Billy Joel - Unlicensed Live (1993) Bootleg

(U.S 1965 - Present)
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Having sold more than 150 million records, Billy Joel ranks as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in the world. Throughout the years, Joel's songs have acted as personal and cultural touchstones for millions of people, mirroring his own goal of writing songs that "meant something during the time in which I lived ... and transcended that time.”

Billy Joel has had 33 Top 40 hits and 23 Grammy nominations since signing his first solo recording contract in 1972. In 1990, he was presented with a Grammy Legend Award. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, Joel was presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the organization's highest honor, in 2001. In 1999 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and has received the Recording Industry Association of America Diamond Award, presented for albums that have sold over 10 million copies. (extract from Billy's official website)

Billy in the 90's

Billy Joel's Career

In 1963, he joined his first band, ‘The Echoes’, which later came to be known as ‘The Lost Souls’, with which he recorded several of his instrumental pieces. During this time he left high school to pursue a career in music.
In 1967, he left ‘The Echoes’ (now ‘The Lost Souls’) to join a new band ‘The Hassles’. It was a Long Island group which had signed with United Artists Record. The band released their first album ‘The Hassles’ and soon they released their second album, ‘Hour of the Wolf’, the next year, both being unsuccessful commercially   
In 1969, he left the band along with the band’s drummer Joe Small and formed a heavy metal duo with him named ‘Atilla’. They recorded an album with ‘Epic records’ and debuted in July 1970. The duo soon disbanded due to clashes over personal issues.
In 1971, he signed a solo recording contract with the Artie Ripp’s Family Productions and released his first solo album, ‘Cold Spring Harbor’. However, it was released at a wrong speed. Few years later, Columbia Records re-issued the album after slowing it down to the correct speed which led to its emergence as a favorite concert package. Soon after, he went to West Coast to Los Angeles due to a contractual dispute and played piano there at The Executive Room piano bar on Wilshire Boulevard under the name ‘Bill Martin’. During this time he composed his signature hit ‘Piano Man’.
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In 1972, WMMR-FM, a radio station of Philadelphia, started played his live concert recording ‘Captain Jack’ which soon became a chartbuster on the East Coast. After hearing the song, it prompted Columbia Records to find him out and offer him a recording contract with them. He recorded with them for three years and returned to New York after that.
In 1973, he recorded the album ‘Piano Man’ in Los Angeles with the Columbia Records. It later became his first top 20 single and first gold album.
In 1976, he came back to New York and assembled a new band incorporating his self-chosen musicians. In the same year, he got aboard on his first concert tour.
In 1978, he released his second album, ‘52nd Street’ which was branded as more sophisticated and jazzy. It is considered as one of the greatest albums of all times.
In 1979, he travelled to Cuba to participate in a three-day event, ‘Havana Jam Festival’ at the Karl Marx Theatre.
In 1980, he released ‘Glass House’ which acquired the topmost position on the Billboard Album Chart, being there for six consecutive weeks.
In 1981, he came out with a live album, ‘Songs in the attic’. It was the first widely appearance of music from his first album, ‘Cold Spring Harbor’. It also introduced his early works to his new fans.
In 1983, he recorded an album, ‘The Innocent Man’. It was a tribute to the popular American music of his teenage years and resulted in his second Billboard hit. In the same year, Columbia Records re-released his first album, ‘Cold Spring Harbor’.
In 1986, ‘The Bridge’ was released in which he collaborated with Ray Charles, Cyndi Lauper and Steve Winwood. It yielded successful singles such as, ‘Matter of Trust’ and ‘A Modern Woman’.
In 1987, he became the first American rock star to perform in the Soviet Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He also performed in Moscow, Leningrad and Tbilisi. His live album was released in October, named ‘KOHUEPT’ (Russian for ‘Concert’).
In 1989, he released ‘Storm Front’ with producer Mick Jones which carried the favorite single, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’.
In 1993, he released ‘River of Dreams’ which was his last pop album. In the same year, he joined the star cast for a performance to benefit AIDS Project, Los Angeles.
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In 1996, he released Greatest Hits Volume III. It included his two famous singles, ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ and ‘Hey Girl’.
On January 7, 2006, he went on a musical expedition across United States and happened to play 12-sold out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the same year Columbia Records came out with the ‘12 Gardens Live’, which was a compilation of his songs from the Madison Square Garden concert. In July he performed a free concert at Rome as a part of the European tour.
On February 4, 2007, he performed the national anthem at Super Bowl XLI. In the same year, Columbia Records released ‘All My Life’, which was his first new pop music since 1993.
In 2011, his two albums were re-released by California Records namely, ‘Cold Spring Harbor’ and ‘Piano Man’ which included many previously unavailable studio tracks and live performances.  (Extract from http://www.thefamouspeople.com)
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With this CD being released only in Australia, this could very well be from Billy Joel's tour to promote his 'Storm Front' album. There is scant information about these Australian concerts except for a set list from one of his 6 Sydney concerts at the 'Sydney Entertainment Center' (see right). A total of 16 shows were performed in Australia between January 22 and February 28 of 1991. Billy was 41 years old at the time, was married to Christie Brinkley and had a five year old daughter. He had already being touring for 14 months previous to arriving in Australia. Billy (in an interview on Hey Hey It's Saturday) said that he preferred to play the piano rather than sing. His favourite song at the time was "Storm Front", mainly because it was the new song. Crystal Taliefero (who had played with John Mellencamp, Bob Seger and Joe Cocker) had recently joined the band and not only played saxophone, percussion, guitar, keyboards but was also a backup singer on the tour. Wife Christie was also with him in Australia at the time. Support act for his Australian concerts was Jimmy Barnes.
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from my Bootleg CD and also includes full album artwork, along with a copy of the Interview from Hey Hey It's Saturday. The recording quality is pretty damn good (soundboard for sure) but I suspect this is only part of the concert . Because the tracks don't really run into one another I suspect this is not the full setlist and am inclined to think that the actual setlist would have been more like the one shown above.
Needless to say, Billy Joel is a the true Piano Man and this concert is testament to his ability to transpose his studio recordings to the live stage. My only criticism is that his singing appears to be a little flat at times, particularly in the the track "You May Be Right"
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Track Listing 
01. We Didn't Start The Fire
02. My Life
03. An Innocent Man
04. Uptown Girl
05. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
06. You May Be Right
07. Only The Good Die Young
08. Leningrad
09. Piano Man
10. I Go To Extremes
11. Big Shot
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The Touring Band
Billy Joel (Vocals, Keyboards, Accordian)
Liberty DeVitto (Drums)
David Brown (Lead Guitar)
Tommy Byrnes (Rhythm Guitar)
Schuyler Deale (Bass)
Don Brooks (Harmonica)
Crystal Taliefero (saxophone, percussion, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals)
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Billy Joel Link (157Mb) New Link 10/04/2020
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Rose Tattoo - Live at Hordern Pavillion (1978) Bootleg

(Australian 1976-1985)
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Rose Tattoo's performance at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion for Live-to-air broadcast on the soon-to-be national broadcaster, 2JJ. The performance is some time in 1978, and clearly well before the release of their first album in November of that year, given the amount of covers (including a most obscene version of Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man"!) they play. This often circulates as being from 1976. An excellent, and I think unique, early Tatts soundboard show, there are a few pops and flashes of static, and the sound is not crystal clear, but it's a very good recording overall. A second of static/silence in track 3 has been eliminated by substituting the same notes from elsewhere in the song.

There seems to be an awful lot of good rock and roll that comes from Australia. Maybe a lot of it gets overlooked in the US because Australia is so far away and we just don’t hear about the bands that work for years but don’t get the big breaks like AC/DC or Silverchair.

Rose Tattoo is one of those bands that never really got that big break in America. They came out of Sydney, Australia, following in AC/DC’s footsteps. The Tatts officially got together in 1976, three years after AC/DC, and released their debut album in 1978, again, three years after AC/DC had led the way with their debut.

I mention the AC/DC connection for a couple of reasons: The bands’ histories are somewhat tied together in that AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd had played briefly in a band called Buster Brown with Rose Tattoo’s singer “Angry” Anderson. The Tatts also made their first public appearance at the rock club Chequers, where several years earlier AC/DC had kicked off their own career. As Rose Tattoo were getting started, they received a fair amount of support from their “older brothers” in AC/DC. Harry Vanda and George Young, who had also produced AC/DC, produced Rose Tattoo’s first four albums. And George Young is, of course, older brother to Malcolm and Angus Young.  

The following is  an extract from 'Angry: Scarred For Life' by Karen Dewey, Iron bark Publ, 1994 
In 1978, ACDC were huge in Australia and were just beginning to take off overseas. They were being handled by Alberts of Sydney, so with all the common gigs, it didn't take long for the Alberts producers to take an interest in Rose Tattoo. They came along to a gig one night, and within a week, Rose Tattoo had an offer to join the Alberts stable.
Angry was totally committed. He loved the lifestyle. He loved Rose Tattoo. He loved the boys club. As he says, it was a special time in the music industry. "In those days there was a real brothers in arms mentality. There was a real camaraderie. You know, members of Sherbert used to come and watch the Tatts. So did members of Ted Mulray Gang, John Paul Youngs band at the time, and other bands who seemingly had nothing in common with us. And vice versa. I've always loved Sherbert, but the reason I so publicly put shit on them in those days was because Angry Anderson, the frontman for Rose Tattoo, would not be expected to love Sherbert, where in truth, I loved pop music. Also, I liked Sherbert because I thought they were better than a lot of the other bands around at the time."Rose Tattoo cut their first single with "Bad Boy (for love)" on the A side, and "Snow Queen" on the B side. Almost as soon as the single was finished, lan Rilen decided to quit the band. That made an opening for Geordie, who'd been hanging around on and off since the band had first started. With Geordie, the boys recorded their first album...it was released under the name of "Rose Tattoo" in Australia, but overseas it had a more punchy title. The importers called it "Rock n' Roll Outlaws".
As soon as the album was out, Rose Tattoo hit the road. They spent the next year living literally out of a suitcase, touring the length and breadth of Australia. They played at just about every pub and club in every small town. They were a small-time band, so they still had to rough it with most things. "First we travelled in a kombi, then in a series of cars...later on when the band got more of a profile we hired cars and vans. I can remember, like so many other people in this country, doing trips to Melbourne where you'd pack the van or the truck so that there was three feet between the top of the stack and the roof where you could put mattresses and the band could sleep. 
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In the early days we only had one roadie, and Geordie and I used to do the rest. We enjoyed it because it was such physical work."They were very much a boys' drinking band. They were seen as brute macho, so they were recognised as blokes' territory. In all the early photographs, it's hard to spot a female face in the first few rows of the audience. There's just rows of men, reaching out to Angry, faces twisted with the noise, and the heat and the push from the crowd behind.
They started making big news. Towns geared up for their arrival weeks in advance. In many places having Rose Tattoo arrive in the main street was something like playing host to a freak show. Angry and the boys looked out of place enough in the city, but in some of the country towns, they stood out so severely they looked more like they came from another planet. Loyal fans turned up everywhere, and word travelled quickly about the sensation they were causing at live gigs.
The band went through good times and bad times. "We broke up and reformed all the time...we were irrational, taking lots of drugs, doing lots of booze, living on the road. We shuffled members, and we'd have a disagreement and walk out saying 'That's it', but two weeks later we'd be crying on each other's shoulder and looking forward to the next tour."  (p97-98)
Just as the first album was climbing slowly up the charts, Rose Tattoo got a new manager. His name was Robbie Williams. He was a committed rock promoter, who had tremendous faith in the band. He believed wholeheartedly they could make it to number one worldwide. He had absolute confidence in Angry as a dynamic frontman, and he believed he had the talent and charisma to be the next big name in rock.
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Once with the band, Robbie decided he was there for the long haul. Rose Tattoo weren't an easy band to manage. They were unreliable, irrational, and usually drunk, but he believed in the band, so he ended up staying until the very last gig years later.
The band's profile grew, and as they got bigger, Angry's stage antics got wilder. He became as extravagant and as outrageous as the crowd wanted him to be. They'd yell for blood, sweat and tears, and Angry would deliver. He was the tragic, drunken outlaw, the bad boy of rock and roll at his worst. No one knew what to make of him. He was dangerous, radical, and stupid. He had one trick on stage that shocked even the hardest fans. "When we wrote the album there's this song on it called 'Suicide City'. It's about Canberra because Mick told me that there was this article talking about how Canberra has the highest suicide rate of any Australian city. 

So we wrote a song about it. We used to do this as the last song in the set. So what I used to do...I'd sometimes put a plastic bag over my head till I passed out. All the audience can see is the eye sockets, and the plastic bag pumping in and out over the mouth. The crew would all rush over after I'd passed out, and thump my chest."
He had another trick too, which was just as obscene. "At the end of 'Suicide City' it gets into a really crazy thing. It's supposed to be insanity, and I'd strangle myself with the microphone cord until I passed out."
This was the dark side, the madman. It was the side that frightened everyone, even Angry himself. Pete used to talk about it, saying there was something magic in the drama of rock and roll. He used to say, "You know you've made it as a rock performer when the crowd comes just to see whether or not you die." As Angry says now, there's no doubt that's why some of the fans were there. If it ever happened, they wanted to play their ghoulish part in history. And, the fact was, if there was an Australian rock star likely to go to those extremes on stage, Angry Anderson would surely have taken honours on top of the list. (p102-104)
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This Bootleg post contains MP3 (192kps) sourced from the web many moons ago (thanks to the original uploader) along with full album artwork and all photos displayed above. This is truly a rare early recording of the Tatts when they were just starting out, and although the bitrate of the sound files are disappointing, the music is not and shouldn't be missed.
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Track Listing
01. Astra Wally
02. Bad Boy For Love
03. Hoochie Coochie Man
04. You Really Got Me
05. Sweet Love

Only a 26 minute show but very rare radio broadcast at the time when founding member, bass player Ian Rilen was around
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Rose Tattoo Link (40Mb)
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W.O.C.K On Vinyl - The Tremble M's: We Wish You A MMMerry Christmas (1985)

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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

This little Christmas single was put together by the 1985 Triple M team. recorded for Mushroom Records with the B side featuring Dr. Dan with the Triple M Theme. The single was produced by Chris Gilbey and Rod Thomas.
3MMM (identified on air and in print as Triple M) is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Its target demographic is the 30 - 54 age group. Triple M Melbourne is part of the Austereo Triple M Network and broadcasts on the 105.1 MHz frequency. The station was Australia's first commercial FM station, originally known as EON FM, broadcasting on 92.3 MHz.

The Early Days
2MMM, the first Triple M station commenced broadcasting on 2 August 1980. Together with then rival station 2Day FM (now also owned by Austereo) and Triple-J FM, it was one of the first two commercial FM radio stations in Sydney. The Government-owned Triple JJJ began broadcasting on the FM band just one day earlier.
The station has always been primarily a rock music station. Triple M was one of the highest-rating radio stations in Sydney, spearheaded by its breakfast show presented by Doug Mulray and featuring the writing of and occasional appearances by Andrew Denton. From 1988 until the early nineties, Club Veg with Mal Lees and Vic Davies hosted the Night show before moving to Perth to host the breakfast show at 96FM/Triple M.
For all of this period and into the 90s, Triple M's promotional campaign featured the character "Dr Dan", a guitar-playing satyr with wings, and a theme song that was an extended reworking of the Mike Batt track "Introduction (The Journey of a Fool)", from his 1979 album Tarot Suite.

Track Listing:
A - The Tremble M's - We Wish You A MMMerry Christmas
(We Wish You A Merry Christmas / Silent Night / Jingle Bells)
B - Dr Dan - The Triple M Theme (Excerpt from "Tarot Suite" by Mike Batt) 
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 As usual, I'm posting the December 'WOCK on Vinyl' a little earlier this month to coincide with Christmas Day and of course the C in WOCK is for Christmas Cheer.  Post consists of MP3(320kps) and includes full single label scans and lots of Christmas cheer !
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I would like to wish all of my wonderful blog followers (and visitors) a Very Merry Christmas and trust that you will take care when traveling during the Festive Season. May your Santa stockings be filled with lots of treats and especially with loads of Aussie Music CD's (please support our local artists)
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The Tremble M's Link (13Mb)
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Budgie - Live in London Global Village (1974) Bootleg

(U.K 1969 - Present)
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How Budgie Started
(Extract from Jeff Colin's book 'Rock Legends at Rockfield')
With a similar sound to their Midland counterparts Black Sabbath, Budgie recorded most of their albums at the Monmouth Studio. The following extract looks at Budgies' big break -- when they had an audition at Rockfield with Sabbath producer Rodger Bain.
After two years of gigging, and writing songs, the Budgie's big break was just around the corner. One day in 1969 when they visited their agent to pay her, she told them about an audition taking place at Rockfield Studios - just down the road from Cardiff in Monmouth. A producer there, Rodger Bain, was looking to sign a rock band and was auditioning a few acts from across the UK.  Singer and bass player Burke Shelley laughs, though, when he remembers the agent’s warning to them as they left her office that day. ‘Our agent, Mrs England, I think her was name, took on a very stern face and told us, “Don’t you dare play any of your own stuff !” He giggles at the memory. ‘You’ve got to laugh, haven’t you? We were playing a few well known tunes by other bands to get gigs, but half our set was our own material and although she warned us not to play that stuff - and I’d reassured her that we wouldn’t - as soon as we got outside I said to the guys “Forget that. We’re doing our own songs” and it worked.’ The band, armed with

CD Cover

songs like "All Night Petrol", "Guts" and "Rape of The Locks", impressed the veteran music producer.  He told them he was keen to sign them, despite the fact he’d already given a contract to one other budding young band. The group in question was Black Sabbath, a band that Budgie would frequently be compared to over the coming years. Before that deal could happen, the band had to play another audition in London for representatives from some of the major record companies.
Ray Phillips was baffled that they didn’t hold the second audition at Rockfield, but instead at a small recording studio in London.
‘As we set up our equipment, we noticed two guys there. One was from a company called Bell Records and the other was called, David Howells, from MCA Records. I’d always thought that if a record company heard us play, then they’d sign us straight away. Dave Howells was Welsh as well. He was Merthyr born and bred, so we had an affinity with each other. Anyway he loved us and we signed a major deal with MCA records just a few weeks later. I was quite proud of the fact that Budgie had only been playing for 4 or 5 years, before we signed a major worldwide deal. That was fast work, because most guys had been in bands for 10 years before they got a deal. But we’d practiced and rehearsed non-stop. We wanted to be the best.’
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Concert Review
Recorded at London's Global Village (March 9th 1974) and capturing Budgie initially at something approaching their peak and then some way away from it. The London show is spectacular. With better than expected sound quality, it pinpoints the often manic experimentation with which Budgie approached their music -- that is, titles as long as your arm (shame that only "You're the Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk" is present here) and solos that extend even further. Neither "Breadfan" nor "Zoom Club" have ever sounded better, and even the less than stellar "Hammer and Tongs" is not to be missed. Though it's a mere six songs long, the London show is spectacular. With better than expected sound quality, it pinpoints the often manic experimentation with which Budgie approached their music -- that is, titles as long as your arm (shame that only "You're the Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk" is present here) and solos that extend even further. Neither "Breadfan" nor "Zoom Club" have ever sounded better, and even the less than stellar "Hammer and Tongs" is not to be missed.
An alternate vision of the 1974-1978 Radio Sessions CD released a few years ago, this live Capital Radio broadcast opens with DJs Nicky Horne and Roger Scott swapping scene-setting banter ("about thousand youngsters… not overcrowded, very comfortable out on the floor and not a streaker in sight"), and then kicks into a "Breadfan" that reminds us why Budgie deserve so very much more than the second division metallurgist tag that normally accompanies mention of their name.
With Burke Shelley already sounding like his voice has been through the wringer, but the band hitting warpspeed around him, it’s the traditional Budgie blend of skull-pounding riffs and heartwarming melodies, colliding in the most unexpected places again and again and again. Six songs comprise the hour long broadcast - an impassioned "Powdered Milk," "Hammer And Tongs," "Parents," "Rocking Man" and, best of all, a "Zoom Club" that really does zoom, soaring from sublime high to deafening peak around one of the slinkiest, most seductive rhythmic riffs ever conceived.
What’s most amazing, though, is the fact that Budgie were already a little past their peak when this was recorded… a full concert tape from two years previous would wipe the floor with this one. But still there’s not another band of their breed that could compete with Budgie in full flight and, until they get the box set they deserve, discs like this will be precious as gold dust (Review by Dave Thompson).
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This post consist of  FLACs ripped from CD and includes full album artwork for both Vinyl and CD. The quality of the recording is simply brilliant and although the track listing for this concert is limited, most tracks are 8+ mins in length and showcase some of Bourge's best guitar work.
This concert was taped for Radio Broadcast, taken from their 'In For The Kill' tour and consequently is one of the best Budgie bootlegs in circulation. This bootleg is not for the faint hearted, and should be played loud, real loud !
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Track Listing 
01. Breadfan (6:13)  
02. You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk (8:10)  
03. Hammer And Tongs (12:00)   
04. Zoom Club (8:44)   
05. Parents (8:39)   
06. Rocking Man (9:10)
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Budgie were:
Burke Shelley- Vocals, Bass
Tony Bourge - Guitar, Vocals
Pete Boot - Drums  
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Budgie Live In London (FLACs)

Canned Heat - '70 Concert: Live In Europe (1970)

(U.S 1965 - Present)
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Emerging in 1966, Canned Heat was founded by blues historians and record collectors Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson and Bob "The Bear" Hite. They gained international attention and secured their niche in the pages of rock 'n roll history with their performances at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (along with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Who) and the headlining slot at the original Woodstock Festival. Wilson was already renowned for his distinctive harmonica work when he accompanied veteran bluesman, Son House, on his rediscovery album, "Father of the Blues." Hite took the name Canned Heat from a 1928 recording by Tommy Johnson. They were joined by Henry "The Sunflower" Vestine, another ardent record collector capable of fretboard fireworks at a moment's notice who was a former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Rounding out the band in 1967 were Larry "The Mole" Taylor on bass, an experienced session musician who had played with Jerry Lee Lewis and The Monkees and Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra on drums who had played in two of the biggest Latin American bands, Los Sinners and Los Hooligans and then with The Platters, The Shirelles, T-Bone Walker and Etta James.

Canned Heat's unique blend of modern electric blues, rock and boogie has earned them a loyal following and influenced many aspiring guitarists and bands during the past 35 years. Their Top-40 country-blues-rock songs, "On The Road Again," "Let's Work Together," and "Going Up The Country," became rock anthems throughout the world with the later being adopted as the unofficial theme song for the film Woodstock.
Right from the start, Canned Heat has been at the forefront of popularizing blues music. Their second album, "Boogie With Canned Heat," included the worldwide hit "On The Road Again" and a twelve minute version of "Fried Hockey Boogie" that established them with hippie ballroom audiences as the "kings of the boogie!" Their third album, "Living The Blues," included a 19-minute tour de force, "Parthenogenesis" which displayed the quintet at their most experimental along with their incarnation of Henry Thomas' "Bulldozer Blues" where singer, Wilson, retained the tune of the original song, rewrote the lyric and came up with "Goin' Up The Country," whose simple message caught the "back-to-nature" attitude of the late '60s and went to #1 in 25 countries around the world.

The band can boast of collaborations with John Mayall and Little Richard and later with blues icon, John Lee Hooker, the musician that they initially got much of their musical inspiration from in the first place. This union first produced the spirited and revered album, "Hooker 'n Heat" and then Hooker's 1990 Grammy Award-winning classic, "The Healer." The band is also credited with bringing a number of other forgotten bluesmen to the forefront of modern blues including Sunnyland Slim, who they found driving a taxi in Chicago, Skip James, who they found in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi and took to the Newport Festival, Memphis Slim and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown with whom they recorded in France and Albert Collins. They brought Collins to California where they had their manager negotiate a recording agreement for Albert that started him on his way to becoming a well known musician throughout the world.
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On September 3rd, 1970, the band was shattered by the suicide of Alan Wilson. His death sparked reconstruction within the group and member changes continued throughout the next two decades. On April 5th, 1981, at the Palamino in Los Angeles, gargantuan vocalist, Bob Hite, collapsed and died of a heart attack and on October 20th, 1997, Henry Vestine died in Paris, France following the final gig of a European tour.
Despite these untimely deaths and assorted musical trends, Canned Heat has survived under the leadership of Fito de la Parra since the late 70's. Since 1967, the band has toured extensively all over the world, performing at numerous festivals including Monterey Pop, Newport Pop, the Sturgis Motorcycle Run U.S.A., and the original Woodstock. They have performed at world-renowned venues such as Paris' Olympia, both Fillmore Auditoriums, The Kaleidoscope, Carnegie Hall (with John Lee Hooker), Madison Square Garden and even Royal Albert Hall and have played more biker festivals than any other band in the world.

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They and/or their music have been featured on television (In Concert, David Frost, Merv Griffin, Midnight Special, Playboy After Dark, etc.), and in films ("Woodstock," "Flashback," and "Forrest Gump" etc.). Their legend has recently been heard and felt in various television commercials ("On The Road Again" for Miller Beer, "Goin' Up The Country" for Pepsi, Chevrolet and McDonalds, "Let's Work Together" for Lloyd's Bank, England's Electric Company and for Target Stores along with other songs for 7-Up, Levi's and Heineken Beer).

Now, more than thirty six years later, Canned Heat is still going strong. Anchored throughout by the steady hand of drummer/band leader Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra (a member since 1967), Canned Heat is well on track to carry the boogie-blues it made famous, well into the 21st century. With one of their strongest lineups ever, now together since the end of 1999, Fito on drums, Greg Kage on bass and vocals, Dallas Hodge on guitar and vocals, John Paulus on guitar and vocals and Stanley Behrens on harmonica, flute, saxophone and vocals.
Fito's book, "Living The Blues" is available through the band's website and at most popular book outlets. It is the complete and outrageous Canned Heat story of "Music, Drugs, Death, Sex and Survival" along with over 100 captivating pictures from their past.
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Concert Review
Canned Heat '70 Concert is taken from various locations on live concert European tour right before Alan Wilson’s death and is the band's first officially released live album. Canned Heat had toured Europe in 1970 in support of their album Future Blues, which had featured the hit single "Let's Work Together" (a #2 hit in the UK). Recordings from the tour were put out as a live album, orginally called Canned Heat '70 Concert - Recorded Live In Europe (as per this post), but later reissued with the simpler title Live In Europe. It was a great blues album, showcasing the whole band, in particular the excellent lead guitar of newcomer Harvey Mandel. The album did well in the UK, where it reached #15.

However on their return to America, both Mandel and bassist Larry Taylor left the band to work with John Mayall (who had just then relocated to California). Original lead guitiarist Henry Vestine then returned, bringing with him bassist Antonio de la Barreda.
This album captures the 1970 incarnation of Canned Heat with Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals), Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/vocals/harmonica), Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass), Aldolfo "Fito" de la Parra (drums), and newest addition Harvey Mandel (guitar), who had replaced Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar) in 1969.
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.They headed across the Atlantic in the spring of 1970 on the heels of "Let's Work Together" -- a Wilbert Harrison cover that charted within the Top Five in Europe. These are also among the final recordings to feature Wilson, whose increasing substance abuse and depression would result in an overdose prior to having re-joined the band for another stint in Europe in the fall of the same year. Indeed the brooding "Pulling Hair Blues" from this effort is marked not only by some decidedly dark and strung-out contributions, but more subtly, Hite's tentative introduction of Wilson -- indicating he had not been playing for the duration of the set. The Heat's performance style has shifted from the aggressive rhythm and blues of their earliest sides to a looser and more improvisational technique. The opener, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right Mama," is given a greasy mid-tempo groove over Hite's vocals . Mandel shines as his guitar leads dart in and out of the languid boogie. Although presented as a medley, "Back on the Road" is more or less an inclusive number with only brief lyrical references to "On the Road Again." Mandel's sinuous fretwork melds flawlessly with Wilson's harmonica blows. The powerful rendering of the aforementioned "Let's Work Together" is a highlight, with Canned Heat in top form as Wilson's electric slide riffs recall their seminal sound.
[Review by Lindsay Planer at AllMusic.com]
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from my vinyl copy (the album has seen better days so click removal was applied to the audiophiles) and includes full album artwork for both CD and vinyl releases.
What makes this post great is the fact that the rough sound reproduction on this 45 year old vinyl gives the listener a realistic concert experience which is lacking on any CD release.
So sit right back, crank up the bass, and as The Bear would say: "Don't Forget To Boogie!"
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Tracklisting
01     That's All Right Mama    
02     Bring It On Home    
03     Pulling Hair Blues    

04     Medley: Back On The Road/On The Road Again    
05     London Blues    
06     Let's Work Together    
07     Goodbye For Now
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Band Members:
Bass – Larry "The Mole" Taylor
Drums – Adolfo "Fito" De La Parra
Guitar – Harvey Mandel
Guitar, Vocals, Harp – Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson
Vocals – Bob "The Bear" Hite
Producer – Skip Taylor
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Canned Heat Link (127Mb) New Link 17/12/2023
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Cilla Black - Cilla Sings A Rainbow (1966)

(U.K 1963 - Present)
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Cilla Black (OBE) is without doubt one of Britain’s most successful and best-loved entertainers. Over the years, she has had 19 Top 40 singles (including two #1 hits), sold out concert venues around the world and presented many iconic TV shows whilst bringing up three sons with her husband, Bobby Willis.
Born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on the 27th May 1943, she grew up in a musically oriented household in one of the toughest parts of Liverpool. Living with her parents and three brothers, she was often encouraged to practise her innate singing talent by performing to her family. “It’s no wonder that I knew I wanted to be a professional singer from a very early age, because I was surrounded by music in our house. My father played the mouth organ, my mother and aunts used to sing, and it wasn’t unusual for families to get together and make their own music in the fifties.”

During her late teens, the sheer drive Cilla had to become famous made her adamant that she would never be labelled as just another girl “suitable for office work” as an early school report had suggested. Understandably, she wanted more from life and could regularly be found escaping to the trendy clubs of the day like The Iron Door and The Cavern, the latter of which was where she worked as a coat-check girl. She also served coffee at The Zodiac, another clubbers’ haven, where, incidentally, she met her husband-to-be, Bobby Willis. Perfectly placed amongst the up-and-coming stars of the day, she wowed them with her singing and confidently convinced the powers that be to let her share the spotlight on stage.

Cillla 'Sings A Rainbow' Promo Shot

Thanks to a lot of support from her friends, she quickly became a mini-celebrity in her neighbour- hood, performing alongside so many legendary acts that were fundamental in establishing the “Mersey Sound”, such as The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Fourmost and Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Due to a twist of fate, Priscilla White (known around the Liverpool music scene as “Swinging Cilla”) almost overnight received a new stage name, when the music paper the ‘Mersey Beat’ misprinted her surname as Cilla Black, a name that she favoured and happily kept.
It wasn’t long before Cilla came to the attention of Brian Epstein, a local talent scout and manager of The Beatles. Epstein was introduced to her by none other than John Lennon, who persuaded him to arrange an audition at The Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead. Unfortunately, the audition was unsuccessful due to a combination of nerves and singing to The Beatles’ accompaniment, who played in their own key. All was not lost as, to her surprise, she was later spotted by Epstein while singing “Bye, Bye Blackbird” in the jazzy surroundings of the Blue Angel club. This performance finally convinced him to sign her, so on the 6th September 1963, she became his only female vocalist!

Cilla hosts her own show in 1969

There was an immediate bond between Cilla and Epstein. From the moment he met his starlet, he wanted to nurture the ‘Judy Garland’ qualities he believed she possessed, having high aspirations of creating a British icon who, in his prophetic words, would become “…one of the biggest stars in this country for thirty or forty years”. His faith, combined with Cilla’s talent, effortlessly convinced George Martin, the renowned producer of Matt Monro, Shirley Bassey and The Beatles, that she was worthy of signing to Parlophone Records (a subsidiary label of the EMI Group). Shortly afterwards, Cilla Black made her debut on the British singles charts with one of the first of many songs given to her by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. “Love of the Loved”, a song Cilla had often heard The Beatles perform at The Cavern. The recording made a modest impression on the British charts when it was released on the 27th September 1963.

This was soon to be overshadowed by her next release, which Brian Epstein discovered on a trip to the USA. “Anyone Who Had A Heart”, a song by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, had already proved to be a massive hit for Dionne Warwick which Cilla, then a keen follower of the US Top 100, had already admired prior to it being suggested by Epstein. Her knockout rendition, recorded in January 1964, went on to become not only her first #1 but is still, to this day, the biggest selling single of all time by a British female recording artist. George Martin acquired the perfect follow-up, an Italian ballad, “Il Mio Mondo”, with an English lyric, became “You’re My World”. This epic “torch” song went on to become Cilla’s second #1, paving the way for an influx of other Italian songs such as Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”. Furthermore, it broke Cilla into the tough US market as well as gaining her massive support across Europe and Australasia, culminating in hundreds of sell-out concert dates throughout her time at EMI (1963-1978).

“When I reached #1 in the charts with “You’re My World”, it made me the second British girl to ever have two successive #1 hits. I heard the good news just days before my 21st birthday. Two #1 hits in a row!” During the sixties, Cilla sustained her place at the forefront of the Brit-Pop music scene, with one of the most impressive starts for a British female recording artist, including 17 consecutive Top 40 triumphs on the singles charts. To put this unprecedented success into perspective, it happened during a decade when achieving a Top 20 single meant that you had to sell in excess of 100,000 copies a day in the UK alone!
In August 1967, only days before his premature death, Brian Epstein had engineered Cilla’s switch to television with her own eponymous variety show for BBC TV. The immediate success of the ‘Cilla’ series marked the beginning of a new phase of Cilla’s professional life as she was now one of Britain’s top rated television entertainers. Her show regularly commanded staggering audience figures of between 18 and 22 million until it ended in 1976. Apart from providing Cilla with the opportunity to perform her music, it also showcased her infectious personality, her ability to host a live show, the ease with which she performed with guest stars, acted in comedy sketches and her forte – her interaction with the general public.

Cilla’s immense popularity continued throughout the seventies into subsequent decades through an array of successful concert tours, situation comedy series, pantomime performances, summer season shows, West End productions and prime-time entertainment shows – ‘Surprise!, Surprise!’ (1983-1997; 14 Series/137 shows) and ‘Blind Date’ (1985-2003; 18 Series/380 shows). The latter show earned Cilla an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In 1997, Cilla was honoured with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for her achievements in the entertainment industry.
In 1999, after 30 years of marriage, Cilla’s beloved husband and manager Bobby Willis sadly passed away at the age of 57. Bobby was not only acknowledged and respected for his skillful management of Cilla’s career, he was a songwriter, executive TV producer and executive producer of many stage productions.
In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 revealed that Cilla’s version of “Anyone Who Had a Heart” was the UK’s biggest selling single by a female artist in the 1960s.
In September 2013, Cilla Black celebrated her 50th year in the entertainment business.  For more information on Cilla Black’s life and career, see Cilla's Website.
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from my vinyl copy that I recently found at my local salvos - in absolute pristine condition. Whoever owned this LP really looked after it all those years and looks like it has been rarely played. Full album artwork and select photos of Cilla are also included. Strange how this pressing is Stereo where as all other releases I found on eBay etc are Mono (see cover below)
Now some of you are probably wondering what possessed me to post this early pop album from the sixties on this blog. The cover holds the key - how could anyone resist - what a smasher !  Enjoy
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Track Listing

01 - Love's Just A Broken Heart
02 - Lover's Concerto
03 - Make It Easy On Yourself
04 - One Two Three
05 - There's No Place To Hide
06 - When I Fall In Love
07 - Yesterday
08 - Sing A Rainbow
09 - Baby I'm Yours
10 - The Real Thing
11 - Everything I Touch Turns To Tears
12 - In A Woman's Eyes
13 - My Love Come Home
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Cilla Black Link (82Mb) New Link 14/11/2024

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Bill & Boyd - Companions (1978)

(New Zealand 1959 - 1989)
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The duo 'Bill Cate & Boyd Robertson' (alias Bill & Boyd) teamed up while they were both still at college in Wellington, New Zealand. They started off playing at concerts for fellow students. Then they graduated to clubs and managed to score a recording deal with a local label. A succession of hits followed on the New Zealand charts and they toured the country several times.
Then, early in 1964, they left their following behind to further their careers in Australia. They wasted no time in releasing their first Australian hit in June of that year entitled "Chulu Chululu". It was a bright, sing-along song recorded live at the Rotorua Sound Shell in New Zealand.
The talented Kiwis were quick to gain popularity, appearing regularly on TV (particularly on Bandstand) and working clubs around Australia. After repeating their initial chart success and refining their act even further, they left for America early in 1968. In the US they toured with the Supremes and Herb Alpert. The highlight of the tour was a mammoth performance at Central Park in New York.
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On their return to Australia, they established themselves as a top club act. In 1970, they joined Ron Tudor's newly formed Fable label. Their first release, in July 70, was a version of "It's A Small World" which, although a steady seller, didn't quite make the top forty. They had several releases over the next four years including the patriotic "Aussie" single in July 1974. However, their big chart re-entry came in January 1975 with "Santa Never Made It To Darwin". The song, of course, referred to the Cyclone Tracy disaster which devastated Darwin on the Christmas Eve just prior. It was recorded with the intention of raising funds for the appeal from royalties. Bill and Boyd's aim was more than satisfactorily achieved when the record made number one nationally.
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In mid 1975, the duo released an album entitled Bill & Boyd (which Fable hope to revamp and re-release early in 1978) and hit the charts at the end of the year with "Put Another Log On The Fire", and Bill and Boyd were a household name in Australia.  After that they took a break from recording and concentrated on touring.
 After over 15 years playing together, Bill & Boyd were at the peak of their career, performing on a Dinah Shore TV special filmed at the Sydney Opera House, and touring with Glen Campbell. This connection led to Campbell producing an album for the duo in Los Angeles, using his own backing band. When Companions was released in Feb 1979 they were dividing their time between England and the US, but they still regarded themselves as New Zealanders. On the TV show Dinah they agreed to perform only if a National Film Unit clip on New Zealand was screened while they were singing. “That clip was so long,” Cate told Gordon Campbell, “that we must have gone through about 50 repeats of ‘Pokarekare Ana’.”
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Bill and Boyd continued to perform together until 1989, more than 30 years after they first traded harmonies. In Australasia, perhaps only the Bee Gees could claim a longer career – but they were related. As John Dix wrote a year earlier, “Schoolmates at Wellington’s Naenae College, Bill Cate and Boyd Robertson must really like each other.” 
J & B Records have released an album of their all time greatest hits called 'Dreamin'  and in 2003 we finally got a CD compilation from EMI of all their greatest hits. A long time coming indeed.
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from a recently acquired vinyl record, found tucked away in a Antique Bazaar in Moonee Ponds. Yep, another gem just collecting dust and picked up for the cost of a gold coin. And on further investigation  at home, I discovered to my surprise that the inner sleeve had been autographed by the duo themselves. Although this album does not feature any of their more popular hits, the album consists of  10 strong tracks produced by  the legendary Glenn Campbell.  Worth a listen, even if you're not a country fan.
Also included is full album artwork and one of their most popular singles "Santa Never Made It  To Darwin" as a bonus track.
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Track Listing 
01 - Companions
02 - Universal Law
03 - Where There's A Love There's A Way
04 - I See Love
05 - Colleen
06 - This Is Getting Funny (But There Ain't Nobody Laughing)
07 - Let's All Sing A Song About It
08 - Roll On Bother
09 - Fool Ya
10 - At Times I Wonder Why That The Lord Has Chosen Me
11 - Santa Never Made It To Darwin (Bonus Track)
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The Band:

Vocals: Bill Cate & Bill Robertson
Drums: Steve Turner
Bass: Bill McCubbin
Keyboards: T.J Kuenster
Acoustic Guitars: Carl Jackson & Craig Fall
Electric Guitar: carl Jackson
Banjo & Fiddle: Carl Jackson
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Bill & Boyd Link (76Mb)
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W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Little Roger and the Goosebumps - Stairway To Gilligan's Island (1978)

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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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Supposedly Robert Plant's favorite version of Stairway To Heaven and done with Gilligan Island Lyrics.....
Little Roger and the Goosebumps was a pop/rock band from San Francisco active during the 1970s and early 1980s and resurrected in 2006. It has been led throughout its history by Roger Clark and Dick Bright, with various sidemen.
The band is best known for its single "Gilligan's Island (Stairway)", a song combining the lyrics to the theme song of the television show Gilligan's Island with the music of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. The band wrote the song in 1977 as "material to pad the last set of the grueling 5 nights a week/4 sets a night routine," recorded it in March 1978, and released it as a single in May 1978 on their own Splash Records label. Within five weeks, Led Zeppelin's lawyers threatened to sue them and demanded that any remaining copies of the recording be destroyed. The song was reissued in 2000 on the CD Laguna Tunes with the song title renamed "Stairway to Gilligan's Island."
During a 2005 interview on National Public Radio, Robert Plant referred to the tune as his favorite cover of "Stairway to Heaven."
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For background information on my favourite T.V Sitcom 'Gilligan's Island' see my previous posts:
 The Ballad Of Gilligan's Island - A Parody 
and  
The Mosquitoes - Gilligan's Island

But for a first hand account on some of those perplexing questions that always crop up when discussing the show, this is what castaway Russell Johnson (alias 'The Professor') says in his book:
 HERE ON GILLIGAN'S ISLE..

Sometimes I've wondered if people take Gilligan's Island too seriously. It amazes me how even today, people assume it's hip to pose this bright revelation by asking, "Why would the Howell's bring all that money along on a three-hour tour?" Man, it doesn't take any gray matter to figure that out!
You don't know how many stand up comics owe money to Gilligan for writing their material for them. Our show has been fodder for their routines for years. They pose all kinds of riddles,"How come the Professor could build a nuclear reactor, but he couldn't build a boat to get them off the island?" (And I never built a nuclear reactor.)
Of course, our show was inconsistent and incongruous. Of course there are unanswered questions. At first, we asked the same questions, and then we just accepted it all and stopped wondering. Jim Backus explained it perfectly for a reporter a few years ago:"The question we always get is, "Where did [the Castaways] get all those clothes?" I always say, 'They had a very large suitcase.' What's funny is that they never think that's a phony answer. They wink; they're in on the joke. After all these years, they are still in on the joke."
My answer: "It's in the script."
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.In fact, it's in the theme song. Do you realize the lyrics lie to you? Think about it: "The mate was a mighty sailing man"? C'mon now.
"If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost..." Would be lost? We were lost.
And it wasn't a desert isle. It was a jungle island.
So your imagination gets a workout—or your gullibility, depending on how you look at it. Sure Mr. Howell brought along his stock certificates for the Tahatcha-Pookoo Oil and Mining company. Sure Mr. Howell packed an Indian chief's headdress in his trunks of clothing. Once you get past the insanity of it all, it's not so bad.
One question that is often posed to me involves the Professor's total lack of sexual interest. Was he asexual? He didn't even know how to kiss a woman affectionately.The answer is that Sherwood Schwartz did not want to get into the sexual natures of the characters too deeply, outside of the obvious, like the Howells' devotion to each other and Ginger's lusty one-liners. Keep in mind, the consensus from the cast in the beginning was that we were targeting this show toward children. The fact that adults came along was a surprise to all of us. As time went by, it became more sophisticated, if you'll allow me that. We could see how the scripts would grab some adults. [ Transcript by Russell Johnson, 'Here On Gilligan's Island', HarperPerenial 1992,  p183-4 ]
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So, once again, my regular monthly WOCK on Vinyl post is dedicated to yet another 'Parody' based on my favourite T.V sitcom from the 60's - 'Gilligan's Island'. The C is definitely for Crazy Castaways, while the K is reserved for the Korny idea of mixing a Led Zeppelin tune with the lyrics from the Gilligan Island's theme, and then releasing it on the SPLASH label.
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Stairway To Gilligan's Island Link (10Mb)
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