The Pillbugs - The 3-Dimensional In-Popcycle Dream 2003 - mp3@320

The Pillbugs are an American power pop/Psychedelic pop group that emerged on the indie music scene in the late 1990s.
Based in Toledo, Ohio, the band consisted of Mark Mikel (vocals/guitar/keyboards), David Murnen (vocals/percussion), Mark Kelley (vocals/bass), Scott Tabner (guitar), Dan Chalmers (drums/vocals). They have released 5 albums under the credo "the world's most psychedelic band." "I don't know if we are or not," said Mikel, "We thought so when we first formed. It was just something to draw attention. It probably isn't completely true."
The group broke up after the death of band member Mark Kelley from lung cancer.

My favourite (psychedelic) Power Pop band. In my ears every album the band released is great.

Enjoy
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Sorry Folks only mp3.

The Hard Times - Blew Mind 1968 (2003 Rev-Ola) Flac & mp3

San Diego's the Hard Times were a solid garage folk-rock outfit led by two gifted songwriters, Rudy Romero and Bill Richardson, but the band unfortunately never seemed to establish its own identity, drifting between folk-rock, sunshine pop, and a light psychedelia during its short history, breaking up almost immediately after releasing one album, 1967's Blew Mind, which is included here in its entirety along with a handful of non-album 45 releases, making this essentially the group's complete recorded output. There's a lot to like, certainly, from lovely covers of Bob Lind's "Come to Your Window" and Al Kooper's "Sad Sad Sunshine" (which is presented in both the album and single versions) to the spooky, atmospheric "Blew Mind," a Richardson original, and Romero's "Give to Me Your Love" (which was actually recorded under the group name New Phoenix and was produced by Mama Cass Elliot). There's also a lot to scratch one's head about, as well, like the odd, overly baroque version of "Candy Man" which opens this collection, a production approach that is also repeated on Hard Times' ill-advised cover of Donovan's "Colours." One can't help but wonder what might have happened if Romero and Richardson had been allowed to develop the band further on a second album, but that was not to be. When all is said and done, the Hard Times remain an intriguing footnote in the era between mid-'60s folk-rock and the emerging flower power scene of 1967 and 1968.(allmusic.com)

BIOGRAPHY
 Formed in San Diego but based in Los Angeles for much of their brief career, the Hard Times were a second-division, mid-'60s Southern Californian rock band that played folk-rock, sunshine pop, soft rock, and early psychedelia on their sole LP and a handful of 45s without developing a consistent or original sound. There were plenty of bands like that, of course, and perhaps the blanket assessment of the previous sentence is a tad harsh. The Hard Times were among the better such back-of-the-pack trailers, writing much of their material, and doing some decent tracks, particularly on their earliest and rawest singles. Their sole album, 1967's Blew Mind, was so all-over-the-map in its approach, with frequent visits to soft rock territory that skirted easy listening, that one suspects that their sound was deliberately or inadvertently pushed toward an inappropriately mild direction in the studio.
The Hard Times formed around 1965 in San Diego, and got work on L.A.'s Sunset Strip after hooking up with Los Angeles manager Florence Stanley. For a while they were the house band at the Whisky a Go Go, where they played on bills with plenty of acts that became far bigger than they did, such as the Doors, Love, and Buffalo Springfield. They also got a fair amount of exposure on the ABC pop music TV program Where the Action Is, and a deal with World Pacific Records, then making a small splash in folk-rock with Bob Lind.

Their first pair of singles (both non-LP) in 1966, combining three original songs with a cover of Lind's "Come to Your Window," were, in fact, respectable if derivative -- slightly raw, even -- folk-rock, heavily influenced by the Byrds and to a lesser extent by the Beau Brummels. Not much of that sensibility survived onto their 1967 Blew Mind album, however, perhaps in part because studio musicians were often used for those sessions. Their only entry into the charts was with their '66 single "Fortune Teller," which halted at a mere number 97, and wasn't by any stretch one of the better rock covers of that Benny Spellman, New Orleans rock & roll classic, whether compared to the Rolling Stones' version or those by other bands.
The Hard Times broke up in late 1967, with guitarists Bill Richardson and Larry Byrom helping to form T.I.M.E., who did a couple of albums on Liberty. Drummer Paul Whitebread joined Gary Puckett & the Union Gap and, later, Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids; Lee Kiefer became a recording engineer; and Rudy Romero did a solo album in 1972. The Blew Mind album was reissued on CD by Rev-Ola in 2003 with bonus tracks, including all of their non-LP singles and a decent 1967 folk-rock-psych single by New Phoenix, "Give to Me Your Love," on which at least some of the Hard Times played.(allmusic.com)

A lot of real fine songs here. In my opinion underrated. Give it a try!!!
Cheers
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New mp3 link (password corrected) for The Fallen Angels - The Roulette Masters Part 2 of 2 It's A Long Way Down 1968 (1994 Collectables) Flac & mp3

Hello Folks, i posted a new link for the mp3 file.
Kind regards
Frank

The Fallen Angels - The Roulette Masters Part 2 of 2 It's A Long Way Down 1968 (1994 Collectables) Flac & mp3

Here is the second part of the Collectables two disc edition. The whole work (Part 1 & 2) is absolutely great. A very strong collection of the work by the Fallen Angels in 1967/68.
Highly recommend!

Have fun
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The Fallen Angels - The Roulette Masters Part 1 of 2 1967 (1994 Collectables) Flac & mp3

The Fallen Angels were an American psychedelic rock band formed in Washington D.C., in 1966. Spearheaded by the group's lead vocalist and bassist, Jack Bryant, the band released two albums in their recording career, which was marked by lyrical and instrumental experimentation. Despite never breaking through on a national scale, the Fallen Angels were popular in the American music underground, and their music has been revived over the years.

History

The band originated from a folk rock group known as the Disciples, which formed in 1965 when Wally Cook (rhythm guitar, harmonica), who previously worked in local band the Young Rabbits, came together with Jack Bryant (bass guitar, vocals) and Charlie Jones (lead guitar, vocals). Within a few months, the band became known as the Uncalled, followed by a name change to the Fallen Angels, and multiple personnel shifts that concluded with a solidified lineup consisting of Bryant, Cook, Howard Danchik (keyboards), Richard Kumer (drums) and Jack Lauritsen (rhythm guitar).The band quickly established themselves on the American music underground with their stage theatrics enriched by the group's political satire, and their ability to incorporate folk music, jazz, and psychedelia into their own cohesive sound. Much of the Fallen Angels' material was penned by Bryant with a close similarity to the Mothers of Invention.
In 1966, the band was signed to Laurie Records, releasing one single, "Everytime I Fall in Love", in the same year, and the follow-up, "Have You Ever Lost a Love?" in early 1967. After achieving a top ten radio hit with their debut single, the Fallen Angels signed a recording contract with Roulette Records to produce two albums. In late 1967, the band's first album The Fallen Angels was released, but failed to gain a nationwide response as a consequence of Roulette promoting the group as a mainstream pop act in an attempt to repeat the success of Tommy James and the Shondells, who were also signed to the record label at the time. Despite the commercial failure of the album, overtime it has become recognized as a classic psychedelic piece. Conflicts with Roulette came to head when the Fallen Angels were scheduled to appear on Upbeat, a Cleveland-based adaptation of American Bandstand, to promote their next single "Hey Girl". The record label rearranged the song to be more commercially appealing without the band's consent, consequently leading the group to retaliate by ripping a doll's head during recording. As a result, the performance was heavily edited for the broadcasting.

In 1968, Roulette Records all but abandoned their attempts to make the Fallen Angels a mainstream musical act, and allowed the group much more artistic freedom for their second album It's A Long Way Down. Although promotion by the record label was nearly non-existent, the album fulfilled the group's desire to exemplify their eclectic approach, and, like its predecessor, is considered a psychedelic masterpiece. However, it was a commercial failure and the band was soon dropped from the label, but continued to tour with new drummer John "Thumper" Molloy until disbanding in 1969. In 1974, former manager, Tom Traynor, released a single featuring material recorded by the Fallen Angels in 1969 on his independent record label Sun Dream. In 1994, Collectables Records released much of the group's material on the two compilation albums The Roulette Masters, Part 1 and The Roulette Masters, Part 2. The band's two albums were also remastered by the label in the following years.
In 1997, Bryant reformed the Fallen Angels and recorded the album Rain of Fire, which contained re-recorded versions of their older material and newly penned compositions. The refashioned lineup continued to perform on the east coast until 2009.

This is a real great collection by the Angels. Collectables released it in '94 as a two part edition.
Here comes part one and part two will follow a little later.
Enjoy
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Circulatory System - Signal Morning (2009 Cloud Recordings) Flac & mp3

Beginning with the rumbling and enjoyably bass-heavy "Woodpecker Greeting Worker Ant" -- a title that may explain the air of gentle threat throughout, despite the concluding voices of winsome cheer -- Signal Morning finds a veteran of Olivia Tremor Control, Will Cullen Hart, with help from not only all his former bandmates but fellow travelers from Neutral Milk Hotel, returning to the Circulatory System name after a break of eight years.

The fact that one of those fellow travelers is Jeff Mangum will be reason enough for that performer's rabid cult to take an interest, but this is neither a supergroup nor a full reunion of Hart's older band. It's just Hart working within the psych/experimental/indie vein that made Elephant 6 a byword for many (and which helped lay the groundwork for the even wider acceptance of acts like Animal Collective), though there is something unusual about hearing a performer now working with influences at two times' remove -- the late-'60s period of randomly playful and experimental rock that helped drive the Elephant 6 collective forward and that own scene's now decade-plus legacy.

As a result, songs like "This Morning (We Remembered Everything)" and "Blasting Through," though enjoyable, simply aren't as much surprises or striking new steps as they are reinventions and revisitations -- chaotic arrangements that turn on a dime, sweetly voiced melodies, intentional burying of clean hooks, and sudden contrasts between songs and performances.

One of Hart's sharpest decisions is to keep everything short -- 17 songs over the course of 45 minutes, which if not quite Ramones level is still pretty brisk -- while ensuring each piece has its own individual character (thus "Electronic Diversion" really does sound like that)(allmusic.com)

As i said in an earlier posting, if you like OTC and this Elephant 6 thing you will like this also for shure. More CS comes the next days.

Have fun
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Circulatory System - Circulatory System (2001 Cloud Records) mp3@320

Circulatory System's self-titled debut is as close as you can get to another Olivia Tremor Control record. The album is standard fare for Elephant 6 fans: beautiful and childish melodies served over psychedelic backgrounds (some of these are presumably supplied by listeners who responded to a call for dream sequences in the liner notes of Black Foliage). The cast features the same familiar faces of the Olivias' albums, the only notable exceptions being Bill Doss, who parted ways to form the Sunshine Fix, and Robert Schneider, who was never really a bandmember anyway. The mood, however, is darker and more pensive than anything the Olivias ever released, with William Cullen Hart's somber chord progressions and breathy, mumbled vocals replacing the ecstatic gaiety of his past work. Gone, too, are the Olivias' trademarks: the dream-like sonic density, the non-sequiturs, the tape loops, and the accidents involving scissors and glue. The sounds here are similar, but come off as quirky and clean instead of gritty and experimental. This is not to say that William Hart should stick to the formula, but he should decide whether to make another Olivia Tremor Control record or not to make another Olivia Tremor Control record. This sounds like something in between, and so the album turns out ambivalent and unexceptional. (allmusic.com)

Part of the extensive and often intertwining circles of the Elephant 6 collective of experimental indie pop bands, Circulatory System grew out of the turbulent early existence of the Olivia Tremor Control. That band, formed by songwriter Will Hart and fellow Athens, Georgia popsmith Bill Doss, came to an end in 2000 (though multiple reunions would follow) and Hart instantly put together Circulatory System as a vehicle for his psychedelic leanings, cobbling together the early band from the remaining Olivia Tremor Control players as well as others. Neutral Milk Hotel's reclusive ringleader Jeff Magnum also contributed to early versions of the band, though he helped out more with recordings than in the live setting. Their debut self-titled album materialized in 2001 on Cloud Recordings, followed up quickly the same year by Inside Views, a companion piece that remixed fragments of the source material, demos, and other related audio from the debut album. Circulatory System were well received by fans and critics for their fuzzy, swirling, eclectic songs, but the band would be active only in spurts for some time. Hart was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which slowed down the creative process for the band for a time. Between the time of a 2005 Olivia Tremor Control reunion tour and the release of second Circulatory System album Signal Morning in 2009, Hart was actively working on new material with both bands. The death of Hart's OTC partner Bill Doss in 2012 left the future of that band uncertain. Circulatory System returned in 2014 with third album Mosaics Within Mosaics.(allmusic.com)

Found this long time ago in the www somewhere on a download site. I had an email communication with a nice guy about OTC and their side project CS and that's the reason why i post it here on the blog. I will later post more from Circulatory System. This is the debut and unfortunately i have it only in mp3. Later album postings by the CS will be in Flac, too.
Enjoy
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Another one by TOTC: The Olivia Tremor Control - Presents Singles And Beyond (2000 Emperor Norton, Kindercore Records) Flac & mp3

Singles and Beyond, as the title suggests, collects most of the material the Olivia Tremor Control released before their first full-length, Dusk at Cubist Castle. Although the "band sound" is still coalescing, apparently all the ingredients were in place even from the start. Sure, there's plenty of solid guitar pop/psych in store, but many of the more experimental aspects of the band (that are often released under other names like Black Swan Network or Frosted Ambassador) are also in place. Also in place is a vague "concept" of sorts, which not only links these tunes to their later, full-length recordings but provides a sense of cohesion often lacking in singles compilations. These guys are true masters of home recording; most of these tracks were recorded at their various abodes on four-track machines. Whether it's the tastefully bizarre production touches at the end of "Fireplace" or the Burroughs-ian cutup technique of "Christmas With William S.," the Olivia Tremor Control not only know what they want, but they know how to achieve it as well; no small feat for home recorders. Since Elephant 6 bands tend to release material on a variety of labels with a variety of formats, Singles and Beyond is a welcome addition for folks who missed out the first time around.(allmusic.com)

Hello Folks, a nice weekend everybody. Here is another one release by the wonderful Olivia Tremor Control. And it's a contribution by a nice guy, Thomas, who have send me/us this album. It's a Single compilation from recordings done before the release of the debut album by the band. If you like OTC you will like this compilation for shure, too. For this time both, mp3 and Flac files are together in the same links.

Enjoy it
and thanks again to you, Thomas
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From Haight Ashbury: The Ace of Cups - It's Bad for You But Buy It! (2003 Big Beat) Flac & mp3

The Ace of Cups were fairly well known on the late-'60s San Francisco rock scene, playing many shows in the area (and occasionally venturing beyond), and sometimes supporting big names such as Jefferson Airplane. They also attracted attention by virtue of being one of the few all-women self-contained rock bands of their time and place. They never released anything while they were active, however, dooming them to obscurity beyond the memories of those who managed to see them live. A CD of previously unreleased late-'60s recordings did see release in 2003, with an offbeat mixture of raw bluesy garage rock, wistful harmony-rich gospel-tinged songs, and quirky numbers that mixed in some period social commentary and satire. There's more promise than distinguished artistry in these recordings, however, which sound a little crude and derivative when compared to the better San Francisco groups of the time.

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The Ace of Cups came together in Haight-Ashbury right as psychedelic rock was taking off, and played a mostly original repertoire, with most of the band writing and all of them singing. Guitarist Denise Kaufman, who did more of the songwriting and lead vocals than any other member, had sung and played harmonica on an obscure 1966 garage rock single by Denise & Company; she was also the ex-girlfriend of future Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner. Originally they were managed by Ambrose Hollingsworth, who'd managed Quicksilver Messenger Service in their early days before getting disabled by a car accident. Hollingsworth in turn eventually passed the reins over to Ron Polte, who'd succeeded Hollingsworth as Quicksilver's manager.

Despite achieving a fair amount of recognition in the Bay Area (and a brief plug in a December 1967 issue of Melody Maker by Jimi Hendrix, with whom the band had played a free concert in the Golden Gate Park panhandle shortly after the Monterey Pop Festival), they never got a record deal. Why that didn't happen isn't entirely clear, as they had opportunities to sign with Warner Bros., Capitol, and Fantasy. Their management evidently felt the band wasn't ready or that the offers weren't suitable; keyboardist Marla Hunt has also said that Albert Grossman was interested in signing them, but had his offer turned down by Polte. Too, there was some reluctance in the group to tour behind records as some of them were starting families. They did appear on some records after a fashion when Kaufman's "Flute Song" was recorded on Quicksilver Messenger Service's Shady Grove album in 1969, and the group did some backing vocals on records by Quicksilver, Jefferson Airplane, Nick Gravenites, and Mike Bloomfield.

In the early '70s, the band began to lose momentum as original members drifted away. The lineup changed so much that at one point three men were in the group, which came to an end around 1972. In 2003, late-'60s Ace of Cups rehearsals, demos, TV soundstages, and in-concert tapes were assembled together for the Big Beat CD compilation It's Bad for You But Buy It!, which also includes "Boy, What'll You Do Then," a song from Denise & Company's 1966 single.(allmusic.com)

Garage sound from the heart of the sixties west coast sound.
Enjoy
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The Feminine Complex - Livin' Love 1969 (Rev-Ola 2004) Flac & mp3

An obscure and quite possibly fictitious all-girl '60ss garage band from Nashville, Tennessee, the Feminine Complex comprised singer/guitarist Mindy Dalton, bassist Jean Williams, vocalist/tambourine player Judi Griffith, organist Pame Stephens, and drummer Lana Napier. According to legend, the group was formed by Williams and Napier in 1966 while both were sophomores at Nashville's Maplewood High School.

Originally named the Pivots, a moniker suggested by the girls' basketball coach, they made their debut at a school talent show -- after recruiting teammates Dalton and Griffith -- dressed in matching pantsuits and performing covers of contemporary hits. After adding Stephens, the quintet rechristened themselves the Feminine Complex and began making regular appearances at Skateland, then Nashville's hottest summer teen hangout.

In a local scene otherwise dominated by male combos like the Anglo Saxons, the Feminine Complex quickly earned a cult following, and soon they were touring throughout Tennessee. They caught the attention of A&R vet Dee Kilpatrick, who'd just formed the Athena Records label. The Feminine Complex was the label's first signing, and in 1969, the band's debut LP Livin' Love was released. However, by the time the album appeared the group had already disintegrated -- Stephens, who'd graduated high school, ultimately chose college over rock & roll, and both Williams and Napier quit soon after.

Dalton and Griffith briefly forged on as a duo, but by late 1969 the Feminine Complex was no more. In 1996, the hip indie label TeenBeat reissued Livin' Love, followed a year later by the rarities collection To Be in Love, both rumored to be not vintage recordings but instead the work of latter-day pranksters.(allmusic.com)

Great female band with a cool garage sound.
Have fun
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The Second Stroke Of Genius....: The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage Animation Music Volume 1 (1999) Flac & mp3

If the preceding Dusk at Cubist Castle was the Olivia Tremor Control's very own White Album, then the labyrinthine Black Foliage is their SMiLE -- it's an imploding masterpiece, a work teetering on the cliff's edge between genius and madness. Torn at the seams between pop transcendence and noise radicalism, the group attempts to have it both ways, meaning teenage symphonies to God like "A New Day" rest uneasily alongside musique concrète-styled tape pastiches such as "Combinations" (which, along with the similarly styled, multi-part title track, is one of the many sonic motifs snaking its way throughout the record).

There are at least enough ideas for five albums here, which is both Black Foliage's strength and its weakness -- it's impossible not to get lost inside of the OTC's swirling schizophrenia, and too often snatches of brilliance flash by too quickly to savor the moment. Moreover, with songs like "California Demise 3" continuing the oblique narrative running through previous OTC records, the artistic statement the record is making (and there undoubtedly is one) is impenetrable at best.

Still, with each of the band's successive releases seeming like just part of a much bigger picture only now beginning to come into focus, maybe that's the point. Ultimately, Black Foliage just might be an end-of-the-millennium appeal that speaks directly and solely to the unconscious.(allmusic.com)

''....might be an end-of-the-millenium appeal that speaks directly and solely to the unconscious.'' Hmm... looks like hard work Mr. Ankeny, LOL!!!

If you don't know the band/project TOTC i highly recommend both albums i posted here.

Enjoy
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The Olivia Tremor Control ‎– Music From The Unrealized Film Script Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996 Flydaddy Records) Flac & mp3

Not the Beatles, but an incredible facsimile: on their sprawling 27-song debut opus, Music From the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle, the Olivia Tremor Control manage to summon not only the sound of the White Album-era Fab Four, but also the unfettered creativity. The soundtrack to an unmade film about a pair of women named Olivia and Jacqueline and a massive earthquake dubbed the California Demise, the album incorporates a slew of influences and textures (including Beach Boys-flavored pop, psychedelia, Krautrock, noise, and folk-rock) and synthesizes them into a distinct homebrew of shimmering harmonies, guitar drones, backward tape loops, and inventive effects. As an added bonus, the first few thousand copies came with a bonus CD of ambient "dream sequences" -- titled Explanation II -- which, when played simultaneously with the first disc, realizes true quadraphonic sound. Amazing.(allmusic.com)

As much a concept as a band, the Olivia Tremor Control was one of the most visible and innovative members of the Elephant 6 collective, a coterie of like-minded, lo-fi indie groups -- including the Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Secret Square -- who shared musicians, ideas, and sensibilities. The Olivia Tremor Control was led by singers/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, natives of the small, isolated town of Ruston, Louisiana, where they struck up friendships with fellow outsiders Robert Schneider (who went on to front the Apples) and Jeff Mangum (the auteur behind Neutral Milk Hotel).
Throughout high school, the aspiring musicians -- all influenced by the likes of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Zombies, Pink Floyd, and Sonic Youth -- exchanged home recordings and played in each other's bands. Hart and Doss later attended Louisiana Tech University together, where they tenured as college radio DJs and furthered their musical educations and ambitions. In 1990, Hart, Doss, and Mangum moved to Athens, Georgia, to form the group Cranberry Life Cycle; when Mangum exited, they enlisted John Fernandes and became Synthetic Flying Machine. After Doss' temporary defection to Chocolate USA, Synthetic Flying Machine mutated into the Olivia Tremor Control at much the same time both Schneider and Mangum relocated to Denver, Colorado, to start their own respective projects.

In 1995, the OTC (later fleshed out by "technical advisor" Eric Harris) debuted with the EP California Demise, the first chapter in an ongoing series of high-concept recordings built around the surreal plot of an imaginary film conceived by Hart and Doss. The follow-up 7", "The Giant Day," led directly into the group's 1996 debut double-LP, Music from the Unrealized Film Script "Dusk at Cubist Castle," a sprawling collection of Beatlesque psychedelia, popcraft, and tape loops culled from some 200 unrecorded songs. (The first few thousand copies of the album also included a bonus disc of ambient "dream sequences.") Keyboardist Pete Erchick officially joined prior to 1999's Black Foliage: Animation Music by the Olivia Tremor Control, another epic work that consolidated the group's underground popularity and widened the Elephant 6 cult.

However, breakup rumors swirled around the group during 2000, and it was confirmed that the OTC had gone on at least a temporary hiatus toward the end of the year. In the meantime, the group's earliest recordings -- including California Demise and "The Giant Day" -- were reissued on CD as Singles and Beyond. Bill Doss remained active, releasing an EP titled Future History of a Sunrise Fix with his new project, the Sunshine Fix. His fans were shocked and saddened by the news of his death on July 31, 2012; Bill Doss was 44 years old.(allmusic.com)

Six stars out of five possible stars...

Enjoy
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