PEARLS BEFORE SWINE - ONE NATION UNDERGROUND (ESP 1967) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

Psychedelic-folk debut from one of the most erudite, literate minds in rock, Thomas D. Rapp (and the first of his ever-changing Swine). Although the songs here lack some cohesion, this is still a stunning piece of work, from the nightmarish sleeve art -- the "Hell Panel" from Hieronymus Bosch's 15th century painting "Garden of Delights" -- to the strange yet powerful songs. "Another Time," the most memorable selection, is an understated acoustic song, the first that Rapp ever penned, based on his experience in a horrific car crash where he walked away unscathed. Of similar mood is the beautiful "Ballad of an Amber Lady." "Drop Out" is a straightforward song built around a popular credo of the '60s. "Uncle John" is one of the earliest protest songs about the Vietnam War. Strangest (and funniest) of all is "(Oh Dear) Miss Morse," where Rapp adopts a Victorian persona and sounds out the Morse code spelling of F-U-C-K, accompanied by banjo and Farfisa organ.
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Considering Rapp's fascination with history, it's not surprising that one of the songs here, "I Shall Not Care," features a co-writer credit to "Roman Tombs." The cryptic words that comprise this song's title were discovered on a tomb that dates to the final days of the Roman Empire.
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It was recorded at Impact Sound in New York City, between May 6-9, 1967, by the Florida-based group, which at that point comprised main songwriter and singer Tom Rapp, Wayne Harley, Lane Lederer, and Roger Crissinger. Percussion was by session musician Warren Smith.
The album presents a mixture of styles - "psychedelic folk reminiscent of Donovan collides with Farfisa-driven punk and hard-to-categorize repetitive minimalism, all thrown together with the undisciplined, creative exuberance of youth"...
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B.J. THOMAS - I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY (SCEPTER 1966) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 5 bonus

B.J.Thomas was raised in and around Houston, Texas, graduating from Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg. Before his solo career, Thomas sang in a church choir as a teenager then joined the musical group The Triumphs. During his senior year he made friends with Roy Head of Roy Head and The Traits. The Traits and the Triumphs held several Battle of the Bands events in the early 1960s featuring Head and Thomas.

In 1966, B. J. Thomas and The Triumphs released the album, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Pacemaker Records). The album featured a hit cover of the Hank Williams song, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In the same year, Thomas released a solo album of the same name on Scepter Records.
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What distinguishes I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry is the title tune, B.J.’s take on the Hank Williams classic. The original single was a big hit in his hometown of Houston, TX, and as such led to his contract with Scepter Records.
The record features another Hank cover, “There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight,” a weepy ballad that Thomas gives his all to. As was the rather common practice for a new artist in 1966, B.J. recorded a few other well-known songs, including versions of “It’s Not Unusual,” and “In The Midnight Hour.”
A songwriting friend of B.J.’s from Houston, Mark Charrone wrote five songs that were included on I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry. One of his specialties was in the art of the one word song title: “Mama,” “Wendy,” “Terri,” and “Maria.” The fifth? Two words: “I Wonder"...
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BERT JANSCH - NICOLA (TRANSATLANTIC 1967) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 2 bonus

Jansch's third solo album is perhaps too lightly dismissed by both folk critics and the artist himself. Bowing slightly to commercial pressures, he allowed orchestration to be used on five of the 12 tracks. Actually, the orchestrated cuts aren't that bad at all, and the remainder are pretty much keeping with the character and high standard of his other '60s work. Nine of the 12 cuts are Jansch originals, and ably display his nimble guitar work, incorporation of blues, traditional British Isles folk influences into a contemporary style, and his Donovan-esque vocals. For the first and only time, he played both electric and acoustic guitars on this LP; it's also his first work to feature drumming. Some of the orchestrated numbers, especially "Woe Is Love, My Dear," were actually deemed to have potential as singles. That didn't happen (the cut "Wish My Baby Was Here" would have been a better choice in any event), but that doesn't take away from their fey period charm.
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An orchestrated version of 'Train Song' was attempted during the Nicola sessions but, while fondly remembered by arranger David Palmer, did not make the finished product. Neither did two further outtakes 'In This Game' and 'Dissatisfied Blues' (both of which he performed live during the city hall tour of early 1967) although they later appeared on Box Of Love - The Bert Jansch Sampler Vol. 2 (1972), issued on Transatlantic shortly after Bert had left the label. They have also been resurrected on the new reissue of Nicola...
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PENTAGLE - SOLOMON'S SEAL (REPRISE 1972) Jap DSD mastering cardboard sleeve

It was the last album recorded by the original Pentangle line-up, before the band split in 1973. Jacqui McShee has stated that it is her favourite Pentangle album. The album title refers to the Seal of Solomon — a mythical signet ring with magical powers, sometimes associated with the pentagram symbol adopted by Pentangle.
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Solomon's Seal was recorded at Sound Techniques studio, London, between February and March 1972. Pentangle's contract with Transatlantic had expired and, amid a dispute with Transatlantic over royalties, the band had switched allegiance to Warner/Reprise, who had been their U.S. distributor. The album was released in September 1972, to coincide with the start of new tour. However, by the start of 1973, the band had split and sales of the album were disappointing, leaving the band members still paying off their debts, against the album's advance royalties, into the early 1980s.
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The album opens with their version of Cyril Tawney's song of a sailor's lost love: "Sally Free and Easy". Unlike its usual rendition as a sea shanty, Pentangle treat this to a slow bluesy rhythm. The remainder of the album is divided between traditional songs and the band's own compositions.
It includes some thoughtful arrangements (the use of sitar and recorders in "The Snows", for example) and displays production values of ensuring that every instrument is audible but balanced in the whole sound. However, it lacks some of the riskier features of early Pentangle albums: there are no improvised jazz duets between the two guitarists and no double bass solos, for example. As such, it could be praised for being a very "polished" sound or criticised for lacking the exciting creative edge of earlier Pentangle work. Colin Harper wrote "Solomon's Seal is a record of people's weariness, but also the product of a unit whose members were still among the best players, writers and musical interpreters of their day."
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SEEDS - A WEB OF SOUND (GNP-CRESCENDO 1966) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 1 bonus

‘A Web of Sounds’ shows The Seeds continuing with the same caliber tracey Garage Rock they injected into the California rock & roll circuit with their debut. Though it was not much of a progression, it is easy to hear their influence on the upcoming psychedelic scene of 1967.
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Apart from the inclusion of instant Garage Rock classic ‘Mr. Farmer’, one of the most important, yet least impressive tracks on ‘A Web of Sound’ is ‘Up in Her Room’. THE SEEDS did have the longest recorded extended jam on a Rock & Roll LP on their debut with the 6 minute ‘Evil Hoodoo’. Since then, THE ROLLING STONES released their own extended jam titled ‘Goin’ Home’ on the LP ‘Aftermath’. Sky was obviously not satisfied with THE STONES retort and extended ‘Up in Her Room’ to 14.5 minutes. Their title would be taken forever a mere 4 months later when LOVE dedicated an entire side of their upcoming sophomore release ‘Da Capo’ to one song (‘Revelation’).
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Seed's music was a big influence on many popular bands of the day including THE DOORS. The seeds are often lumped into the NUGGETS crowd of 'One-Flop-Wonders' but with a little more awareness these guys could easily attain the current status that a band like, say, the MC5 have today. They were equally as important & ‘A Web of Sound’ makes that obvious...
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THE SEEDS - THE SEEDS (GNP-CRESCENDO 1966) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 1 bonus

The Seeds were formed in 1965 with Saxon joining as a response to an advertisement. Keyboardist Daryl Hooper was a major factor in the band's sound; the band was one of the first to utilize keyboard bass. Guitarists Jan Savage and Jeremy Levine with drummer Rick Andridge completed the original quintet, but Levine left shortly after the first recording sessions for personal reasons.
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Their first single, "Can't Seem To Make You Mine", was a regional hit in southern California in 1965. The song was also played regularly on AM rock stations in northern California (and probably elsewhere), where it was well received by listeners. The band had their only national Top 40 hit, "Pushin' Too Hard", in 1966 (#44 in Canada). Three subsequent singles, "Mr. Farmer" (also 1966), a re-release of "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (1967) (#33 in Canada), and "A Thousand Shadows" (1968) achieved more modest success, although all were most popular in southern California. Musically uncomplicated and dominated by Saxon's vocal style and flair for simple melodic hooks, their first two albums are today considered classics of '60s garage music. A later album was devoted to the blues (with liner notes by Muddy Waters), and another (Future, 1967) was full-blown psychedelic rock, with ornate flower-themed graphics to match.
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By mid-1968, with their commercial popularity flagging, the group's personnel began to change; the band was renamed "Sky Saxon and the Seeds" in 1969, by which point Bob Norsoph, guitar, and Don Boomer, drums, had replaced Savage and Andridge. Saxon continued to use the name "The Seeds", using various backup musicians, at least through 1972; the last major-label records of new material by The Seeds—two non-charting singles on MGM records—were released in 1970.
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"Pushin' Too Hard" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
"Pushin' Too Hard" was featured in one episode of the television situational comedy The Mothers-In-Law. A character in the show became the manager of a band known as "The Warts." The band was actually the Seeds.
"Mr. Farmer" was featured in the end credits of the documentary "King Corn".
"Pushin' Too Hard" was featured in the opening sequence of the movie "Air America".
"Can't Seem To Make You Mine" has been covered by seven different groups...
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BEN SIDRAN - FEEL THE GROOVE (CAPITOL 1971) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

A rare Capitol Records outing from Ben Sidran – and one of his best from the early years! The album's a quirky batch of tracks that also gets nice and funky at times – and some of the best cuts have a tightly snapping feel with plenty of breaks – so much so that the album's been a beathead classic for years! But even the cuts without the breaks are great – straighter jazz, but with a really nice edge – and really in the frontiers of jazz vocal work – hardly the stuff that might have been recorded a few years before. Most instrumentation is small combo, with a mixture of electric and acoustic instrumentation – and titles include the sublime groover "About Love", plus "Poor Girl", "Leo's My Name", "Spread Your Wings", "My Wife", and "That Fine Day"[Dusty Groove America]
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At the time of the first release for “Feel The Groove” back in 1971 Ben was very much aprt of the rock world due to his extensive involvement with THE STEVE MILLER BAND both as musician, co-writer and eventually producer.
“Feel Your Groove” features many well know guests including fellow STEVE MILLER accomplice BOZ SCAGGS, HUMBLE PIES PETER FRAMPTON & GREG RIDLEY, CHARLIE WATTS of THE ROLLING STONES, Jazz Trumpeter BLUE MITCHELL, MIMI FARINA (sister of JOAN BAEZ, session giant JIM KELTNER and numerous other well known West Coast and Texas musicians.
A Great Album! Don't miss it!
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BOB DOWNES OPEN MUSIC - ELECTRIC CITY (VERTIGO 1970) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

One of the hippest albums of the British jazz rock generation – a set that stretches out in ways the definitely live up to the "open mind" in the title! Bob Downes heads up the group on vocals and saxes – and he's working here with a great array of players who include Kenny Wheeler, Harry Beckett, and Ian Carr on trumpets; Chris Spedding and Ray Russell on guitars; and the great Latin player Robin Jones on percussion! Although many tracks have a rock-like structure and composition, there's also a fair bit of jazzy influences going on here too – especially on the album's funkier moments, which often mix some great work from the larger horn section from tighter rhythms at the core of the ensemble. Downes handled all arrangements, and often shows a vision that's not unlike that of Johnny Cameron at the time on similar projects. Groovers include the jazzy "Dawn Until Dawn", the Latiny groover "West II", the guitar/drum workout "Go Find Time", and the modal "Crush Hour" – plus "Don't Let Tomorrow Get You Down", "In Your Eyes", and "Gonna Take A Journey"[Dusty Groove America]
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INNER DIALOGUE - INNER DIALOGUE (RANWOOD 1969) Jap/Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

A superb sunshine pop album, with some baroque touches. Two women singers and their intertwining vocals weave complex vocal parts around top rate arrangements. This record could give Free Design a run for their money any day.
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Yes, it is very good sunshine pop that manages to not cross over the line into…saccharine embarrasment. Never as elaborately conceived and just out and out radical as The Free Design at their best, nor as perfectly realised as the Curt Boettcher produced Eternity’s Children…this, if you are into sunshine pop with that ever so slightly subversive element, is a thoroughly worthwhile purchase and as good if not better than some of the major names in this odd and wonderfully time-locked genre. (RYM Reviews)
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Hello!!!....Back home again!

Back home again after a couple of month's work in the village. (Collecting olives is a hard work but I suppose it's worth the money!)
Here are some photos...
These gigantic mushrooms (last photo) growing there in large numbers under the trees but I can't tell for sure if they are good for eating! I better stay away!!

MARC ELLINGTON - MARC ELLINGTON (PHILIPS 1969) Jap/Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

Marc Ellington's debut album on Philips in 1969.
A Scottish folksinger and multi-instrumentalist who has guested with Fairport Convention on the latter group's recordings, starting with providing some vocal support on the Unhalfbricking album in 1969. Additionally, he worked with Matthews Southern Comfort on their self-titled 1969 LP, playing percussion, and recorded his debut album that same year, which featured his singing, guitar work, and bagpipes. The latter album, recorded on the Ampex label, also included contributions from Fairport alumni Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson. Ellington subsequently contributed to several of Thompson's recordings, and sang on Linda Thompson's 1996 Dreams Fly Away. He has appeared at the Cropedy Festival organized around Fairport, and as of 2007 was the Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire and a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Scotland. ~ Bruce Eder
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LEVITT & MCCLURE - LIVING IN THE COUNTRY (WARNER BROS 1969) Jap/Kor mastering cardboard sleeve

Dan Levitt (a later guitarist of The Beau Brummels) and Marc McClure (of Joyous Noise) worked hand in glove and released this distinguished folk & country rock album in 1969.
Produced by Ron Elliott who also contributed a couple of songs to the album...
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SOFT SOUL TRANSITION - S.S.T. (TRANSITION 1970) Jap/Kor mastering cardboard sleeve + 7 bonus

Not SST as in the LA hardcore label, or the sound of a jet – but SST, as in Soft Soul Transition, a very groovy group with a Sunshine Pop sort of sound! The trio has some wonderful harmonies in their music – echoes of more familiar pop of the late 60s, but presented here in a cool, stripped-down sort of way – with a quality that's similar to some of the best work by Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends – intimate enough to get past some of the more commercial modes of the time. Many cuts are originals by the group – and singer Chris Demilo plays a lot of great keyboards on the grooves – creating a wicked sound that would have been right at home in the A&M scene of the late 60s. Titles include "Gotta Move Along", "Soft Soul Transition", "Put Love First", "Don't Turn On Me", "It's Love", "Happy With You Girl", and "Lights Of Freedom". CD features 7 bonus tracks too – including "Dreamweaver", "Banyan Bay"...
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BUDDY BOHN - A DROP IN THE OCEAN (PURPLE 1971) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve

Born Walter Moro Bohn on August 21, 1939, in Evanston, IL; son of Jack (a competitive bike racer) and Charlotte McCoy (an actress).
Having learned of the troubadour's code--performing in exchange for basic needs like food and housing--while a teenager, Moro took the code to heart and made a name for himself around the world. Originally known as Buddy Bohn, Moro traveled across continents for the price of a heartfelt song played on his guitar. He has played for kings and queens, actors and artists as well as cooks, smugglers, and American troops stationed in Laos. During his travels he also recorded three albums, on three different labels, on three separate continents. His international hit "Vermouth Rondo" helped him build his home and recording studio in Bodega Bay, California, where he continues to record. For 22 consecutive years, the popularity of his music has earned him recognition from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for consistent play of his compositions.
In 1963, after having traveled throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Moro ended up in Australia. It was here that he recorded his first album, Buddy Bohn--Folksinger. In 1965 Moro appeared on the Andy Williams Show, a popular variety show during the 1960s. In 1967 he toured with the New Christy Minstrels, a popular folk group, as a guest guitarist. From 1968 to 1970, Moro played for the private Los Angeles club owned by Paul Newman called the Factory. Remembering that time, Moro told Contemporary Musicians, "It was possibly the mellowest and most artistic-feedback-rewarding of all the steady engagements I ever played." He added: "It might be topped only by the occasions when I played personally for Pablo Picasso in a cafe in Aix-en-Provence, sitting only two feet from him, and when I gave a private performance for Howard Hughes."
In 1970 he recorded his second album, Places, in Los Angeles on the Happy Tiger label. In 1972 he recorded his third album, A Drop in the Ocean, in the United Kingdom, performing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. One of Moro's compositions from A Drop in the Ocean, "Vermouth Rondo," went on to become an international hit. Moro used the money he received on royalties from this album to build his home and recording studio in Bodega Bay, California. In 1975 Moro changed his professional name from Buddy Bohn to Moro, his middle name. Since 1976 he has recorded five albums on his own Budwick Music Company label.
Moro's music reflects the extent of his travels and the influence they have had on him. As William Ellis stated in reviewing Moro's 1995 album Amilucience for American Record Guide, "It's more folksy than you might expect and conjures the Orient ... as much as Andalusia." Continuing to compose, play, and perform, Moro has also begun writing a memoir as well as a screenplay about his life.
by Eve M. B. Hermann
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CURTISS MALDOON - CURTISS MALDOON (PURPLE 1971) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 4 bonus

Curtiss Maldoon (Dave Curtiss, Clive Maldoon (real name: Skinner)) is a singer-songwriter duo from England.They first began working together in the band Bodast in 1968 which also featured Steve Howe (Yes, Asia, GTR) on guitar and Bobby Woodman Clarke on drums. They recorded one album produced by Keith West whom Howe had worked with in U.K. psych band Tomorrow (known for their hit 'My White Bicycle') but it remained unreleased until it came out in truncated and remixed form in 1982 as 'The Lost Bodast Tapes'. A full re-issue featuring the original 1969 mixes came out under the title 'Spectral Nether Street' on the RPM label in the 1990s. Although not very active on the live circuit as they preferred to spend their time writing and rehearsing, Bodast played a legendary show called the Pop Prom in 1968 where they were on the bill with the Who and acted as Chuck Berry's back-up band for the night. Curtiss Maldoon were on Purple Records, the label started by Deep Purple. Their connection to Deep Purple came out of Dave Curtiss short-lived involvement with an early incarnation of the band known as 'Roundabout' where Curtiss was the vocalist (and Bobby Woodman Clarke was the drummer). No recordings have come to light of this line-up. Dave Curtiss (under the name Dave Curtis and the Tremors) recorded several 'beat' singles in the mid 60s for various labels.
Madonna's "Ray of Light" is based on the duo's track "Sepheryn," although beyond the first verse, the comparisons are loose...
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