Saturday, June 30, 2018

W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Captain Goodvibes - Mutants Of Modern Disco (Vol 1)

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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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Is there any good reason that a comic book character captures the zeitgeist and takes off? For whatever reason, Captain Goodvibes (the Pig of Steel) – described by his creator Tony Edwards as the “erratic fascistic, feckless, thirsty, boneheaded, yobbo cartoon character” was a mainstay of surfing magazine Tracks from 1973 until 1981. 

The Captain first appeared at the end of a pen one night in the autumn of 1973. Small but imperfectly formed, he was as surprised as anyone by his success and quite rightly saw his popularity as a licence to behave badly. He started binge drinking before he could breathe and abusing substances as diverse as plutonium and sausage mince before he could think, a gift he still struggles to master.

He took gratuitous filth, violence and bad dietary practices out of the gutter and onto a beach near you, souring young lives and stealing the promise of a bright future from their tiny hands. He blighted the pages of Tracks for about 8 years, polluted the air waves for a couple more and as if to demonstrate the breadth of his genius, embarked on a variety of ill advised projects that bought misery and financial ruin to all concerned.

Always one to rest on his laurels he has lovingly rebuilt this oasis of bad taste as a refuge for those oppressed by the designer desert around us. And so, welcome to the Captain's quagmire and please leave your maturity at the front door.  © Tony Edwards

This months WOCK on Vinyl post is an Australian pressing released on the Sticky label in 1978 (#SRL 001). For those of you who don’t know, Captain Goodvibes was the cartoon pig created by Tony Edwards, and made famous in the 1970’s by the Australian surfing magazine Tracks. The album features 3 spoken word/social commentaries and 1 musical track on each side, by the Captain himself. To say this album is strange is an understatement….. it makes Captain Beefheart sound like The Seekers! Regardless, this is a very rare and collectable album.

Captain Goodvibes was rude, vulgar, self-indulgent and a law breaker. He was capable of leading the most righteous, such as the Phantom, away from a life of heroism into one of indolence and drug-taking.

He was the overweight surfing pig known as Captain Goodvibes, probably the most revered cartoon character in the rich history of surfing magazines.

Between 1973 and 1981, artist Tony Edwards' crude and politically incorrect creation smoked, swore and surfed his way into the hearts of readers of the iconoclastic Australian publication Tracks.

Edwards was a bespectacled, long-haired artist who didn't actually surf but embraced with enthusiasm the bohemian, alternative life of Sydney's northern beaches in the 1970s. He presumably recognised in surfers a tribe of individuals who shaped a life for themselves away from the mundane. And, for a non-surfer, Edwards is uncannily good at drawing perfect waves. The fact they are impossibly perfect is apt for the fantastic universe Goodvibes inhabits.

Goodvibes was the perfect fit for Tracks, the anti-corporate, anti-establishment newsprint monthly created by Alby/Albie/Albert/Albe Falzon (his given name changes with the years), a surf photographer and filmmaker.

I've been told this was once voted the worst record of all time by the Australian Music Press

That has certainly helped it reach infamous collectable status (a copy recently selling on eBay for $120), along with the appeal of the outrageous artwork by Edwards, who made Captain Goodvibes a household name through Tracks magazine.

We should let the Cap have the last word: "Surf's short, death's long, so's me dick, pass the bong."   Says it all, really. 

And so this month's WOCK on Vinyl post ticks all boxes - its Weird, Obscure, Crazy and very, very Korny. Thanks to Mr. Weird & Wacky for this vinyl rip - MP3 (320kps) plus artwork.

Track Listing
01 Welcome To My World
02 An Awful Warning
03 Born Dead
04 Drivels Of Babylon
05 Booogy Woogy Bogy-Man
06 The Bad News
07 Burning Off My Baby
08 Goodnight Everyone Everywhere
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Captain Goodvibes Link (28Mb)
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Tuesday, June 26, 2018

REPOST: Ted Mulry / TMG - Greatest Hits (1977)

(Australian 1970-1989, 1998)
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Ted Mulry wasn't a prodigy or a prima donna but he was a true professional -- a talented, hardworking songwriter, bassist, singer, and producer, a great entertainer, a dedicated family man and one of the nicest blokes in the business. He was and still is without question one of the best-loved rock performers of his time in his adopted home country, and he has a special place in the hearts of a generation of Aussie music fans [extract from Milesago]

In October, 1971 Ted Mulry obtained a contract for the release of his records in England on the Blue Mountain label (a subsidiary of Island Records). However, the company's executives thought his name was too dull so they changed it to Steve Ryder. Ted's records were unsuccessful in England and he resorted to his real name for Australian releases.

When the Ted Mulry gang formed in 1972, Mulry was already a well-known pop balladeer. After getting tired of being backed by different backing bands, in 1972 he switched from acoustic guitar to bass and formed his own band, “Ted Mulry Gang”, with guitarist Les Hall & drummer Herman Kovacs. The band signed a recording deal with Albert Records in 1974 and released their first album “Here We Are”. Guitarist Gary Dixon joined around this time to complete the foursome. With his own band behind him he adopted a more hard rockin’ style.
Their first major hit, and the biggest of their career was the 1975 single "Jump In My Car" which spent 5 weeks at number one on the Australian singles charts. Over the next few years they achieved a string of hit singles including a rocked up version of the old jazz song,"Darktown Strutter’s Ball", "Crazy", "Jamaica Rum" and "My Little Girl". Many of TMG’s songs, including "Jump In My Car", were co-written with guitarist Les Hall. By the early 1980s their chart success had ended but they remained popular performers on the Australian pub circuit throughout the decade.

In early 2001 Ted Mulry announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. A series of tribute concerts organised shortly before his death (Sept 1, 2001), 'Gimme Ted', brought together an assortment of Australian rock acts of his era to pay tribute to him. These included a reunion of his band Ted Mulry Gang with his brother Steve Mulry standing in for him as lead vocalist [extract from Wikipedia]

Unfortunately, Ted's recorded legacy is rather poorly served by his former labels at present. Ted Mulry and TMG tracks have been included on many anthologies over the years, and some of the Albert albums were re-issued on CD but none are currently in print, as far as we know. There is no comprehensive anthology, not even a decent "Best Of' package of the Albert Productions recordings, which is a great shame considering the many hits they provided for the label.

The liquidation of Festival Mushroom Records in 2005 and the subsequent sale of its recording archive to the Warner Music group has placed the Mushroom era material in limbo, a fate it shares with so many other great Australian recordings made by those two companies over the last 50 years.

Original Ted Mulry and TMG vinyl releases are becoming increasingly valuable. TMG items advertised for sale on the Redeye Records website in June 2008 included a radio special disc promoting the Disturbing The Peace LP, listed at AU$120, the TMG singles "Lazy Eyes" (AU$22), "Darktown Strutters Ball" (AU$38) and Ted's solo single "Ain't It Nice" (AU$38). One of the most valuable TMG items is a rare 7" promotional flexi-disc featuring TMG performing the famous Aeroplane Jelly jingle, valued at AU$185.[extract from Milesago]
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ALBUM REVIEW (from RAM, March 10, 1978 p31)
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Ted Mulry/TMG Greatest Hits (Alberts)
Not for nothing is this album titled Ted Mulry/TMG. Young Ted used to be a balladeer before linking with the remnants of Newcastle group Velvet Underground (no, not the Lou Reed Velvet Underground - the Newcastle V.U.)
Turns out Newcastle has been a fortuitous town for Mulry.
"Jump In My Car" looked like being just another drably recorded track on a drably recorded album before Newcastle radio station 2NX recognised there was a hit song trying to bounce out of the drek. Final result: No. 1 all around the country and enough impetus to launch the next single "Darktown Strutters Ball" up the charts. Other hits followed - "Crazy", "Steppin ' Out" were more of the same pop boogie topped off with moderate melodies, and only "Jamaica Rum", a low langorous calypso with a nice Ray Davies/Kinks ambiance, showed TMG could step out of the low-profile boogie rut. It was also one of their least successful singles and so, for the next album, they changed record companies, and shot back to boogie.
But that's another story. Greatest Hits is all about early solo Ted Mulry as well as the early stages of TMG.



Ted Mulry solo existed in the early '70's. He had two hits "Julia" and "Falling In Love Again". At that stage of the game he was billed as a singer/songwriter who'd been discovered driving a tractor in Newcastle. He wrote very Beatle-ish stuff. "Julia" and "Louisa" are very Paul McCartney-esque. And "Memories" sounds like the sort of violin-saturated flowerpot Paul used to write for Peter and Gordon. "Falling In Love Again", even though it was written by Vanda and Young, just about sums up Ted's solo era - a distinctive melody, bouncy backing, and strong lyrical attention to the gooey variety of lerv.
If you think it's strange he, Ted, should have gone from this to being a Young Australian's Version Of Status Quo, so do I. Not that both periods haven't produced highly enjoyable pop moments, they have. But, as a balladeer he could have done with some of the rhythmical guts that emerged circa "Darktown Strutter's Ball". And TMG as a group could certainly use some of the fetching melodies he was purveying as a solo (Reviewed by Anthony O'Grady)
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from my cassette tape and includes limited artwork. The first side of this album is dedicated to Ted's solo work while the flip side features material released by the Ted Mulry Gang (TMG). I have also taken the liberty of including 2 additional TMG singles that were not included in this compilation because of their post 1977 release date - "My Little Girl" and "You've Got The Devil In You".
I have also included scans of the RAM album review and the TMG tour poster.
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Track Listing
[Solo]
01 - Julia
02 - Memories
03 - Ain't It Nice
04 - Louisa
05 - Let's Get Together
06 - I Found My Way
07 - Yesterday Sunshine
08 - Dreams
09 - Falling In Love Again
[TMG]
10 - Jump In My Car
11 - Sunday Evenings
12 - Steppin' Out
13 - Crazy
14 - Jamaica Rum
15 - I'm Free
16 - She's For Me
17 - Darktown Strutters Ball
[Bonus TMG Singles]
18 - My Little Girl
19 - (You've Got The) Devil In You

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Band Members:
Ted Mulry – Vocals and Bass
Gary Dixon – Guitar
Les Hall – Guitar
Herman Kovac – Drums
Mark Tinson – Guitar

Ted Mulry FLAC Link (386Mb)  Link Added 26/06/2018
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Saturday, June 23, 2018

Barclay James Harvest - XII (1978)

(U.K 1967 - Present)
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Barclay James Harvest (BJH) were formed in the late sixties when two R&B bands from Oldham merged to create the Blues band The Blues Keepers; sponsored by local businessman (and manager) they practised extensively in a rented 18 Century farmhouse, eventually gravitating towards progressive rock and changing their name to Barclay James Harvest. BJH experimented with new forms of music, going beyond the guitar, bass and drums format to include strings, woodwind and brass, and to this end acquired a Mellotron to simulate these sounds.

There has always been some debate over the title XII, and what it meant, by a stretch it could be seen as their twelfth together, but the more commonly held explanation is that it marks their twelve years of making music together. However, this would turn out to be the last release before Woolly Wolstenholme packed up his Mellotron and left the band in June 1979, marking the end of one era of the band’s history.

Originally released in September 1978, the album was another big selling release for the band achieving Silver disc status in the UK and Gold in Germany. The album followed in the wake of “Gone to Earth” and saw BJH consolidate the success they had found in Germany and Europe.

The album struck a chord with the record buying public thanks to tracks such as ‘Berlin’, ‘In Search of England’, ‘Nova Lepidoptera’ and more, and its popularity continues to endure.

By the late 1970s, Barclay James Harvest’s prog roots were increasingly only evident in the somewhat nebulous ‘concepts’ that they used to loosely tie their album tracks together with, and the vaguely mystical sleeve art. The music itself seemed to have been smoothed off and simplified to compete with the soft-focus, radio-friendly charms of Journey, REO Speedwagon et al.

Yet perhaps that was just where their muse naturally took them. They certainly weren’t bad at this AOR lark, as this 1978 album showed, and this new sonic overhaul works well – perhaps too well for those of us who found the airbrushing of BJH’s sound a little cloying in the first place. In Search Of England’s sentimental anthems haven’t aged well, and the single Berlin is also a bland affair. But the second half of the album makes up for it, as the new audio clarity further enhances the spacey Floydian float of Nova Lepidoptera, and the banks of harmonies enveloping Harbour are fluffier than ever. Then the best is saved until last – Giving It Up and The Streets Of San Francisco remain two of the band’s finest ballads
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Album Review
You could tell Woolly Wolstenholme was not long for this band, as he was clearly withholding his “A” material (saving it up for his post-BJH solo album Mæstoso, no doubt). “Harbour” is by far the weakest song he’s written for BJH, but “In Search of England” is one of the album’s high points. Elsewhere, John Lees is responsible for the vast majority of the best stuff on this album (going by the song titles, it looks like he was envisioning a sort of concept album, but forgot to tell the other guys in the band!).

“Fact: The Closed Shop” is something of a return to the folky sound of the band’s delightful early singles, or maybe it’s just the use of recorder, harpsichord and Mellotron that’s colouring my perceptions. “Science Fiction: Nova Lepidoptera” is a fine spaced-out mood piece (just ignore the lyrics: doggerel cobbled together from science fiction book titles. No, really!) and “Fiction: The Streets of San Francisco” is likewise evocative (but again: ignore the lyrics, especially if you happen to be a San Francisco native).

Les Holroyd sounds really disinterested this time: “Berlin” is the only song here he contributes that’s anything better than mediocre (amazingly, it was the song that established them as superstars in Germany). And what is up with all the crude attempts at sexual imagery, the infamous “shoot all my love into you” line from “Loving Is Easy” and the entire song “Sip of Wine,” which I am convinced is about oral sex! [thanks to Progbear]
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This post comes with MP3's (320kps) ripped from my vinyl (another Bazaar treasure) along with full album artwork and label scans.  In pristine condition, this rip surpasses any quality you can get from CD and literally jumps out and grabs you while playing. Must be something to do with it being a German pressing I think.  Enjoy
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Tracklist
01. Fantasy: Loving is Easy (4:05)
02. Berlin (4:58)
03. Classics: A Tale of Two Sixties (3:35)
04. Turning in Circles (3:33)
05. Fact: The Closed Shop (3:50)
06. In Search of England (4:18)
07. Sip of Wine (4:31)
08. Harbour (3:46)
09. Science Fiction: Nova Lepidoptera (6:00)
10. Giving it Up (4:47)
11. Fiction: The Streets of San Francisco (5:49)

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
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Barclay James Harvest XII Link (112Mb) New Link 16/12/2023
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Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Jimi Hendrix - The Experience [Towne Records] (1980) Bootleg

(U.S 1963 - 1970)
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This unique, unauthorized ‘bootleg’ release features a raw, two-track mixing console recording of Jimi’s March 19, 1968 concert in Ottawa, Canada. As far as I know (I've looked long and hard), this release by Towne Records (Los Angeles) has never being posted before. Sure, the Ottawa concert has being available under different titles with the Dagger Records release (see cover below) bieing the most common, but this bootleg is one of a kind.

Jimi’s appearance in Ottawa was part of an extensive US tour organized in support of his recently issued second album, Axis: Bold As Love. The guitarist arrived in New York on January 30, 1968 and immediately took part in a press reception organized by publicist Michael Goldstein. Goldstein dubbed the event “The British Are Coming” and made the Experience, as well as the other groups in the Michael Jeffery/Chas Chandler stable available to journalists and photographers at the Copter Lounge atop the Pan Am building in Manhattan.

Dagger Records Release
Following the media hoopla in New York, the Experience flew to San Francisco where their tour began in earnest at the Fillmore Auditorium on February 1. Eight shows over the course of four memorable nights at the Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom launched the tour in grand fashion.  From San Francisco, the Experience ventured across the US, performing at a mix of clubs, colleges, and medium sized auditoriums. Despite the growing popularity of Are You Experienced, issued the previous August by Reprise, Jimi’s US distributor, the Experience had only begun to develop a national following.  As a result, limited finances eschewed the comforts of a tour bus and made leasing a tour airplane unfathomable.  Instead, the group, guided by their faithful road manager Gerry Stickells, made much of their journey across the country in a rented station wagon.  In what can only be described as a remarkable test of their endurance and enthusiasm, the Experience performed sixty concerts in sixty days during the first leg of this
tour.

Five weeks into their dizzying tour itinerary, the Experience arrived in Ottawa to perform two shows at the city’s venerable Capitol Theater. As he often did when performing two concerts in one evening, Jimi varied his set lists.  He maintained some staples such as “Fire” and “Foxey Lady” in each concert, but in the evening’s early performance, of which no recording is known, newspaper reviews reveal that he featured “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “I Don’t Live Today”.  These songs were not revived for the second show, but in their place came “Spanish Castle Magic”, an energetic reading of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” and the lengthy instrumental workout “Tax Free”.

Experience concerts bore little resemblance to seamlessly produced present day rock events.  In 1968, a Jimi Hendrix concert was truly a counter cultural gathering, fueled in large part by the support of underground radio and college newspapers.  The concerts themselves were miles away from today’s rigidly structured events which more often resemble a Broadway production than a traditional rock and roll show.  Technically, Jimi lacked virtually everything from amplifiers capable of withstanding his sonic demands to adequate stage monitoring [during this era, Mitch was often without any monitoring whatsoever].  There were no light cues or pyrotechnics timed to announce Hendrix’s arrival onstage. Jimi simply walked out, greeted the crowd, and would quickly tune his guitar.  During the performance, technical demands and other challenges were either solved on the fly or not at all.  This hasty work invariably took place in plain view of the audience.  Jimi’s Ottawa performance was no different.  As he and his crew struggled to overcome a variety of technical difficulties, Jimi peppered the crowd with his sly wit.


If a desultory review of Jimi’s performance, printed the following morning in the Ottawa Citizen, can be believed, the Experience sold out the second concert of the evening.

There is much to be relished in this unpolished recording.  Jimi’s train whistle feedback announces his powerhouse rendition of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor”.  A stinging “Red House”, Jimi’s own blues masterwork, is even stronger.  Live In Ottawa also presents the earliest live version of “Tax Free” issued to date.  Here Mitchell and Redding push Hendrix insistently throughout the song’s complex arrangement.  The expanded introduction to “Hey Joe”, a precursor to the more elaborate efforts which would follow in the weeks and months to come, is wickedly clever and no doubt a salve to Hendrix’s restless creative spirit.  The guitarist loathed having to replicate his hits in the same manner night after night.  It is alterations and embellishments such as these which made every Jimi Hendrix performance so unique.


Just on five decades later, it is performances such as these which reveal just how exciting it was to have a witnessed a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert.

It is possible that Jimi himself recorded this performance on his own Sony reel to reel tape machine.  He frequently made recordings of various jam sessions and club performances for his own enjoyment.  It is more likely, however, that member of the Capital Theater stage crew documented the performance for posterity.  All of Jimi’s performance is presented in its original running order.  “Wild Thing”, the final song of the evening, cuts out just as Jimi tore through the song’s unforgettable opening chord sequence.  Apparently, the tape operator loaded his reel to reel tape machine with a 2400 hundred foot spool of blank tape.  Such a spool would provide slightly more than sixty minutes of recording time at seven and a half inches per second.  The recording begins with the introduction of the group by CKOY radio personality Nelson Davis and continues until the spool runs out. Lost is the balance of “Wild Thing”, but most of us know what happens at the end there … (extract from Dagger Records)

Full Concert Documentary
Tuesday, March 19 1968
Capitol Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The Experience perform two shows at 18.00 and 20.30, supported by Soft Machine.

During their first show, they perform 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', 'Fire', 'Foxy Lady', 'Red House' and 'I Don't Live Today'.

After the MC introduces the Experience for their second show they launch straight into 'Killing Floor'. After the song, Jimi announces: "Yeah we're having slight difficulties with the equipment, so please hold on for one minute okay, just one second. I hate to bring my own self down with this raggedy equipment, I can tell ya..." The problem is temporarily sorted out, and Jimi continues with 'Tax Free', before announcing "a song called 'Let Me Stand Next To Your Old Lady'... I mean 'Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire'; it is the same thing, you know." At the start of the song, just as Jimi is counting the band in, loud voices come through the bank of Marshall amplifiers. Jimi apologises to the crowd, but continues the song anyway. The voices come through the amps again and Jimi responds with, "Oh man, shut up, man.

Anyway, we'd like to do a blues called 'Red House'. This is on the English LP. I'd like to do if for you now in 1948." This song is followed by 'Foxy Lady', then Jimi announces: " I'd like to try to continue on and... do a thing that was recorded back in 1778... [it was] very hard for us to record in those days, very, very hard indeed to find a studio. But dig, we found it some kind of way. And now [we've got] a brand new psychedelic version of it. Brand new, spanking new, new era type of thing. Yeah we put a 1948 rearrangement on it and it's really outta site man, you should hear it. It goes something like this here." Jimi continues with a version of 'Hey Joe' that includes the new introduction he has been adding. "Yes, we'd like to try a thing called 'Spanish Magic', er, 'Spanish Magic Laffish', yeah, written by Henry Schwartz..."

Jimi has been taping the show himself and now suddenly exclaims, "Oh the tape's gonna run out!" He comments to the audience: "You all just clapping just because you know there a tape recorder running. You don't want us to feel embarrassed when we play it at home to our girlfriends..." The audience responds with loud cheering and clapping, Jimi comments in a loud voice: "Thank you very, very much, thank you very much, we really didn't... we didn't deserve that really, thank you very much though, I really dig it. So I'd like to go ahead on and do 'Spanish Castle Magic', to see if we can get our heads together." Afterwards, Jimi comments: "There's a cat over there... Anyway, he said we have two more numbers to go, so I'd like to say thank you very much man, it's really been a groove and, er, you all really had nice patience, which, er, which is really handy. Thank you very much for letting me, you know get my kicks here and there too.

Now we'd like to play our world-famous song before we get into our last two songs. It's a thing called 'Tune up time blues, part two'." Just then, a roadie tells Jimi that one of his amplifiers is broken. He comments to the audience, in a Bill Cosby voice: "Man, my amplifiers broken. Man, 'em amp's broke, well I can't play my guitar now... It's a drag, man. Hey man, what you wanna break my amp like that for, man? Can you all dig Bill Cosby? He's really outta site." Meanwhile, Jimi is trying to tune his guitar and jokes with the audience: "Next we're gonna have on stage with us a jam session with three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and give 'em out to the winners." Still having problems getting his instrument in tune, Jimi picks up the Bill Cosby theme again: "Oh yeah, the cat... there's a certain person in the audience... how about a big hand for Bill Cosby sitting over there? How about a big hand for Bill Cosby, come on! Oh, wait a minute... Oh, I'm sorry lady, I'm sorry lady, I didn't oh... She spit in my eye, man."


Now tuned up, Jimi hits the harmonics on his guitar and starts a wild introduction to 'Purple Haze'. At the end of the song, he changes guitars - this makes the amplifiers whistle badly. His guitar is out of tune again, and, exasperated, he comments: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, man this really is a hang-up." He asks Noel to play an A so that he can tune his guitar, but as he hits the A string it is completely out of tune, and Jimi quips, "Oh, that's [definitely] not an A there. I mean, common sense would tell anybody that." He continues to tune his A string and tries to sing the same note simultaneously, joking: "Oh wow... I think I'll make a record! That'll be cool: sing on it too." Jimi proceeds to sing 'Rock Me Baby' in a comedy voice. "Oh yes, yes that's it. Oh yeah, you remember those days too, hey?" The audience responds with cheering and Jimi replies: "Yes, thank you very much, yes. For those of you who can't see us tonight, er, they were clapping because
I did a little trick with my guitar... "

Finally, Jimi repeats his monologue about the group's international anthem for soldiers returning from Vietnam, with "Ml6 machine guns and all this, Ml6 and hand grenades and tanks all on their backs and stuff. What if they came home with... like, er, feedback guitars... That's better than guns, I can tell you." Jimi plays a big feedback note and comments: "Something like that, I think I'd dig that. And anyway we wanna dedicate it to the feedback family and, er, all the human beings and you people." Ending with a mock plea of "Please join in because I've forgot the words," Jimi concludes the evening with 'Wild Thing' Unfortunately, the taper runs out of recording tape 1min 30sec into this last song.[extract from Jimi Hendrix: The Concert Files by Tony Brown, 1999. Omnibus Press. p86-87]
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my prized vinyl boot which I purchased from the Melbourne University market back in the late 70's. I remember paying $25 for this double bootleg (a small fortune for a poor uni student at the time) along with two other Hendrix bootlegs released by Toasted Records. I've been sitting on this gem for years and have finally decided to share it with you. This is an awesome bootleg and was rated by Hot Wacks as Excellent Mono. So get it now, before it melts LOL
Full album artwork and label scans included.
Note: that the track listed on the cover "Instrumental-Jimi Jam" is in fact "Taxman".  Towne Records has chosen to include some random tracks on Side 4: "I Don't Live Today" (recorded at the LA Form in 1969), a jam with Stevie Wonder in 1967 based on the song "In The Midnight Hour" and a documentary type track based on how Dolly Dagger was recorded by Jimi.
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Track Listing
01 - Foxey Lady
02 - Fire
03 - Killing Floor
04 - Red House
05 - Spanish Castle Magic
06 - Hey Joe
07 - Instrumental-Jimi Jam (aka Taxman)
08 - Purple Haze
09 - I Don't Live Today (LA Forum, 1969)
10 - In The Midnight Hour-Jam (with Stevie Wonder, 1967)
11 - Dolly Dagger (Studio Mixing Session)
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Jimi Hendrix (Guitar, Vocals)
Noel Redding (Bass)
Mitch Mitchell (Drums)

Jimi Hendrix Experience Link (179Mb) New Link 23/12/2023
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Friday, June 15, 2018

Bill & Boyd - Selftitled (1975) AXIS

(New Zealand 1959 - 1989)
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Bill & Boyd were a pop duo consisting of Bill Cate and Boyd Robertson from the Hutt Valley near Wellington. They were school mates at Wellington's Naenae College.

They started recording together in 1960, and relied heavily on doing covers of overseas artists' songs before the original versions made it to New Zealand. Their favourites were the Everley Brothers and they did well locally with versions of "Cathy's Clown" and "Crying in the Rain".

Their first year was spent on the Peak label, where they recorded five singles during 1960 and 1961. The most successful was their cover of "Corrina Corrina". They switched to the Philips label late in 1961. In 1963, the duo moved to Auckland and joined the Peter Posa tour with Max Merritt and the Meteors, Dinah Lee and Lou and Simon.


In 1964, Bill and Boyd moved to Australia on the strength of their first Australian hit "Chulu Chululu". It was a bright, sing-along song recorded live at the Rotorua Sound Shell in New Zealand. The talented pair were quick to gain popularity, appearing regularly on TV, particularly on Bandstand, and working clubs around Australia. They left for America early in 1968, touring with the Supremes and Herb Alpert.

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 1970, was a version of "It's A Small World" which, although a steady seller, didn't quite make the top 40. They had several releases of singles and albums over the next four years. It wasn't until 1975 that they had their most success, after recording a song called "Santa Never Made It Into Darwin". The song documented the events of Cyclone Tracy that devastated the city of Darwin on Christmas eve 1974. The song made it to number 1 on the Australian national charts. Their 1975 album release was simply titled "Bill and Boyd". It was released in two formats, the first from Fable and the second from Axis (featured here). The Axis version contains two extra songs, one of which has not been available anywhere else, the Moody Blues cover "Question".

Another single called "Put Another Log On The Fire" followed, and Bill and Boyd were a household name in Australia.  Sub-titled “The Male Chauvinist National Anthem”, and described as “cheerfully offensive” by Allmusic.com, the song was written by US comic songwriter Shel Silverstein for the country artist Tompall Glaser. Besides stoking up the fire, the song’s narrator tells his girlfriend to cook him some bacon, patch his jeans, wash his socks, change a car tyre, fetch his pipe and slippers, and boil up a pot of tea. “Then put another log on the fire babe/ And come and tell me why you’re leaving me.” (The middle section goes into overdrive: “Now don’t I let you wash the car on Sunday?/ And don’t I warn you when you’re getting fat?” he sings, before suggesting “you’re too feminine to fight”).  Imagine trying to get this on the charts now !

Almost inevitably, the novelty song was a huge hit in Australia and New Zealand. It made #6 across the Tasman, and #5 in New Zealand after a 20-week journey through the charts. If it was an answer song to Helen Reddy’s ‘I Am Woman’, then it’s no wonder she responded with ‘Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady’. In New Zealand, the song seemed unavoidable in 1975-76, not just through radio play, but also television advertising placed by Stewart McPherson, the promoter whose record label Stetson released it in New Zealand. 

After that they took a break from recording and concentrated on touring. In 1978, they went back to America and under the direction of Glen Campbell recorded an album called "Companions", which was released in February 1979. 

They continued to tour the club circuit in Australia until the late eighties, attracting quite a large following of loyal fans wherever they went. J & B Records have released an album of their all time greatest hits called "Dreamin' " and in 2003 we finally get a CD compilation from EMI of all their greatest hits. [extract from sergent.com.au]
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from my vinyl which I found still shrink wrapped in a pile of records at the market last week. Nothing like a piece of VIRGIN vinyl to get ya juices flowing I say.  Opening it was almost as good as popping the top off that first stubby in a slab of Fosters !   Full album artwork and label scans are included along with select photos. 
Being the AXIS release, this album contains two additional tracks not included on the original Fable release, namely their Moody's cover "Question" and their hit single "Put Another Log On The Fire ".
Overall a great album featuring all of their major hits.
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Track Listing
01 Slap Your Draughty Blue Jeans
02 The Prisoners Song
03 Santa Never Made It Into Darwin
04 Question
05 Country Wine
06 Chul Chululu
07 Meanwhile Back In Abeline
08 Put Another Log On The Fire
09 Someone To Love
10 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
11 Union Silver
12 It's A Small World
13 Aussie
14 Cloudy Summer Afternoon
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Bill and Boyd FLAC Link (229Mb) New Link 16/12/2023
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Monday, June 4, 2018

Mother Goose - Don't Believe In Fairytales (1979) + Bonus tracks

(New Zealand 1975 - 1984)
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Mother Goose hailed from Dunedin, New Zealand, and were unique for their performances which combined mime, satire, costumes and novelty songs with virtuoso playing.

They were six rock musicians who wanted to play rock music. But they didn't want  to be part of the regular 70's style rock bands that were around at the time. So to be different they decked themselves in outrageous costumes, labelled themselves with the dumbest name they could think of and started playing in pubs, where they became hugely popular. Early in 1976 the group toured Auckland and burst on to the scene there with a strong theatrical show, taking bizarre appearances to absurd lengths.

Honing their craft during intensive rehearsals at the Dunedin City Highland Pipe Band hall, each member of the band dressed as a distinctive character; Vocalist Craig Johnston was a sailor, Marcel Rodeka was a pixie, Denis Gibbins dressed as Minnie Mouse, Peter Dickson a baby (complete with nappy), Steve Young was a ballerina and Kevin Collings a Bumble Bee.


Moving to Australia, the band started playing at Cloudland in Brisbane and at the Playroom on the Gold Coast in Queensland in late 1976. They then travelled to Sydney and began working for the Dayman Organisation. They were spotted by Garry Spry, who was so impressed by their act that he took over their personal management and moved them down to Melbourne.

They eventually came to the attention of Mushroom Records who signed them. Aided by an outrageous film clip which became popular on TV rock shows, their first single "Baked Beans"  made the charts in September. In August 1977, their first album "Stuffed" was released and became Mushroom’s fastest selling album and "Baked Beans" was a hit across Australia.


Within one month sales of the LP had topped the 15,000 mark and a second single "Moonshine Lady" was released in the wake of the albums success. During August, the group also toured with Supercharge.

Late in September they returned to New Zealand to rest and get a new act together. They were back in Australia two months later and they rounded off 1977 with a national tour. At the end of the year they were voted "Best Stage Act" in Ram Magazine's rock poll.

Mother Goose had a major breakthrough in March 1978 when manager Garry Spry returned from a trip to the US, UK and France with news that he had successfully negotiated overseas record deals, agency representation and an itinerary. Their final Australian performance before leaving for Los Angeles was at the Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne on May 28th.

By June 1978, Mother Goose had moved to the United States and were living in California with their own recording studio and a signed deal with Scotti Brothers Records. After five months of song writing and recording demos, they left the Scotti Brothers and relocated to New York.

Contractual battles with the Scotti Brothers unfortunately prevented the band securing another major recording contract and lead guitarist Peter Dickson left the band in February 1979. He was replaced by New York guitarist, Justin McCarthy, who adopted the costume of a toy soldier.

Mother Goose On Stage During their ‘Catch Me If You Can 'Tour
Mother Goose returned to Australia in 1979 and undertook their ‘Catch Me If You Can Tour’.  In October 1979, Mother Goose returned to New Zealand for a three week tour which was followed by an Australian tour to promote the release of their second album called "Don't Believe In Fairytales".

A single "Living In A Silent Movie"/"Alice (It's Up To You)" was released from it in December 1979.

There were considerably gaps between the next three releases, "Saving For A Rainy Day" / "All The Kings Horses" in June 1980, "I Can't Sing Very Well" / "You Take It Too Seriously" in July 1981 and "Marguerita and Me" / "Fly By Night" in March 1982. Early in 1982 founding member Steve Young left Mother Goose and was replaced by Neil Shilkin.

Their third and final album was in June 1982 and was called "This Is The Life". Along with it came the single "Lonely Girls"/"Living In A Small Town". Then followed "Tonight"/"Welcome To The Radio" in October 1982 and "Find A Way Out"/"Girls Across The Street" in July 1983.

In early 1983 Mother Goose was based in Melbourne and Pete Dickson rejoined after stints with Magic and Manlaxe. Justin McCarthy returned to New York. They continued touring Australia and Canada until they called it a day in 1985.

The original Mother Goose line-up reunited for a one-off gig in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 23 March 2007.



The guitarist Collins still lives in Anderson's Bay, Dunedin, where he occasionally plays at a coffee shop at the Terminus, a shopping strip there with beautiful views of Dunedin from the Bay. I believe Craig the singer, is now a Melbourne resident.

The Goose were one of the most entertaining and musically adept local bands I have ever seen. I still play the album a few times each year. They were the first band I saw where the drummer had 2 bass drums. [extracts from nostalgiacentral.com  and sergent.com.au]
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This post consists of FLACs ripped from my prize vinyl and includes full album artwork for CD (thanks to Micko) and Vinyl (with label scans).  Although not as solid an album as Stuffed, this album still features some classic live favourites such as "Living In A Silent Movie" and "Paint It Black".
To put icing on the cake, I'm also including their 1981 single "I Can't Sing Very Well" and  "You Take It Too Seriously" as bonus tracks.

With recent requests from my blog followers to post this album, I'm sure there will be a couple of of happy campers out there thinking 'Fairytales Do Come True'
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Track Listing
01  Living in a Silent Movie 4:31
02  Saving for a Rainy Day 4:44
03  Alice (It's Up to You) 4:24
04  Once Upon a Time 5:55
05  All the King's Horses 4:10
06  Paint It Black 4:48
07  Taking a Chance on You 3:25
08  Soliloquy 1:45
09  Don't Believe in Fairytales 3:45
10  I Can't Sing Very Well (Bonus Single)
11  You Take It Too Seriously (Bonus Single)

Personnel:
Craig Johnston — vocals
Kevin «Dwarf» Collings — guitar
Justin McCarthy — guitar
Steve Young — keyboards
Denis Gibbins — bass
Marcel Rodeka — drums


Mother Goose FLACs Link (273Mb)
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