REPOST: The Gun - Selftitled (1968) + Bonus Tracks

(U.K 1967-70)
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The Gun were a little-known 60s British acid rock band who evolved into the 70s progressive hard rock trio Baker Gurvitz Army. The Gun began as The Knack, formed in 1963 by guitarist/vocalist Paul Gurvitz (born Paul Anthony Curtis, 6 July 1947, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire; he was known by the surname Curtis until the early 1970s. Thereafter he adopted his family's actual surname, Gurvitz. The Knack changed its name with the development of a psychedelic style in the spring/summer of 1967, performing] at the final UFO Club concerts with bands such as Pink Floyd. In November, 1967 they made recordings for the BBC's newest flagship alternative music radio programme, Top Gear and twice played in the air.


Soon to expand into a sextet, with Paul's younger brother Adrian, then they were consisting as a power trio of Paul Curtis as bassist, Adrian Curtis (Adrian Gurvitz) as guitarist/vocalist (he also wrote all music and lyrics of The Gun), and drummer Louie Farrell (born Brian John Farrell, 8 December 1947, Goodmayes, Essex; he joined The Knack in mid 1966) to release two albums after being signed to CBS Records in early 1968.
In early 1968 the band scored a hit with the opening track from their self-titled album (1968), "Race With The Devil". Issued as a single in October 1968 it reached the top 10 in its native UK and #35 on the Australian Singles Chart (Go-Set) in March 1969. Jimi Hendrix quoted the song's riff during his song "Machine Gun" at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. "Race With The Devil" has been covered by Judas Priest (on the remastered CD version of Sin After Sin), Black Oak Arkansas (on their album Race With The Devil), and Girlschool (on their album Demolition)

Their debut album's cover is noteworthy as an early example of the work of Roger Dean, who was later responsible for producing trademark covers for super bands such as Yes, Greenslade and Asia. Allmusic describes it as having a "distinctive psych-flavored proto-metal" sound [Extracts from wikipedia].
The Gun also released a second single from their first album called "Drives You Made / Rupert's Travels" with the A side sounding similar to their previous hit single - but it failed to chart with the same success.

"Race With The Devil" (2006 French exclusive limited edition 4-track CD) was issued as part of the 'EP Collection Original Versions' series, remastered in high definition 24-bit, originally released in France in 1968. It featured four tracks: - "Race With Devil / Sunshine / Drives You Mad / Rupert's Travels".

For your enjoyment, I have posted a rip of the Gun's first release ripped from vinyl to FLAC (320kps) and includes full album artwork.  Three bonus tracks are also included, taken from non-album singles (sourced from the internet)

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Track Listing 
01 - Race With the Devil
02 - The Sad Saga of the Boy and the Bee
03 - Rupert's Travels
04 - Yellow Cab Man
05 - It Won't Be Long (Heartbeat)
06 - Sunshine 
07 - Rat Race
08 - Take Off

[Bonus Tracks]
09 - Drives you Mad 
10 - Don't Look Back 
11 - Runnin' Wild

Band Members:
Adrian Curtis (Guitar and Vocals)
Paul Curtis (Bass and Vocals)
Louie Farrell (Drums)
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The Gun Link (302Mb) New Improved RIP  26/04/2024

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