Buckingham Nicks (Vinyl) 1973

01. Crying in the Night (Nicks) – 2:48
02. Stephanie (Buckingham) – 2:12
03. Without a Leg to Stand On (Buckingham) – 2:09
04. Crystal (Nicks) – 3:41
05. Long Distance Winner (Nicks) – 4:50
06. Don't Let Me Down Again (Buckingham) – 3:52
07. Django (John Lewis) – 1:02
08. Races Are Run (Nicks) – 4:14
09. Lola (My Love) (Buckingham) – 3:44
10. Frozen Love (Nicks, Buckingham) – 7:16


Buckingham Nicks is the debut and sole studio album by the American rock duo Buckingham Nicks. Produced by Keith Olsen, the album was released in September 1973 by Polydor Records. Buckingham Nicks is notable as an early commercial collaboration between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who later joined Fleetwood Mac. The album was a commercial failure on its original release, and despite the duo's subsequent success, it has yet to be commercially remastered or re-released on any format since 1973.

Main performers:

Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, percussion, vocals
Stevie Nicks – vocals

Additional personnel:

Ronnie Tutt – drums
Jim Keltner – drums
Jerry Scheff – bass guitar
Gary Hodges – drums, percussion overdubs
Monty Stark – synthesizer
Peggy Sandvig – keyboards
Jorge Calderón – percussion
Waddy Wachtel – additional guitar on "Lola (My Love)"
Richard Hallagan – string arrangement

Production:

Producer: Keith Olsen
Executive producer: Lee Lasseff
Engineer: Keith Olsen
Assistant engineer: Richard Dashut
Photography: Jimmy Wachtel
Album design: Jimmy Wachtel

Find out more about Buckingham Nicks on Wikipedia

Digitized from vinyl at 24 bit, 96 kHz

Encoded at 320K. Includes high-rez scans of the gatefold LP including the inside liner notes. ZIP format.

Download: Buckingham Nicks

Sand - Sand (1973)

Disc 1:
1. Who Ya Tryin' To Fool - 5:23 (J. Meussdorffer - D. Ross)
2. Lovin' You - 3:51 (J. Meussdorffer - Gooch - D. Ross)
3. You - 5:46 (J. Meussdorffer)
4. Destined Road - 6:15 (J. Meussdorffer - D. Ross)

Disc 2:
1. Mystery - 5:27 (J. Meussdorffer - D. Ross)
2. She - 4:27 (J. Meussdorffer - D. Ross)
3. Eagle's Claw - 4:27 (J. Meussdorffer - D. Ross)
4. Lady Of Mine - 4:10 (J. Meussdorffer - Gooch - D. Ross)



All songs published by Berwill Publishing Co./ Chronicle Music (BMI)
Produced By: Ken Mansfield
Associate Producer: Dann Lottermoser

SAND - s/t Barnaby Records BRS 15006 [4/73] The album has a gatefold cover picturing a sandwich covered in sand, with 2-one sided LPs (apparently the idea was to put both disks on a stackable turntable and play one after the other:"freeflowing Sand") - just before the 70s energy crisis made the LP expensive to produce. The band was from Portland Oregon, and included Jack Meussdorffer (aka Jack Charles, guitar/vocals), Dan Ross (steel guitar/guitar/vocals), Dan Wilson (guitar/vocals), Rich Gooch (bass/vocals), and Steve Williams (drums). Meussdorffer and Gooch later played in Quarterflash (with the hit "Harden My Heart").

Special thanks to my good friend "walknthabass" for the needle drop of this fine album!

Encoded at 320K from vinyl album. Includes album cover art and track listing. Zip format.

Download: Sand

The Brotherhood of Lizards - Lizardland (1989)

1. It Could Have Been Cheryl
2. The World Strikes One
3. The Dandelion Marine
4. Rusty Iron Sun
5. The Happening Guy
6. Clockwork Train
7. The Day After Yesterday
8. Market Day
9. Dear Anya
10. Love The Anglian Way
11. Sand Dragon
12. She Dreamed She Could Fly
13. Carmosine

If you enjoy "jangly" pop songs, you'll love this rare and hard to find album.

Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger (All Music):
When "Cleaners from Venus" were winding down toward the end of the 1980s, chief Cleaner Martin Newell started a similar project, the Brotherhood of Lizards, with bassist Nelson (no last name). The personnel may have been different, but the music was essentially the same: ringing guitars, droll English lyrics, inventive production quirks. There were only a couple of releases before Nelson left to join "New Model Army"; Newell began a solo career that was also essentially similar to his Cleaners from Venus output.

Bio from Newell's official site:
At the age of 19, Martin Newell joined an Essex glam-rock band The Mighty Plod as a singer and gigged in rough clubs, pubs and colleges for the next two years. In his early twenties he joined a hard rock /.prog band from Ispwich called Gypp and gigged in the UK as well as touring northern Germany several times. In 1979, he won his first record contract and shortly afterwards his first single Young Jobless / Sylvie In Toytown was released, first on an indie label and then with Liberty Records. Much Radio 1 airplay and the record briefly charted but then sank after trouble of various sorts.

In the 1980s he formed the anarchic and wacky Cleaners from Venus, who after much defiance of music biz convention, signed to a London record company and began making proper records which were well reviewed and well-received. He began co-writing songs with Captain Sensible in 1986, a relationship which endures to some extent to this day. In 1989 he and his friend Nelson, now of New Model Army formed The Brotherhood of Lizards, were signed to make an album and proceeded to promote it, touring the record by bicycle. This led to many TV appearances and some notoriety and amusement in the media. In 1993, with XTC's Andy Partridge in the producer's chair Martin made what was to become his most successful album The Greatest Living Englishman. This has been followed over the years by several other solo albums. Now in middle years, still held in some regard as a great English songwriter and sometimes compared to Syd Barrett and Ray Davies, it is said that he never got the commercial success he deserved. While this may or may not be true he continues to make and sell good pop records with a degree of international acclaim.

Links:
Martin Newell Official Site
Martin Newall Wikipedia
Rocker Music - has several videos of Martin performing live
Mutant sounds Blog

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes CD artwork including booklet and tray liner. In Zip format.

Download: Lizardland

The Cryan' Shames - Synthesis (Sundazed)

1. Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones
2. Baltimore Oriole
3. It's All Right
4. Your Love
5. A Master's Fool
6. First Train To California
7. The Painter
8. Sweet Girl Of Mine
9. 20th Song
10. Let's Get Together
11. Symphony Of The Wind
12. A Master's Fool (Single Version)
13. First Train To California (Single Version)
14. Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones (Single Version)
15. Your Love (Single Version)
16. 20th Song (Single Version)
17. Let's Get Together (Mono Version)
18. Bits And Pieces
19. Rainmaker

This is not a rip of the original vinyl album, but instead it comes from the CD released by Sundazed. It does not appear to be available from them anymore, so I've decided to make it available to all Cryan' Shames fans out there! Synthesis is the 3rd album from the Chicago based, 60's band, that had a national hit with the song "Sugar & Spice".

Taken from a review by "Boomertunes" on Amazon:
In the mid to late 1960's, Chicago was a boom town for bands that broke nationally-The Buckinghams, Spanky and Our Gang, The New Colony Six, The Ides Of March, The American Breed, and The Shadows Of Knight.

Although their national success didn't quite match those groups, the Cryan' Shames were hugely popular in the Chicago area and the upper Midwest and received lots of airplay on local radio. Their three Columbia LP releases were essential records of the time if you lived in the area.

Their last album, "Synthesis", is part of the Sundazed reissue series of the group's catalog. It features the original eleven song line-up (along with six single or mono versions of those tracks) and two songs previously unavailable on album.

It's always been a mystery why leader James Fairs' final contribution to the group, "First Train To California", wasn't a monster hit single. It featured an exciting vocal performance by the group and interesting production. Other highlights include the hard edged "Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith & Jones"; the percussive "20th Song"; a country styled "Your Mother Should Know"/Beatle homage entitled "It's All Right"; the moody "Baltimore Oriole"; a vocal workout on "Let's Get Together"; and Lenny Kerley's ultra romantic "Your Love". The two special bonus tracks are a Poco flavored "Bits and Pieces" and a cover of Nilsson's "The Rainmaker".

As was always true with the Shames' work, the vocal work and musicianship is top notch.


Band Memebers
Lenny Kerley - vocals, guitar and bass
Dave (Grape) Purple - vocals, guitar
Tom (Toad) Doody - vocals
Issac Guillory - vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
Alan Dawson - vocals, drums
Jim (Hooke) Pilster - vocals, percussion

Links:
Wikipedia
Original Synthesis album on Wikipedia

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes all artwork including booklet and tray liner pictures. Zip format.

Download: Synthesis

The Judybats- Native Son (1991)

01 - Native Son
02 - Daylight
03 - Convalescing In Spain
04 - Don't Drop The Baby
05 - She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)
06 - Incognito
07 - In Like With You
08 - Woman In The Garden
09 - Waiting For The Rain
10 - Counting Sheep
11 - Perfumed Lies
12 - The Wanted Man


Back in the late 80's and early 90's I used to go down to Deep Ellum, a cool alternative area of town in downtown Dallas, Texas to hear lots of great bands. At the time there were lots of great music venues like Club Dada and Club Clearview, just to name a few. One night I got the chance to see The Judybats, a band from Knoxville, Tennessee, at Clearview. They were great! The band was made up of six nerdy, yet hip musicians. Interesting note, the song She Lives (In a Time of Her Own) is a song written by Roky Erickson of the Austin, Texas based 1960's psychedelic rock band The 13th Floor Elevators. If you like early 90's alternative music, you're sure to like The Judybats. Plus, I love their name.

The Band:
Jeff Heiskell - Lead Vocals
Ed Winters - Electric Guitars
Terry Casper - Drums
Peggy Hambright - Keyboards, Violin & Vocals
Timothy Stutz - Electric Bass & Vocals
Johnny Sughrue - Acoustic Guitar & Vocals

Favorite Songs: Don't Drop the Baby, Convalescing in Spain, and Native Son

Links:
Wikipedia
Native Son video on YouTube

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes all CD artwork and 16 page booklet. Zip format.

Download: The Judybats- Native Son

Starbelly - Lemon Fresh (2000)

1. This Time
2. She's So Real
3. Sunflower
4. Rocketship
5. When Will You See
6. What Will You
7. Widow Sunday
8. Better Than Myself
9. To Be Loved
10. Made of Glass
11. Letters to Mary


A Review by Jason Damas (All Music):
Possibly one of the most appropriately named debut albums in the power pop world, Starbelly's Lemon Fresh is an excellently sweet-and-sour confection of Big Star-influenced guitar pop. Led by guitarist/vocalist Cliff Hillis (also of John Faye Power Trip fame) and bassist/vocalist Dennis Schocket, this collection of 11 tracks written by three songwriters sounds not entirely unlike the legendary Grays release Ro Sham Bo. It's packed with memorable hooks, melodies, and melt-away background vocals. Nearly impeccable production (courtesy of Myracle Brah's Andy Bopp) and a flawless set of songs help make this set truly stand out from other power pop releases, and it is another high-water mark for NotLame. Highlights include the smooth pop of the opening "This Time," the summer single "She's So Real" (a song that should only be listened to on sunny 90 degree days), and the up-tempo, start-stop "When Will You See."

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes CD artwork. In Zip format.

Download: Starbelly - Lemon Fresh

Tommy Keene - Based On Happy Times (1989)

1. Nothing Can Change You (3:19)
2. Light of Love (3:00)
3. This Could Be Fiction (3:24)
4. Based on Happy Times (3:47)
5. When Our Vows Break (3:20) (Keene/Shear)
6. The Biggest Conflict (3:42)
7. Highwire Days (3:37)
8. Our Car Club (3:22) (Brian Wilson, Mike Love)
9. If We Run Away (4:06) (Keene/Shear)
10. Hanging on to Yesterday (3:53)
11. Where Have All Your Friends Gone (2:25)
12. Pictures (3:34)
13. A Way Out (4:09)


If you've never heard Tommy Keene, you've been missing out. Tommy Keene has been around for a while, and has released over 10 albums. Recently, I read that the Gin Blossoms had asked Keene, their hero, to go out on tour with them. Keene has always been one of my favorite musicians since I first heard him on vinyl back in the 80's. One of my favorite songs of all time is "Places That Are Gone" from his The Real Underground album. I've never heard a guy with so many hooks in his songs. He is definitely a musician's musician.

Based On Happy Times was released in 1989 on Geffin. What make this disc special, is his collaboration with one of my favorite song writers, Jules Shear. Jules co-wrote two of the songs and plays (sings) on the album as well. I've never heard a bad song come out of Keene. My least favorite song on this album is Our Car Club, which is actually a Beach Boys song, so I guess it doesn't count against him. I hope you enjoy Tommy Keen as much as I do. This CD is no longer available.

A Google search turned up this review...

Tommy Keene is one of those guys who should be much better known, though he is highly regarded by critics and a small group of fans (for example, a used copy of this out-of-print cd is currently selling for $99 on amazon.com). I’d always heard good things about him, and major music fan (with a particular interest in ‘60s and ‘70s music), historian, collector of high end rock memorabilia, and all around good guy Steve Potocin was kind enough to furnish me with a copy of this album for this review (thanks again, Steve!). Right away I was surprised, as the album is more straight rock ‘n’ roll than the “power pop” I expected, though the jangly guitars commonly associated with that sub genre do appear on stellar songs such as “When Our Vows Break,” “Highwire Days,” and “If We Run Away.” Elsewhere, harder rocking songs such as “Nothing Can Change You,” “Light Of Love,” and “Our Car Club” (a rather obnoxious Beach Boys cover) recall bands such as The Replacements and Soul Asylum, while Keene’s not particularly pretty yet effective nasal vocals (which bring Tom Petty to mind) are especially affecting on mellow, moodier songs such as “Based On Happy Times” and “A Way Out.” Keene isn’t above unleashing a guitar solo if it serves the song, and most of these tracks are memorable and catchy (if not immediately so), with intelligent relationship-based lyrics that veer towards the bittersweet (example: “all you’ve got to say is hanging on to yesterday”). Perhaps Keene wouldn’t win many points for originality, and there are a few merely solid songs on side 2 (“Our Car Club,” “Where Have All Your Friends Gone,” “Pictures”), but overall this is a really good rock ‘n’ roll record that makes me want to hear more from Tommy Keene.

I also found this information on Wikipedia.

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes all CD artwork (14 page booklet), with pictures and lyrics to all songs. Zip format.

Favorite songs: Based On Happy Times, When Our Vows Break and If We Run Away.

Download: Based on Happy Times

Funky Kings (1976)

01. Singing The Streets
02. My Old Pals
03. So Long
04. Highway Song
05. Nothing Was Exchanged
06. Slow Dancing
07. Let Me Go
08. So Easy To Begin
09. Help To Guide Me
10. Mattres On The Roof
11. Anywhere But Jimmie`s


Funky Kings was a band from Los Angeles, California, that released one self-titled album: Funky Kings, released on Arista Records in 1976.

The band’s sound has been described as ‘early Eagles’.

Personnel: Jules Shear, Jack Tempchin, Richard Stekol, Greg Leisz (all vocals/guitar), Bill Bodine (bass/vocals) and Frank Cotinola (drums).

As their eponymous debut album failed to yield any commercial success, Funky Kings split up. Jules Shear moved on to form Jules And The Polar Bears.

Note: I've recently updated the zip with a newly ripped vinyl LP at 24bit/48KHz

Encoded at 320K. Zip format.

Download: Funky Kings

Jules Shear - The Eternal Return (1985)

1. If She Knew What She Wants
2. Stand Tall
3. Steady
4. Change (Change)
5. The Fever's On
6. Her S/he Comes (with Pal Shazar)
7. Memories Burn Hard
8. You're Not Around
9. Empty Out the House (Throw it all Away)
10. Every Time I Get The Feeling




Musicians:
Jules Shear, Anton Fig, Tony Levin, Jeff Silverman, Rob Fisher, Richard Stekol, Pal Shazar, Moris Pert, Richard Bredice, & Bill Drescher.

From Wikipedia:
Jules Shear is an American singer and songwriter born in Pittsburgh in 1952. Although he has had only one minor hit as a performer ("Steady", which reached number 56 on the US charts in 1985), he has recorded almost twenty albums to date. He made his first appearance on vinyl with The Funky Kings; he also led the critically-acclaimed but commercially-unsuccessful pop group, Jules and the Polar Bears, along with later groups The Reckless Sleepers and Raisins in the Sun. He also conceived (and hosted the first 13 episodes of) the MTV series Unplugged.

His songs have been more commercially successful in the hands of other artists, notably Cyndi Lauper, whose recording of "All Through the Night" reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, and The Bangles, whose recording of "If She Knew What She Wants" reached number 29 in 1986. Singer/songwriter Iain Matthews (still using the spelling "Ian" for his first name at the time) recorded an album of Shear's material, Walking A Changing Line: The Songs of Jules Shear, with synthesizer-dominated arrangements (and containing some previously-unreleased songs by Shear), in 1988; Matthews had previously recorded songs by Shear on other albums.

Shear was the subject of a song by 'Til Tuesday, "J For Jules", after the end of his relationship with that band's singer, Aimee Mann. He also co-wrote the title track of that album, Everything's Different Now, with Matthew Sweet. Shear is married to singer/songwriter Pal Shazar.

The Eternal Return is Jules Shear's 2nd album. It has never been released on CD, which is hard to believe.

Digitized at 24 bit, 96 kHz

Encoded at 320K from original pristine vinyl album. Includes artwork and track listing.

Download: The Eternal Return

The Mundanes - 45 (1980)

Side 1:
1. Make It the Same

Side 2:
1. Funnier Than Love
2. Empty Boulevards




The Mundanes were a Rhode Island-based New Wave band who released one single in 1980. They are best known for having John Linnell as a band member, shortly before forming They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh.

You can find more information on The Mundanes at: They Might Be Giants' wiki.
There is also a Mundanes Wikipedia page.


Band:
John Andrews - Guitar
Marsha Armitage - Vocals
Jonathan Gregg - Guitar
John Linnell - Keyboards and Sax
Dean Lozow
Kevin Tooley - Drums


View The Mundanes live on YouTube:



Encoded at 320K from original vinyl 45. Includes album cover artwork and a picture of the band.

Download: The Mundanes

Forever More - Yours (1970)

Side 1
01 - Back in the States Again
02 - We Sing
03 - It's Home
04 - Home Country Blues
05 - Good to Me

Side 2
01 - Yours
02 - Beautiful Afternoon
03 - 8 O'Clock & All's Well
04 - Mean Pappie Blues
05 - You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
06 - Sylvester's Last Voyage

This album was originally posted on the "Gooder'n Bad Vinyl" blog by my good friend "walknthabass". I am reposting because his blog will be going away in March 2014. Since I also have the other Forever More album posted here, I thought this would be a good spot for this one as well. The following is a cut/paste of what he has on his blog:

OK - Back in the late 80's I use to go to my local Radio Shack for connectors, cables, etc. They always had a very small cut-out bin with a few records in it. I always flipped through them but never saw anything that I really wanted. As time went on the number of LP's slowly got fewer and fewer until this was the only one left. When they finally marked it down to 25¢ I decided "what the heck" and took a chance. I'm glad I did! It's really a great album!!

Favorite songs? "We Sing", "Good to Me" and the title song.

Personnel:
Alan Gorrie - Piano, Bass Guitar, Teapot (He went on to the Average White Band!)
Mick Travis - Guitar (his name sounds familiar)
Onnie Mair - Guitar, Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Stuart Francis - Drums, Backing Vocals


Produced by Ray Singer and Simon Napier-Bell.

And now you know all that I know!

This album runs the gamut. I hear Prog-Rock, Rock, Jazz, Country-Rock, Country. A little bit of everything.

I hear influences by Traffic, Youngbloods, Caravan, etc.

Anybody have any additional info out there it would be great.

Enjoy!

Download: Forever More - Yours

Mildred - Whippersnapper (1991)

01. Rise Above
02. Knock On A Nail
03. Color Me
04. The Big Moment
05. Ever Falling Forward
06. Hearts and Flowers
07. Bring In The Spies
08. Dirt and Stone
09. Atlas
10. The Umbrella Song
11. Adam and Eve


Mildred was a Dallas band who played in Deep Ellum during the early 1990's. This five member band was fronted by violin player, and lead singer, Reggie Rueffer. Reggie's brother Chad played guitars, and also sang. The rest of the band included David Prez (bass guitar), Jim Cocke (piano, organ, keyboards, and vocals), and Davis Bickston (drums and percussion).

This was one of my favorite bands. In fact, when I started dating my wife, back in 1991, I came to realize that she too loved Mildred. In fact, we liked them so much, we hired them to play at our wedding after party, at Club Dada (in Deep Ellum). One of these days I need to get all the video I took of Mildred at our wedding, and turn it into some kind of music video.

First of all, you don't see a lot of rock bands fronted by a zany, accomplished singing violinist. They had some very catchy songs, all original. Guitarist Chad Rueffer wrote and sang my favorite song on the album, Color Me, which starts out with the cool staccato violin part, running through an echo effect. A few of their songs remind me a little of XTC. The violin work remind me of Jerry Goodman of the Chicago band The Flock.

Unfortunately, Mildred didn't last too long. Luckily, they got a chance to go into studio and recorded a great CD, with a lot of our favorite songs. Since it is no longer available, I thought I would share it with music lovers like you. I hope you enjoy Whippersnapper as much as I do.

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes all CD artwork, including the lyrics to all the songs.

Favorite songs: Color Me and The Umbrella Song

Download: Mildred - Whippersnapper

Cotton Mather - The Big Picture (2001)

02 - Marathon Man
03 - Baby Freeze Queen
04 - 40 Watt Solution
05 - Glory Eyes
06 - Monterrey Honey
07 - AMPs Of Sugarland
08 - Panama Slides
09 - Pine Box Builder
10 - Story Of Anna
11 - Condo Lights
12 - Ramon Finds Waterfalls
13 - Waterfalls
14 - Running Coyote Advances


Label: Rainbow Quartz/Laughing Outlaw

The following was borrowed from a review at http://home.iprimus.com.au/laurapalmer/cotton.htm There putting strange things in the water supply down Austin, Texas way if Cotton Mather's second release in anything to go by. From the word go on "Last of the Mohicans", with a rip of feedback and a wailing FX-box, Cotton Mather's psychotic acid rock raises a pretty yet raucous kind of hell. But it's singer Robert Harrison's voice which draws the most attention. Somehow he's channelled John Lennon's spirit and reprocessed it through a Texan sneer, attitude, regret and anxiety wielded as one with hummable harmonies to boot.

There's only so far you can ride on nostalgia though, and thankfully Cotton Mather mix it up enough to avoid falling into the precipice where Oasis have dived before. "Monterray Honey" sees the band expanding from the traditional four piece, using a succulent harmonium rift that drifts across the tune like a blast of nitrous oxide. This is dreamy pop, celebratory yet thoughtful, and sometimes, like in "Pine Box Builder", down right scary, dark undertones rising to the surface.

There is something vaguely unsettling about hearing a band come so close to sounding like a contemporary Beatles, and it may hinder Cotton Mather's progress in the future. For now though it's enough to let this album wash over you. Some records are for thought and depth; others like The Big Picture, you have to just sit back and enjoy the harmonies.

Links:
Pop News
Trouser Press


Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes CD artwork.

Download: The Big Picture

Cotton Mather - Kontiki (1997)

02 - Homefront Cameo
03 - Spin My Wheels
04 - My Before And After
05 - Private Ruth
06 - Vegetable Row
07 - Aurora Bori Alice
08 - Church Of Wilson
09 - Lily Dreams On
10 - Password
11 - Animal Show Drinking Song
12 - Prophecy For The Golden Age
13 - She's Only Cool
14 - Autumn's Birds


Kontiki is Cotton Mather's 2nd album. If you liked the Austin, Texas power pop bands first album Cotton is King, wait until you hear this one! Some of these songs sound like the missing Revolver sessions. Right down to the backward guitar and vocals. Some of the songs are much more experimental than King, but all the "hooks" and great melodies are still waiting for you. Cotton Mather was formed 1991, named of course after the famous 17th century Puritan preacher and author. They disbanded in 2003.

From TrouserPress.com:
Harrison and Williams recorded Kontiki with some friends and brought the tapes to producer Brad Jones (Jill Sobule, Steve Earle), who helped them chisel out a record. The swirling opening chords of "Camp Hill Rail Operator" sound as though they are being piped in from Venus; tape splices and sound collages punctuate standouts like "Homefront Cameo," "Password" and "My Before and After" ("Cracked the code on the Rosetta Stone / Said the word for 'alone' is 'alone'"), Revolver-shaped nuggets so catchy that surgery may be required to extract them from your brain. The inevitable Beatles comparisons are rendered irrelevant by the quality of the songs and the imaginative recording techniques; Kontiki is an innovative power-pop gem that stands up, and stands out, on its own merits.

Links:
Wikipedia
Robert Harrison information
Trouser Press
Future Clouds & Radars - Robert Harrison's new Band

Favorite songs: Camp Hill Rail Operator, My Before and After, Spin My Wheels, and Lily Dreams On.

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes CD artwork.

Download: Kontiki

Cotton Mather - Cotton Is King (1994)

01 - Lost My Motto
02 - Mr. Should
03 - Cross the Rubicon
04 - Payday
05 - Miss Information
06 - Ivanhoe
07 - April's Fool
08 - The World's Boutique
09 - Saving Myself
10 - The New King of Trash
11 - The Words of Shaman Roger
12 - The End of the Line


Cotton Mather is a powerpop band from Austin, Texas formed in 1991. With their strong vocal harmonies and accessible melodies, they have drawn comparisons to the Beatles, Squeeze, and Guided By Voices. This CD is out of print and hard to find. These guys are really good, I recommend them highly!

Band:
Whit Williams - Guitar, Vocals
Greg Thibeaux - Drums, Percussion, Guitar, Vocals
Matt Hovis - Bass Guitar
Robert Harrison - Vocals, Guitar, Piano


Favorite Songs: April's Fool, Cross the Rubicon.

Links:
Wikipedia
April's Fool Music Video on YouTube
trouser press
Biography at Rainbow Quartz Records


Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes all CD artwork and 12 page booklet.

Download: Cotton Is Kink

Forever More - Words On Black Plastic (1971)

1. Promises of Spring
2. The Wrong Person
3. Last Breakfast
4. Get Behind Me Satan
5. Put Your Money on a Pony
6. Lookin' Through the Water
7. O'Brien's Last Stand
8. Angel of the Lord
9. What a Lovely Day



I remember listening to Forever More with my brother back when we were kids. It was one of our favorite albums at the time. This, and their first album "Yours" (also available on this blog), were so different than a lot of the other music we were listening to at the time. I've tried to find out more about this band, but there isn't much out there. I did read that Alan Gorrie went on to play with the Average White Band, but don't let that fool you, Forever More sounds nothing like that.

When I started buying CDs, one band I always wished would be released digitally was Forever More, but alas, that never happened. So, I've digitized it for your listening pleasure. Unfortunately, my copy of the LP wasn't in the mint condition that my other albums are in, so this isn't as pristine as some of the other albums in my blog. But I have spent a lot of time removing clicks and pops as best I can. If you love this album as much as I did back in 1971, you will definitely enjoy hearing it again. I was able to find both albums on a single CD. Very rare, but may still be available if you search the Interwebs. Either way, these albums are out of print and very rare. Band: Alan Gorrie - Bass Guitar, keyboards
Mick Travis - Guitar
Onnie Mair - Guitar, Bass Guitar, Vocals
Stuart Francis - Drums, Vocals


Encoded at 320K from original vinyl album. Includes album cover artwork.

Download: Words On Black Plastic

Russ Otis - Cool Air 45 (1976)

Side A:

Cool Air (3:38)

Side B:

The Rearrangement (3:28)





This was Russ Otis' first 45 record. It was made in 1976 on the now defunct Cool Duck Records. Both songs are written and produced by Russ. His sound always reminded me of Emitt Rhodes. Sadly, my friend Russ passed away on July 5, 2007.

Russ Otis

Digitized at 24 bit, 96 kHz

Encoded at 320K mp3 from original vinyl 45. Includes artwork. ZIP format.

Download: Cool Air