John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Collection (1991)

(U.K 1962 - Present)

John McLaughlin was born in Yorkshire on 4th January, 1942. Growing up in a musical family he studied piano and violin from the age of seven and, influenced by American blues recordings, picked up the guitar in his early teens. He first came to prominence in the mid-Sixties playing with various English R&B bands, including the Graham Bond Organisation (with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) and Brian Auger's Trinity.

In 1969 he cut his solo debut 'Extrapolation', and although making no commercial impact, it established McLaughlin as a fast-rising star possessed of a dazzling virtuosity. It also attracted the attention of drummer Tony Williams who invited McLaughlin to the States to join his outfit, 'Lifetime'. He subsequently came to the notice of Miles Davis, and over the next hectic 18 months played on two Lifetime albums ('Emergency' and 'Turn It Over') and two classic Davis jazz-rock sets, 'Bitches Brew' and 'In A Silent Way', while finding time to record his second solo album, 'Devotion', in France with Buddy Miles.

At odds with the pace of life in New York, he turned to yoga, gave up meat and cigarettes, and subsequently became a convert of the bengali guru Sri Chinmoy, an event that was to have a profound effect on his life and music.

In 1971 he recorded 'My Goal's Beyond' with Jerry Goodman, former violinist with US jazz-rock band 'Flock', and Panamanian-born drummer Billy Cobham, another Davis sideman. These two stayed with McLaughlin as he put together his Mahavishnu Orchestra, adding Rick Laird on bass and Jan Hammer on keyboards. This band cut two classic albums, 'The Inner Mounting Flame' and 'Birds of Fire' (both heavily featured here) which pushed the genre of fusion music to new heights and suceeded in breaking McLaughlin to a wide rock-based audience.

At its best, as represented by these albums, jazz-rock had the ability to be breathtaking in emotional impact.  At its worst, it degenerated into empty displays of virtuosity and by the mid-Seventies was failing to sustain the interest of critics and fans alike.

Thereafter, his hitherto unimpeachable taste was called into question as he made the self-indulgent 'Love Devotion Surrender' with fellow Chinmoy disciple Carlos Santana. The live Mahavishnu set 'Between Nothingness and Eternity' recorded in Central Park, New York followed in 1973.

Anxious to work with a larger unit, he put together Mahavishnu Version 2, which included violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and Michael Walden on drums, in January 1974. The massively-ambitious 'Apocalypse' (with the London Symphony Orchestra) and the follow-up [masterpiece] 'Visions Of The Emerald Beyond' went along way to convincing critics that a substantial talent was going to waste. 'Inner Worlds', recorded with a slimmed-down line-up, was the last Mahavishu work with McLaughlin.

Band member 1971-1973

He then changed direction in 1975 to form the Indian-based acoustic group Shakti, featuring the violin of Shankar and the tabla of the richly talented Zakir Hussain.

Their three albums - eponymous debut, 'Natural Elements' and 'A Handful Of Beauty' - featured some of McLaughlin's most satisfying work for several years. 

Featured Albums

After releasing another strong solo album 'Electric Guitarist' in 1978, he formed alliances with other artists including Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucia, favouring acoustic guitar over electric and remains a supremely talented player noted for his speed, fluidity and claenliness of style. [Liner notes by Ian Sturgess, August 1991]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my CD and includes full album artwork and post photos. It should be noted that this release never appeared on vinyl, however it was released on cassette and I therefore consider it to be approriate for the blog.  My only criticism of this release is that it doesn't include any material from their masterpiece 'Visions Of The Emerald Beyond' (a shameful oversight on the part of Ian Sturgess at Castle Records).

However, it does include 3 tracks from his recordings with Shakti which are now hard to find if you are playing catchup with McLaughlin's discography. I was lucky enough to stumble across their debut album on vinyl and intend posting it on the blog in the near future, so stay tuned folks.

Track List:

01  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Meeting Of The Spirit  6:53

02  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Dawn  5:16

03  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Vital Transformation  6:16

04  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Awakening  3:29

05 Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Birds Of Fire  5:44

06  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Celestial Terrestrial Commuters  2:55

07  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  Thousand Island Park  3:21

08  Mahavishnu Orchestra  –  One Word  9:58

09  John McLaughlin  –  New York On My Mind  5:42

10  John McLaughlin  –  Every Tear From Every Eye  6:58

11  John McLaughlin  –  My Foolish Heart  3:31

12  Shakti  –  Joy (Part 1)  7:09

13  Shakti  –  Lotus Feet  4:51

14  Shakti  –  Come On Baby Dance With Me  1:54

The Collection Link (452Mb)

John Farnham - Whispering Jack In Concert (1987) Bootleg

(Australian 1967 - Present)

The success of John Farnham's album 'Whispering Jack' caught everyone off guard. A pub and concert hall tour soon after the record's release in 1986 was clearly not enough to satisfy demand. In June 1987, David Sneddon started working on the 'Jack's Back Tour' at the request of Farnham's manager, Glenn Wheatley.

"We sat down and worked out what we thought was a very feasible concert run", explains Glenn. "We'd started by booking four dates in Melbourne, two in Sydney, two in Perth and two in Brisbane. It far exceeded what we imagined - never in our wildest dreams did we think the tour would so the sort of business that it did. We later added five shows in Melbourne and three in Sydney and shifted to a bigger venue in Brisbane. We were tearing our hair out to fit in extra dates. Everyone sat back and said , 'Something's happening out there'. We knew the album had gone through the roof, but no one had expected that sort of demand for a live ticket, and at that time we were up against artists such as Michael Jackson and Billy Joel who were also touring Australia at the time".

Farnham & Wheatley

The 'Jack's Back Tour' wound up on January 2, 1988 and Farnham and his band commenced working on their follow up album 'Age Of Reason'. [Extract from 'Whispering Jack, The John Farnham Story' by Clark Forbes, Hutchinson Australia, p137]

In March 1987, John Farnham delivered one of the most defining performances in Australian music history at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (also known as the "Glasshouse"). Riding the wave of his Whispering Jack album, Farnham’s powerhouse vocals on “You’re The Voice” turned the concert into a national moment of unity. The anthem’s call for empowerment and change resonated deeply, with the crowd singing every chorus back in thunderous harmony. Broadcast nationally, this performance cemented Farnham as Australia’s ultimate live performer and gave “You’re The Voice” its place as a generational anthem.

This legendary performance immortalized his highly successful Jack's Back tour, capturing the energy of his record-breaking, multi-platinum album 'Whispering Jack'. The historic concert was also professionally filmed and released on home video, later becoming a staple live concert DVD. Backed by the accomplished John Farnham Band, the show featured massive hits from the Whispering Jack era alongside fan favorites and tracks from his Little River Band years.

Key tracks included:"Pressure Down", "Touch of Paradise", "Going, Going, Gone", "Playing to Win" and "You're the Voice". The instrumental prowess behind Farnham’s vocals during this tour solidified the band as one of the tightest units in Australian music history.

This post consists of MP3's (320) [ripped from DVD I suspect] and includes full album artwork.  I was lucky enough to attend one of the Melbourne 'Jack's Back' Concerts, held on Dec 22, 1987 at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre [see my ticket stub below]. 

To this day, I believe it to be one of the best concerts I've ever attended.  I can still remember Farnham taunting and teasing the audience over his first hit from the 60's "Sadie The Cleaning Lady" and eventually delivering the goods towards the end of the show, singing the 'ditti' alongside a lady with a mop and bucket cleaning the stage floor, much to the delight of the audience. Farnham's 'Whispering Jack' personna was a force to be reckoned with and both he and the band literally tore the place apart and Farnham had the audience in the palm of his hand all night. Yes folks, Farnham was Back !

Concert Track List:

01 Pressure Down

02 One Step Away

03 Going Going Gone

04 Let Me Out

05 Touch Of Paradise

06 When The War Is Over

07 Amazing Grace

08 Reasons

09 No One Comes Close

10 Love To Shine

11 One

12 Playing To Win

13 Help

14 You're The Voice

The lineup included:

John Farnham (Vocals, Gags)

David Hirschfelder (Keyboards)

Brett Garsed (Lead Guitar)

Wayne Burt (Guitar)

Steve Macainsh (Bass)

Angus Burchill (Drums)

Lindsay Field (Backing Vocals)

Venetta Fields (Backing Vocals)

Lisa Edwards (Backing Vocals)

Whispering Jack In Concert Link (137Mb)

Cargo - Selftitled (1972) plus bonus tracks

(Netherlands 1970 - 1972)

This band from Netherlands started out as 'September' and recorded a few singles that hold no interest to progheads. They then changed their name to 'Cargo' and recorded their sole album. Cargo consisted of brothers Ad and Jan De Hont both on guitars, Willem DeVries on bass and vocals and English drummer Denis Whitbread. The music developed here is a seducing hard rock with a killer twin-guitar attack much in the line of Wishbone Ash around their "Argus" album. The two brothers played delightfully long and complex guitar lines that intertwined beautifully, proof of their long-standing mutual trust and camaraderie.

Formed in 1970, September released a single on Imperial records "Little Sister/Walk On By". The A-Side was written by the band, and it sounds like hardrock with some progressive influences. It became a minor hit in the Netherlands but left no permanent impression. Band members at the time were Ador Otting (real name Jan Otting) on organ, Jan De Hont on guitar, Frans Smitt on drums who all played with De Maskers and Willem de Vries on vocals and bass.

September (Early Cargo)

A year later the line-up of the band changed with a new drummer, Jerry Gobel replacing Frans Smit (who went on to join Jan Akkerman's band 'Brainbox'), and a new vocalist/keyboardist, Hassel de Vries replacing Ador Otting. Hessel de Vries wrote September's second single, "Yelly Rose/If Mr. Right Comes Along", which was released in 1971.

Their third single was also released in 1971, "Choker/ Lydia Purple". 

By this this time, Jerry Gober was replaced for a short time by drummer who went under the name Snuffel (real name Frans Krachten) but was later replaced by former 'Ekseption' drummer Dennis Whitbread (real name Dennis Witbraad) and they were joined by Adrie de Hont (Brother of Jan and had also played with De Maskers) who also played guitar.

September Singles (1970-1971)

In 1972, September changed their name to Cargo. The change in name indicated also a change in musical direction for the band. They transitioned from a singles band to a "serious" rock band, focusing now on long, mostly instrumental passages.

By now the manager of the band, John van Setten, wanted to record an album with the band. But he had the luminous idea to put no name on the sleeve. he thought it would make the media curious, and hence the album sales would rise. Their record company at the time EMI, booked a studio for only two days, and they could record whatever they wanted. They decided to play as if it was a live performance, and they wouldn't restrict each other in the improvisations thay would play.

When the record was released, they only put Cargo on the sleeve. But unfortunately the media never got curious, and the album didn't sell well. As a result, the band finally decided to part ways with their manager, and eventually broke up.

This album was later released on CD by Pseudonym records which included their "September" singles as bonus tracks.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD releases.  All three September singles have been included as bonus tracks along with two rare demo's that were recorded in 1971 but were never released until Pseudonym's Cargo CD release in 1993.

The standout tracks of this album are really the first four recorded by Cargo in 1972, featuring the awesome dual guitar work of the De Hont brothers and free form jams reminiscent of bands like Wishbone Ash and The Grateful Dead.  The bonus tracks are also interesting as they provide an insight into how the band developed its sound over such a short period of time. It is just a pity that they threw in the towel after their debut album's release - probably in response to poor management and lack of support from their record company.  

Track List:

01 Cargo – Sail Inside   10:54

02 Cargo – Cross Talking  8:33

03 Cargo – Finding Out  5:14

04 Cargo – Summerfair  15:35

Bonus Tracks (Singles/Demos)

05 September – Choker (A-Side Single)  3:52

06 September – Lydia Purple (B-Side Single) 3:51

07 September – Yelly Rose (A-Side Single) 4:01

08 September – If Mr. Right Comes Along (B-Side Single) 4:23

09 September – Little Sister (A-Side Single) 3:41

10 September – Walk On By (B-Side Single) 2:59

11 September – Run Away (Demo)  3:14

12 September – One More Change (Demo)  2:35

Track/Band Lineup:

Drums – Dennis Whitbread (tracks: 1 to 6), Frans Smit (tracks: 9, 10), Jerry Göbel (tracks: 7, 8), Snuffel (tracks: 11, 12)

Guitar – Ad de Hont (tracks: 1 to 8, 11, 12), Jan de Hont (tracks: 1 to 12)

Organ [Hammond] – Ador Otting (tracks: 9, 10)

Vocals, Bass – Willem de Vries (tracks: 1 to 12)

Vocals, Electric Piano – Hessel de Vries (tracks: 7, 8)

Cargo Link (486Mb) 

Cargo Alternate Link (486Mb)

Young Homebuyers - Young Homebuyers (1982) plus Bonus Tracks

 (Australian 1980 - 1983)

Young Homebuyers hailed from Adelaide, Australia, and pivoted around the songwriting team of Nigel Lawrence and Greg Williams, who met at high school.

In their original incarnation, the band were heavily into satire, offering hilarious stage parodies of The Police, Billy Joel, Redgum and others, with songs like It’s Still Billy Joel To Me, Penguins Took My Baby, Wanking, Polish Reggae Party and Please Let Me Be On Countdown.

Critics compared them to Mental As Anything, The Sports and early Reels because of their pop hooks, party atmosphere, quirky lyrics and overall irreverent approach to rock & roll.

They phased overt novelty out of their act and developed their sublime blend of power pop, British Beat, rockabilly, reggae, funk and punk to come up with a fresh, exhilarating, ultra-commercial young sound.

Snapped up by Melbourne’s Rough Diamond Records before they had even set foot in that city, the group recorded their self-titled debut album under the production of former Little River Band guitarist David Briggs.

The album was released in November 1982 and shone with such polished diamonds as Fiona, Boyfriend, Jackie’s Door and Sheree. Their first hit, Take One Step (May 1982), was actually an extended version of an advertising jingle they wrote for Hall’s Lemon Twist, a popular Adelaide soft drink.

Their magnificent second single, She’s A Girl (September 1982), unfortunately, received little radio airplay in Australia and the band called it a day with Greg Champion pursuing a career in radio. [extract from nostalgiacentral.com]

Young Homebuyers: On The Brink (by Glenn A. Baker)

Countdown Magazine Article (Vol 8, Feb 1983 Page 6 )

The recent reduction in interest rates was greeted with delight by young homebuyers all over Australia - particularly in Adelaide, where six of them have hailed the news. The half dozen fastidious savers are Nigel Lawrence, Greg Williams, Greg Champion, Mick Teakle, Tony Thorton and Paul Ziesling. "To run a rock band is so expensive!" exclaims Nigel. "We're just surviving".

Young Homebuyers are Adelaide's most recent contribution to quality Australian rock. They come from the city that has given us the Twilights, Master's Apprentices, Zoot, Cold Chisel and the Angels. There is no reason to believe that the band is going to achieve anything less than those hallowed names. In fact their debut self-titled album stands as one of the most confident, fully realised and utterly enjoyable LPs of last year.

 

The group is pivoted around the songwriting team of Nigel Lawrence and Greg Williams, who have been friends since high school. "We've been writing songs since we were 15" explains the talkative Nigel. "I met him on a bus" adds Greg. "he showed me his Slade records, I showed him my Deep Purple records and we had an instant mutual admiration".

The Young Homebuyers evolved out of Nigel's group NASTY NIGEL AND THE TEENAGE HELLCATS, which released the legendary independent single 'Jonestown Suicide' in 1979.

Nigel recruited rock journalist Greg and then came Mick Teakle and Greg Champion from the Fabulaires, Tony Thorton from Paul Kelly & The Dots and Paul Ziesling from a number of obscure suburban outfits. In original formation the band was heavily into satire, offering hilarious stage parodies of the Police, Billy Joel, Redgum and others. 

Some of their early stage songs included "It's Still Billy Joel To Me","Penguins Took My Baby", "Wanking", "Polish Reggae Party" and "Please Let Me Be On Countdown". Critics compared them to Mental As Anything, The Sports and early Reels because of their pop hooks, party atmosphere, quirky lyrics and overall irreverent approach to rock & roll.

The band's first hit, "Take One Step", was actually an extended version of an advertising jingle they wrote for Hall’s Lemon Twist, a popular Adelaide soft drink.

Their performance of it on Countdown (Yes, their wish was answered) was one of the most memorable appearances seen on the show over the past few years; highlighted by Nigel virtually throwing himself into the audience.

Shortly after coming together late in 1980, the Young Homebuyers phased overt novelty and satire out of their act. "In Australia it's prohibitive to be a racial band" explains Nigel. "We don't have a big enough market here to support a left-of-centre band". Instead, the six stalwarts developed their sublime blend of power-pop, British Beat, rockabilly, reggae, funk and punk to come up with a fresh, exhilarating ultra-commercial young sound. 

The most perfect example of this is the magnificent "She's A Girl", their second single. The disappointing lack of airplay for this gem proved that most radio programmers do have a severe case of cloth ears. To quote one critic, "if you hate the atonal wastelands of 'The Fall', you are sure to love the melodies of the Young Homebuyers".

Snapped up by Melbourne's Rough Diamond Records before they had ever set foot in Victoria, the group recorded their debut album under the production hand of former Little River Band guitarist David Briggs (see review left -  Countdown Mag Issue #7). It shone with such polished diamonds as "Fiona", "Boyfriend", "Jackie's Door" and "Sharee". "David knew what he wanted and how to get it out of us" says Nigel with admiration.

Adelaide's Young Homebuyers have but one simple aim, that you can help fulfill. In the words of Nigel (known sometimes as 'Nasty', though one can't imagine why!); "Basically, we want to be on the charts". They will be, they will be.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from vinyl (thanks to Sunshine at Ausrock) and includes full album artwork and label scans.  As a bonus, I am also including two B-Side singles taken from their Maxi-Single (Take One Step) which was released in the same year.  As a special bonus, I am also including Nigel's earlier release from 1979 (while performing under the name of Nasty Nigel), the punk single "Jonestown Suicide" and its reggae B-Side "A.K.A".

I chose to post this album today, in reaction to yesterday's announcement by the RBA to increase the Interest Rates by 0.25% points (yet again), to give hope to our current Aussie Home Buyers that the interest rates will start to drop soon, like they did back in 83'.  

Track List:

01 - Sheree 3:21

02 - Showbiz Revolution  3:28

03 - She's A Girl 3:30

04 - Sometimes 2:30

05 - Take One Step 2:24

06 - Every Dog 4:08

07 - Fiona 2:17

08 - Fashion 2:43

09 - Jackie's Door 3:10

10 - Boyfriend 3:04

11 - Is She Gonna Go  4:50

Bonus Tracks

12 - Polish Reggae Party  2:23

13 - Laughing Clown  3:02

14 - Jonestown Suicide  2:42 *

15 - A.K.A  2:41 *

* Nasty Nigel And The Teenage Hellcats

Band Members:

Nigel Lawrence - Vocals

Greg Williams - Guitar, vocals

Greg Champion - Guitar, vocals

Mick Teakle - Guitar

Paul Ziesing - Bass

Tony Thornton - Drums

Young Homebuyers Link (323Mb)

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Songs Of the Humpback Whale (1970)

 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.

Whale songs have probably been heard, though seldom recognized as such, ever since man began to make voyages by sea. In the literature ofwhaling alone there are many accounts of strange, ethereal sounds, reverberating faintly through a quiet ship at night, mystifying sailors in their bunks. Long after such experiences were first mentioned, scientists were able to explain what caused them... if the idea of whale 'singing' seems odd, the cause may lie in the several meanings of the word 'song'. Quite apart from any esthetic judgement one might make about them, the sounds produced by Humpback whales can properly be called songs because they occur in complete sequences that are repeated. Bird sounds are called songs for the same reason. Birds sing songs that are repeated fairly exactly and Humpback whales too are very faithful to their own individual sequences of sounds.

Humpback whale songs are far longer than bird songs. The shortest Humpback song recorded last six minutes and the longest is more than thirty minutes. The pauses between Humpback songs are no longer than the pauses between notes within the song: in other words, they are recycled without any obvious break. Again, in contrast with birds, who complete a song before pausing, it doesn't matter where in its song the Humpback starts or stops.

Dr. Roger S. Payne, whose work during the 1960's produced this record, spent fifteen years doing research in biological acoustics at The Institute for Research in Animal Behaviour operated jointly by the New York Zoological Society and The Rockefeller University.

Whale songs seem to have a universal appeal. Dr. Payne had played whale songs for many thousands of people in a wide variety of circumstances - at lectures throughout the United States and elsewhere: at the home of influental statesmen with guests invited to hear the songs; in the living rooms of performing artists; at colleges; in concerts; and in many other situations - and always, whatever the occasion, the people who listened have been affected, often profoundly moved, by the songs. Folk singers have begun to song about whales. Works of orchestral music have been composed with whale songs.

Finally, through art forms and through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, lectures and meetings of all kinds, people have begun to tell each other that the magnificant whale, now in peril of virtual extinction, must be saved. The world was finally 'turning on' to whales. [LP Liner Notes]

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a global moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 to allow decimated whale stocks to recover. While it significantly reduced hunting, exceptions exist, with Norway, Iceland, and Japan continuing commercial whaling, often objecting to or bypassing the ban, killing over 45,000 whales since it began. Not cool !

Nevertheless, this Moratorium is widely considered to be a major conservation success, drastically reducing the annual catch from over 14,000 in 1980 to less than 1,000 in recent years, allowing several populations, especially the Humpback whales, to show strong signs of recovery.

Male Humpback whales are famous for singing songs to the females they are courting. Like humans, Humpback whales use a larynx to make these sounds. These songs are distinctly different within each breeding stock, yet some of them seem to share their songs with other groups. A 2019 study found out how the songs were evolving. Dr Rochelle Constantine and her co-authors discovered that Humpbacks from all over Oceania meet at New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands on their southern migration and share their songs with each other.

This post consists of MP3 (320) files freshly ripped from my treasured vinyl LP which I purchased from the Melbourne University's Bookshop back in the late 70's. I was undertaking my post-graduate studies in Marine Biology at the time, and was immediately attracted to these recordings when I saw them sitting amongst  the popular music section (strange hey !).   I still listen to these recordings some 45 years later, and am always mesmorised by the magicical sounds that these glorious mammals make.  

Side Note: It was always my dream to travel to Antarctica while working for my supervisor as a research assistant (specialising in the

area of Antarctic Terrestrial Algae), and was scheduled to do so in 1982, however, the Australian Government pulled the plug on all Biological Research funding in 1981 - redirecting it to Minning, and so the expedition was cancelled. In fact , my supervisor eventually lost his job as well, and returned to the UK from where he had come. What a bummer! So close, yet so far !

So this month's WOCK on Vinyl post definately ticks the O box for Obscurity (I doubt if you'll find this album available in this format elsewhere) and yes - stating the obvious - W for Whale.

Songs Of the Humpback Whale Link (78Mb)

REPOST: Badger One - Live (1973)

(U.K 1972-1974)

Recorded 'live' at London's Rainbow Theatre in 1973, "One Live Badger" introduces one of the most interesting bands to emerge in the early 70's. Composed of former Yes keyboard man Tony Kaye, guitarist Brian Parrish (ex-Parrish & Gurvitz), former Ashton, Gardner & Dyke drummer Roy Dyke, and bassist David Foster. Badger promise much on the evidence of this first album which is full of fiery, dynamic playing, crisp vocal work (both lead and harmony) and excellent songs, mostly written by the whole group.The decision to make Badger's first album a 'live' one came about after a series of intensive rehearsals. Scheduled to appear in concert with Yes at the Rainbow, the band's early enthusiasm and vigour could only suitably be captured through a 'live' recording. Produced by 'Yes' Jon Anderson, Badger and Geoffrey Haslam, it's a triumph, combining the raucous, stomping atmosphere induced by Badger's music with precision and technical expertise, qualities possessed in no small measure by the group.

 

Most of the songs have a religious theme but stay well shy of being preachy. This is not complex progressive, but it is a very nice album with lots of energy, power, and emotion. It has recently been reissued on CD and sports the great cover work by Roger Dean. Formed in mid-'72, Badger was the idea of Tony Kaye and David Foster. Tony and David had been acquainted while the former had been a Yes member, David Foster helping to write (with Jon Anderson) two tracks for the bands second album, "Time And A Word". At the same time Tony and David had also got together to make an album of David's other songs. Never released, they began work on re-mixing it following Tony's decision to leave Yes.It was at this point in time that the decision came to form a group. Within a short time they had recruited Roy Dyke (who first made his name with Brian Epstein's protege Remo Four) who had just split with Ashton, Gardner & Dyke. The search for a guitarist halted soon, too, when Roy recommended Brian Parrish, whose work with Parrish & Gurvitz had attracted much critical acclaim, but little public reaction.

Their second album "White Lady", has Jackie Lomax taking center stage and was a shift from their progressive sound to a more soulful sound - a big disappointment in my opinion compared to their debut Live album, which I highly recommend. To read more, see the official badger website Badger

    New Improved Rip !

This rip was taken from a CD pressing in FLAC format (16bit) and includes full Album Artwork

Track Listing:
01. Wheel of Fortune 7:50
02. Fountain 7:22
03. Wind of Change 7:17
04. River 6:49
05. The Preacher 3:59
06. On the Way Home 7:39

Band Members:
Tony Kaye (Keyboards and Vocals)
David Foster (Bass and Lead Vocals)
Brian Parrish (Guitar)
Ron Dyke (Drums)

Badger Link (300Mb) New Link 24/04/2026
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Black Sabbath - Paranoid in New Jersey 'Asbury Park, Aug 5th 1975' (2020) Bootleg

(U.K 1968–2006, 2011–present)

In the annals of Black Sabbath bootlegdom, there are two unofficial documents of the original-lineup era that stand above the rest as utterly essential for their sound quality and the band’s performance. One is Warpigs - Paris 1970, and the other is this recording from Aug. 5, 1975, from Asbury Park, New Jersey. 

The show was held in the Convention Hall, a 3,600-seat indoor exhibition center located right on the Boardwalk of the beach town, and the band were in the US promoting the yet-to-be-released LP 'Sabotage', and as one can hear in the renditions of “Hole in the Sky,” “War Pigs,” “Spiral Architect” and on and on, the band was pure stoned fire.

Captured at what I’d gladly argue was his peak as an actual singer, if not as a frontman, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne engages the crowd and nails each song, even if he flubs the lyrics here and there, as on “Symptom of the Universe” early in the 100-minute set. With solos from guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward — sadly nothing from the bass; it would be amazing to have a Geezer Butler solo captured in such fidelity — the band is both vibrant and poised, and whether they’re ripping into “Supernaut” or jamming out an early version of what would become “Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor” on 1976’s Technical Ecstasy, Black Sabbath absolutely laid waste to Asbury Park (it would take the shore town decades to recover) and, seemingly, everyone in the vicinity. As Ozzy says at the beginning of “Hole in the Sky”: “Are you high?” Cheers. “Are you High?” Louder cheers. “So am I.”

Asbury Park, New Jersey

I won’t doubt the veracity of that claim, which is to say, he probably was high. Black Sabbath‘s adventures in weed, cocaine, booze, etc., are well documented, and as they were about to release their sixth album, they were about to enter the period in which that excess of excess would begin to take its toll, eventually leading to the split with Osbourne and a collaboration with then-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. 

Of course, they would put out 'Technical Ecstasy' and 1978’s 'Never Say Die' before that happened, and both of those albums certainly have their moments, but there’s a reason the legendary fan t-shirts (see right) says 'You can only trust yourself and the first six Black Sabbath records', and it seems that no small part of that reason is because by the time they were six and then eight years removed from their genre-defining 1970 self-titled debut, they were fried on multiple levels. “Are you high?” Cheers. “So am I.”

That of course is just one example of choice banter from Ozzy throughout. He talks about the “new album” a lot, tells the crowd he loves them multiple times, and at the end of the set, says on behalf of himself and the band behind that the New Jersey crowd is, “a good bunch of people.” 

It’s the kind of thing that would rarely make it onto an official live release, since it so directly ties it to the place and the specific date, but in hearing it some 45 years after the fact, it brings the listener that much more into the moment of what was happening that night, at that time, at that particular gig. And that’s the thing about the Convention Hall show. It was a stop on the tour. They’d have another show the night after and/or the night after that. This could’ve been Black Sabbath any other day of the week, and they’re utterly lethal. Even the slow-rolling beginning section of “Megalomania” sees them dominating.

There are various stories about this show. One that it was a radio broadcast specially organised for the KBFH. Another is that it was recorded and intended for release as a live album that was subsequently shelved. I don’t know how true any of that is or isn’t — neither is outside the realm of possibility; it’s not like the rumor is it was actually recorded by time travelers who wanted to do the future a favor and record the best show the band ever played — but I know that this set is just as essential as any official live record Sabbath ever put out, if not more so, and that it demonstrates the power in Black Sabbath‘s delivery at the time. They were dead on.  [Extract from The Obelisk]

This post consists of FLACs (sourced from a reel to reel mastering recording) and includes artwork for both vinyl and CD releases. It should be noted that this particular release has a shortened version of Sabbra Cadabra (with the removal of a 10 minute drum solo which quite frankly was over the top) and the removal of a medley which comprised of  'Orchid, Rock & Roll Doctor & Don't Start (Too Late)'. I suspect this was done to make it a single CD release.  The original vinyl release was of course much shorter, with only 9 of the 14 tracks found on this 2020 CD release (see * tracks below).

Track Listing

01 Killing Yourself To Live *

02 Hole In The Sky *

03 Snowblind *

04 Symptom Of The Universe

05 War Pigs *

06 Meglaomania

07 Sabbra Cadabra

08 Sometimes I`m Happy

09 Supernaut

10 Iron Man *

11 Black Sabbath *

12 Spiral Architect *

13 Children Of The Grave *

14 Paranoid *

Black Sabbath were:

Bass Guitar – Terry 'Geezer' Butler

Drums – Bill Ward

Lead Guitar – Tony Iommi

Vocals – Ozzy Osbourne

Black Sabbath Link (507Mb)