Saturday, March 31, 2018

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Les Patterson - 12 Inches of Les The Album (1985)


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.
.
From the desk of:
Dr. Sir Leslie Colin Patterson, K.B.E.
EMERITUS VICE-CHANCELLOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF AUSTRIALIAN STUDIES

Dear Music Lover,

I’m Australia’s best loved diplomat, no worries, but I’m certainly no kill-joy or blue-nosed wowser, to use an old ethnic Australian expression.

An old mate of mine Ken (Tommo) Thompson, who’s been kicking around the upper echelons of the P.R. Rag-Trade Media traps for yonks, first introduced me to the raunchy sound of Country Music. I heard it and I liked it, little dreaming that a couple of years later I’d be laying down these chart-bustin' tracks.

In my capacity as Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of the London School of Australian Studies, Shadow Cultural Attache to the Court of St. James and Chairperson of the Australian Chapter of the World Cheese Authority, I’m a self-taught singer. Currently, the voice you hear on this microgroove is completely ‘natural’ and ‘untrained’ in terms of singing.


Yet these tracks, mostly crafted by Aussie’s award-winning and internationally acclaimed songsmiths, Barry Humphries and Diane Millstead and arranged by ace muso David Mackay, have already had hard-nosed critics using adverbs like ‘comparatively nice’ and ‘quite acceptable’.

I guess you could say I am the acceptable voice of the Post Nashville Sound as we know it Down Under. I am also an up-market Johnny Cash and a thinking man’s Leonard Cohen. There’s even a bit of Dolly Parton in me, though I wouldn’t mind an even bigger bit of me in Dolly Parton. Are you with me?

This is a family record. Take it on your holiday with you and you’ll end up with a family.

It remains for me to thank Bob England and Tim Prior of Towerbell Records for making this waxing the fun it sounds and the Australian Cheese Board (literary and musical archives division) for paying the band, though let’s face it , Cliff Hall on keyboards, Chris Rae on guitar, Paul Westwood on bass and Graham Jarvis on drums would all have done it for nothing. No worries.

All the best,
Sir Les Patterson


This month's WOCK on vinyl is yet another Barry Humphries (aka Les Patterson) gem, requested by the blog follower 'Real Deal' just recently.  Les Patterson is another one of Humphries fictional characters - obese, lecherous and offensive. However, Patterson is Dame Edna Everage's exact opposite: she is female, refined, Protestant and from Melbourne; while Les is male, uncouth, Roman Catholic and from Sydney.
Because these recordings are Wicked and Offensive, they fit nicely into the WOCK charter, and I'm sure sure your'e going to love these comical and  riskee' ditties. My favourite of course is the single "Give Her One For Christmas" which only features 7 Inches of Les!
Because the songs run into one another with Patterson's never ending hilarious dialogue, I have chosen to rip each side of the album as a single file to retain the continuity of the entertainment.  Ripped from Vinyl in MP3 (320kps) format, this post includes full album artwork and label scans.

Tracklist
A1 Sir Les Intro (Genuine Reprise)
A2 Role Model For All Australian Ministers For The Yartz Discusses Diplomacy & Diversification
A3 Genuine
A4 Lady Gwen Former Hand Model (The Woman Behind The Statesman)
A5 My Old Lady
A6 Vinyl Venues, San Quentin Or Wormwood Scrubs?
A7 Give Her One For Christmas (A Seasonal Chartbuster)
A8 You Can't Win 'Em All
A9 Help Me Make It Through The Night +
B1 Patterson's Pointers On Political Pitfalls
B2 Never Trust A Man Who Doesn't Drink (Blue Nosed Wowser)
B3 Les Exposes Himself And The Odd Masonic Secret
B4 Motel Mini Bar
B5 It's Stiff Cheddar, Chairing The Cheeseboard
B6 Song Of Thanks
B7 Sir Les Outro & Encore
B8 Desert Island Dilemmas
B9 Bangkok Chiropody
B10  13,000 Miles
.
.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

John Lennon - Live In New York City (1986)

(U.K 1957 - 1980)
.
On 30 August 1972 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, John Lennon performed two shows, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, to raise money for children with mental challenges at friend Geraldo Rivera's request. The benefit concerts, billed as One to One, also featured other performers in addition to Lennon, including Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Melanie Safka and Sha-Na-Na. These concerts were Lennon's only rehearsed and full-length live performances in his solo career, and his first – and last – formal, full-fledged live concerts since the Beatles retired from the road in 1966.
Both concerts sold out in advance. The first show, which had been added due to public demand for tickets, was dubbed “the rehearsal” by Lennon, owing to the band’s relative lack of experience performing live to such large audiences.

The full setlist was (as pieced together by The Amazing Kornyfone Label from amateur recordings):

- Power To The People intro / New York City
- It’s So Hard
- Move on Fast
- Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
- Sisters, O Sisters
- Well, Well, Well
- Born In A Prison
- Instant Karma
- Mother
- We’re All Water
- Come Together
- Imagine
- Open Your Box
- Cold Turkey
- Hound Dog
- Don’t Worry Kyoko (only performed at the matinee performance)
- Give Peace A Chance

"Give Peace A Chance" was the final song, and Lennon and Ono were joined on stage by the other stars and the organisers of the concerts.


During John Lennon's early solo years, he had recorded songs and made public statements about social injustice and the need for world peace, but in New York he became actively involved with political protests. Several of America's best-known left-wing radicals, including Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, were soon in touch with him, welcoming the support and publicity that his name brought to any cause. John and Yoko supported a protest for American Indian rights at Syracuse, gave a concert for the relatives of victims of a controversial tiot at Attica prison, and played a benefit for jailed activist John Sinclair.

John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band
In 1972, John and Yoko teamed up with an American rock band called Elephant's Memory to record some protest songs for the album, 'Some Time in New York City', which also featured a bonus LP of live recordings made in England by the Plastic Ono Band in 1969. It was an unsuccessful record, both commercially and critically, and marks the low point of Lennon's post-Beatle recording career.
The songs, some solo efforts written by John or Yoko, others collaborations, were aggressive and simplistic and focused on several radical issues of the day, including women's liberation, the war in Northern Ireland between the IRA and the British army, and the imprisonment of left-wing activists, and they illustrated rather acutely Lennon's naivety and lack of understanding about many of the issues involved.


The press were harsh in their comments when the LP was released in mid-1972, including Rolling Stone which described the work as, 'Disastrous . . . the politics are witless and the live jams mindless.' John seemed to have forgotten his wise words of the previous year about sweetening the message 'with a little honey', and would later agree that the songs weren't good - It became journalism and not poetry, and I basically feel that I'm a poet.'

Despite the very cool response to the record, John was still popular and a charity event at New York's huge Madison Square Garden, featuring John, Yoko and Elephant's Memory, was a great success, earning a five-minute standing ovation for a concert which included strong and impressive performances of the songs, 'Give Peace A Chance', 'Cold Turkey', and 'Instant Karma', and raised a lot of money for handicapped children. It was one of several fund-raising events involving the Lennons in the summer of 1972 which raised an estimated £700,000.

Live in New York City" reached #55 in the UK, and surprised many with its US appeal where it peaked at #41 and eventually went gold.  [extract from John Lennon: An Illustrated Biography by Richard Wootton, Hodder & Stoughton Books, 1984. p 108-109]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my virgin vinyl (found at that Geelong Bazaar still in its shrink wrap) and includes full album artwork plus label scans.
Its nice to find a gem like this and only pay minimal $$.
Although not rare, its one recording I didn't have in my collection and so, I'm sharing with you folks - and always remember to Give Peace A Chance

Track Listing
01 - Power To The People_New York City 
02 - It's So Hard
03 - Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
04 - Well, Well, Well
05 - Instant Karma (We All Shine On)
06 - Mother
07 - Come Together
08 - Imagine
09 - Cold Turkey
10 - Hound Dog
11 - Give Peace A Chance
.
Plastic Ono Elphants Memory Band
John Lennon (Guitar / Keyboards, Vocals)
Yoko Ono (Keyboards)
Stan Bronstein (Saxophone)
Wayne 'Tex' Gabriel (Lead guitar)
John Ward (Bass)
Gary Von Scyoc (Bass)
Jim Keltner (Drums)
Rick Frank (Drums)
Adam Ippolito (Keyboards)

.
Lennon Live In New Your City FLACs Link (277Mb)
New Link 23/12/2023
.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Jon English - Busking (1989) plus Bonus Single

(Australian 1962 - 2016)
.
If Jon English had concentrated on just one aspect of his energetic assault upon Australian entertainment his place in the upper echelons of our cultural fabric would be assured. That he hurled himself, from his teens, into every creative environment that came his way or took his fancy established him over decades as an almost cyclonic force of breadth and diversity. His was a constant and reliable presence.

He came at us in a rush, with a cracking humour to match his enthusiasm, as a roaring pub rocker and bandleader; a prolific and highly successful recording artist; a stage actor in everything from rock operas to Gilbert & Sullivan operettas to rollicking mainstream musicals to David Williamson dramas; a television star and host; a record producer; and even as an ambassador for a Save The Tasmanian Tiger breeding program. It has been said that those spun into his orbit had no desire to escape.


English, born 26 March, 1949, was raised in Hampstead, England and arrived in Australia, along with siblings Janet, Jeremy and Jill, in the wake of a father whose job with KLM air cargo division landed the family in Sydney. The 12-year-old was besotted by the British pop explosion, his enthusiasm becoming manic when Janet took him to Sydney Stadium to see the Beatles in 1964.

He taught himself piano with a smattering of bass and drums and at Cabramatta High School formed a series of bands, becoming the lead singer of the Sebastian Hardy Blues Band, who would evolve into the internationally regarded symphonic progressive outfit Sebastian Hardie.

A year below him was Carmen Sora, whom he married in 1969 at age 20. When impresario Harry M. Miller, fresh from success with Hair, brought the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar to Australia, he and director Jim Sharman auditioned some 2000 applicants for the role of Judas Iscariot, handing the plum job to the migrant kid from Cabramatta. Lyricist Sir Tim Rice has said "I will always be grateful to him for his original and powerful interpretation of the role."

Never Trust A Man In Purple Tights !
English would play Judas for more than 700 performances, returning to the musical in 2012 for a stint as Pontius Pilate. In the years that followed he would be seen in Ned Kelly, Bacchoi, Rasputin, Big River, Noises Off, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Are You Being Served?, Dad's Army, Hairspray, Spamalot and his Gilbert & Sullivan triumvirate – The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore and, most memorably as the rapacious Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (which he delivered on stage more than 1000 times).
For all his theatrical flair he could not be separated from the rock and soul of his childhood and from his love of performing in grimy pubs and beer barns with the Jon English Band, the Foster Brothers, Duck, Pulsar, Baxter Funt and his old comrades Sebastian Hardie.

From his debut 1973 solo album 'Wine Dark Sea' and its sequel 'It's All A Game', English proved to be a formidable chart star, with a string of memorable hits, brooding in their intensity – Handbags and Gladrags, Turn The Page, Hollywood 7, Behind Blue Eyes, Words Are Not Enough, Get Your Love Right and Hot Town – that would find their way to a top five double 'best of ' album English History.


The most successful hit, recorded with Sebastian Hardy's leader Mario Millo, was the lilting Six Ribbons which captured public imagination not only in Australia but across Scandinavia. English had been a familiar face on the small screen before that series, turning up in the likes of Matlock Police, Homicide and Chopper Squad. There was a drug-crazed hippie look, with piercing eyes, that he perfected for such parts, with him once tossing off: "I can't help it if I look like I could axe murder my mother!"

His familiarity with television paid off when he was cast as the hapless, dazed'n'confused rocker Bobby Rivers in All Together Now, alongside Rebecca Gibney, which ran for more than a hundred episodes. He was cast as the male lead in the 1980 film Touch and Go and also notched up roles in the film Walk The Talk and was seen as Old Troy in the 2008 children's series Time Trackers.


Danelle Bergstrom's Portrait of Jon
A portrait of him, by Danelle Bergstrom, took out the Archibald's Packing Room Prize. English's run of consistently well-received albums continued well into the 80s – with such outings as Calm Before The Storm, Inroads, Beating The Boards, Jokers & Queens (with Marcia Hines), Some People, Dark Horses and the featured album 'The Busker' commanding rock respect.

In 1974, English had co-written, with Roy Ritchie, the ballet Phases, which was performed by the NSW Dance Company at Sydney Opera House. He had long harboured a fascination for Trojan War mythology and by 1990 had worked with expatriate record producer David McKay on his own rock opera Paris (Prince of Troy).

The soundtrack album, recorded in England with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic, with such guests as Barry Humphries, Demis Roussos, John Waters, Philip Quast and Doc Neeson of the Angels, won him and McKay a 1991 ARIA Award. It was to English's considerable regret that he was not able to seriously mount the musical on stage.

Over the past decade English recreated the pub rock of his early years, fronting versions of The Rock Show at venues such as Sydney's State Theatre, with a string of promising young performers he came upon at a music college bringing to life classic music from an array of the rockers who shaped him – the Who, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and their contemporaries.
In 2012 he was at the Swedish Rock Festival backed by hard rock band Spearfish. At around the same time he took to the stage playing the lead in The Removalists. The contrasts, of course, did not appear to concern him for a moment.

Performers who had worked closely with him, such as John Paul Young, spoke of his capacity to take on anything and make it work. All marvelled at his geniality, with Ian Meldrum observing that "he never had a bad word to say about anything and nobody had a bad word to say about him". He claimed as "passionate" his devotion to Parramatta and Fitzroy football clubs.



A mainstay of Australian entertainment for more than 50 years, Jon English was in the midst of his customary busy schedule of booked shows when he had complications from heart surgery following a fall. He died, two weeks short of his 67th birthday, surround by his family. [extract from the Sydney Morning Herald]
.
This post consists of FLACs ripped from my newly acquired CD copy of this amazing album.  Found at my local Flee Market for the pricely sum of $2, I think I got a good deal if I compare it to the asking price on eBay (sit down before you follow this link).
Full album artwork for both CD and Vinyl is included along with label scans. Thanks to my good friend Deutros over at Vinyoleum, I have also included the non-album B-Side track "Love Goes On" as a bonus track.   In my opinion, this is one of Jon's strongest albums and was definitely the impetus for his soon to follow Rock Musical  - Buskers and Angels which is also worth a listen.
.
Tracklist
01 Always The Busker 4:27
02 Love Hangs By A Thread 4:33
03 Lonely Target 4:13
04 Only Love Can Show The Way 5:09
05 Younger Days 3:14
06 High Windows 4:27
07 Already Gone 3:22
08 Money Money 3:54
09 Why Don't We Spend The Night 4:00
10 We'll Be There 4:14
11 Love Goes On (Bonus B-Side)  2:25
.

Jon English FLAC Link (281Mb) New Link 24/12/2023
.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Loverboy - Big Ones (1989)

(Canadian 1979-1989, 1991 - Present)
.
If you partied at all in the 80s, chances are your soundtrack included Loverboy. The band captivated legions of loyal fans and helped define the original party rock era of the 1980s. They have sold more than 20 million records worldwide and touched generations of music fans.

Formed in 1979 in Calgary, Canada, Loverboy signed their first deal with Columbia Records Canada in 1980 and immediately went into the studio with producer Bruce Fairbairn and Canadian Music Hall of Fame member Bob Rock to record their self-titled debut album. The band’s music was driven by the powerful vocals of Mike Reno, the relentless rock groove of lead guitarist Paul Dean, the bass stylings of Scott Smith, the melodies of keyboardist Doug Johnson and the heavy rhythms of drummer Matt Frenette. They turned their collective talent into hits such as “Turn Me Loose” and “The Kid Is Hot Tonite.” Loverboy flew off the shelves, setting record sales for a debut album at the time with over 700,000 albums sold in Canada.

Soon after its U.S. release, the album surpassed two million copies sold in North America and four million worldwide. At the 1982 JUNO Awards, Loverboy’s debut garnered an unprecedented six wins in one night.

The band struck platinum yet again with their sophomore release, Get Lucky (1981). It featured the mega-party anthem, “Everybody’s Working For The Weekend,” a song entrenched in popular culture and a mantra for the working masses. The band subsequently garnered two more consecutive wins for Group of the Year (1983, 1984) and another JUNO Award for Album of the Year in 1983.

From 1980 through 1987, the band released four multi-platinum bestsellers featuring such classics as “Hot Girls in Love,” “When It’s Over,” and “This Could Be The Night,” as well as the smash hit “Heaven In Your Eyes,” recorded for the movie Top Gun.

On stage, Loverboy delivered energy, skill, style and showmanship, establishing themselves as a major live act and building a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in rock. They played more than 200 shows in 1980, embarked on an eight-month world tour in 1983 to promote their third album Keep it Up, and hit 100 cities across North America with the release of their fourth album, Lovin’ Every Minute of It (1985).

The band filled arena after arena, becoming one of the top five grossing touring acts and the first Canadian group to be awarded Columbia Records’ Crystal Globe Award for selling over five million records outside their native country.

The release of Wildside, their fifth album, followed in September 1987. While the band scored a minor hit with "Notorious", co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, the album sold relatively poorly and the band broke up in 1988 due to tensions between Dean and Reno.


Dean released a solo album, Hardcore, in May 1989 and a Loverboy greatest-hits album, Big Ones, was released later that same year, in October, to fulfill Loverboy's obligation to Columbia Records. The group briefly reunited in late 1989 to tour to promote it, but broke up again at the tour's conclusion.

The band finally returned to the stage for a benefit concert in 1992 for friend and fellow recording artist Brian “Too Loud” MacLeod. The reception to their performance from music fans and industry professionals was over whelming and prompted the band to go back on tour.

In November 2000, the band suffered a tragic loss when founding bassist Scott Smith lost his life in a boating accident. The surviving members came together and, with the introduction of new bassist Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve, dedicated their next album, a live greatest hits collection called Live, Loud & Loose, to Smith’s memory.

Reno & Smith
In 2005, Loverboy marked their silver anniversary by embarking on a North American summer tour to perform their greatest hits over the previous 25 years, along with some new songs. After a decade away from the studio, the band next recorded the tough-rocking 2007 release, Just Getting Started, starting a creative new chapter in the long history of Loverboy.

The band continues to tour with an average of 60 to 80 shows a year across North America – a testament to their lasting popularity and impressive longevity in the music business. That’s right: they’re still working for your weekend. [extract from the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame Website]



This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from CD and comes with full album artwork for both CD and Vinyl formats, along with label scans.  I must admit that I had always thought of Loverboy as being a one hit band, but when I heard this compilation it became immediately evident that Loverboy had produced a string of hits that easily measured up "Turn me Loose".  The CD release, featured here contains 14 tracks whereas the vinyl release only has 10.  "Working For The Weekend", "The Kid Is Hot Tonite" and "Notorious" (all top 10 hits) are all there along with a string of other catchy tunes, proving that this Canadian band were a force to be reckoned with. So, let me 'turn you loose' and encourage you to grab a copy while it stays Hot Tonite"
.
Track Listing
01 Working For The Weekend 3:43
02 For You 5:56
03 The Kid Is Hot Tonite 4:29
04 Lovin' Every Minute Of It 3:34
05 Lucky Ones 3:52
06 Hot Girls In Love 4:01
07 This Could Be Night 5:00
08 Ain't Looking For Love 4:42
09 Turn Me Loose 5:38
10 Notorious 4:42
11 When It´s Over 5:09
12 Too Hot 4:26
13 Take Me To The Top 6:13
14 Heaven In Your Eyes 4:03
.

Loverboy were:
Mike Reno (Vocals)
Paul Dean (Guitar)
Scott Smith (Bass)
Doug Johnson (Keyboards)
Matt Frenette (Drums)
.
Loverboy Big Ones MP3 (150Mb)
  New Link 24/12/2023

Friday, March 9, 2018

Kraftwerk - Autobahn (1975)

(German 1970 - Present)
.
No other German band has been of such importance to the development of international rock music as Kraftwerk have. This aspect of their career is well documented elsewhere, so I will concentrate on their early years.

In the Summer of 1970, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider finished their own "Kling-Klang" studio in Dusseldorf. The purpose was to experiment with electronics and new sounds without the pressure of limited studio time. For the recording of the first Kraftwerk album in the Summer 1970 they were helped by two percussionists: Klaus Ginger and Andreas Hohmann. The record company Phillips were apparently quite open minded about experimental music at the time, as they signed groups like Cluster, Zweistein and Kraftwerk within months (late 1970 to early 1971).

Kraftwerk I was released in November 1970. It was a landmark of experimental music featuring Hutter's organ sounds, Schneider's flute and violin and manipulated percussion. "Ruckzack" was an experiment of musical scales and flute riffs over a strong and hypnotic rhythm backing. Indeed this was the reference point from which their characteristic "kling-klang musik" gradually evolved during the following years. "Megahertz" was filled with slowly evolving musical clusters while "Stratovarius" and "Vom Himmel Hoch" were more violent and atonal. It wasn't really an "electronic" album, as no synthesizers were in use. Instead Kraftwerk used the sounds of electronically-manipulated oscillator, organ, flute, violin, bass, guitar, drum and percussion.

Considering the unconventional music included on the album, the sales in Germany were stunning: more than 50,000 copies were sold and it also peaked at Number 30 in the national pop charts. Occasionally Kraftwerk performed live in 1970 as a quintet with Michael Rother as the fifth member. Hutter und Schneider recorded the next album Kraftwerk 2 as a duo in 1971. This time the result was more mixed. The track that strongly pointed forward was the excellent "Klingklang". A suitable name for 17 minutes of improvisation upon an electronic rhythm backing, gradually changing pitch. This was a development of the musical idea for "Ruckzack" - Kraftwerk's patented klingklang-music was born! The rest of the album was filled with brave experiments, though some of them failed, such as the dissonant and noisy musical associations of "Atem" ('breath'), "Strom" and "Tonwelle" which included added sound effects. This album also charted in Germany, peaking at Number 36.

At the beginning of 1972, Kraftwerk performed live in France and Germany with Emil Schult, later their lyrics writer, and Plato Riviera. Schult also made a comic insert for Kraftwerk's next album Ralf + Florian (1975). A far more accessible album, where their klingklang music for the first time also became "Tanzmusik" (song title)! Other great tracks were "Kristallo" and "Ananas Symphonie", showing some of Kraftwerk's most romantic sides ever.

As most of you already will know, the next thing to come was Kraftwerk's big commercial breakthrough, in Germany, the USA and UK with the album and particularly the single "Autobahn". This was an edited version of the 22 minute title track occupying side one of the album, a major electronic opus dealing with the monotonous German motorways. The synthesizer harmonics in the main theme line were simply irresistible. This was the first time Kraftwerk used naive but effective lyrics and vocals. Two other fine tracks of the album, "Kometenmelodic 1 & 2", were already available in 1973 as a single.

For an ambitious USA tour (April to June 1975) Kraftwerk were expanded to a quartet, featuring Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flur (both playing electronic percussion). For months a collective group image had been carefully planned and constructed - one of four young men with short, clean-cut hair and identical ties and suits. Soon several stupid and ignorant articles in the press formulated such questions as: 'Kraftwerk - men or machines?'. The group has retained this 'man machine' image ever since to keep the sensation-fixed press continually amused. Radio-Aktivitat (released December 1975) was their first album to appear in both a German and an English version. This was a schizophrenic kind of concept album, toying with the equivocal meaning of the title and thus dealt with both Madame Curie's dangerous inventions and the more harmless radio waves. The title track became a new hit single in several European countries, but it surprisingly flopped in UK and the USA. The album was filled with both tuneful miniatures and noisy oddities.

In the Autumn of 1976 the quartet set out on a major European tour. For the rest of the year Trans Europe Express was recorded. Here they concentrated fully on making intelligent, rhythmic and danceable pop songs, exclusively with electronic equipment. It was a classic within this field, cultivated and perfected in the studio down to the smallest detail. This really pushed the British synthesizer-pop boom to take off around 1979.

Kraftwerk performing Autobahn at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2012
Album Review
Autobahn is an iconic record made up of several essential elements: the graphic motorway symbol on the cover, the slamming of a car door and starting of an engine that precede the music, the rasping vocals and the whoosh that imitates the approach and passing of cars. It’s a 22-minute synthetic symphony to the possibilities of road travel that combines seemingly innocent enthusiasm with a note of deep caution.

Its melodic progress and the sheer pleasure taken in exploring the sonic possibilities of the newly available synthesizer make it as accessible to an eight-year-old as the most wizened critic. Although the lyrics of the title track hint briefly at the presence of nature in the sun’s glittering rays and the green edge of the motorway, it’s roundly addressed by the suite on the original B-side of the record. Although less familiar, the four instrumentals represent a counterbalance to the harsh industrial daylight of Autobahn. They trace a journey that takes in night-time comets, an eerie midnight and ends with a morning walk serenaded by flutes and acoustic piano.



The motorway is an all-too-familiar presence in our lives, but listen to parts of the title track – for example, the passage that begins 10 minutes in – and it’s clear that Kraftwerk are holding up a mirror to the world to reveal its strangeness. Although the group have occasionally been chastised for failing to present a more critical perspective, Autobahn’s deliberate ambiguity is an essential aspect of art and has ensured its longevity 35 years after its original release.

Autobahn is the first of eight albums that Kraftwerk have chosen to re-master and re-release. Although a controversial decision in some quarters, its predecessors Kraftwerk 1 and 2 are lesser works that lack the thematic unity and musical distinction of the rest of the group’s oeuvre. As with the other reissues, much effort has clearly been devoted to the remastering and presentation of the work and the uniting of Emil Schult’s illustrations with the UK motorway symbol is particularly satisfying. Absolutely essential. [Reviews by Colin Buttimer 2009 BBC]
.
This post consists of FLACs ripped from my vinyl copy which has
been in my collection for over 40 years. Side-A has been played more times than I can count, but still sounds as crispy as the day it was first pressed.  Full album artwork is included along with label scans. I just love the Vertigo label on which it is pressed, especially with its 'War of the Worlds' look and feel.  One anomaly I've noted is that the back cover indicates that the album was released 1974, yet the record label specifies 1975, which is confusing.
Anyhow, buckle up folks and start your engines, remember to keep left on the Autobahn and enjoy your ride with this classic German masterpiece.
.
Track Listing
01 - Autobahn          22:30
02 - Kometenmelodie 1  6:20
03 - Kometenmelodie 2  5:44
04 - Mitternacht       4:40
05 - Morgenspaziergang 4:00
06 - Autobahn (Bonus Single) 3:30
.
Kraftwerk were:
Ralf  Hutter: Vocals, Keyboards, Electronics
Florian Schneider: Flute, Vocals Electronics
Klaus Roeder: Violin, Guitar
Wolfgang Flur: Percussion
.
Kraftwerk's Autobahn Link (244Mb)  New Link 24/12/2023
.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Barclay James Harvest - Live (1974)

(U.K 1967 - Present)
.
“I don’t think people realise how far back Barclay James Harvest goes,” says guitarist and vocalist John Lees. “We played Middle Earth at the Roundhouse in 1968 with The Gun, and with Pink Floyd at London All Saints; with Genesis and Led Zeppelin, Pink Fairies, Edgar Broughton, that kind of heritage.”

Lees is right, of course, as many associate the group with their 70s heyday but their story started in Oldham in 1967 when two blues groups joined together to form Barclay James Harvest.

The ambitious group attracted an early patron in local fashion entrepreneur John Crowther, who had bought Preston House, a semi-derelict farmhouse in nearby Diggle, into which the group moved en masse. “We all more or less quit our jobs and threw holiday pay and final pay into a pot, and with his help we were going to write the hit single,” Lees recalls.
Crowther hawked a demo tape around record companies and the band were briefly signed to Parlophone, then moved to EMI’s new progressive subsidiary, Harvest, whose name was suggested by the group.

Initially they played in a melodic, folky style and experimented with chamber ensemble instrumentation such as tenor horn, oboe, recorder and cello, both in the studio and onstage. “We were looking for something very different,” says Lees.

They had come across a mellotron at Abbey Road Studios that Woolly Wolstenholme played on 1968’s Early Morning, their debut single for Parlophone, and they hired one from a keyboard shop in Derby – the first time it had left the shop. They eventually bought it, and it became a hallmark of their sound.

But in the questing spirit of the era, the band were determined to work with an orchestra. They had met up with Robert John Godfrey, who worked for the group’s agents, Blackhill Enterprises. Godfrey orchestrated some of the songs on Barclay James Harvest (1970) and Once Again (1971), and they also worked with orchestral leader and orchestrator Martyn Ford.

Barclay James Harvest were one of the first rock groups to tour with an orchestra, from early 1971, but things weren’t as grand as they might have appeared. “It was a disaster,” say Lees. “It was a [London-based] student orchestra who were hard to work with. We needed to pay for extra rehearsals when they weren’t up to speed, because what we were doing was groundbreaking at the time, marrying a rock band to an orchestra.”

Lees recalls that their budget dictated that the orchestra would get smaller as they played further away from London. The venture practically bankrupted John Crowther, souring their relationship, but it had its benefits.

“It probably made the group, because then we had to pay for it all and that meant gigging for as many days as we could, every week for a year and a half to two years, doing universities, clubs and colleges,” Lees explains. “And that gave us a name and really cemented our career.”

By Everyone Is Everybody Else, released in 1974, the hard-working group had developed into a tougher proposition, with dramatic, anthem like songs fuelled by Lees’ incisive rhythm guitar and keening lead lines, cut with vocal harmonies along the lines of Crosby, Stills And Nash, particularly on bass guitarist Les Holroyd’s Poor Boy Blues.

Barclay James Harvest were virtually unique in progressive rock in that their songs were full of social commentary and even politics. “I’m fortunate in that I can explore my anxieties and fears in songs, but there was always a caveat with me that I don’t really want to ram it down anybody’s throat: if you get the lyrics, then great. If not, it still stands up as a song.”

Lees’ The Great 1974 Mining Disaster references the Bee Gees’ 1967 single New York Mining Disaster 1941, updating it to reflect the miners’ strike that brought down Edward Heath’s government. Holroyd’s Negative Earth is a tale of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission set to a swooning melody, while Lees’ Child Of The Universe and For No One are statements against war and for peace and universality.

Half of the songs on Everyone Is Everybody Else fed into the double album Barclay James Harvest Live, released in 1974, which took many by surprise as it showed that in concert, they were one of the most powerful progressive groups in the UK, their songs elongated and swelling into huge choruses, all powered by Mel Pritchard’s spectacular drumming. It was their first UK chart success, breaking into the Top 20.

Despite “selling out gigs for fun”, the physical size of the PA, the lights and the road crew meant they were only breaking even at the end of UK tours. “That’s one of the reasons we went into Europe, where you could get more bums on seats and justify the cost of the show,” says Lees.

Barclay James Harvest released their eighth studio album, Gone To Earth, in 1977. How does Lees feel they had progressed musically over the decade since forming? “I think it was a great learning curve through the whole of that era,” he says. “Take Hymn. We are producing, from a simple beginning, this huge, climactic number, with what appear to be massive brass and strings, which was in fact just us using synthesizers, mellotron and guitars. Sea Of Tranquility was an orchestral thing Woolly had done, so there’s quite a level of sophistication creeping into the arrangements when you get to Gone To Earth.”

Lees continued his rather cheeky rearrangement of songs with Poor Man’s Moody Blues. Written after a snide music paper review of the group, it’s a pastiche of The Moody Blues’ Nights In White Satin. “I wish I hadn’t penned it – it’s haunted me ever since,” admits Lees. “It might sound similar, but musically it’s not the same at all. The Greeks use it as a wedding song. When they have the first dance, they play Poor Man’s Moody Blues. How that figures, I do not know.”

As Barclay James Harvest began to play more in Germany, that country’s audience formed a peculiarly strong bond with the group. They became massive there, and while Gone To Earth reached No.30 in the UK charts, in Germany it peaked at No.10 and stayed in the album charts for 197 weeks. As of 2011, it was ranked No.6 in the list of albums that have spent the most time in the German charts.

“On one of the later tours we did in Germany, in 1979-80, we sold a million tickets,” says Lees. “It’s ridiculous! I’ve got a platinum ticket at home. Then we went on and played to 185,000 people in front of the Reichstag.”

Barclay James Harvest may have never had the hit single they wanted at the outset, but they’ve more than made up for that with album sales. “We’d sold something like seven million albums back in the late 70's – I hate to think of how many we’ve sold now,” laughs Lees. “It’s fantastic really. We’ve just always had massive support.”
.
Album Review
Why review a live album that was originally released in the year 1974. Well first of all Barclay James Harvest was one of the pioneers of the Symphonic Rock. And in my opinion this album is one of the best live albums of the seventies. At that time the band lost their record contract with Harvest, had no manager and had a huge debt to EMI. After a complex deal Polydor released this double live album for a special price and it became the band's first ever chart record, making number 40 in the UK album chart. It was recorded at the Liverpool Stadium and at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The Drury Lane performance was close to perfection ... only the Mellotron was speeding up and slowing down in the middle of songs and producing some interesting if unmusical wailing sounds. The decision was made to salvage everything possible from the Drury Lane tapes, mixing down the offending Mellotron as far as practicable, overdubbing a minimum of new parts in the studio, and to use the Liverpool tapes only for songs which could not be saved from the Drury Lane concert.

Live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
The album opens with one of my favorite John Lees compositions “Summer soldier”. Broad Mellotron strings and melodic guitar solo's that gives you a shivering that runs down your spine. One of the classic BJH tracks. “Medicine Man” is more upbeat and has that great Moog solo of Woolly. The sound could be compared with the Moog solo's of Peter Bardens in the early days of Camel. The music is working towards a big climax. “Crazy City” was I believe the opening of side two of the double album. The vocal refrain has some CSN&Y influences. The instrumental parts are always building up towards a climax. And that could also be a melodic vocal part.

“After the Day” has a very emotional opening with a soaring guitar part and that great Mellotron carpets. After a slow delicate vocal part the passionate guitar and the Mellotron strings return in this very melodic track. This live album was a kind of best of album in those days. “The great 1974 mining disaster” is for me one of the classic BJH compositions. A slow vocal opening is followed by a delicate melodic guitar solo. “Galadriel” is a short and delicate ballad where the vocals are put on top of a layer of Mellotron strings that reminds of the early King Crimson sound.



“Negative Earth” is also a typical BJH song with a lot of melody and delicate vocals. A song in the tradition of the later albums that brought the band commercial success. It goes seamless into the beautiful love song “She said” where the electric guitar of Lees is competing again with the Mellotron of Woolly. John Lees also plays the recorder on this track. Next is “Paper wings”. After the sad opening this piece reminds me again of the “Mirage” and “Snowgoose” period of Camel. But that has to do with the sound of the Moog. In those days you had only the Hammond, the electric piano, the Mellotron and the first Moogs. For me the golden era of progressive rock. Amazing to hear the emotional and intense music of those days.


And after the beautiful “For no one” it is time for my favorite BJH song “Mockingbird”. A piece with broad Mellotron sounds and melodic guitar work. The strength of the composition is that the tension of the music is very slowly building up towards a great climax. After more than 30 years it can still bring me into tears. It is so beautiful. What does this mean? ... well it must be a great piece of music ... if it has such an impact after more than 30 years. [extract from Progvisions Website]
.
French Cover
This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my newly acquired vinyl which I recently came across at a Bazaar in Geelong. In fact, I scored a number of BJH albums, all in great condition and reasonably priced. The cream on the cake is that this particular vinyl set is a German pressing, making it great quality in my opinion.  Full album artwork and label scans are also included.
.
Tracklist
1. Summer soldier (10:17) 
2. Medicine Man (10:25) 
3. Crazy City (4:58) 
4. After The Day (7:27) 
5. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (6:30) 
6. Galadriel (3:18) 
7. Negative Earth (6:20) 
8. She Said (8:33) 
9. Paper Wings (4:19) 
10. For No One (5:53) 
11. Mockingbird (7:37)

Barclay James Harvest were:
- John Lees / vocals, lead guitar, recorder
- Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme / vocals, electric piano, Moog, Mellotron
- Les Holroyd / vocals, bass, rhythm guitar
- Mel Pritchard / drums
.
Barclay James Harvest Live Link (176Mb) New Link 16/12/2023
.