Jan 14, 2009

NICK GRAVENITES - MY LABORS (COLUMBIA 1969) Japan mastering cardboard sleeve + bonus




Nick Gravenites and his running buddy Mike Bloomfield (the guitarist on this disc) are two sorely overlooked figures in the history of blues and rock and roll. Mike Bloomfield was one of the original sixties "guitar gods", best remembered for his work with the Butterfield Blues Band and the "Super Session" album he recorded with Al Kooper. He also played lead guitar for Bob Dylan when he first "went electric"; he was onstage at the notorious Newport Folk Festival when Dylan was booed by folk-purists. Bloomfield died in the early eighties, but remains an idol for blues and rock guitarists to this day. Nick Gravenites remains an even more obscure figure than Bloomfield. In the early 60's Chicago, Nick was part of the small clique of "white blues kids" who pushed racial barriers by hanging out in Chicago's south side blues joints and jamming with the musicians. He was a close friend of Paul Butterfield, writing the song "Born in Chicago" for the Butterfield Blues band. In the late sixties, Nick and Bloomfield formed the short-lived rock and soul band Electric Flag. After The Flag broke up, Nick and Mike still performed together regularly...
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Nicholas George Gravenites (born October 2, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois), known as Nick "The Greek" Gravenites and Gravy, is a blues, rock and folk singer–songwriter and is best known for his work with Janis Joplin and several other greats of the 1960s and 1970s. Nick currently resides in Sebastopol, California. According to author and pop music critic Joel Selvin, Nick Gravenites is "the original San Francisco connection for the Chicago crowd." Gravenites is credited as a "musical handyman" helping such San Francisco bands as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Janis Joplin's first solo group. Nick wrote Janis's song "Buried Alive In The Blues", but she died the night before her scheduled time in the studio and the song appeared as an instrumental on her album. He was also a songwriter for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which consisted of Elvin Bishop, Paul Butterfield, and Michael Bloomfield, then formed The Electric Flag with Butterfield guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Nick is also responsible for writing the score for The Trip...[net]
Here

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey!
thanks for the nice music,great blog.

mscmichael said...

I love almost everything that he's done...The Electric Flag, The Butterfield Blues Band...

Georgie Hirezola said...

yes...me too!!!!
I will post all his & Mike Bloomfield's works soon in recently official (& expensive!)Sony Japan reissues...
thnxx

Anonymous said...

This is one of my all time favourite records. I have it in all possible formats Lp ,CD , Cassette and now thanks to you in mp3. Many thanks to you by a greek fun of Nick "The Greek" Gravenites. All the records he made , produced and contributed are exceptional. His ex wife used to make Janis Joplins dresses . He is born in Chicago and Burried alive in the blues.

Georgie Hirezola said...

Yeah Jim this is a great album...& I mean really g-r-e-a-t!!!!
xairetismata kai se eyxaristo poli
George+++++++

Anonymous said...

i'm so glad i found this here - thanxalot! BUT: i'd like to buy this myself (the jap. ed.). could you please let me know where you got it from?!? thanxalot! ubique

Georgie Hirezola said...

You have a lot of choices.....
a) you can order your copy from your local store if they accept orders, but it will cost you a lot of money!
b) you can order it from an Internet store (like the Amazon),but the cost is still very high!!!
c) you can order it directly from Japan from "HMV Japan" or "CD Japan".
My personal choice is the "HMV Japan".The best prices! All you have to do is to make an account & that's it!!...you have to pay with a "Visa" or a "Mastercard".

Anonymous said...

hi! thanx for the reply! i made the posting under the wrong cd. i meant the mike bloomfield "live at bill graham's fillmore"-cd. i searched in the internet, but nobody seems to have it anymore! apparently it's out of print... i can't believe it, i've waited so long for this to be released & now i missed it (there is another edition, but it doesn't have the 2 fantastic bonustrax). i wonder: would you ever consider posting this album as flac-files? i'm sure i'm not the only one who would appreciate it. however, in any case i thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting it at all!!! best wishes - ubique

Anonymous said...

ps: i checked hmv japan, they no longer list it & cd japan list it as out of print. what bad luck... i'm sure you don't work on this great site for monetary gain, but if you ever decide to post the album in flac (so that the quality is the same as the cd) i'm perfectly willing to compensate you financially for your effort. i could also send you an album or cd from my collection in return (maybe i have something you're interested in). sorry to bother you & once again, thanx for posting the album at all! best wishes ubique

Georgie Hirezola said...

mmm...you 're right!it's already out of print & the funny thing is that it's not available elsewhere...Amazon, Amazon Japan or CD Universe....
These reissues usually go out of print in one or two months especially if they are exclusive Jap reissues like this one....In some cases the pre orders are enough for the item to go "out of print" the same day of its release!!!! I know you don't believe it!
This happened to the first "It's A Beautiful Day" album.
.........................
OK...I will try to post a flac file in the near future...(I hope!)

PS: I don't need any money....

Anonymous said...

once again, thanx for the reply! it's so stupid they put out so fantastic abums in such limited editions; a few hundred copies more would surely sell! i ordered the raven-edition, but if you could really post the jap. ed. in flac, i'd be ENORMOUSLY delighted. i'm not someone who needs to own rare editions, you know, but the bonustrax are so good (& the cover is much better, with the nice original lettering), i'd love to have it (& i'm sure i'm not the only one). thanx so much for your efforts & willingness to help me out (& keep the memory of mike bloomfield alive, of course)! best wishes, ubique

Anonymous said...

hi! check this out, a little thanx for your willingness to help me with bloomfield:
http://thebluescollective.blogspot.com/2009/05/mike-bloomfield-live-at-record-plant.html best, ubique

Anonymous said...

Outstanding! thanx

Anonymous said...

thanx for the bloomfield linx!!! i found what u were looking 4,,try torrents