Curt Boettcher - The Complete Singles Collection 2015 (6 Discs @320)

 Producer and composer Curt Boettcher was among the principal architects of the sunshine pop sound of the mid-'60s, his harmony laden, melody rich approach gracing the Top Ten hits of the Association as well as his own projects, including Sagittarius and the Millennium.Born and raised in Wisconsin, he began his career as a folksinger, co-founding the GoldeBriars in 1962; the group's self-titled debut album appeared on Epic two years later. Although the GoldeBriars' complex harmonies anticipated the style of Boettcher's subsequent work, the foursome dissolved after a second LP, Straight Ahead; he then turned to studio work, in 1966 arranging the Association's breakthrough hit "Along Comes Mary." The chart-topping "Cherish" followed and Boettcher also produced the band's debut album And Then, Along Comes the Association; however, the collaboration soon ended and in between producing material for Tommy Roe, Boettcher turned his focus to his own group the Ballroom, recording a long-unreleased LP which finally saw release three decades later on Rev-Ola under the title Preparing for the Millennium. Boettcher then signed on with producer Gary Usher's studio supergroup Sagittarius; 1967's Present Tense also featured contributions from the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston and Glen Campbell, the latter assuming lead vocals on the classic "My World Fell Down." While recording Present Tense, Boettcher formed the Millennium, which issued its sole album Begin -- the product of what was then the most costly recording session in the history of Columbia Records -- in 1968. After the record's commercial failure, he returned to studio work. 1973 he issued a solo album called 'There's An Innocent Face'. Boettcher passed away in 1987 at the age of 43.

All of the mentioned artists are gathered here in the box and a lot more. This are two parts with 149 tracks. Hope you have a lot of fun with this Box of great 'Sunshinepsychedelicbaroquepop'.

Cheers
           SB1

links in the comments

BONUS Big Star - Till The End OF The Day 1974 (1974) [FLAC] Bonus Disc 9

These recordings are from a concert at Performance Center Cambridge, Ma. USA - March 31, 1974  

link in the comments

 Cheers

                  SB1

Der vierte Teil (The 4th part): Big Star - I Got Kinda Lost (2013) [FLAC] {8CD set with bonus 9th disc}Disc7&8

...und auch der letzte. Gleich folgt dann noch die Bonus Cd als Abschluss. Was mir persönlich gut an diesem Projekt gefällt, ist die chronologische Herangehensweise die mir einige musikalische Zusammenhänge gut vermittelte, da ich kein ''Experte'' in Bezug auf die Band bin und nur über das übliche Hintergrundwissen verfüge. So, genug geschwätzt, hier noch die Infos zu Disc 7 & 8:

Disc 07

By now in the band's story, Andy Hummel has left for good and has chose college over the music business. At this juncture it is interesting to note that Andy along with Jody and Alex will make contributions on Chris Bell solo tracks during the years 1974 - 1975. These tracks were finally released in a collection postmortem in 1992 by Ryko called 'I Am The Cosmos'. One could easily say that 'Cosmos' was more of a Big Star album not called Big Star than Third/Sister Lovers. At least Chris' solo material featured more Big Star members and fringe members than Third/Sister Lovers did.

Third/Sister Lovers is a great moody Chilton (for the most part) solo album disguised as a Big Star album. Its track listing order disputed throughout the years.
Jody Stephens contributes drums here and there and kicks in a song he wrote called 'For You'.
It has been debated whether Third/Sister Lovers was actually meant to be a Big Star album or a Chilton solo piece. And it does get sketchy here because throughout the years people's memories get fuzzy.

One theory put forth says that the album was attributed to Big Star because the general public would have been more aware of the name/band Big Star than the name of solo performer Alex Chilton. Maybe, maybe not. Speculation is hard to prove here as one cannot prove or disprove the theory.

Regardless of the theories out there, whether one views it as a grand Alex Chilton solo album or a legit Big Star album, the name Big Star graces Third/Sister Lovers nonetheless and it is widely known as such among fans.

The last disc (disc eight) of the chronological behemoth known as 'I Got Kinda Lost', is the kitchen sink of the collection. It is the continuation of the Third/Sister Lovers sessions as well as one '90's Big Star track, 'Hot Thing' taken from a rare compilation of a defunct small indie record label.

Lastly, a handful of Chris Bell solo tracks round out the collection. One of the Bell solo tracks, 'Make A Scene' is from a rare Ryko compilation called 'Medium Rare'.

The cover to disc eight features a colorized photo of Alex Chilton in Ardent Studio circa 1972 and the back side of the cover features Chris Bell in Europe circa 1974 - a trip he took accompanied by his brother David Bell & Richard Rosebrough that would find Chris meeting with Geoff Emerick, George Martin and Paul McCartney.
The trayliner photo is a parting shot of the band, a last 'goodbye' - the way they were and will always be remembered in our memories; youthful, great, promising, rising, talented - stars, Big Stars!

Postlogue -

Would the band ever have gotten back together if Chris wouldn't have been killed? It's hard to tell for we cannot know with certainty, the writer of these notes certainly thinks they would've sans Andy Hummel.

Events/attitudes of certain band members by the late 70's pointed to the inevitability of it, perhaps sooner than later. Unfortunately we will never know but the band and its artists have left us with a most interesting body of work to ponder, fret over, cherish, hold up as a beacon of greatness and pass on to the next generation as one of the greatest bands that almost was.





Okay, the bonus disc come in a few minutes. As always the link is in the comments


  
SB1