The Monkees - Live (1967)

(U.S 1966–1971, 1986–1989, 1993–1997, 2001–Current)
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The Monkees (Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork) were pulled together in order to star in a successful comedy television show first aired on NBC in 1966.
The music for the series had been created by Don Kirschner and throughout the life of the band, many more esteemed songwriters added their input to The Monkees phenomenon, including Neil Diamond ("A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You") and Carole King ("Pleasant Valley Sunday"). As time progressed the members of the band addressed the criticism which was leveled at them and began to exert more of a creative contribution; initially they had only provided vocals, by the third album Headquarters they were writing and playing much of their own stuff.

Pressure mounted for the fictional Monkees to tour, and by the British tour in 1967, they were sufficiently proficient to do so.
The band began to fracture in 1968 when Tork quit, exacerbated by Nesmith leaving the group in 1970. Shortly after that Dolenz and Jones lost the rights to call themselves The Monkees although they continued to tour. The whole band toured and reformed off and on throughout the ongoing years to varying degrees of success as their previous fame ebbed and flowed. Their 11th album Justus (1996) was, at last, their chance to create a 100% Monkees product.
Dismissing them as 'manufactured', seems harsh. Many other bands and singers have performed other people's music, lacing it with their own efforts. The Monkees did so with a certain amount of charisma, energy and humor; as a result they are, most certainly, entertainers in their own right. They released six albums with the full line-up, four of which hit No.1 on the Billboard chart, and several of their singles have found their place in public affections including "I'm a Believer", "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", "Daydream Believer" and "Last Train to Clarksville" [extract from Sound Unwound].
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The 1967 Tour
The Monkees' 1967 summer tour commenced in Hollywood, California with a performance at the Hollywood Bowl. The instrumental lineup was similar to the first regional tour done a couple months earlier, with Micky on drums and tympani, Mike on lead guitar, Peter on bass guitar, keyboards and banjo, and Davy playing tambourine and the maracas. Davy would also occasionally play bass guitar when Peter moved to the keyboards and he would relieve Micky on drums during "Randy Scouse Git" and towards the end of “Mary, Mary.” Images of The Monkees performing and other selected footage were projected on large screens behind the band.

The 1967 concerts were critically acclaimed, and the crowds large and hysterical. The performances included a psychedelic light show, one of the first concert tours to feature such techniques. The last three North American dates (Seattle, Washington 25/8/67, Portland, Oregon 26/8/67 and Spokane, Washington 27/8/67) were recorded with the intent of releasing a live album. That album did not see the light of day until it was finally released as Live 1967 in 1987. The 12/8/67 performance at the Municipal Auditorium in Mobile, Alabama is a widely circulated bootleg recording. Summer 1967: The Complete U.S. Concert Recordings features four complete concerts from this tour, and was previously available as a limited edition release from Rhino Handmade.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was the opening act for several American cities on the summer tour. Hendrix joined the Monkees' tour in progress on July 8, 1967 in Jacksonville, Florida, continuing through Miami on July 9, Charlotte, North Carolina on July 11 and Greensboro, North Carolina on July 12. He departed after three shows in Forest Hills, New York on July 14, 15 and 16, 1967 (see ticket stub above). Hendrix, a star in England but relatively unknown in his native United States, was trying to gain notoriety in America. As the New York Times noted in 2006, “The Monkees wanted respect, and Hendrix wanted publicity."

."The Jimi Hendrix Experience were the apotheosis of ’60s psychedelic ribbon shirts and tie-dye—they had pinwheels for eyes and their hair was out to here. I thought, “Man, I gotta see this thing live.” So that night I stood in front of the stage and listened to Hendrix at soundcheck. And I thought, “Well, this guy’s from Mars; he’s from some other planet, but whatever it is, thank heaven for this visitation.” And I listened to him play at the soundchecks and the concert. I thought, “This is some of the best music I’ve heard in my life.” [Michael Nesmith, speaking about Jimi Hendrix]
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Mike, when attending a dinner party in England with Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Eric Clapton, overheard a tape of Hendrix playing. Along with Micky and Peter, they became instant fans, and after watching Hendrix perform at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, the Monkees pushed for Hendrix to open their U.S. summer concerts. With the Monkees on the road to dispel the critical notion that they couldn't play live, adding an act as cutting edge and theatrical as the Jimi Hendrix Experience would further prove the seriousness of the Monkees as musicians and entertainers.
The musical pairing was an odd one, and various Monkees have recounted in the years since that their audience was less than interested in the guitar virtuoso, often chanting 'Monkees!' or 'We want Davy!' while Hendrix performed. As the arrangement didn't work with the crowds coming to the concerts, Hendrix and company eventually left the tour amicably.
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.It was reported that both the Monkees and the Experience got along and even jammed. The exposure of being on tour with the hottest act in America propelled Hendrix to the next level as his music began to be noticed in the United States. There is no truth to the urban legend (originally reported by Australian rock critic Lillian Roxon, who traveled with the tour, as a tongue-in-cheek explanation for Hendrix's sudden departure) that Hendrix was dismissed after a complaint by the Daughters of the American Revolution of "lewd and indecent" conduct during his performances.

Other opening acts included The Sundowners, who provided instrumental backup during the solo segments, and Lynn Randell. British star Lulu opened the concerts at Wembley in London, England, and Epifocal Phringe supplied backup during the solo performances.
The 1967 concerts were a critical and commercial coup for the Monkees. This, combined with the previous success of gaining complete artistic control over the making of their music, solidified the Monkees as a musical force in 1967. After the tour, the band channeled these accomplishments in the studio (recording the "Pleasant Valley Sunday" single and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones LTD) while also resuming filming of their Emmy award-winning television show, now ready to enter into its second season.
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Review
Apparently, the Monkees used to not only fake their existence on TV and in the studio; they had to take a more active part in it by going out on tour and making nice fresh bucks for their employers. This was rendered all the more encumbering by the fact that, as we all know, the Monkees were just a wee bit inexperienced about playing their own instruments. To be more exact, urged on by Mike Nesmith, Talented Monkee #1, they'd finally started getting acquainted with man's musical instrument legacy in the studio, but that's one thing; quite another one is to be able to harness these instruments in a live setting, where you're not allowed to do double takes unless you're a comedy act or something.
Hey, wait a minute. This is a comedy act we're talking about. And the only saving grace for the Monkees, once they were pushed onto the stage and the curtains behind them locked and barred tight until they'd played the entire setlist, was to push on with the comedy - and pray comedy would be comic enough for the audience so as to avoid the rotten tomatoes. I haven't counted exactly, but I have a naggin' feeling that the stage banter during this one hour occupies at least as much time as the actual playing, if not more. (And, for the record, this is the entire length of the show I'm talking here: the new CD release of Rhino's 1987 album adds four "solo" tracks to the former LP, which constitutes the entire setlist for the band's mid-'67 live show).

The actual tour has, of course, long since gone down in history as the infamous "Hendrix opening for the Monkees" event, arguably the most absurd pairing in the history of rock music, with poor Jimi as the main victim of the situation: people were coming to see the well-established Monkees, not the barely-known Hendrix, and, naturally, it was a bit unusual to accept stuff like 'Purple Haze' as a substitute, or even as an aperitif before 'Forget That Girl' and 'I'm A Believer'. Nevertheless, as far as I know, there was little conflict between Jimi and the Monkees themselves; in fact, they even used to jam together a little bit, which, for Nesmith and Co., must have looked like a God-sent gift. Curiously enough, the hard-rocking version of '(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone' which closes the concert definitely has some Hendrix overtones to it, with its use of feedback, noise, and almost free-form soloing at times; I do, however, suspect that most of the actual music on that particular track is played by one of their several other supporting bands that, for a few numbers, took the playing over from the Monkees to give them more room for singing.

And save them at least some embarrassment. Highlights include a rabble-rousing Dolenz performance on 'Randy Scouse Git' and, unbelievable as it seems, 'I Wanna Be Free', which, with added volume, bombastic rhythm section, and Jones' inability to play it subtle and suave in a live setting (he almost literally has to shout out the lyrics), suddenly becomes a good-time folk anthem, perfectly singalongable, particularly if you're busy hiding from bad weather somewhere in your log cabin in North Dakota. Of course, the songs that were previously interesting from a musical point of view are butchered fair and square ('Last Train To Clarksville', 'I'm A Believer'), and the formerly sparkling vocal harmonies are completely out of tune, but here we go complaining again.

By far the most interesting part for fans and collectors will be the four bonus tracks, an integral part of the show that was left out in the LP age - the band's "solo" spots. Tork's country-western sendup has already been mentioned; Nesmith also has one with the equally fun and simplistic, but far more long-winded (and long-titled) 'You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover'; Jones gets himself the cute bouncy ballad 'Gonna Build A Mountain'; and Dolenz kicks the most ass with the lightning-speed rave-up of 'I Got A Woman', finally showing why he really was the best singer in the band and a good candidate for intoxicating frontman as well.

In other words, Live 1967 hangs somewhere in between historical document and independent entertainment - it's a bit too "unimportant" to be recommended as the former, and way too messy to be recommended as the latter, but if you're hunting for unique experiences, don't pass it by. It sounds like nothing else in the world. [Review by George Starostin at Only Solitare]
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This post consists of a rip taken from CD (1987 - now deleted) and includes artwork for both CD and Vinyl. The CD release includes 4 bonus tracks (solo tracks by each of the four Monkees) which were not available on the vinyl release (due to length restraints).
Although this is not their best recording, the live renditions are quite good considering their age and the audience consisting primarily of 8 to 14 year old girls!
Note: The Monkees went on tour the following year in 1968, visiting Australia and Japan. For information regarding their tour 'Down Under', see the Monkees' official website.

Track Listing
01 - Last Train to Clarksville
02 - You May Be the One
03 - The Girl I Knew Somewhere
04 - I Wanna Be Free
05 - Sunny Girlfriend
06 - Your Auntie Grizelda
07 - Forget That Girl
08 - Sweet Young Thing
09 - Mary, Mary
10 - * Cripple Creek (Peter Tork solo spot)
11 - * You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover 

(Michael Nesmith solo spot)
12 - * Gonna Build A Mountain (Davy Jones solo spot)
13 - * I Got A Woman (Micky Dolenz solo spot)
14 - I'm a Believer
15 - Randy Scouse Git
16 - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
* Bonus tracks only on CD
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The Monkees:
Peter Tork - bass, vocals, keyboards
Davy Jones - vocals, guitars
Micky Dolenz - drums, vocals
Michael Nesmith - guitars, vocals

RIP - This post is dedicated to Davy Jones who sadly passed away recently on Febuary 29th, 2012 at the age of 66. News sources indicate that he died of a heart attack.
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The Monkees Live Link (115Mb)  New Link 20/01/2026

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Various Artists - Bearsville Finds A New Home (1974-1980)

(Various Artists 1974-1980)
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The record label 'Bearsville' was founded in 1970 by Albert Grossman and its artist roster included more Rock/Pop oriented acts like Todd Rundgren and Foghat.
After his group Nazz broke up, Todd Rundgren signed with Grossman's management and began producing records for others, including many of the early albums for the Ampex label. By late 1970, Bearsville was established as a label on its own, with Rundgren the main producer and ultimately, its most well known artist. The Bearsville label was brown, with a logo that resembled a cartoon bear's head. Most promotional labels were the same, with a "Promotion Not For Sale" overprint, although white-label promos are known to exist.
But more interesting for Disco lovers are the Funky Soul/Disco work of Tony Wilson and the solo releases by former Chic vocalist Norma Jean Wright, who recorded for Bearsville as just 'Norma Jean'. Actually Chic's Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards wrote and produced Norma's two 1978 hit songs; "Saturday" and "Sorcerer" as well as 1979's "High Society". The label finally folded in 1984.
Bearsville’s initial distributor was Ampex Records. From 1972 until its demise, the label was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Today Rhino Records distributes the Bearsville catalog. For a complete listing of the Bearsville back catalogue see Warner Brothers Records Story
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FOGHAT (Selftitled, Live, Boogie Motel)
Foghat were a British rock band that had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. Their style can be described as "blues-rock," or boogie-rock dominated by electric and electric slide guitar. The band has achieved five gold records. The group remained popular during the disco era, but their popularity waned in the early 1980s.
The band initially featured Dave Peverett ("Lonesome Dave") on guitar and vocal, Tony Stevens on bass, and Roger Earl on drums. After leaving Savoy Brown in December 1970, they added Rod Price on guitar/slide guitar and formed Foghat in January 1971. Their 1972 album 'Foghat' was produced by Dave Edmunds and included a cover of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" which received much airplay, especially on FM stations, and is featured on this sampler.

The band's second self-titled album was also known as Rock and Roll for its cover photo of a rock and a bread roll, and it went gold. Energized came out in 1974, followed by Rock and Roll Outlaws and Fool for the City in 1975, the year that Stevens left the band after objecting to their endless touring schedule. Stevens was replaced temporarily by producer Nick Jameson in 1975 when the band recorded Fool For The City. In the next year, he was replaced by Craig MacGregor and the group produced Night Shift in 1976, a live album in 1977, and Stone Blue in 1978, each reaching "gold" record sales. Fool for the City spawned the hit single "Slow Ride" (which reached number 20 on the US charts), but the greatest sales figures were for Foghat Live, which sold over 2,000,000 copies. More hits followed: "Drivin' Wheel", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (from the live album), "Stone Blue" and "Third Time Lucky (The First Time I Was a Fool)". 

But Rod Price, unhappy with the group's still constant touring and the shift away from their hard boogie sound towards a more New Wave influenced Pop direction, left the band in November 1980. After months of auditions he was replaced by Erik Cartwright by February 1981.
After 1978, Foghat record sales began to slip, and their last album for the Bearsville label, Zig-Zag Walk in 1983, only briefly touched the charts at #192.

Note: Foghat Live eventually sold over two million copies and is certified 2x platinum in the United States.

Todd Rundgren (Hermit Of Mink Hollow

Enigmatic whizz-kid, virtuoso guitarist and studio master Todd Rundgren was born in Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby in 1948. He began his band life in a local rock 'n' roll outfit, Woody's Truckstop, before forming English Mod-influenced flash-rock outfit The Nazz in 1968. The Nazz were unusual in Philadelphia for providing a viable alternative to the San Francisco sound dominating American music at time, as they attempted to personify everything "swinging London", from their clothes to their Beatle-influenced material. With Rundgren on guitar were Robert "Stewkey" Antoni (keyboards, vocals), Carson van Osten (baas) and Thorn Mooney (drums).
Nazz were characterised by recording and playing sophistication that heralded the end of the '60s era and a newer, more professional sound. Probably too advanced for their period they succeeded with two minor U.S. hit singles, though only Hello It's Me (Boston's most requested, four times re-released AM song) made it to the bottom rungs of national charts.

Among the huge number of acts that Rundgren has worked with in studio are The Band, Jesse Winchester, Butterfield Blues Band, New York Dolls, Fanny, Grand Funk, Halfnelson (later Sparks), Janis Joplin, Badfinger, Hello People and James Cotton.
Meanwhile his own solo career blossomed with Ballad Of Todd Rundgren (1971) assisted by the sons of New York society figure Soupy Sales, Hunt (bass) and Tony Sales (drums). Always attempting to push the barriers of rock to new heights Rundgren made an initial attempt to launch his Utopia Road Show with a lighting system and effects that could match visually his futuristic music.
A double, 'Something/Anything' (1972), contained Rundgren's most diverse styles to date; he had seemingly mastered every angle from soul to Beach Boys to raw daring of a Hendrix. Many of songs represent his finest hour in eyes of fanatical following that began to worship Rundgren as a rock 'n' roll saviour. Certainly, there is no doubting the appeal of numbers like "I Saw The Light", "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" or "Couldn't I Just Tell You?"
Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings as solo artist, and during the seventies and eighties with the band Utopia. He has also been prolific as a producer and engineer on the recorded work of other musicians.

His 1976 album Faithful marked a return to the pop/rock genre, featuring one side of original songs and one side of covers of significant songs from 1966, including the Yardbirds' "Happening Ten Years Time Ago" (the B-side of that Yardbirds single gave Nazz its name) and a nearly identical re-creation of the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations". Faithful was followed by Hermit of Mink Hollow (1978); this included the hit ballad "Can We Still Be Friends", which reached #29 in the U.S. and was accompanied by an innovative self-produced music video, and the album became the second most successful of his career (after Something? Anything!), reaching #36 in the U.S.
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Randy Vanwarmer (Warmer)
Randy Vanwarmer (March 30, 1955 – January 12, 2004) was an American songwriter and guitarist. His biggest success was the pop hit, "Just When I Needed You Most". It reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1979 after peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart earlier that year. There are several cover versions of this song, including those by Dolly Parton, Daniel Selby and Smokie.
In 1979, after struggling in obscurity for a few years, Bearsville Records in New York released a VanWarmer single, "Gotta Get Out of Here," a mildly catchy pop tune. "Just When I Needed You Most" was the B-side of the single. Somewhere, on a whim, a DJ decided to play the flip side instead, and it slowly rose to the Top 10 in a market saturated with disco. As VanWarmer told Release, Albert Grossman, the head of Bearsville, who was acting as VanWarmer's manager, would not let him do television or tour the United States, a strategy that did not prove successful.
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Utopia (Oops! Wrong Planet, Adventures In Utopia)
Utopia was an American progressive rock band, led by Todd Rundgren that toured and recorded from 1973 to 1986.
Utopia was initially an ensemble, formed by Todd Rungren as a counter-point to his solo work. Various musicians came and went, but the main stays of the band were Roger Powell (keyboards), Kasim Sulton (bass), and Jon "willie" Wilcox (drums), and of course Todd himself handling the guitar work, all four members supplied both lead and harmony vocals.
Despite its breadth of styles and strong talents, Utopia had only one Billboard top 40 hit. "Set Me Free", from their best selling album Adventures in Utopia, peaked at #27 in 1980. Poised on the verge of mainstream success, the band sidetracked for the next two LPs before returning to the head-on pop format by which time the momentum from Adventures had been lost.
They managed to hold cult status throughout the 1980s with their albums, concert performances and videos that were shown on MTV in its early years.

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Jesse Winchester (Selftitled, A Touch On The Rainy Side)
Jesse Winchester is a musician and songwriter who was born and raised in the southern United States. To avoid the Vietnam War draft he moved to Canada in 1967, which is where and when he began his career as a solo artist.
After a few years of playing piano in Canadian bars and teaching himself to write songs, Jesse met Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist and main writer for The Band, the legendary quintet of former Dylan backing musicians, “through a friend of a friend.” Robertson produced Jesse’s self-titled debut album, enlisting fellow Band-mate Levon Helm on drums and mandolin and whiz-kid musician Todd Rundgren as engineer. That first album was released with the most low-key packaging possible – no printed lyrics and a gatefold cover with the same photo of Jesse on all four panels, resembling a 19th Century “Wanted Dead or Alive” poster.
Winchester’s self-titled debut (first released in 1970 on the Apmex label) still seems as fresh, perfect and balanced today as it did when first released. With Robbie Robertson of 'The Band' producing and playing guitar, accompanied by fellow Band-mate Levon Helm on drums and a whole host of excellent Canadian musicians, the accompaniment is first-rate. As a collection of songs, the album is still nearly without peer. Winchester covers all the bases here, with songs about God, sin, good times, casual attraction, and the fragility of love all fitting comfortably together, achieving an effortless thematic cohesion that more pretentious “concept” albums of the day could only strain for. From the dark and brooding “Black Dog” to a tale of lost love in "The Brand New Tennessee Waltz", nearly every song is a classic. And while many of these works achieved greater commercial success for the better-known singers who later recorded them, Winchester’s own singing on this album is remarkably strong, versatile and attractive, with unmatched intelligence and understanding gracing every interpretation.
The ampex label became defunct shortly afterwards and Winchester reverted to Ampex's parent company, Bearsville for the release of his next 7 albums.
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Paul Butterfield (Better Days)
Paul Butterfield (17 December 1942 – 4 May 1987) was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival.
Following the releases of 'Live in 1970' and 'Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smiling' in 1971, Butterfield broke up his blues/horn based Butterfield Band and formed a new group with Chris Parker on drums, guitarist Amos Garrett, Geoff Muldaur, pianist Ronnie Barron and bassist Billy Rich, naming the ensemble "Better Days." The group released Paul Butterfield's 'Better Days' and 'It All Comes Back in 1972 and 1973, respectively on the Bearsville label.
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Although this is another record sampler by a major record company, it was not available for sale to the general public and was probably used for promotional purposes to showcase the Bearsville label throughout the 70's. I suspect Bearsville made it freely available to radio stations in an attempt to boost record sales, and appears to have been distributed through Festival Records here in Australia (see front cover). Anyhow, there are certainly some classic hits on this sampler although some artists like Elizabeth Barracough, Tony Wilson and Nick Jameson were unknowns here in the land of Oz.
Note: Bearsville released a second record sampler (pictured right) shortly after this one which was available for sale and is therefore more commonly found on eBay and alike. The record sampler featured in this post, however, is extremely rare as I have yet to see it anywhere else on the web.
The post consists of a rip taken from Vinyl at 320kps which has had any crackle or pops removed manually. Full album artwork is included, although the album cover isn't really anything to rave about !
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Track Listing
01 - Just When I Needed You Most (Randy Vanwarmer)
02 - Third Time Lucky (Foghat)
03 - Use Your Heart (Elizabeth Barraclough)
04 - Having A Party (Norma Jean)
05 - The Politican (Tony Wilson)
06 - Home In My Hand "Live" (Foghat)
07 - I Ain't Searching (Nick Jameson)
08 - Can We Still Be Friends (Todd Rundgren)
09 - Call Me (Randy Vanwarmer)
10 - Sassy (Jesse Winchester)
11 - I Just Wanna Make Love To You (Foghat)
12 - My Angel (Utopia)
13 - Highway 28 (Paul Butterfield)
14 - The Brand New Tenessee Waltz (Jesse Winchester)
15 - Set Me Free (Utopia)
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Bearsville Link (126Mb) New Link 01/09/2025

Arlen Roth - Guitarist (1978)

(U.S 1978-Present)
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Arlen Roth (born 1952) is an American guitarist. His first solo album won the Montreaux Critics' Award for Best Instrumental Album of the Year in 1978
Known as "The Master of the Telecaster," music lovers consider Arlen Roth "the guitarist's guitarist," a brilliant musician, but that's only one aspect of his remarkable 35-year career. He is a highly regarded authority concerning "all things guitar," from writing about guitar playing, to being the inspiration behind their creation, due to his fluent mastery, and rare ability to seamlessly cross over musical genres and playing styles.
His legendary guitar prowess crosses all genres, all styles, and all types of guitar playing, including one of his specialties, slide guitar. He fluidly moves from folk and blues to country tunes, and has played some of the most resounding rock ever recorded. He is as comfortable playing an acoustic ballad, (his acoustic version of Layla has been critically acclaimed as being better than Eric Clapton's version) as he is launching into the most powerful version of "When a Man Loves a Woman" ever recorded, which Guitar Player magazine called "likely the most intense workout ever recorded on a Telecaster."

His music and endless creativity seem to flow directly from him and through him, and no matter which guitar or style he is playing at any moment, there is an unmistakable combination of clarity, depth, and fluidity, exemplified by the song from which his current release takes its name, Landscape. This (12-track) recording showcases his hallmark genius, his ability to take any note, any nuance, any tool, anything he's ever heard, and somehow make it uniquely his own.
Since his remarkable range of talent defies distinct categorization, the best in the business call upon him when they want the best-- studio musician, sideman, songwriter, author, teacher, bandleader, film consultant, or to go on tour. He also produces his own, and other artists' music.
Every step of the way, since his first solo recording in 1978, Arlen Roth has received accolades and earned the highest acclaim. Vintage Guitar magazine ranked him One of the Top 100 Influential Guitarists of the Century, and he's also on their list for having performed one of The Top 10 Greatest Recorded Guitar Sounds. He recently was a contributing artist on Guitar Harvest , a compilation release featuring world-class guitarists, voted one of the Top Ten All-Time Best Guitar Recordings by Rolling Stone magazine.

Several best-selling guitars bear his name, with three more in production: a new Arlen Roth Archtop model by Curtis Guitars, the innovative Terraplane, a steel-bodied resonator guitar inspired by the classic Hudson Terraplane car, by Simon Guitars, and Warren Guitars' popular Arlen Roth Signature model.
His first of eight solo releases, Arlen Roth: Guitarist, won the Critics Award for "Best Instrumental Album" at Montreaux in 1978. Hot Pickups was No. 2 on the U.K. charts in 1979. His Toolin' Around CD (1993) has become a hard-to-find classic, and is being re-released in 2005 due to ongoing demand. On Toolin' Around , Arlen plays duets with legends such as Danny Gatton, Brian Setzer, Albert Lee, Duane Eddy, Duke Robillard, Jerry Douglas, and Sam Bush, as well as several solo pieces. A big bonus for fans is The Making of Toolin' Around, a film (recorded on DVD) available for the first time. He also contributed to Incarnation, a tribute to legendary blues man Robert Johnson , and performed on two recent Jimi Hendrix tribute CDs.

Arlen Roth has traversed a vast territory, as a musician and as a man.

'Drive It Home', a critically acclaimed all-acoustic recording, and the artist's most personal one, was dedicated to his late wife Deborah, and their oldest daughter, Gillian, both tragically lost to a car accident in 1998. (AussieRock: I nearly cried when I read this - such a tragedy)
He has toured with Simon and Garfunkel, individually, and together, from 1978 to the present. He appeared on-stage in a film with Bob Dylan , created and taught Ralph Macchio his guitar parts for the film Crossroads , played and directed most of the film's guitar scenes, and played an infamous "dueling guitar virtuosos" finale with Steve Vai and others, still generating substantial internet buzz 20 years later.
A few other artists with whom Arlen Roth has toured or recorded include John Prine, Phoebe Snow, Don McLean, Eric Andersen, Tony Bird, Janis Ian, Pete Seeger (Grammy nominated album), Jack Bruce, Duane Eddy, gospel great Marion Williams, as well as the Taylors: James, Livingston, and Kate.

He's also considered the single-most important influence on learning to play the guitar and other instruments around the world. In 1979, Arlen Roth and his late wife, Deborah, founded "Hot Licks", a guitar learning resources company, the first to videotape famous musicians demonstrating their techniques and individual styles, creating an important historical legacy. In many instances, the Hot Licks catalog contains the only video recordings ever performed by these master musicians. The company has shipped over two million videos worldwide, while producing an extensive library of books and guitar-related materials, including many Arlen Roth best sellers, covering guitar history, and lessons for specific guitars, genres, and playing styles.
In 1974, 20-year old Arlen Roth authored his first book, Slide Guitar, still considered the "gold standard." How to Play Blues Guitar followed a year later. Nashville Guitar, 1976, became a landmark reference, highly influencing the country music sound, owing to Arlen's introduction of his wholly original string-bending techniques. His Doubleday book, Complete Electric Guitar, was partially edited by the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Some additional titles include Masters of the Telecaster, Complete Acoustic Guitar, Rock Guitar for Future Stars , and others.
"Hot Guitar," Arlen Roth's column in Guitar Player magazine, was voted #1 by readers for ten consecutive years, and recently was compiled into a best selling book [Extract from Arlen Roth's website]
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One of the many LP's that I bought as a youngster having heard only one track - that track was of course the classic "(Ghost) Riders In The Sky". I was already a big fan of Larry Carlton, Al Di Meola and Les Dudek at that time - but Arlen Roth still managed to blow me away with his astounding Telecaster licks that matched anything the mentioned trio could produce. The remaining tracks on the album span country rock, blue grass and raw blues which showcased Arlen's amazing dexterity and talent on guitar. The last track on side B "Laughing at the blues" completes the experience leaving you panting for more. Not bad for a debut album !
This post consists of a 320kps rip taken from my pristine LP (not a pop or crackle to be heard) and includes full album artwork, along with label scans.
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Track Listing
01 - (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
02 - A Change Is Gonna Come
03 - Rooster
04 - Dreams Of Mexico
05 - A Fool Like Me
06 - Rocket 88
07 - Landslide
08 - Farther Along
09 - Laughing At The Blues
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Musicians:
Arlen Roth (Electric & Acoustic Guitars, slide, hawaiian guitar, six-string bass)
Tony Brown (Bass)
Timmy Cappello (Tenor Sax)
Richard Crooks (Drums)
Aubray Kelly (Harmonica)
Janey Schram (Lead vocals)
Ralph Schuckette (Piano & Organ)
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Arlen Roth Link (92Mb) New Link 02/09/2025
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Budgie - Nightflight Into Guildford UK (1981) Bootleg

(U.K 1971 - Present)
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This bootleg showcases Budgie during a period of transition in their musical career, moving away from their big power ballads and steering more towards heavier, riff orientated songs.
In 1979, John Thomas took over the axeman role from Budgie's temporary guitarist Rob Kendrick. An ex-George Hatcher player, "JT" injected the band with a new lease of life. Signing to RCA, their momentum was accelerated by the birth of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal which lead many younger rock fans to discover their back catalogue. In the next 3 years, Budgie released an E.P 'If Swallowed Do Not Induce Vomitting', three albums (Power Supply / Nightflight / Deliver Us From Evil), headlined the 1982 Reading Festival and took Poland by storm.
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Incredibly, 1983 saw the band without a record deal and without a live album to encapsulate their stage delivery. They soldiered on until our last gig in 1988 with Jim Simpson (ex-UFO), Williams having departed in late '86.
In 1994, Shelley re-formed Budgie with Thomas and Robert
'Congo' Jones (ex-Love Sculpture) to headline the San Antonio music festival in front of 25,000 screaming Texans. Again, thanks to promoter Bill Lee, they returned to Texas in 1996 for another one-off show to celebrate 25 years since their first album.
A lavish double CD anthology, 'An Ecstacy Of Fumbling' came out in 1996. Via New Millennium Communications, a double live CD 'We Came, We Saw' featuring the entire Reading Festival Performances from 1980 and 1982 was released. To be honest, this material should have come out as a live album at the time of their popularity in the early 80's.
1997 and 1998 was a period of inactivity touring wise, and many fans thought Burke had called it a day once more. However, 'Heavier Than Air' was released, a double CD of rare live recordings spanning their career from 1972 to 1978. It gave fans the first official release of live guitar work by the hugely popular Tony Bourge.
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Thanks to promotion from Ray Cordell and Alan Howard and management from Paul Cox, Letchworth 1999 and featured their first UK live performance in 11 years and the return of Steve Williams on drums. This was a warm-up show for the annual rock festival held in Sweden, with Budgie headlining on 12th June 1999. The 80's classic reformed line-up then played San Antonio for the 3rd time in April 2000.
Tragedy then struck with John Thomas suffering a cerebral aneurysm in June 2000. For a period, no one knew whether he would ever play guitar again. For those fans who were aware of John's illness, his return to the stage at the Legends of Welsh Rock was an emotional one. Budgie headlined this gig in Wales in September 2001. John Thomas, whilst not back to 100% top form, played a great show considering the treatment and recuperation he'd gone through.
At the start of 2002, Burke Shelley was in the mood to get back on the road once more and to engage the band into some serious touring. Andy Hart, a Birmingham based guitarist well known to JT was enlisted to replace him.
In 2002, Burke, Steve and Andy played over 30 dates, two of these being in the States. The show at San Antonio on 2nd August was recorded and released as a live CD entitled Life In San Antonio in November 2002. Due to commitments outside of Budgie, Andy Hart left the band in Feb 2003 to be replaced by Simon Lees who toured the US, Sweden, Holland, Poland and the UK with Budgie and also played on, and co wrote, much of the bands first studio album in over twenty years entitled 'You're All Living In Cuckoo Land'.
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The following is a transcript of an newspaper article from the Birmingham Times (Dec 18, 1999) by Andy Coleman, who interviewed John Thomas just before his illness.
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ROCK guitarist John Thomas is celebrating two 20th anniversaries this year. In 1979 he married his long time girlfriend Margaret - and joined cult heavy metal band Budgie. Both 'relationships' are still going strong. John, aged 47, and Margaret live in Birmingham with their two daughters Jayne, 17, and Joanne, 14, and pet dog Big Smudge, while Budgie are planning gigs in Sweden, America and Japan. In addition, Winson Green-born John runs JT's Guitars, a music shop in Bath Street, Birmingham city centre.
When he first joined Budgie from the George Hatcher Band John found life sweet as part of the power trio group, alongside Burke Shelley and Steve Williams. There were extensive tours of Europe and the UK and the release of three albums Power Supply (1980), Night Flight (1981) and Deliver Us From Evil (1982).
But record company wrangling and a series of personal problems led to John losing interest in the band. "We were doing the odd concert but I also got involved in a band called Phenomena with Cozy Powell, Glenn Hughes and Don Airey, among others," recalls John. "Budgie never broke up, we just left it alone." John had auditions to play with a variety from artists, ranging from Bob Geldof to Meatloaf, but his heart was really with Budgie. "Looking back, I've always been loyal to the band and I can see that it's hampered my career. I've tended to turn offers down in favour of staying with Budgie," he says. Within rock circles Budgie have always had a huge following and as young fans got older and formed bands of their own they never forgot the influence of the group. Metallica, Soundgarden and Iron Maiden have all covered Budgie songs, bringing their music to a whole new generation of fans.
In 1994 Burke Shelley contacted John, asking him to consider performing again. "I thought we'd be playing somewhere like Cardiff Top Rank but it was in San Antonio, Texas, so I said yes," says John. "We're only a trio but there were two limos waiting at the airport for us and when we did a record signing we broke all records for the number of fans turning up. We even attracted more than ZZ Top. "We headlined a show in front of 25,000 people and we were so loud the festival was cancelled for the next two years after complaints from residents!"
Budgie were later asked to take part in a Swedish rock festival with bands like Deep Purple, The Scorpions and Motorhead. To prepare they arranged a low key gig in Letchworth but when Radio 1's Mark and Lard raved about the band and advertised the concert the venue was packed out with Budgie fans. "It was the first time I'd played in England for 11 years," John reveals.
Future plans for Budgie include the release of songs recorded between 1983 and 1988, a live CD and video of the San Antonio gig and possibly a show in England. John says: "We'd love to do a British rock festival like Donington."
John opened his shop in 1995, financed by the sale of some of his collection of vintage guitars. Next year he plans to relocate to Rich Bitch recording studios in Selly Oak. "It's more of a hobby than anything else," he admits. "To be honest, you can never beat the excitement of standing on stage in front of a stack of Marshall amps and performing for thousands of people."

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This post was taken from a very good audience recording (192kps) and includes full album artwork (source unknown). Although the recording starts off distant it quickly improves and the performance is outstanding - all three band members were on fire on this Nightflight concert.
Tracks featured come from their Power Supply and Nightflight albums (available from their website) but they still manage to squeeze in a classic and my favourite "Breadfan".
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Track Listing
01. Intro
02. Panzer Division Destroyed
03. Crime Against The World
04. Gunslinger
05. She Used Me Up
06. I Turned To Stone
07. Superstar
08. Wildfire
09. Breadfan
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Band Members:
Burke Shelley (Bass, Vocals)
John Thomas (Guitar)
Steve Williams (Drums)
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Nightflight Into Guildford (60Mb)  New Link 24/10/2015

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Shorrock, Birtles and Goble - Beginnings (1975) + Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1969-Present)
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This album features Glenn Shorrock (Axiom), Beeb Birtles and Graeham Goble (Mississippi) who were the three front-line members of Little River Band, one of Australia's most successful national and international contemporary bands. On these tracks we find some of the excellent material on which Shorrock, Birtles and Goble were featured in the period before the formation of the Little River Band. A period that was obviously the stepping-stone to the great sound sound that was so characteristic of the Little River Band.
Note: Graeham's first name is incorrectly spelt on the cover and back credits, which must have annoyed him somewhat.
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The following biographies were sourced from Birtles Shorrock & Goble website with thanks.
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Glenn Shorrock
With a career spanning more than 35 years, Glenn Shorrock is one of the elder statesmen of Australian contemporary show business. Born in Kent, England, Glenn migrated with his family at the age of 10 to Adelaide in the mid-1950s. A self-confessed child of rock 'n' roll, he began singing in 1962 with a vocal group called the Twilights. By 1965, the Twilights became a six piece "beat group" based in Melbourne scoring hits with "Needle in a Haystack", "What's Wrong with the Way I Live?", "Cathy Come Home" and "Young Girl", before disbanding in 1969.
Axiom with Brian Cadd followed shortly thereafter, with hits including "Arkansas Grass" and "Little Ray of Sunshine".

Axiom disbanded soon after moving to London in 1970. Glenn chose to remain in London as a session singer and songwriter working with other ex-pats and Europeans in a twelve-piece rock orchestra named Esperanto.
At the conclusion of 1974, Glenn returned to Melbourne to help form Little River Band as lead singer. Little River Band cracked the United States market in 1976, and began a string of eight Top Ten Hits in the U.S.A. and around the world. The band has sold in excess of 25 million albums, often being credited for opening the door for many Australian acts on the international circuit. In 1995, Glenn fronted Little River Band during their 20th year anniversary. His songwriting credits include the international hits "Help is on its Way", "Emma", "Home on Monday" (co-writer Beeb Birtles), and "Cool Change". Glenn's latest CD was released in 2000: "Spin Me 'Round", was co-produced with Brian Cadd.

Glenn's credentials extend to all fields of show business, notably in theatre and cabaret. He starred in Evita and The Rocky Horror Show, in addition to his own productions: One for the Money, Go Cat Go and Two Up. A career highlight was producing and performing alongside Sir George Martin in the highly acclaimed production All You Need Is Beatles (1998). He performed the role of Johnny Casino in the smash hit Grease: The Arena Spectacular!, which played to full houses across Australia and in Auckland, and co-starred in British Rock Symphony with Eric Burdon and Thelma Houston, performing the hits of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones and The Who. In 2001 he joined the cast in the inaugural production of Australian Night At The Proms at the Sydney SuperDome.
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Beeb Birtles
Beeb Birtles was born Gerard Bertelkamp on November 28, 1948, in The Netherlands. Searching for a better life for his family, his father moved the family to Adelaide, South Australia, when Beeb was a young boy. Speaking no English, the first few years in Australia were difficult, to say the least, for the young lad who loved to sing harmonies with his mother.

As a teenager, Beeb and his schoolmates formed a band known as Times Unlimited, which eventually turned professional and took the Australian teen music scene by storm as 'The Zoot'. They scored several hits, including a rocking version of "Eleanor Rigby", which earned them a gold record.
Following the breakup of Zoot in 1971, Beeb teamed up with former Zoot lead singer Darryl Cotton, and formed the musical duo, Frieze. The two released a moderately successful album in 1972, but parted within a year to pursue other interests.

Shortly thereafter, Beeb received an invitation from Graeham Goble to join Mississippi, where he wrote and sang lead on "Will I". The nucleus of Mississippi went on to form Little River Band, where Beeb's songwriting and vocal talents were taken to new heights, with tracks such as "Happy Anniversary", "Every Day of My Life", and the often requested "I'll Always Call Your Name".
Beeb left LRB in 1983 to pursue his love of songwriting and collaboration with a variety of artists, and to spend quality time with his young family. He founded his own music publishing company, Songskill, in 1985, which boasts a catalog of more than 200 songs. In 1992, Beeb moved his family to America, and he resides near Nashville, Tennessee, today. In 2000, he released his first solo project, "Driven By Dreams", on the Sonic Sorbet record label, which he co-owns with renowned session musician and producer, Bill Cuomo. (For more info on Birtles see his website)
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Graeham Goble
Graeham Goble, one of Australia's most successful international songwriters, has been seriously writing songs since he was 16. At the age of 11 he learned to play piano and drums and began turning out simple ditties, sometimes one a day. As leader of Adelaide groups The Silence, Travis Wellington Hedge and Alison Gros, Graeham refined his craft and by the time he had set off to England with the soft-rock outfit Mississippi (who gave him his first taste of Australian chart success in 1972 with the top five "Kings Of The World"), he was an accomplished songsmith and musician. By 1976 he was in the American Top 30 with his "It's A Long Way There", the first International hit for Little River Band. Two years later he was on the Billboard Chart at Number Three with the delicate, haunting and memorable, "Reminiscing".

As a founding member of Little River Band, Graeham participated in an extraordinary surge of success which resulted in more than 20 million record sales, 13 American Top 40 hits. At the heart of Little River Band's lush, layered, evocative and engaging sound was the vocal textures he conceived and the powerful, enduring songs he wrote. He penned eight U.S. Top 40 hits and earned two rare "Million-Air" awards from BMI for one million American broadcasts each of "Reminiscing" and "Lady". In the ensuing years, "Reminiscing" has become such a standard on American airwaves that it has been recognized by a "Four Million-Air" award, an absolute first for an Australian-based writer. "Lady" has passed Two Million Airplays, and "The Other Guy" and "Take It Easy On Me" have been added to his Million-Air tally, giving Graeham the distinction of being the only Australian writer to be awarded four "Million-Air" awards from BMI.
Graeham Goble left the ranks of Little River Band in 1989 to pursue musical projects close to his heart.
Considerable inspiration is evident in the songs that Graeham is now writing; songs which will once again present him as a leading song craftsman. The new songs are very much an endeavour under his own control. All the new recordings feature the talents of Melbourne's finest Jazz, Rock and World Session Musicians. He built a recording studio and learn't the technical side of sequencing and recording so that he could make the sort of recordings he wanted to make.
"I always feel that my career is just beginning" he said, "There's so much that I want to do now and this is another beginning for me".

One of my favourite tracks on this compilation is "Ford's 

Bridge". It comes from Axiom's 'Fool's Gold' album which was released in 1969, was penned by Don Mudie and Brian Cadd and sung by Glenn Shorrock. Unlike "Arkansas Grass", this was very much an Aussie ballad about Australian people and places - Ford's Bridge (the actual bridge is spelt Foord's Bridge) being located on the Murray River and joining the towns of Wahgunyah and Corowa. The song tells the sad story of a simple young man who is devastated when a girl he secret admires falls in love with and marries a returned soldier. Unable to cope, he murders them both. The orchestration of the song close to the standard of what George Martin was doing for The Beatles and took Australian pop music of that time to a new level of excellence.
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This post consists of an mp3 rip (320kps) taken from my vinyl copy and includes LP artwork along with select band photos (mostly sourced from Graeham Goble's website with thanks)
These tracks have been previously released on Axiom's 'Fools Gold' album (1970) and Mississippi's selftitled album (1972).
I have also included some bonus tracks taken from singles released by the trio while they were playing with LRB, but released as Solo artists. ""Dream Lover" / " Spin Me Round" was Shorrock's first solo venture (1979) and did quite well in the charts (thanks to Deutros from Friday On My Mind for this single rip)
Birtles and Goble released their first solo single "Lonely Lives" / "Megan" in 1977 and the A-Side later appeared on their 'Last Romanace' album in 1980. The B-Side is therefore a rarity as it has never appeared on an LP.
Note: This album was later released in the states by Capitol records with a different cover (see above).
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.Track Listing
01 - Ford's Bridge (Axiom 1970)
02 - Kings Of The World (Mississippi 1972)
03 - Will I (Mississippi 1974)
04 - Can't Let Go Of The Feeling (Axiom 1970)
05 - Feel Alone (Mississippi 1972)
06 - Fool's Gold (Axiom 1970)
07 - Arkansas Grass (Axiom 1970)
08 - Where In The World (Mississippi 1974)
09 - A Little Ray Of Sunshine (Axiom 1970)
10 - All Through The Day (Mississippi 1972)
11 - Early Morning (Mississippi 1973)
12 - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Axiom 1970)
Bonus Tracks
13 - Dream Lover (Glenn Shorrock A-Single 1979)
14 - Spin Me Round (Glenn Shorrock B-Single 1979)
15 - Lonely Lives (Birtles and Goble A-Single 1977)
16 - Megan (Birtles and Goble B-Single 1977)
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Glenn Shorrock (Vocals)
Beeb Birtles (Vocals & Guitars)
Graeham Goble (Vocals & Guitars)
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Beginnings Link (129Mb) New Link 22/04/2026
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