The Koobas - Koobas 1969 (2000 BGO Records) Flac & mp3

The Koobas were among the better failed rock bands in England during the mid-'60s. Their peers, among the most talented group of the early British beat boom never to make it, included the Roulettes, the Chants, and the Cheynes. Favorites of the press and popular for their live shows, they somehow never managed to chart a record despite a lot of breaks that came their way, including a tour opening for the Beatles, top management representation, and a contract on EMI-Columbia. The group was formed in 1962 by guitarist/singers Stuart Leathwood and Roy Morris, drummer John Morris (who was quickly succeeded by Tony O'Reilly), and bassist Keith Ellis, all of whom were veterans of Liverpool bands such as the Thunderbeats and The Midnighters.

The band, known at one point as the Kubas, did a three week engagement at the Star-Club in Hamburg in December 1963 and out of that built up a serious reputation as performers. They had a sound that was comparable to the Beatles, the Searchers, and the Mojos, as Liverpool exponents of American R&B with a strong yet lyrical attack on their guitars and convincing vocals. It wasn't until after Brian Epstein signed them a year later, however, that a recording contract (with Pye Records) came their way. They got one false start through an appearance in the movie Ferry Cross the Mersey, starring Gerry & the Pacemakers, playing one of the groups that loses a battle-of-the-bands contest, but the Koobas' footage ended up being dropped from the final cut of the film. Their debut single, "I Love Her" b/w "Magic Potion," failed to chart, as did its follow-up, despite the exposure the group received opening for the Beatles on their final British tour.

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Coming off of those nine shows, the group was booked into the most prestigious clubs in London and started getting great press, but two more singles failed to dent the charts in 1965 and 1966. They jumped from Pye Records to EMI-Columbia in 1966, and continued to get good, highly visible gigs, including a January 1967 appearance with the Who and the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Savile Theatre (owned by Brian Epstein), and a tour of Switzerland with Hendrix. The group's sound was a lean yet melodic brand of R&B-based rock & roll, similar to the Beatles, though the Koobas didn't start to blossom as songwriters until fairly late, which may have been part of their problem.

They recorded good-sounding and very entertaining songs, but somehow never connected with the right sound at the proper moment. By the middle of 1967, they'd altered their look and their sound, moving away from American-style R&B and toward psychedelia. The group members also began writing their own material, sometimes with help in the lyric department from their new manager, Tony Stratton-Smith. Their singles still utilized outside songwriters, however, and the group's best crack at the chart came early in 1968 when they recorded Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is the Deepest," complete with heavy fuzz-tone guitar. Their single garnered some airplay but was eclipsed by P.P. Arnold's Top 20 version of the same song. Despite his best efforts, Stratton-Smith couldn't help the group overcome the failure of their last single. The quality of their gigs and the fees they were earning began declining, and their morale soon followed. By the end of 1968, the Koobas had agreed among themselves to go their separate ways. Ironically, the group's split coincided almost perfectly with Stratton-Smith's final effort on their behalf. Despite the failure of a succession of singles, EMI-Columbia agreed to let the band cut a long-player in late 1968. The group lasted just long enough to finish the album, Koobas, a mix of topical songwriting, psychedelia, R&B, and nostalgia that might've found an audience if only there had been a Koobas still together to tour behind it and promote the record in early 1969.

Instead, by 1970 the album was already in the cut-out bins. Keith Ellis jumped to Van Der Graaf Generator and then Juicy Lucy (with whom he played on the major U.K. hit "Who Do You Love"), and later moved to Los Angeles. Stuart Leathwood became part of the duo Gary & Stu, with Gary Holton, and was later a member of the group March Hare. The Koobas' early work on Pye is effectively scattered over several CD releases, including Watch Your Step from Sequel Records. In the summer of 2000, Beat Goes On reissued their self-titled EMI-Columbia album with eight bonus tracks drawn from their early singles for the label, thus assembling their complete post-1966 work in one place for the first time.

Very good Psychedelic pop effort. The Koobas were complete underrated.
Have fun
               Frank                  Flac p1 & Flac p2      - mp3@320

British Psychedelia: Samson - Are You Samson 1969 Immediate Records (2011 Flawed Records) Flac & mp3

Originally released in November 1969 on Andrew Loog Oldham's subsidiary to his failing Immediate, Samson sank without trace, which was about as much as could be expected. Oldham's seemingly careless attitude of not even releasing a single to wet the record buyer's appetite however is now easier understood: Immediate was at its end; within weeks of Samson's debut release Oldham's empire went bankrupt!

As the band were eagerly recording their carefully calculated work, Oldham had a lot more to worry about than whether the next album released on his subsidiary would be a big seller. With little assistance from the label, and practically no promotion, it's not surprising that the album had such low sales figures. But the poor turnover of this admittedly tackily sleeved album is by no means an indicator of the music contained within. Samson brought into their music a successful blend of harmonies which sound akin to the Gregorian psych-era choral vocal parts of the Pretty Things and the Zombies, a touch of Deep Purple circa Shades of Purple, and a hint of the increasingly popular concept album.

For sake of classification, their blending of Kinks-ish psych-pop with more progressive elements is befitting of the title progressive pop -- a contemporary handle used to describe everything from the Fox's For Fox Sake, Caravan's early work, and fellow north country lads the Koobas' 1969 album. If the later songs compiled on the superb Rubbles series appeal to you, Samson are well worth investigating.

 Really fine psychedelic pop with  some elements of prog.
 Enjoy
          Frank                  Flac p1 & Flac p2     - mp3@320

New Flac & mp3@320 Rip of The Pillbugs - The 3-Dimensional In-Popsycle Dream 2003

Here is a Flac rip and a fresh rip of  The Pillbugs - The 3-Dimensional In-Popsycle Dream 2003.
I posted this some time ago with a mp3 rip. Here now fresh new rips of the album. I will post the complete artwork later this evening. Hope you have fun,

Cheers 
            Frank       Flac p1 & Flac p2 & Flac p3     -  mp3@320
                                                                                                         Artwork

New Flac & mp3@320 Rip of ''Paul Jones - The Paul Jones Collection Vol.2 - Love Me Love My Friends'' 1967 (1996 RPM Records)

Hello Folks, most of you know that i posted some days ago mp3 rips of the albums from the Paul Jones collection. Today some albums i ordered arrived. Also the Paul Jones Vol.2.
Here is now the Flac rip and a mp3@320 rip. I will do that also with Vol.1. I hope the album will arrive tomorrow. Please don't ask for Vol. 3. I don't found Vol.3 for a correct price. Maybe some of you boys & girls have a good rip of Vol. 3. It would be much appreciated  :-). I will add again a review for the folks who maybe don't know anything about Paul Jones.

Enjoy it
             Frank  Flac p1  & Flac p2  & Flac p3 -         mp3 part1  -  mp3 part2

As lead singer of Manfred Mann from 1963 to 1966, Paul Jones was one of the best vocalists of the British Invasion, able to put over blues, R&B, and high-energy pop/rock with an appealing mix of polish and soul. That made the mediocre, at times appalling quality of his late-'60s solo recordings, on which he pursued a far more MOR direction, an all the more perplexing disappointment.

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As early as 1965, the press was speculating that Jones -- the only one of the Manfreds with any conventional heartthrob appeal -- would be leaving the group for a solo career. Jones and the group denied these rumors for quite some time, but Paul did in fact hand in his notice around late 1965, although he stayed with Manfred Mann through much of 1966 while they arranged for a replacement. The lure of going solo was not purely musical; Jones also wanted to pursue opportunities in the acting field, landing a big role right away as a lead in the '60s cult movie Privilege, which unsurprisingly cast him as a pop singer. Jones also sang a few songs in the film, the best of which was the ominous, hymn-like "Set Me Free," which was covered by Patti Smith in the mid-'70s.

Jones rang up a couple of British Top Ten hits in late 1966 and early 1967 with "High Time" and "I've Been a Bad Bad Boy," although his solo recording career would never get off the ground in the U.S. Both of these were straight MOR pop tunes that sounded much closer to Tom Jones than the Paul Jones of old. Unfortunately, the brassy British pop arrangements of Mike Leander (most noted for his work on Marianne Faithfull's early records) and weak -- at times perversely selected -- material characterized his late-'60s records. After those first two Top Ten singles, he wasn't even that successful in Britain, let alone America, where he was soon forgotten.

Jones at least wasn't starving for work, moving his focus from records to acting in the theater, which he continued to do steadily over the next few decades. He did eventually re-embrace his blues roots as singer for the low-key Blues Band, as well as participating in some Manfred Mann reunion performances. A new album, Showcase, appeared in 2001 from Hallmark Records, followed eight years later in 2009 by Starting All Over Again from Collectors' Choice.

Starting All Over Again was the first of two new Paul Jones albums produced by Carla Olson. The second, Suddenly I Like It, followed in 2009. Both albums featured the same backing band: Jake Andrews on guitar, Tony Marsico on bass, Mike Thompson on keyboards and Alvino Bennett on drums and were recorded in Los Angeles. Both combined R&B, blues and pop songs and featured guests including Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa and Jools Holland.(allmusic)

From Peru: We All Together - Singles 1973-74 (2011) Flac & mp3

The 2007 compilation Singles rounds up the 13 tracks that never appeared on We All Together's two proper albums. This description suggests that Singles has a motherload of rare material, which isn't quite true: the two LPs were reissued on CD and were graced with bonus tracks that happened to be taken from these singles, so all but a handful of these tunes should be familiar to fans.

Fortunately, that handful of tracks -- unlike the proper albums, these rare cuts are mostly in Spanish, with "We Live Too Fast" being the only one in English -- maintain the group's high standards, offering wonderful evocations of Paul McCartney and Badfinger.

That's enough for the devoted to pick this up, but anybody who has yet to fall in love with We All Together will find this a good introduction to their charms.(allmusic.com)

Just for in case someone misunderstand what the reviewer says (that's what first happened to me. lol), from all 13 songs here three are in spanish language and ten are in english language.
I love this band and i think you will do if you don't know them yet.
Very Beatles inspired stuff here. They wrote very good stuff and one of my favourites is 'We Live Too Fast'. But there is a lot more fine stuff.

Enjoy
          Frank         Flac part1 & Flac part2      - mp3@320

p.s.: I will post their albums later, too.

Adam Marsland - Daylight Kissing Night - Adam Marsland's Greatest Hits 2008 (Karma Frog Records) mp3@320

Growing up in California, Adam Marsland shared studio space with three other musicians in the early '90s. In February 1994, after various bands broke up or were unsuccessful, the musicians at the studio decided to join forces. The result was Cockeyed Ghost, a pop/rock band that released four studio albums as well as a rarities compilation dating from 1996 to 2001. The group shared the stage with Redd Kross, Fastball, and Third Eye Blind, among others. By the release of Ludlow 6:18, however, Marsland opted to temporarily break away from the band and pursue a solo career.

Clocking in close to 200 shows from Los Angeles to New York and back, Marsland released his debut solo album, 232 Days on the Road, on Karma Frog. Taped on the final night of his 8000 Consecutive Days on the Road Tour, the album was widely praised for mixing new songs with staples from his former band's discography. He has also worked with the Negro Problem as well as opened for Glenn Tilbrook(allmusic.com)

This is a very good album of a gifted songwriter in my opinion. There are a lot of Power pop acts out there with more studio trickery for impressive sounds and for every song an other producer and all those things but Marsland had a very fine songwriting. Great guy.
Enjoy
         Frank        mp3@320

Psychedelic Garage Pop: Butch Engle And The Styx - No Matter What You Say 1964-67 (2000 Beat Rocket/Sundazed) Flac & mp3

This has a pretty funny title, considering that the group only put out three singles (one of them under a different name) and never had anything close to a hit. A better title might have been "The Entirety of Butch Engle & the Styx," since it's difficult to imagine that any more material could have been retrieved than appears on this CD. In addition to both sides of the three singles (the first done in 1964 when they were still called the Showmen), this also includes 11 previously unreleased tracks, including some alternatives and multiples.

The unwary might initially dismiss this as a subpar, more garagey Beau Brummels, a comparison that becomes even more valid upon the discovery that Beau Brummels songwriter Ron Elliott wrote or co-wrote everything except the Showmen single. To be brutal, Elliott was wise to cast off most of these instead of recording them with the Beau Brummels.

The songs just aren't nearly on the level of his usually excellent efforts for his own band, although they have some similar trademarks (particularly the minor-based melodies and moodiness). Butch Engle & the Styx were lesser musicians and singers than the Beau Brummels, too, although they were OK, adding some cheesy garage organ that you'd never find on Beau Brummels sessions. "Hey, I'm Lost," which was one of the singles (and appears along with two alternate versions of the same tune), was just about their best moment: a charging, slightly ominous and doubtful number with good vocal harmonies.

This is certainly worth getting for major fans of the Beau Brummels, as none of these songs were actually recorded by that group. As a '60s garage record, though, No Matter What You Say is average, even unremarkable.(Richie Unterberger)

A fine, more softer, effort of psychedelic garage pop.
If you like sixties american psychedelia with a little baroque touch
grab it.
Have fun
               Frank         Flac p1 & Flac p2       - mp3@320

Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis1969 (1999 Rhino Deluxe Edition) Flac & mp3@320

Sometimes memories distort or inflate the quality of recordings deemed legendary, but in the case of Dusty in Memphis, the years have only strengthened its reputation. The idea of taking England's reigning female soul queen to the home of the music she had mastered was an inspired one.

The Jerry Wexler/Tom Dowd/Arif Mardin production and engineering team picked mostly perfect songs, and those that weren't so great were salvaged by Springfield's marvelous delivery and technique. This set has definitive numbers in "So Much Love," "Son of a Preacher Man," "Breakfast in Bed," "Just One Smile," "I Don't Want to Hear About It Anymore," and "Just a Little Lovin'" and three bonus tracks: an unreleased version of "What Do You Do When Love Dies," "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" and "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)." It's truly a disc deserving of its classic status.

Wonderful blue eyed soul voice from the sixties. British female singer Dusty Springfield had a string of hits in the sixties on both sides of the ocean.

Have fun
               Frank            Flac p1  & Flac p2 & Flac p3   - mp3@320  -  mp3@320 p2

British PopPunkJangleRock from the 80's: The Darling Buds - Pop Said 1988 Flac & mp3

The Darling Buds' first studio LP is a potent mix of Blondie and Velocity Girl. Not as streetwise as the former but rougher than the latter, it's a solid collection of 12 straight-ahead pop-punk songs, some of which were re-worked and glossed up from earlier EPs released on the Native label. It's not earth shattering, and the relentlessly upbeat nature throughout could be better taken in moderation, but the excellent performance from this Wales group makes for a fine debut. Rarely does a band sound this confident and focused on their first full-length.

With their Beatles-influenced vocal harmonies and hook-laden melodies, the Darling Buds were one of the most promising bands in Wales during the late '80s and early '90s. Firmly entrenched in the "blonde" period of British indie music, the group is remembered for the singing of blonde female vocalist, Andrea Lewis (born: March 25, 1967) and the beatnik-like black clothing worn by the band's instrumentalists.
Formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1986, the Darling Buds took their name from a comic novel, Darling Buds of May by British author H.E. Bates. Releasing their debut single, "If I Said," on their own label in February 1987, the group began attracting considerable attention. Reissued by the Native record label, the single was heard numerous times on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.

Signing with Epic in 1988, the Darling Buds released several singles before issuing their debut full-length album, Pop Said, in January 1989. The album quickly reached the British Top 30 and led to an appearance on popular British TV music show, Top of the Pops.

Just as it looked as though the Darling Buds were headed for stardom, things began to fall apart. Original drummer Bloss was replaced by Jimmy Hughes, formerly with British rock band, Black. Although they reached for a more-sophisticated sound with their second album, Crawdaddy, they lost the raw edge of their initial sound. The release of their third album, Erotica, in 1992, did little to recapture the Darling Buds' early glory. Released a few weeks before a Madonna album with the same name, it faded into obscurity before making a dent on the charts. Although they toured the United States in support of the album for a year, the members of the Darling Buds grew increasingly frustrated by their lack of commercial success and disbanded. Moving into acting, Lewis worked for a Cardiff theater company before agreeing to host a show, The Slate, for BBC Wales.(allmusic.com)

Best album by the band with a lot good songs.
Have fun
               Frank   Flac p1 & Flac p2   - mp3@320

Scottish Pop of the seventies: Pilot - A's, B's & Rarities (2005 EMI Gold, EMI Records) Flac & mp3

It seems strange to see the output of Mickie Most's RAK label finally being taken seriously by record labels as well as collectors, 30-plus-years after the imprint established itself as the epitome of disposable pop tunes. Yet EMI's ongoing A's, B's & Rarities series offers nothing less than the same thorough treatment that any other, more hallowed, label could expect. The format is essentially the same throughout: a gathering up of every RAK single (A-sides and B-sides) released by a given band, with the remainder of the CD filled with choice outtakes and oddities. Sadly, whereas other entries in this series -- Mud, Arrows, CCS, Hot Chocolate, Suzi Quatro -- can effortlessly address that criteria, Pilot really should have been saved for some future "best-of the rest of" set. The fact is, despite the four U.K. hits they racked up in a year (including the Top Ten "Magic" and the chart-topping "January") they really weren't that great a band, the missing link between Smokie and 10cc, with a shot of Fox thrown in for good measure. Yet A's, B's & Rarities avoids many of the pitfalls that this set should have laid bare, by virtue of some genuinely cunning programming. The original (non-hit) version of "Just a Smile" is replaced by a remix; 1975's "Lady Luck" single makes its CD debut, alongside David Paton's scarcely known 1980 solo single "No Ties No Strings," while the sequence of flop 45's that led up to Pilot's departure for Arista are all brought together. And the stuff does grow on you, to the point where even "January" doesn't sound quite so annoying as it used to. This remains the weakest link in the A's, B's & Rarities series so far. But maybe it isn't as redundant as one originally thought.(allmusic.com)

 Note: This collection got 4 and a half stars by allmusic and the same by its readers.
Quote: ...they really weren't that great a band, the missing link between Smokie and 10cc, with a shot of Fox thrown in for good measure. End of quote! Hahahahahaha....

If you like pop music from the seventies on a top notch level you are right here.
Have fun
               Frank   Flac p1 & Flac p2 & Flac p3     - mp3@320