Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield 1973

Not to be confused with their self-titled debut album, this double LP, which can still be found without too much hassle, is clearly the best Springfield compilation, at least until the overdue day when a box set appears that includes everything recorded by this superb band. It misses some good songs, especially from the first album, but zeroes in on their very best work, and includes a nine-minute version of "Bluebird" available nowhere else and excellent liner notes. AMG.

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Rio Grande - Rio Grande 1971

Rio Grande was a genuine country rock band. Supplemented with bassist Tom Russell and pedal steel player Bobby Tuttle, they recorded their debut LP for RCA at the local studio in Tyler, Rio Grande. When released in '71, the self-titled Rio Grande was completely overlooked.  Songs like 'Sue Ann', 'So Good To Be Free', 'Before My Time', and 'Dog Song' are wonderful because of the harmonies and the waving pedal. steal. The swamp rocker 'Nice And Easy' also shines through the fantastic bottleneck guitar of Ronnie Weiss – and thereby lifts Rio Grande to a higher level, even if that fell on deaf ears in 1971.

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The Perfect Circle - The Perfect Circle 1977

The Perfect Circle was an Oakland, California-based funk band active from 1975 until 1979. Known for "Bay Area Funk" emphasizing jazz, disco, psychedelics, and horn arrangements. Released on George Semper's Inner City Records, the band was discovered by Paul Mack, Jr. and produced by George Semper, who was also a band member and arranger of the album. The Perfect Circle self-titled flagship LP release, now rare-vinyl, was the only official material released by the band.

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The Four Tops - Yesterday's Dreams (1968

On Yesterday's Dreams, the Four Tops began looking back. Their songwriting and production mainstays, Holland-Dozier-Holland, had recently left the company in a royalties dispute and the LP included just one last song from the collective, "I'm in a Different World." Unfortunately, it was the biggest hit here, and nothing else compared to "Reach out, I'll Be There" or "Standing in the Shadows of Love." Still, songs and productions from Ivory Joe Hunter (the title track, "We've Got a Strong Love [On Our Side]") and Ashford & Simpson ("Can't Seem to Get You out of My Mind") filled the gaps with no discernible loss in quality. Even the unavoidable covers are treated very well; Hunter and Frank Wilson altered "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Sunny," and even "Daydream Believer" to sound more natural next to a real Motown song like "Remember When." If it never hit the chart heights of 1967's Reach Out, Yesterday's Dreams still proved more of a solid listen. AMG.

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Kush - Kush presents Snow White... And The Eight Straights 1974

Australian rock group active in the early 70s. Kush were a jazz-rock fusion band that existed from 1971 to 75 led by the flamboyant vocalist Jeff Duff. Kush was formed with Jeff Duff on vocals, John Santos (aka Montesante) and Colin Chapman on trumpet, Ron Anderson on piano and saxophone, Stephen Ball on keyboards, Tom Cowburn on guitar, harmonica and backing vocals, John Ellis on clarinet, flute and saxophone, Rob Matthews on bass guitar, and Graham McDonald on drums. The band members combined to look and sound like a local Blood, Sweat & Tears or perhaps Chicago, many of whose songs they performed. They released covers of "Peter Gunn", "MacArthur Park" and "Walk on the Wild Side" as well as originals such as "(Livin' on) Easy Street".

It was 1974’s driving ''(Livin’ On) Easy Street'', written by Kush keyboardist Steve Ball, that put the band on the map, assisted by an appearance on the popular Paul Hogan Show. Kush appeared at the 1974 Sunbury Pop Festival, "conceived and promoted as Australia's Woodstock". The band went through a few lineup changes before they called it quits in 1975. They released two albums: "Presents Snow White... And The Eight Straights" and "Nah,Tellus Wh't Kush Means Yer Great Sausage".

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Broken Glass - Broken Glass 1975

Broken Glass can be considered a side project for several known blues musicians, featuring Stan Webb's Chicken Shack with friends Robbie Blunt from Bronco, Rob Rawlinson who after played with Ian Hunter, Mac Poole from Warhorse, and Miller Anderson from Savoy Brown, Mott the Hoople among others. An interesting album.

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Debb Johnson - Debb Johnson 1969

Private release by seven-piece jazz horn rock band Debb Johnson from Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.
Give it a listen.

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Charles Aznavour - Non, Je N'ai Ren Oublié 1971

Charles Aznavour born Charles Aznavourian, 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French singer of Armenian ancestry, lyricist, actor, and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. During a career as a composer, singer, and songwriter, spanning over 70 years, he recorded more than 1,200 songs interpreted in 9 languages.  Moreover, he wrote or co-wrote more than 1,000 songs for himself and others. Aznavour is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and an icon of 20th-century pop culture. One of France's most popular and enduring singers, he was dubbed France's Frank Sinatra, while music critic Stephen Holden described Aznavour as a "French pop deity". Several media outlets described him as the most famous Armenian of all time. Jean Cocteau once said: "Before Aznavour despair was unpopular".
Aznavour sang for presidents, popes, and royalty, and at humanitarian events. In response to the 1988 Armenian earthquake, he founded the charitable organization Aznavour for Armenia along with his long-time friend impresario Lévon Sayan. In 2008, he was granted Armenian citizenship and was appointed ambassador of Armenia to Switzerland the following year, as well as Armenia's permanent delegate to the United Nations in Geneva.

He started his last world tour in 2014. In 2017, Aznavour was awarded the 2,618th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Later that year, he and his sister, Aida Aznavourian, were awarded the Raoul Wallenberg Award for sheltering Jews during World War II. His concert at the NHK Hall in Osaka, in September 2018, would be his final performance.

Between 1974 and 2016, Aznavour received around sixty gold and platinum records around the world. According to his record company, the total sales of Aznavour's recordings were over 180 million units.

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KGB - KGB 1976

KGB was the supergroup of supergroups, the crème de la crème, a mi-seventies collective featuring some of the most impeccable musicians in the UK and America. Rick Grech (Family, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker's Airforce, Traffic), Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Beck, Bogert & Apppice, etc.) Ray Kennedy (co-wrote with Brian Wilson), Barry Goldberg, and his long-time friend Mike Bloomfield (Dylan, Electric Flag, Al Kooper, Doctor John, etc). KGB created a controversy, a mystique, and a collectability that has endured and grown for 30 years, released here for the first time on CD, it makes for fascinating listening.

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The Soul Giants - I Remember Nick 1968

A classic and rare Afro-soul Jazz gem that must be heard. This was recorded in the days when band members such as Barney Rachabane and Dennis Mpale were considered ‘youngsters’. On the record sleeve notes they recall being ‘amateurs’ when they met the great saxophonists Nick Moyake (to whom this LP is dedicated), and Kippie Moeketsi.

Mongezi Velelo (Bass) was a founding band member of the legendary Blue Notes in 1963 (first called the Castle Lager Jazz Band), but stayed on in South Africa when Chris McGregor and others left. Shakes Mgudlwa (piano) the band’s main composer, died in Swaziland in 1971.

Gwen Ansell (Soweto Blues) places this album “in the tradition of intellectually challenging bebop-styled music begun by the Jazz Epistles.” Soul Jazz of the late 60s was a powerful point of identification for black South Africans with the blossoming civil rights and black power agendas in the United States. While LPs like this one were really precious artefacts that were reverently circulated and looked after in the townships, so too were Jazz imports such as the Jazz Crusaders, Modern Jazz Quartet, Miles Davis, Jimmy McGriff – just to list a few recently dug up in Mamelodi, Pretoria – but perhaps more about that in another post.

Producer Ray Nkwe is absolutely right when saying that those who hear this album will want more. He assures the fans that this first record was just the beginning of the Soul Giants and that there were “more groovy things to come”. It seems – please someone tell us we are wrong – that this was the only issue from the Soul Giants. 

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Jake Jones - Jake Jones 1971

Short-lived band from St. Louis, Missouri who released two albums the same year (the third was ready but never released), before all the musicians took their own way in 1973. The self-titled "Jake Jones" has a strong psychedelic and rural country-folk leaning, with some light hints of prog, which will become more evident in the second album. The sound is a mix of soft and hard material, good guitar, organ and great vocal harmony. Curious and particular the cover of Donovan's "Catch the wind". 

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Brenda Patterson - Keep On Keepin' On 1970

Brenda Patterson is an American blues singer, based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. 

Patterson, at the time of her early albums, was married to the songwriter Domingo "Sam" Samudio, and was a backing singer for Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. Her self-titled 1973 album, released on Playboy Records, featured contributions from John Kahn and Merl Saunders.

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Fausto Bordalo Dias - Um Beco Com Saída 1975

Fausto Bordalo Dias, known to many only by his first name, enjoyed a musical career blending African, Indian, Celtic, and Portuguese influences that spanned several decades. The songwriter/performer had a significant presence below the surface of pop recognition in his native Portugal from the 1970s through the 2000s and beyond. Fausto's wide-ranging stylistic influences and progressive political/social themes established him as a leader in the genre early on, a role he maintained throughout his life.

Born aboard a ship traveling between Portugal and Angola in 1948, Fausto grew up in the Portuguese colony of Nova Lisboa, located in central Angola. His upbringing and education in Africa left a mark on him that would come to characterize his career. At the age of 20, he moved to Portugal, forming the band Os Rebeldes ("the Rebels"). His work with the group got him plugged into progressive music circles, where he began to hear the life of a solo artist calling. That call was answered with the release of Fausto's eponymous solo debut in 1970, followed four years later by P'ró Que Der e Vier. His sophomore album, Um Beco com Saída, arrived in 1975, and a fourth release, Madrugada dos Trapeiros, was issued two years after that. His discography continued to grow, producing an enormous catalog of repertoire both deeply rooted in Portuguese culture and drawing in world music influences. Fausto's 1982 release Por Este Rio Acima was quickly regarded as a landmark album in Portuguese musical history, and he wielded considerable influence on Portugal's pop music world. His music was often cited as influential by the nation's top-charting artists, and his records continued to maintain a strong presence on Portuguese airwaves. His 2007 compilation, 18 Canções de Amor e Mais Uma de Ressentido Protesto, peaked at number 12 on airplay charts, maintaining a spot in the Top 40 for six weeks following its release. Em Busca das Montanhas Azuis followed in 2011. Fausto died on July 1, 2024, at the age of 75. AMG.
 

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Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys 1969

Make no mistake, Willy & the Poor Boys is a fun record, perhaps the breeziest album CCR ever made. Apart from the eerie minor-key closer "Effigy" (one of John Fogerty's most haunting numbers), there is little of the doom that colored Green River. Fogerty's rage remains, blazing to the forefront on "Fortunate Son," a working-class protest song that cuts harder than any of the explicit Vietnam protest songs of the era, which is one of the reasons that it hasn't aged where its peers have. Also, there's that unbridled vocal from Fogerty and the ferocious playing on CCR, which both sound as fresh as they did upon release. "Fortunate Son" is one of the greatest, hardest rock & rollers ever cut, so it might seem to be out of step with an album that is pretty laid-back and friendly, but there's that elemental joy that by late '69 was one of CCR's main trademarks. That joy runs throughout the album, from the gleeful single "Down on the Corner" and the lazy jugband blues of "Poorboy Shuffle" through the great slow blues jam "Feelin' Blue" to the great rockabilly spiritual "Don't Look Now," one of Fogerty's overlooked gems. The covers don't feel like throwaways, either, since both "Cotton Fields" and "The Midnight Special" have been overhauled to feel like genuine CCR songs. It all adds up to one of the greatest pure rock & roll records ever cut. AMG.

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The Heads - Heads Up 1968

A band from Queens, New York, Heads Up was a 1968 only release on the Liberty Label. Psychedelic rock and blues.  

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