OVERLANDERS - MICHELLE (PYE 1966) JVC K2 mastering cardboard sleeve + 10 bonus

The Overlanders were originally a trio composed of Paul Arnold (piano & guitar), Lori Mason (piano & harmonica), and Peter Bartholomew (guitar), with all three doing the singing. They were part of the British folk revival of the early 1960s and some of the tracks in this collection are pure folk music, most notably the lovely "Gone the Rainbow," which blows the familiar Peter, Paul & Mary version away. The group recorded with the Pye label, with Tony Hatch, who also worked with the Searchers as well as Petula Clark (his wife), producing their records. "Movin'" and "Rainbow" were the two sides of their second 45, while their third, a cover of Chad & Jeremy's "Yesterday's Gone" was ironically the first non-original song they released and their only chart success (#75) in the U.S.
With both the guitar playing and the vocal harmonies being well above average I am at a loss ot explain why we did not hear more of the Overlanders. "Don't It Make You Feel Good" is a better song than a lot of the British Invasion songs that made it to the Top 10 on this side of the pond and "Room Enough for You and Me" is pretty good too.
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In 1965 they evolved into a legitiamte beat group by adding Terry Widlake (bass) and David Walsh (drums) and had their big moment when the Beatles released "Rubber Soul." Lots of groups covers songs from the album (e.g., the Hollies did "If I Needed Someone"), but the Overlanders took "Michelle" to the top of the charts in the U.K. for three weeks in January 1966. The differences from the Beatles version are obvious, with the song being more of a rock song and not as light as what the Fab Four released. Some of you are going to find that you might actually like this cover a bit better than the original. The B side of the single, "Cradle of Love," is more representative of the group's sound, and reaffirms that the Overlanders usually had good songs on both sides of their 45s.
After the success of "Michelle" the Overlanders returned to their folk routes doing familiar American folk songs like Woody Guthrie's "This Land" and "Pick a Pale of Cotton."
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As you all can imagine...it was not me who deleted the "Georgie Fame" post (& others!)
From now on I have to be very careful in what is safe or not for sharing...
I still have dozens of albums to share with all of you & new releases still coming every 10-15 days, but unfortunately after the last...bang my choices are very very limited

[REPOST] LIVE AT BILL GRAHAM'S FILLMORE WEST (COLUMBIA 1969) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 2 bonus

I had some requests to repost some of my sharing here, in lossless [flac] files.
My standard sharing as you know is mp3 @256 & I,m not gonna change it for anyone!
If you like an album & you want to own it in the best possible sound quality, just buy it as I do!!!it's simple!!!
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Anyway as an exception I will repost the "Live At Graham's Fillmore West" album in LOSSLESS FLAC FILES here, just because as a limited edition it went out of print (sold out) only a few weeks after its official Jap release & I suppose there are many people who want to buy it & simply they can't find it anymore!....
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NOTE: The links will remain active ONLY FOR A FEW DAYS!!!
So hit them NOW because I will never accept other requests for [flac] reposts in the future...

ASTRONAUTS - EVERYTHING IS A-OK (RCA VICTOR 1964) Jap JVC K2 mastering cardboard sleeve

Along with Minnesota's Trashmen, the Astronauts (from Colorado) were the premier landlocked Midwestern surf group of the '60s. They recorded numerous singles and albums and achieved vast regional popularity, but only scored one modest national hit, "Baja." With little material of their own, they judiciously tapped heavyweights like Lee Hazelwood (who wrote "Baja"), Roger Christian, and Gary Usher, as well as covering tunes by Dick Dale and Henry Mancini. The group shone brightest on their instrumentals, which used mounds of Fender reverb and two rhythm guitars...
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The Astronauts harken back to simpler times when hot Fender Jaguars and Jazzmasters produced ringing rock and surf tunes. A polished group featuring twin lead guitars! Smooth as silk surf sounds and great cover songs of the mid-60s. A time when rock was pure and simple and ringing guitar instrumentals were tough. Boulder, Colo based Astronauts toured campuses nationwide with their resume of great dance music. Polished best describes their act...heads above other campus based groups of the era, ie. Kingsmen etc. Fans of the early 60s campus touring bands sounds will love The Astronauts. Fender guitar fans will rejoice.
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SMALL FACES - THERE ARE BUT FOUR SMALL FACES [US LP] (IMMEDIATE/ODE 1968) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 15 bonus

The Small Faces' first album for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label originally appeared in two different forms, in England (where it was known as Small Faces) and America (There Are but Four Small Faces). The music here is much more fully developed and experimental than their preceding album, still largely R&B-based (apart from the delightfully trippy "Itchycoo Park," the band's sole American hit) but with lots of unusual sounds and recording techniques being attempted.
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Their mid-1967 single "Itchycoo Park" is one of Small Faces' best-remembered songs and was also the first of the band's only two charting singles in the United States, reaching No. 16. "Itchycoo Park" was the first British record to use flanging, the technique of playing two identical master tapes simultaneously but altering the speed of one of them very slightly by touching the "flange" of one tape reel, which yielded a distinctive comb-filtering effect; it was an effect developed by Olympic Studios engineer George Chkiantz in 1966. "Itchycoo Park" was followed by "Tin Soldier" (originally written by Marriott for American singer P.P. Arnold, who can be heard clearly on backing vocals); it remains one of their best-known singles. However, when the song only reached No. 73 on the US Hot 100 chart, Immediate Records was said to have abandoned its short-lived effort to establish the act in America...
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SMALL FACES - SMALL FACES (IMMEDIATE 1967) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 21 bonus

Small Faces was the second LP of that name issued by the band in the space of a year, a fact that -- coupled with its release a year later in America in somewhat modified form as There Are But Four Small Faces -- has always confused fans of the group's work. This particular album was the Small Faces' Immediate Records debut, and caught the group in the transition from an R&B-based mod band into a psychedelic-oriented outfit. They were still finding their way along the trail from sweaty, soul-drenched James Brown- and Otis Redding-inspired covers and originals to flower-power trippiness, and the short running time and the relative lack of Steve Marriott lead vocals (Ronnie Lane is out front on three of the 14 numbers, in addition to the presence of an instrumental) reveal that they were still laboring to find a sound and a collective voice with which they were comfortable, amid other activities (lots of gigs plus playing on other artists' work as the unofficial Immediate Records house band). The short running time didn't prevent this from being a pretty imposing album, however, especially in its original British edition. "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me" would probably have been a single but for the fact that Steve Marriott and producer Andrew Oldham gave it away to a quartet of Small Faces admirers called the Apostolic Intervention -- no matter, for it made a strong album opener and a great lead-in to "Something I Want to Tell You" and the ballad "Feeling Lonely," which slides into the heavier-weight instrumental rocker "Happy Boys Happy," which showcases Ian McLagan's keyboards and Kenney Jones' drums. "My Way of Giving" was a superb soul shouter that could have been a B-side in the group's earlier phase, but the real treat is the bejeweled, soaring, spaced-out dream account of "Green Circles," with its beautiful lead piano and exquisitely spacy choruses, leading to a tough, crunchy-textured bridge and finale. Side two opened with "Become Like You," a trippy acoustic guitar-dominated psychedelic ballad, leading to the elegant opening strains of the punchy "Get Yourself Together" and the funny, Cockney-flavored "All Our Yesterdays," with its heavy brass and trumpet embellishment. "Talk to You" was another Marriott soul belter, and "Show Me the Way" was a superb harpsichord workout for McLagan, who got an even better break on "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire" amid Marriott's acoustic guitar strumming, all closing on the delightfully trippy, upbeat "Eddie's Dreaming" (which featured Georgie Fame's band supporting the quartet)....
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[I'm sorry...Rapidshare deleted the link (see comments) & I don't dare to upload it again...Also "goodbye" to their masterpiece "Ogdens'NutGone Flake" mono & stereo versions, I was planning to post as a SF epilogue these days...]

SMALL FACES - FROM THE BEGINNING (DECCA 1967) Jap DSD mastering cardboard sleeve + 14 bonus

From The Beginning was released in 1967 as a spoiler by Decca, the Small Faces' old label, to coincide with the release of their new album on the Immediate label entitled Small Faces (confusingly, the only album they made for Decca was also self-titled). The Small Faces did not especially appreciate the gesture, and made a point of specifically discouraging people from buying From The Beginning in the advertising for their new album.
From The Beginning contained all the hits they had had with Decca (What'cha Gonna Do About It, Sha-La-La-La-Lee, Hey Girl, All Or Nothing and My Mind's Eye), available on any number of compilations, alongside a number of previously unreleased recordings. These and are now the chief attraction of this album.
The Small Faces had one line-up change while they were with Decca, when in October 1965 Jimmy Winston left and was replaced on keyboards by Ian McLagan. Although the Decca album Small Faces depicted Ian McLagan on the cover when it was released in May 1966, Jimmy Winston played on five or six of the tracks, recorded before his departure, and largely comprising their stage act of the time.
Unfortunately, it seems not to be known when these outtakes were recorded but the stage favourite Baby, Don't You Do It (a Marvin Gaye cover) has Jimmy Winston on lead vocals and guitar so some others may well have been recorded before October 1965, possibly the bizarre but interesting version of Runaway and the excellent takes on Don Covay's Take This Hurt Off Me and the Miracles' You've Really Got A Hold On Me. Both of these demonstrate what a fine band they were, and what a great vocalist Steve Marriott was. Indeed one wonders why space could not be found for some of these recordings on their first album. After Ian McLagan joined, they began to put Booker T-style instrumentals on their B-sides, so the cover of Plum Nellie here probably features him rather than Jimmy Winston on keyboards.
The album also included earlier versions of songs they re-recorded for Immediate, including My Way Of Giving, which they had handed over to Chris Farlowe for a single, and (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me...
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SMALL FACES - SMALL FACES (DECCA 1966) Jap DSD mastering cardboard sleeve + 13 bonus

Lane and Marriott met in 1965 while Marriott was working at the J60 Music Bar in Manor Park, London. Lane came in with his father Stan to buy a bass guitar, struck up a conversation with Marriott, bought the bass and went back to Marriott's house after work to listen to records. They recruited friends Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston (born James Edward Winston Langwith, 20 April 1945, in Stratford, East London), who switched from guitar to the organ. They rapidly progressed from rehearsals at The Ruskin Arms public house (which was owned by Winston's parents) in Manor Park, London, to ramshackle pub gigs, to semi-professional club dates. Marriott's unique and powerful voice attracted rising attention. Singer Elkie Brooks was struck by Marriott's vocal prowess and stage presence, and recommended them to a local club owner, Maurice King. Impressed, King began finding them work in London and beyond.
The band's early song set included R&B/soul classics such as "Jump Back", James Brown's "Please Please Please", Smokey Robinson's "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and Ben E. King's "Stand by Me". The band also performed two Marriott/Lane original compositions, a fast and loud "Come on Children" and the "speed enhanced" song "E too D", in which Marriott would display his considerable vocal abilities in the style of his heroes and role models, Otis Redding and Bobby Bland. "E too D", which appears on their first album, Small Faces, is named after the guitar chord structure. On US compilation albums the track is titled "Running Wild".
They were kicked out of their first out-of-town gig, a tough working men's club in Sheffield, after only three songs. The crowd at that concert was mainly made up of Teddy boys and hard-drinking workers. Despondent, they literally walked into the mod-oriented King Mojo Club nearby (then owned by a young Peter Stringfellow) and offered to perform for free. They played a set that left the local mods wanting more and started a strong buzz. During a crucial residency at Leicester Square's Cavern Club, they were strongly supported by Sonny & Cher, who were living in London at the time and had first seen them perform in Sheffield.
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THE "DECCA" YEARS
They signed a management contract with management impresario Don Arden, and they were in turn signed to Decca Records for recording. They released a string of high-energy mod/soul singles on the label. Their debut single was in 1965 with "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", a Top 15 UK singles chart hit. Marriott and Lane are credited with creating the instrumental to the song, "borrowing" the guitar riff from the Solomon Burke record "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love". The lyrics were written by The Shadows band member Ian Samwell (who arguably wrote the first British rock 'n' roll record, "Move It"). The group failed to capitalize on the success of their first single with the follow-up which was written by Marriott/Lane, the hard-edged mod number "I've Got Mine". The band appeared as themselves in a 1965 crime film titled Dateline Diamonds starring Kenneth Cope as the band's manager. It featured them playing their second single release, "I've Got Mine". Arden thought the band's song would receive publicity by the film; however, the film's UK release was delayed, and "I've Got Mine" subsequently failed to chart...
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VELVET OPERA - RIDE A HUSTLER'S DREAM (CBS 1969) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 4 bonus

This ensemble evolved out of the soul-blues based band the Five Proud Walkers and in early 1967 was influenced by Pink Floyd to go psychedelic and change its name to Velvet Opera. The group soon extended its moniker to Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera when member Dave Terry (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica) changed his name to Elmer Gantry and started wearing a cape and preacher's hat similar to the title character in the Sinclair Lewis novel 'Elmer Gantry' turned Oscar winning movie in 1960. Other original members included Colin Forster (lead guitar), John Ford (bass, vocals), Richard Hudson (drums, sitar, vocals) and Jimmy Horrocks (organ, flute).
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The band soon became a favorite on the London club scene and secured a record contract with the CBS subsidiary label, Direction. They released their first single in the fall of 1967 ('Flames' b/w 'Salisbury Plain'), which almost made the U.K. charts and was later covered by Led Zeppelin during live performances. The modest success of their debut 45 prompted the quick recording and issue of a self-titled debut LP in late 1967. The album is excellent and contains several outstanding songs of varying rock-pop styles. Highlights include the sitar laden, Eastern influenced 'Air', the driving 'Mother Writes', the loony 'Dream Starts' and the brilliant ballad 'Reactions Of A Young Man'. The record also contains the outstanding 'Mary Jane', but a faster tempo, BBC broadcasted alternate version of the song is showcased on TWOS. Unfortunately this song was soon removed from the BBC playlist after they realized its drug connotations.
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In 1968 things began to splinter when poor sales of their album and a push for a change in musical direction by Ford and Hudson prompted the departure of Gantry and Forster who were replaced by Johnny Joyce (guitar, vocals) and previous Tintern Abbey member Paul Brett (lead guitar). As a side note, Forster went on to switch roles with Brett as the guitarist in Tintern Abbey.
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With Gantry gone, the group reverted back to the name Velvet Opera and released a final LP ('Ride A Hustler's Dream') and single ('Volcano' b/w 'A Quick 'B'') in 1969. A continued lack of commercial success caused the band to break up when the rhythm section of Ford and Hudson left to join the Strawbs. Gantry went on to perform in the musical 'Hair' and later sang lead vocals on a few tunes for the Alan Parsons Project...
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