Procol Harum - A Salty Dog (40th Anniversary Series) (1969)

Year: May 1969 (CD 2009)
Label: Salvo Records (UK), SALVOCD020
Style: Progressive Rock, Art Rock
Country: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK
Time: 67:52
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 392 Mb

Digitally remastered from original master tapes. 6 bonus tracks including 4 previously unreleased. 20 page booklet in-depth liner notes.
The third album’s always a challenge: while the second record can be shaped up after a debut, the next one must have a different formula in its core. Which, in PROCOL HARUM’s case, seemed a difficult task with what was perceived as their trademark sound and the songwriting team behind the band’s very existence. Still, the ensemble welcomed ideas from everyone, and a riot was out of question in the collective built as a vehicle for Gary Brooker and Keith Reid to realize their creative vision. Yet here, once others’ sights became clearer, erstwhile grandiosity appears confined to two bookending epic songs that don’t take on really epic scale in terms of length but are fathomless with orchestra sweeping the opener, “A Salty Dog”, and orchestral feel wrapping the finale, “Pilgrim’s Progress”. Both depict a journey of different kind – but while the former sails, echo-clad, on the Brooker gloomy piano and the familiar “seasick” thread, the latter, sung and mostly played by its author, Matthew Fisher, brings hope to the mix.
The ensemble found a great solution to all the contradictions by harnessing two traditions: the rootsy one, in the Chicago-styled Robin Trower-incited Apocalypse of guitar and harmonica of “Juicy John Pink” that Muddy Waters wouldn’t have been ashamed of (there’s also a live version alongside an incendiary bonus of the Howlin’ Wolf staple “Goin’ Down Slow”) and their own, in “All This And More”. It sounds as if it was recorded for the previous LP but reads as a sharp comment on the situation in the ranks where too many forces emerged to keep it all together. The real maturity of the playing and the material’s strength comes forth on the Dylan-esque rhythm-and-blues of the “Long Gone Geek” single and “The Milk Of Human Kindness” which combines the vaudeville easiness with the heaviness of blues and puts forward B.J. Wilson’s ever-shifting drumming. A contrast to this is the marimba-spiced delicate “Boredom” and a gentle ballad “Too Much Between Us” resting on the acoustic guitar strum and the organ ripples. Elsewhere, another Fisher’s creation, the panoramic “Wreck Of The Hesperus”, though perfectly scored, underscores the album’s prevailing mood of aloofness that the Trower-delivered “Crucifiction Lane” only adds to, even in the concert take. And that feels good – there’s a sense of adventure, a sense only a few could challenge PROCOL HARUM for.
(dmme.net/reviews/d-harum)

01. A Salty Dog (04:38)
02. The Milk Of Human Kindness (03:44)
03. Too Much Between Us (03:40)
04. The Devil Came From Kansas (04:32)
05. Boredom (04:36)
06. Juicy John Pink (02:04)
07. Wreck Of The Hesperus (03:44)
08. All This And More (03:47)
09. Crucifiction Lane (04:56)
10. Pilgrim's Progress (04:33)
11. Long Gone Geek (03:17)
12. Goin' Down Slow (live in the USA, Easter 1969) (07:48)
13. Juicy John Pink  (live in the USA, Easter 1969) (02:38)
14. Crucification Lane  (live in the USA, Easter 1969) (04:34)
15. Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)_Also Sprach Zarathustra (live) (05:28)
16. The Milk Of Human Kindness (take 1, raw track) (03:46)

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Steppenwolf - Live (2LPs on 1CD) [Japan Edition] (1970)

Year: April 1970 (CD Apr 24, 2013)
Label: Geffen Records(Japan), UICY-75559
Style: Rock, Hard Rock
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 74:43
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 446 Mb

Charts: AUS #16; UK #15: NOR #9; U.S. #7
Steppenwolf Live is primarily a collection of recordings from a single concert early in 1970 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium by Steppenwolf staged in support of their 1969 album Monster. Released in April 1970 by Dunhill Records, it contains Steppenwolf's well-known hits: "Born to Be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride" and "The Pusher", as well as most of the songs from Monster, including three previous top 40 hits, as well as the top 40 hit "Hey Lawdy Mama" from this album.
(en.wikipedia.org)

Recorded at various concerts in 1970, this double LP (single CD) also infamously includes a handful of studio-created "live" cuts with overdubbed crowd noise on top of what are some surprisingly lean and effective live-in-the-studio performances. It isn't half-bad musically, roughly on a par with Happening Live by the Outsiders (another fake live release) for musical value, and it is one of the choicer pop-culture documents of its era, featuring such topical songs as "Don't Step on the Grass, Sam" (which opens with an offhanded spoken critique of Operation Intercept, the crackdown on marijuana smuggling instituted by the Nixon administration) and "Draft Resister," and longtime parts of their repertory such as "Tighten up Your Wig," "Corina, Corina," "Power Play," and "The Pusher." The obligatory hits, "Magic Carpet Ride" and "Born to Be Wild," are also present, and it is fun listening, featuring essentially the same lineup that recorded the Monster album that preceded it. The guitars of John Kay and Larry Byrom interweave beautifully, and there isn't much excess, even allowing for the presence of a ten-minute version of "Monster." And assuming that the repertory is appealing, listeners should love the longer versions of most of the songs present here, whether they were really live or not.
(allmusic.com/album/live-mca-mw0000653985)

01. Sookie Sookie (03:10)
02. Don't Step On The Grass, Sam (06:07)
03. Tighten Up Your Wig (04:14)
04. Monster (09:54)
05. Draft Resister (03:46)
06. Power Play (05:43)
07. Corina, Corina (03:48)
08. Twisted (05:02)
09. From Here To There Eventually (06:51)
10. Hey Lawdy Mama (02:58)
11. Magic Carpet Ride (04:15)
12. The Pusher (05:59)
13. Born To Be Wild (05:45)
14. Hey Lawdy Mama (Mono Single Version) (03:20)
15. Twisted (Mono Single Version) (03:44)

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Bob Seger - Back in '72 (1973)

Year: January 1973 (CD 2008)
Label: Lost Diamonds (Argentina, Unofficial Release), 8000 1 2
Style: Hard Rock
Country: Detroit, Michigan, U.S. (May 6, 1945)
Time: 46:17
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 310 Mb

Back in '72 — шестой студийный альбом американского рок-певца и автора песен Боба Сегера, выпущенный в 1973 году. Это был первый новый альбом на лейбле менеджера Сегера Панча Эндрюса, Palladium Records, выпущенный в рамках их соглашения о распространении с подразделением Reprise. Warner Bros. Records и один из нескольких ранних альбомов Seger, который никогда не переиздавался на CD.
Back in '72 only reached 188 on the US charts and has since faded into obscurity. Even so, the album and its supporting tour mark the beginnings of Seger's long-time relationships with future Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed, powerhouse female vocalist Shaun Murphy, and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic retrospectively gave the album 4.5/5 stars, calling it "not only the finest of [Seger's] early-'70s albums but one of the great lost hard rock albums of its era," and "a testament to great rock & roll, thanks to Seger's phenomenal songwriting and impassioned playing."
Despite being a fan favorite by many die-hard Seger fans, and including classic live staples and radio hits such as "Neon Sky", "I've Been Working" and the original studio version of the epic live ballad "Turn the Page", this album has never been reissued and is extremely rare to find on any format, even as a bootleg. However, the Allman Brothers cover "Midnight Rider" which appears on the album was later released on Seger's compilation record Early Seger Vol. 1 in 2009. The song was remixed and remastered from the original vinyl LP version, and it was shortened by fading out at the end. The original version did not fade out but instead broke down to where Seger "scat sang" before the final beat.
In 2005, shortly after the reissue of Smokin O.P.'s, there were rumors of the album to be reissued onto a CD. Seger denied these rumors saying that he did not like the vocals on the album and probably will not release it for quite some time. This marks the album as an extremely rare and unheard of Seger gem much like 1969's Noah and 1971's acoustic solo album Brand New Morning which Seger has also often stated that he may never reissue.
This album has turned out to have inspired several bands: Steve Miller Band's Rock'n Me has a similar melody as "Rosalie", Crowded House's version of "Silent House" is similar to "So I Wrote You A Song", and "I've Got Time" led to "More Than A Feeling" by Boston.
(en.wikipedia.org/)

01. Midnight Rider (02:44)
02. So I Wrote You A Song (02:42)
03. Stealer (02:53)
04. Rosalie (03:20)
05. Turn The Page (05:09)
06. Back In '72 (04:23)
07. Neon Sky (03:32)
08. I've Been Working (04:30)
09. I've Got Time (05:38)
10. Persecution Smith (bonus track) (03:04)
11. Chain Smokin' (bonus track) (02:45)
12. Lookin' Back (bonus track) (02:41)
13. Heavy Music - Part 2 (bonus track) (02:51)

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Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen [Japan Edition] (1972)

Year: 1972 (CD Dec 17, 2004)
Label: Arcangelo ARC-7080, Spalax Music NKCD-3944 (Japan)
Style: Electronic, Krautrock, Prog Rock
Country: Berlin, Germany
Time: 38:25
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 155 Mb

Ash Ra Tempel was a West German krautrock group led by guitarist Manuel Gottsching that was active from 1970 to 1976. Their debut album Ash Ra Tempel was released in 1971. Following the band's demise, Gottsching released music under the name Ashra.
The group was founded by Gottsching, drummer Klaus Schulze, and bassist Hartmut Enke in 1970, following their participation in Conrad Schnitzler's short-lived group Eruption. Prior to Eruption, Schnitzler and Schulze had played together in Tangerine Dream.
Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album in June 1971; it's considered by critics to be a classic of the krautrock genre. Following the album's release, Schulze left for a solo career and subsequent albums utilized different drummers, frequently augmented by additional musicians. In 1972 the band collaborated with Timothy Leary, who was living in exile in Switzerland; an album, Seven Up, was released in 1973. On February 28, 1973,[1] a reunion concert performance with the original line-up took place in Cologne. An album featuring the original three plus added vocalist Rosi Muller, Join Inn, was released later that year. After Join Inn, both Schulz and Enke departed and for the next album — Starring Rosi — the band was credited as only Gottsching and Muller, with special thanks to Harald Grosskopf on drums and engineer Dieter Dierks, who played bass.
In 1975 Gottsching released a solo album, Inventions for Electric Guitar, that was subtitled "Ash Ra Tempel VI" - dubbing it the sixth Ash Ra Tempel album. Later that year Gottsching collborated on the soundtrack for Philippe Garrel's Le berceau de cristal with Lutz Ulbrich of Agitation Free. The soundtrack's first commercial release - under the Ash Ra Tempel banner - wasn't until 1993.
The next Ash Ra Tempel album, 1976's New Age of Earth - for all intents and purposes another Gottsching solo album - was re-released the following year under the band name Ashra, signaling the end of Ash Ra Tempel. Ashra continued to release music into the early 2000s.
When Julian Cope, musician and author of Krautrocksampler, invited Gottsching to perform at his April 2000 Cornucopea festival, an attempt was made to once again reunite the original trio. Unable to convince Enke to participate, Gottsching and Schulze nonetheless resurrected the Ash Ra Tempel name for the performance, releasing an album of new material - Friendship - later that year.
Ash Ra Tempel exerted a relatively large influence on later space rock, krautrock, electronic and ambient music. The psychedelic bands Acid Mothers Temple and Hash Jar Tempo named themselves in reference to Ash Ra Tempel. The experimental rock ensemble Al Berkowitz covered "Light: Look At Your Sun," from Schwingungen, and featured it on their live album Apprenticeship and Attitude (2009).[2] Hungarian psychedelic hardcore, 'shaman punk' band Galloping Coroners also said that they were influenced by Ash Ra Tempel in the late 1970s.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Ra_Tempel)

01. Light And Darkness a. Light - Look at Your Sun (06:35)
02. Light And Darkness b. Darkness - Flowers Must Die (12:25)
03. Schwingungen a. Suche and b. Liebe (19:24)

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Francesco Guccini - Parnassius Guccinii (1993)

Year: 1993 (CD 1993)
Label: EMI Records (Italy), 7243 8 28700 2 9
Style: Chanson, Pop Rock, Italian Tradition
Country: Modena, Italy (14 June 1940)
Time: 45:13
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 278 Mb

Francesco Guccini (Italian: [fran?t?esko ?ut?t?i?ni] (listen), born 14 June 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important cantautori. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live albums. He is also a writer, having published autobiographic and noir novels, and a comics writer. Guccini also worked as actor, soundtrack composer, lexicographer and dialectologist.

Guccini moved to Pavana during World War II, then returned to Modena where he spent his teenage years and established his musical career. His debut album, Folk beat n. 1, was released in 1967, but the first success was in 1972 with the album Radici. He was harshly criticised after releasing Stanze di vita quotidiana, and answered his critics with the song "L'avvelenata". His studio albums production slowed down in the nineties and 2000s, but his live performances continued being successful.

His lyrics have been praised for their poetic and literary value and have been used in schools as an example of modern poetry. Guccini has gained the appreciation of critics and fans, who regard him as an iconic figure.[1] He has received several awards for his works; an asteroid, a cactus species and a butterfly subspecies have been named after him. The main instrument in most of his songs is the acoustic guitar.

A leftist, though not a communist, Guccini dealt with political issues and more generally with the political climate of his time in some songs, such as "La Locomotiva" or "Eskimo".

Parnassius Guccinii was released in 1993, three years after Guccini's last studio album, Quello che non.... The title is a reference to a butterfly subspecies discovered in 1992 by an Italian entomologist, which was named Parnassius mnemosyne guccinii after the singer-songwriter. The front cover also features an image of the butterfly. "Canzone per Silvia" was dedicated to activist Silvia Baraldini, while "Nostra signora dell'ipocrisia" (Our lady of hypocrisy) was a criticism of Silvio Berlusconi.[3] The track "Farewell" was inspired by and a reference to "Farewell Angelina" by Bob Dylan, quoting one line ("the triangle tingles, and the trumpet plays slow") and featuring the same instrumental introduction. The song was dedicated to Angela, following the ending of their relationship.

(wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Guccini)

01. Canzone Per Silvia (05:04)
02. Acque (06:40)
03. Samantha (05:22)
04. Farewell (05:16)
05. Nostra Signora Dell'Ipocrisia (04:23)
06. Dovevo Fare Del Cinema (04:28)
07. Non Bisognerebbe (03:52)
08. Luna Fortuna (03:51)
09. Parole (06:12)

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Humble Pie - Live At The Whisky A-Go-Go '69 (2001)

Year: Recorded 1969 (CD 2001)
Label: Castle Music (UK), CMRCD 369
Style: Hard Rock, Rhythm & Blues
Country: Moreton, Essex, England, UK
Time: 51:00
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 307 Mb

This CD of music from Humble Pie's U.S. tour in 1969 constitutes a helpful addition to the band's early recording history, which had been limited to the pair of studio LPs cut for Immediate Records. The opening number is an all-acoustic reworking of Graham Gouldman's "For Your Love," a showcase for Peter Frampton's acoustic guitar and Steve Marriott's soul shouting, and about as different as one could imagine from the compact, punchy Yardbirds rendition. The drums and the harder playing kicks in for "Shakin' All Over," which is similarly bent out of its familiar shape and pushed -- Frampton and Marriott's guitars and vocals are all over the map on the song, which is just about recognizable despite the absence of the familiar central guitar riff. "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and "The Sad Bag of Shakey Jake" are intact and nicely played, and are what one would expect and hope for from an actual live album. The finale, "I Walk on Gilded Splinters," is an extended jam that goes through a few interesting changes, but it just doesn't have the energy or cohesion to sustain its 20-minute length. The overall audio quality is above average for a live recording of this vintage, and the multi-track tapes were mixed under the supervision of surviving bandmember Jerry Shirley. It's not a truly great moment in the band's history, alas, but it is a flawed artifact of an early chapter in that history.
(allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-whisky-a-go-go-69-mw0000218061)

01. For Your Love (09:17)
02. Shakin' All Over (12:20)
03. Hallelujah I Love Her So (04:20)
04. The Sad Bag Of Shakey Jake (03:40)
05. I Walk On Gilded Splinters (21:21)

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The Seekers - Capitol Collectors Series (Compilation) (1992)

Year: 1960s (CD 1992)
Label: Capitol Records Inc (U.S.), D 102063
Style: Oldies, Pop, Folk, Easy-listening
Country: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Time: 60:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 374 Mb

The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were popular during the 1960s with their best-known configuration as: Judith Durham on vocals, piano and tambourine; Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals.

The group had Top 10 hits in the 1960s with "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own", "Morningtown Ride", "Someday, One Day" (written by Paul Simon), "Georgy Girl" (the title song of the film of the same name) and "The Carnival Is Over" by Tom Springfield, the last being an adaptation of the Russian folk song "Stenka Razin". It is still one of the top 50 best-selling singles in the UK. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described their style as "concentrated on a bright, uptempo sound, although they were too pop to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock".

In 1967, they were named as joint "Australians of the Year" - the only group thus honoured. In July 1968, Durham left to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. Keith Potger formed a new group in the UK, The New Seekers, which had a hit single in 1971 with "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". Durham's band has reformed periodically.

In 1995, the Seekers were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. "I'll Never Find Another You" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011. Woodley's and Dobe Newton's song "I Am Australian", which was recorded by the Seekers as well as Durham with Russell Hitchcock and Mandawuy Yunupingu, has become an unofficial Australian anthem. With "I'll Never Find Another You" and "Georgy Girl", the group also achieved success in the United States, but not nearly at the same level as in the rest of the world. The Seekers have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

The Seekers were individually honoured as Officers of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2014.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seekers)

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Weather Report - Live In Tokyo [Japan Edition] (2xCDs) (1972)

Year: May 1, 1972 (CD Sep 24, 2014)
Label: Sony Records Int'l (Japan), SICP 4229-30
Style: Jazz Fusion, Free Jazz
Country: New York City, New York, U.S.
Time: 45:45, 43:11
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 277, 251 Mb

Live in Tokyo is the third release, and first live album by Weather Report. Originally released by CBS/Sony in Japan only, it was not released in the US until a 2014 CD reissue by Wounded Bird Records. Recording took place on January 13, 1972, one of five sold-out concerts played in Japan during that January. I Sing the Body Electric (1972) contained several tracks that were edited for the studio album, but can be heard as they were performed, in their entirety, on this live album.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_in_Tokyo_(Weather_Report_album))

 

01. Medley: Vertical Invader - Seventh Arrow - T.H. - Doctor Honoris Causa (26:21)
02. Medley: Surucucu - Lost - Early Minor - Directions (19:24)

01. Orange Lady (18:20)
02. Medley: Eurydice - The Moors (13:52)
03. Medley: Tears - Umbrellas (10:58)

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Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies - The American Metaphysical Circus (1969)

Year: 1969 (CD 2007)
Label: Acadia Records (UK), ACAM 8144
Style: Folk Rock, Psychedelia, Experimental
Country: Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. (December 19, 1937)
Time: 39:20
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 198 Mb

Byrd then received the support of John McClure, head of Columbia's Masterworks classical music division, to record a second album. He recorded The American Metaphysical Circus, credited to Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, later in 1968. The album again made use of synthesizers and vocoder, along with an extended group of West Coast studio musicians including Tom Scott, guitarist Ted Greene, and uncredited bassist Harvey Newmark. According to Byrd, the whole album was written and recorded within a few weeks, apart from one song, "You Can't Ever Come Down", originally written for the United States of America. He said: "It was a real chaotic time... frantic.... The songs had to be churned out, and ultimately there was not enough material.... Columbia decided that no rock musician could be called Joseph, and told me they were going to call it Joe Byrd and.... The musicians had been close during the traumatic sessions, and Ted Greene, pointing out that we were really not city hippies, called us The Field Hippies, so I used that name. By then I was exhausted fighting for stuff."
The extensive use of effects, delays, echoes, backwards vocals and other recording tricks and techniques are reminiscent of some of the experiments and work carried out by George Martin as well as Pink Floyd. The album is most noted for "The Sub-Sylvian Litanies", a three-part suite which has been described as "an entire acid trip in 11 minutes". Other album highlights include the equally psychedelic "The Elephant at the Door", and the politically charged "Invisible Man", written for and aimed at President Lyndon B. Johnson. Two of the more unusual tracks on the record are "Mister Fourth of July"—a ragtime tune complete with scratchy 78 RPM-style effects—and "Leisure World", featuring narration from long-time ABC voice-over and "Ghoulardi" originator Ernie Anderson in an ode to California's first retirement mega-community. Released in 1969, the record achieved a cult following in the US, and remained in the Columbia Masterworks catalog for some twenty years. Byrd estimated in 2002, in conjunction with a filing in the Napster music copyright case, that likely over 100,000 copies of The American Metaphysical Circus had been sold, yet he had never received a penny of royalties from Columbia/CBS/Sony.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Byrd)

01. Kalyani (03:51)
02. You Can't Ever Come Down (03:01)
03. Moonsong: Pelog (03:46)
04. Patriot's Lullabye (02:49)
05. Nightmare Train (03:19)
06. Invisible Man (03:32)
07. Mister 4th Of July (01:47)
08. Gospel Music (04:29)
09. The Sing-Along Song (04:04)
10. The Elephant At The Door (05:13)
11. Leisure World (02:35)
12. The Sing-Along Song (reprise) (00:47)

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Lipps, Inc - Disco Collection (2001)

Year: 2001 (CD 2001)
Label: Warner Bros. (Russia, Unofficial Release), WB32589CD
Style: Disco, Electronic
Country: Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Time: 75:36
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 483 Mb

Before hard funksters like Prince and the Time hit the national stage, before groundbreaking alternative rockers Husker Du and the Replacements, Minneapolis was barely a blip on America's musical radar -- that is, until Lipps, Inc. broke out with one of disco's most monumental singles, the number one smash "Funkytown." The brainchild of producer/songwriter Steven Greenberg, Lipps, Inc. (meant to be pronounced as a pun on "lip sync") wound up as one-hit wonders, but that one hit still stands as one of disco's all-time classics; its computerized feel and lean, spare arrangement contrasted sharply with the perceived excesses of most disco music, yet its longing for escape (specifically, from Minneapolis, whose music scene was still in its infancy) fit the spirit of the era perfectly, sending it to the top of the charts for a full month in 1980.

A multi-instrumentalist, Greenberg had played in several bands and had been trying for some time to secure a production deal. He finally caught the Casablanca label's interest with a disco track called "Rock It," which became something of a hit locally. Casablanca asked Greenberg for a full album, and he gathered a cast of session players that initially included guitarists David Rivkin and Tom Riopelle, keyboardist Ivan Rafowitz, and bassist Terry Grant. Most importantly, he recruited lead vocalist Cynthia Johnson, the 1976 Miss Black Minnesota, who had been performing with an early version of the Time. Released nationally in late 1979, "Rock It" failed to catch on. The group's debut album, Mouth Music, was released in early 1980 and when "Funkytown" was pulled as a second single, it was an instant hit, climbing to number one just a couple months later and spending four weeks on top. In the wake of its success, "Rock It" was re-released, but flopped again. The six-song release Pucker Up followed, featuring a disco remake of the British pub rock group Ace's hit ballad "How Long," which reached number four on Billboard's club chart. The next Lipps, Inc. full-length, Designer Music, didn't attract much attention. Johnson was already decreasing her involvement with the group, with Melanie Rosales picking up some of the slack; Johnson left for good in 1983, the year the group released their final album, 4. By the time Lipps, Inc. threw in the towel, though, they'd begun to open things up on the Minneapolis music scene, not to mention giving valuable early experience to several future members of Prince's band the Revolution. Greenberg eventually moved into web design, and owns a profitable company based in Minneapolis.

(allmusic.com/artist/lipps-inc-mn0000243932/biography?1654270675542)

01. Funky Town (07:50)
02. All Night Dancing (08:20)
03. Rock It (05:40)
04. Power (08:22)
05. Designer Music (05:40)
06. Hold Me Down (05:25)
07. The One (03:41)
08. The One After (02:11)
09. Everybody Knows (04:35)
10. I Need Some Cash (04:57)
11. Background Singer (02:24)
12. Things Take Time (03:59)
13. Hit the Deck (Single) (06:11)
14. Designer Music (Remix) (06:16)

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Humble Pie - In Concert (King Biscuit Flower Hour) (1995)

Year: Recorded on May 6, 1973 (CD 1995)
Label: King Biscuit Flower Hour Records (Europe), 70710-88015-2
Style: Blues Rock, Hard Rock
Country: Moreton, Essex, England, UK
Time: 76:19
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 502 Mb

Recorded on May 6, 1973 at San Francisco's Winterland Theater, King Biscuit Flower Hour: In Concert presents the post-Peter Frampton era of Humble Pie, featuring guitarist Dave Clempson backing what was by then Steve Marriott's vehicle. Marriott is in full cry on this recording, delivering his soulful, ingratiatingly over-the-top take on R&B-based hard rock with plenty of spirit; he even sings the between-song audience banter. In concert, Humble Pie displayed a ferocity that was sometimes missing from their studio albums, and King Biscuit Flower Hour not only captures that quality perfectly, it also does so arguably better than any other live album in the group's discography.

01. Up Your Sleeves (03:57)
02. 4 Day Creep (03:35)
03. C'Mon Everybody (07:22)
04. Honky Tonk Woman (05:40)
05. Stone Cold Fever (02:04)
06. Blues I Believe My Soul (05:20)
07. 30 Days In The Hole (07:49)
08. Road Runner (12:28)
09. Hallelujah, I Love You So (07:36)
10. I Don't Need No Doctor (13:05)
11. Hot N' Nasty (07:20)

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