Journey - Live at Diamond Head Crater, Hawaii (1973) Ex SB

(US 1973-Present)

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One of Journey's earliest gigs recorded on New Years Eve 1973 at the Sunshine Festival, Diamond Head Crater, Hawaii. It was recorded by Don Amick with a Sony 126 cassette deck and two mics mounted on poles, 20 feet apart. 

This live recording was where Journey began and where its reputation was made. This rip comes from a 1st Gen. reel copy of this amazing performance! Note that there was no 'remastering' done to this recording apart from a 6.9 gain boost, cleaning up the cut from original tape flip and adding beginning and ending fades.

There was no re-encoding or compression added. There is some light tape crackle in the left channel on tracks 4, 5 and 6 that was on taper Pat's original reel. This, to me, does not affect the overall quality of the recording, which again is excellent! I personally feel the sound quality is superior to all other complete and incomplete versions of this show out there (see Charge Of The Light Brigade). This is a nice, warm mix with excellent stereo separation. Neal is on FIRE and the rest of the band really cook.

This early incarnation of Journey was definitely into heavy rock and had yet to develop its distinctive fusion feel that was later evident in their first three albums.

If you took away the vocals in 'Your My Girl' you could easily mistaken the band for Mountain, as their style and sound is very similar. The start to Voodoo Chile is alittle clumsy and I'm sure I felt 'Hendrix' stir in his grave when I first heard this track, but it still rocks never the less. Most of the tracks on this album exceed 10mins in length and contain extended guitar and keyboard interplays with underlining bass runs. The inclusion of 'Black Magic Woman' to close the show confirms that Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie were still under the influence of their recent association with Santana. This recording also trades under the name 'Happy Birthday' - indicative of the birth of a powerhouse band that is still producing great music today.

As promised in an earlier Journey post, here is the rip of their infamous live debut, taken from tape at 320kps and includes limited artwork.

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Track Listing

01. You're My Girl

02. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

03. Tonight

04. Storm

05. Pirates of the Caribbean

06. Black Magic Woman
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.Band Members:

Neal Schon (Guitar)

Pete Sears (Bass)

Gregg Rolie (Keyboards / Vocals)

Greg Errico (Drums)

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Journey Link (128Mb) 

New Link 12/11/2024

Space Farm - Space Farm (1972)

(New Zealand 1971-73)

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This is a very rare recording by a great Kiwi psychedelic rock / blues band from the early 70's.

In February 1971, when the Underdogs, whom at that time consisted of Harvey Mann, Glen Absolum and Neil Edwards, released their "Wasting My Time" album, and it failed to sell in great numbers, Neil Edwards decided to leave the group and join Human Instinct. (see Midotouch for Underdog's LP)
Harvey and Glen added a new bass guitarist, Billy Williams, and to beef up the sound, Bob Gillett was added on saxophone. Also required was a new name, so they became the Australasian Rock Squad.
Bob Gillett had been playing with Breeze prior to joining. Billy Williams came from Classic Affair.
In September 1971, Bob Gillett decided to become a part-time member of the group, so they rechristened themselves Space Farm.
Space Farm only recorded one album for Zodiac. It was self-titled and released in 1972. This album was re-issued on the Little Wing label in 1989 under the name "Going Back To Eternity".

The album was largely ignored by the public, but Space Farm continued to pull crowds and they remained at the forefront of the underground movement until their demise in 1973. Towards the end of the band, there had been drastic changes within. Harvey began to forego drugs and alcohol and these changes were reflected in his song writing and performances. After the group ended, Harvey took a sabbatical and when he returned to the scene it was as a member of the Krishna faith. He later joined Living Force with Glen.
Billy Williams joined Ticket and Blerta before heading to Australia and great success in a number of Australian groups. In 2000 Ascension Records released their original album on CD.

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Interesting if not wholly convincing. Space Farm were a trio of likely Kiwi pot heads from the early seventies. This album has some great moments. The musicianship in places is quite superb, Harvey Mann was an obvious talent and his guitar playing gets right out there in places. At times, you can hear a distinct 'Hendrix' influence in his playing and the production affects in the title track liken themselves to those found on 'Electric Ladyland'. In fact, 'Flying' has a riff very similar to Hendrix's 'Ezy Rider'. My favourite track is by far the excellent live blues track 'Gypsy Queen' and one can't help but compare Harvey's blues work to that of Stevie Ray Vaughan and L.J Hooker. Simply magical stuff here.
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However, whoever the singer was (Harvey perhaps?), tends to let down the group somewhat. I felt slight twinges of awkwardness listening to the singer at times and the psychedelic lyrical content is a little weak at times. That being said though, I still kinda dig this band and highly recommend you have a listen. OK, they're no Split Enz or La De Das but they certainly deserve more recognition than what they have received (or should or say not received) in the past. Pity they didn't get a chance to record more material.

Rip included here was taken from remastered CD at 256kps and includes full album artwork, including the German 'Going Back To Eternity' alternative cover.

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Track Listing

01. Space Farm

02. Homeward Bound

03. Infinity Way

04. Waking Dream

05. On The Loose

06. Flying

07. Gypsy Queen (Live)

08. Wheel

09. Lover Not A Dancer

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Band Members:

Harvey Mann (Guitar)

Billy Williams (Bass Guitar)

Glen Absolum (Drums)

Bob Gillett (Saxophone)

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Space Farm Link (90Mb) New Link 01/10/2013

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Cold Chisel - Live In Sydney (1978) Ex SB

(Australian 1973-84)

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This was a Cold Chisel concert that was broadcast on JJJ Radio, Australia as part of the "Impossible Music Festival" Weekend - 19th-21st September 2008. (ABC)
The exact date of the concert wasn't mentioned and research indicates that there are two possible dates/venues (Innercity Sounds) - Penrith Leagues Club Sydney (28-5-1978) or St Leonards Park Sydney (18-11-1978).
Looking for the exact date has brought up a few Red Herrings. Firstly, one would normally trust JJJ to give the correct date and leave it at that. But there seem to be a few leads that say it 'may' not be correct. According to the Cold Chisel Biography, Khe Sanh wasn't released until May 1978. (see Cold Chisel History)

Jimmy Barnes mentions that JJJ were the only station playing the song at the time. If it was released at the start of the month, that would mean only one month of "possible" airplay. Fair enough, I suppose, in an era that relied a lot on radio. BUT, the 'unsuitable for radio' classification about Khe Sanh didn't happen till August 1978 (see website link above), which point more to
the fact that it was possibly recorded at a show later in the year.
On the Cold Chisel OFFICIAL site the venue for the date of 28th May 1978 is listed as 2JJ Concert - Penrith Leagues Club Sydney (see Cold Chisel History)
However, there is no St Leonards Park in Penrith - therefore we must assume the one that they were talking about is in North Sydney. (see Google Maps)
So, who's telling the truth - JJJ or the Cold Chisel official website? The Cold Chisel official site has no shows listed at St Leonards Park in 1978.

Truth be told - it was a long time ago. Either source could be slightly wrong. We're dealing with either fans/management who didn't realise they'd be writing down tour dates for people to look at in 30 years time or a reel-to-reel tape left in an ABC archive (labelled by the 15 year old work experience kid) 30 years ago. Sure, it would've been transferred a few times to various formats over the years - and it may have been mislabeled then. According to the official website they also played a 2JJ show at the Regent Theatre, Sydney on the 4th October 1978 - perhaps it was this show??? DJ's are just told to read what they are told - and then they still get things wrong - Rosie Beaton mentioned before the Crowded House set that it contained their hit "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" - nice one....

Here's even more info pointing towards the date and/or venue being incorrect. A reference to a Midnight Oil show in September 1978 at St Leonards Park with Cold Chisel (Innercity Sounds)
A reference to a show at St. Leonards Park with The Angels in 1978 - "In the early days a string of free outdoor concerts were held in various areas in Sydney. Skyhooks played at Dawes Point under the harbour bridge; a great day in the sun. At St Leonards Park, a new band from SA called 'Cold Chisel' still new to the scene and greeted with polite applause and another band from the same state who wound up the afternoon 'The Angels', not a single soul was sitting down for their set and as we all know both bands went on to make their mark and bring pleasure too many."

"In 1978, following a recorded 2JJ concert at St Leonard's Park, ‘The Angels’ released their landmark album ‘Face to Face’, which remained in the charts for 76 weeks. Their popularity exploded throughout Australia with sell-out shows and stadium tours with Meatloaf and David Bowie."

From the Angels official website. The guestbook has quite a few references to Cold Chisel (Guestbook Central) - either St Leonards Park or the Bondi Lifesaver - but what date? They
played at the Bondi Lifesaver a heap of times over those two years.

The Artwork for this posting was provided by Woodynet at Midoztouch, who by the way is of the opinion that the concert was recorded at St Leonards Park in Penrith, and not Sydney Park due to the 'non stadium' sound of the recording. Good one Woody - simple logic prevails over long winded research and I agree.

The rip was taken from tape at 256kps (thanks to the Mixingdesk.blogspot.com) and includes album artwork (thanks to Woodynet)

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Track Listing

01 Home and Broken Hearted

02 I'm Gonna Roll Ya

03 The Door

04 One Long Day

05 Breakfast At Sweethearts

06 Mona and The Preacher

07 Khe Sanh

08 Presenter Outro

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Band Members

Jimmy Barnes (Lead Vocals)

Ian Moss (Guitar, Vocals)

Phil Small (Bass)

Don Walker (Keyboards, Vocals)

Steve Preswitch (Drums)

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Cold Chisel Link (62Mb) New Link 17/12/2023

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The Church - Live At The Palace Melbourne (1991) Ex SB

(Australian 1980-Present)

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The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Canberra in 1980. Initially associated with New Wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of "progressive rock," featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay.
The Church's debut album, Of Skins and Heart (1981), earned them their first radio hit "The Unguarded Moment." They were signed to major labels in Australia, Europe and the U.S. However, the U.S. label was dissatisfied with their second album and dropped the band without releasing the album. This put a dent in their commercial success, but they made a comeback in 1988, with the album Starfish and the American Top 40 hit "Under the Milky Way" which is one of my all time favourite songs. Subsequent commercial success proved elusive, however, and the band weathered several line-up changes in the 1990s. The last decade has seen them settle on their current lineup, which features the original three founding members plus drummer Tim Powles. (wikipedia.com).

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Recorded at The Palace, Melbourne, April 25, 1991, this is a stereo soundboard recording. Also goes under the title of 'Postcard'.
A great sounding bootleg... much better than I expected. Plays loud and full in the car. Turn it up, and it almost feels like you're there. The master tape is suffering from some age (there is some subtle playback "wow" and "flutter" on the CD, and a bad glitch in the middle of "When You Were Mine"). Still, it is a worthwhile document of a time when the band was on the cusp of undergoing some monumental lineup changes. A "must-have" if you are a Church fanatic.

The rip was taken from CD at 192kps and includes full artwork.

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Track Listing

01 When You Were Mine

02 Tristesse

03 North South East and West

04 Almost With You

05 Hotel Womb

06 An Interlude

07 Fading Away

08 Under The Milky Way

09 Grind

10 Destination

11 Myrrh

12 Reptile
13 Is This Where You Live (Encore 1)
14 You're Still Beautiful (Encore 2)

15 Friction (Television song)

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Band Members:

Steve Kilbey - Bass, Lead Vocals

Peter Koppes - Guitar

Marty Willson-Piper - Guitar, Vocals

Jay Dee Daugherty - Drums

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The Church Link (108Mb) New Link 27/08/2015

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Deep Purple - Wild Drifters (Live In Sydney 1975) - Bootleg

(UK 1968-1976, 1984-Present)

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It was Deep Purple’s fifth concert performance (20-11-1975) with the new line-up (Mark 4) and the lack of hard roadwork showed. There were patches of uncertainty, hesitancy, sometimes they approached disarray.

More than a few trademarks of previous line-ups are also missing. Gone are the swirling mists of dry ice (presumably guitarist Ritchie Blackmore took the machines with him as part of his divorce settlement !) Gone also is most of the material Purple fans are familiar with. The new line-up did "Burn", they did "Stormbringer", they did "Smoke On The Water" and ""Lazy from the 'Machine Head' album. They introduced just about all of the LP ‘Come Taste The Band’.
But the new tunes are fine. There’s more than a few that will work out to be standards in the band’s future repertoire especially the soulful – "You Keep On Moving" and the staccato rocker "Comin’ Home".

 But for the most part, the new stuff was received with slightly strained applause. The old stuff was greeted with fervent and relived cries-of acclaim.
But, as it turned out, the new repertoire worked out better than old faves. Certainly new guitarist Tommy Bolin seemed happier and more forceful playing the new material. It seems the band and he haven’t yet worked out an entirely satisfactory system for the old.
Bolin (quite rightly for his own self-esteem) is more into interpreting Blackmore’s riffs than playing them note for note. And the rest of the band, having been firmly indoctrinated into the ways of The Riff According To Ritchie, haven’t quite worked out how to handle that one yet.

Result: some confusion and a fair bit of fumbling.
It’s the new material one should look to to provide some insight into the future well being of Purple.
Basically it’s fine stuff. And it will no doubt get finer once the band have road tested it further. It provides much scope for the microphone bending dramatics of vocalist David Coverdale. And singer Glenn Hughes is starting to take a real role in the running of the show. He lopes around the stage, muzzles into Bolin or Coverdale (whichever is nearest). He pushes his rock tenor voice into high reaching screams that threaten to dislodge tooth fillings (so piercing are they), and which stretch past most vocal ranges in rock to near sonic breakthrough point.

“Super”, says Glenn, as the audience applauds out of sheer admiration and amazement. “Spiffing”, he adds.
The night of the concert was bloody hot and the atmosphere was clammy with humidity and undissolved perspiration. David Coverdale seemed affected by the heat and he spent much time away from the action line – being revived by an oxygen machine.

But when he was on stage, he dominated. A cheerful goliath from sturdy English mining stock with a righteous beer belly, he strides the stage exhorting himself, the band, and the audience. His singing is powerful and near faultless. His stage specialty is snapping microphone stands in two. (There’s a roadie who’s only job during the show is to try and bend ‘em back into shape).

Ian Paice, one of the two original members of the band, provides the rhythm section with a mains source of power. He’s a joy to hear really. Never falters, never strains. Just hits bloody hard and accurately all night. His partnership with Glenn Hughes is a delight to anyone who wants to hear a really good thudda-thunda underneath the guitar solos and keyboard chunga-chunga.

Taking of keyboards, Jon Lord remains an enigma. His ability is not in doubt, but for much of the concert he was playing fills and frills, or providing a rhythm under Bolin’s scorching solos. He was pretty laidback in fact. He reminded one more of an avuncular guardian than anything else…he was there to keep a friendly eye on the new boys, to see they were working out okay.
His organ solo was brief and good humoured. The only time he really stretched out was on his co-composition (with Glenn Hughes), "This Time Around" (off the ‘Come Taste The Band’ album).

Verdict: an interesting enough training session. Purple show all the signs of retaining their status as The Leviathans Of Heavy Rock once they reach full match fitness (Review by Anthony O’Grady: RAM Magazine No.21 - See Below)

The Rip was taken from CD at 256kps and includes album artwork. Note: This bootleg is a VG audience recording. The first track "Burn" starts off distant but the recorder finally gets his recording levels sorted out with improved sound. Note: The closing interview with Tommy Bolin was recorded 6 days later by a Melbourne Radio station.

All stage photos from the 1975 'Come Taste The Band' tour were taken from http://www.deep-purple.net/ with thanks.

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Track Listing

CD1

01 - Burn

02 - Lady Luck

03 - Love Child

04 - Gettin' Tighter

05 - Smoke On The Water

06 - Wild Dogs

CD2

01 - I Need Love / Lazy

02 - This Time Around / Owed To 'G'

03 - Tommy Bolin Solo / Drifter

04 - You Keep On Moving

05 - Tommy Bolin Radio Interview (Melbourne 26-11-75).

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Band Members

David Coverdale (Lead Vocals)

Tommy Bolin (Guitar)

Glen Hughes (Bass, Vocals)
Jon Lord (Keyboards)

Ian Paice (Drums)

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Deep Purple Link (187 Mb) New Link 12/11/2024

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Journey (1973)

(UK 1970-73)

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If you've been brought up on 1960s psychedelic rock, you've probably heard "Fire", the 1968 classic from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. That band featured Arthur Brown, of course on vocals, as organist Vincent Crane (later of Atomic Rooster) and drummer Carl Palmer (later briefly of Atomic Rooster before joining Emerson, Lake & Palmer, one of the biggest names in prog rock). By 1969, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown was no more. A second album was recorded and scrapped (but later surfaced years later).

So Arthur Brown formed a new band called Kingdom Come (not to be confused with the hard rock band from the 1980s), in which he explored more spacy progressive rock. Kingdom Come released two albums, Galactic Zoo Dossier (1971) and Kingdom Come (1972) before releasing Journey. I have these two albums, which were OK, but 'Journey' really took me by surprise. Brown stated in an interview with an English music magazine that the three albums were intended to present a thematic progression. The first focused on the state of humankind in the present, the second on the human animal itself and the dichotomy between the body and mind, and the third focusing on cosmic and spiritual matters.

.While the Hammond organ dominated the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, the dominant instruments on Journey were the Mellotron, ARP 2600 and VCS-3 synthesizers, with some great guitar work, and no real drums. Arthur Brown uses the Bentley Rhythm Ace drum machine on this album, which sounds like a cheap piece of crap toy (no wonder it took until the 1980s before drum machines were used regularly in recordings), but the totally amazing music makes up for the drum machine being used.
The album opens with "Time Captives" which starts off with the sound of Brown's drum machine, before eventually all the strange electronic effects come in. By the time the vocals come in, the music is totally in progressive space rock territory. The next cut is the instrumental "Triangles", not the most remarkable cut on the album, but the following cut, "Gypsy" totally makes up for that, because it's simply one of the best cuts on the album.

"Supernatural Roadblocks" starts off with some totally amazing use of Mellotron, of the type the Moody Blues could only dream of, before the the music starts. The next cut, "Conception" is largely instrumental, but you get treated with Arthur Brown's terrifying screams from time to time. "Spirit of Joy" is the closest thing to a hit on this album, and, unsurprisingly, the song was released as a single prior to the album's release. The last song, "Come Alive" continues in the same synthesizer dominater prog rock territory, with a great bluesy middle passage with vocals that oddly remind me of Frank Zappa.

A number of factors contributed to the end of Kingdom Come, including mediocre album sales, critical disdain, the revolving door membership of the band, and Brown's frustration with the music business in general. The band dissolved rather than officially breaking up, with Brown citing a desire to play simpler music and opt for a simpler lifestyle in general in later interviews. However, the music that Kingdom Come left behind is certainly worth exploration for progressive rock and psychedelic rock enthusiasts, and stands up well as a part of Arthur Brown's 40-plus year legacy.

After Kingdom Come broke up, Arthur Brown recorded again under his own name. I have his 1975 album 'Dance', but it was a real disappointment (except for a cover of "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place"). So, surprisingly, Arthur Brown gave us much more than The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and "Fire", as 1973's Journey proves. 'Journey' is another classic album, in my book (Some extracts were taken from a review by Ben Miller).

This NEW IMPROVED rip was taken from CD remaster at 320kps and includes full album artwork, along with some publicity photos of Arthur Brown and Kingdom Come. Also displayed below right, is an alternative front cover for the album. 

I personally owned the album back in the 70's but stupidly traded it in for cash - something I've always regretted.

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Track Listing

01. Time Captives  - 8:18

02. Triangles - 3:17

03. Gypsy  - 9:10

04. Superficial Roadblocks - 6:56 including:

      a). Lost Time

      b). Superficial Roadblocks

      c). Corpora Supercelestia

05. Conception  - 2:06

06. Spirit Of Joy  - 3:15

07. Come Alive - 8:45

Bonus Tracks

08. Spirit Of Joy (alternative take)  - 2:47

09. Time Captives (alternative take) - 7:08

10. Conception (alternative take) - 2:02

11. Come Alive (alternative take) - 8:21

Band Members

Arthur Brown: Bentley drum machine, lead vocals

Andy Dalby: Guitar, vocals

Victor Peraino: Mellotron, ARP 2600 and VCS-3 synthesizers, Theramin, piano, percussion, vocals

Phil Shutt: Bass, percussion, vocals

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Arthur Brown Kingdom Come Link (150Mb) Link Fixed 15/12/2023