ranked at number 226 on the 2020 reboot of the list. It was voted number 287 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). In 2012, the Super Deluxe Edition of Layla won a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layla_and_Other_Assorted_Love_Songs)

01. A1 I Looked Away (03:04)
02. A2 Bell Bottom Blues (05:02)
03. A3 Keep On Growing (06:21)
04. A4 Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (04:58)
05. B1 I Am Yours (03:33)
06. B2 Anyday (06:35)
07. B3 Key To The Highway (09:38)
08. C1 Tell The Truth (06:38)
09. C2 Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad (04:44)
10. C3 Have You Ever Loved A Woman (06:53)
11. D1 Little Wing (05:34)
12. D2 It's Too Late (03:50)
13. D3 Layla (07:04)
14. D4 Thorn Tree In The Garden (02:50)

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