Ricki Ililonga - Soweto 1978

Soweto is an album ultra rare 1978 French pressing of classic Zamb-Rock collectible! With drummer Brian Chengala and guitarists Rikki Ilionga and Wayne Barnes. Cool album.

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Linda Lewis - Say no more ... 1971

When even her first "best of" collection (1974's Heart Strings) ignores one of the three albums at its disposal, you know there's something oddly amiss about the record in question. And elsewhere, too, Linda Lewis' first solo album is rarely afforded more than a second glance, as a clearly inexperienced vocalist steps out beneath the tutelage of two comparative giants -- producer Ian Samwell and guitarist Jim Cregan -- but no firm ideas of exactly how she wants to present the songs she's written. Look behind the often tentative performances, and the often unsympathetic production, however, and Say No More really doesn't deserve its obscurity. At least some of the credit has to go to a dynamite band arrayed behind her -- guitarist Chris Spedding, Pentangle drummer Terry Cox, and King Crimsonalumni Ian McDonald all make notable contributions to the landscape. But Lewis, too, has her moments. Balanced between the love songs that lined Lewis up alongside a host of other early-decade singer/songwriters, and the more personal observations of people and places that would quickly see her step to the front of the line, Say No More's greatest strength is its refusal to allow its naiveté to hinder Lewis' performance. "Hampstead Way" and "Peter's Garden" are both lovely ruminations, while "Funky Kitchen" overcomes the disadvantages of a frankly dreadful title (and chorus) to illustrate her refusal to be tied to one sound. It would be another year or so before Lark, her second album, truly led Lewis out of the shadows. But the best of Say No More at least sent her on her way. AMG.

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Link Wray - Stuck in Gear 1975

Link Wray may never get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but his contribution to the language of rockin' guitar would still be a major one, even if he had never walked into another studio after cutting "Rumble." Quite simply, Link Wrayinvented the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists. Listen to any of the tracks he recorded between that landmark instrumental in 1958 through his Swan recordings in the early '60s and you'll hear the blueprints for heavy metal, thrash, you name it. Though rock historians always like to draw a nice, clean line between the distorted electric guitar work that fuels early blues records to the late-'60s Hendrix-Clapton-Beck-Page-Townshend mob, with no stops in between, a quick spin of any of the sides Wray recorded during his golden decade punches holes in that theory right quick. If a direct line can be traced forward from a black blues musician crankin' up his amp and playing with a ton of violence and aggression to a young white guy doing a mutated form of same, the line points straight to Link Wray, no contest. Pete Townshend summed it up for more guitarists than he probably realized when he said, "He is the king; if it hadn't been for Link Wray and "'Rumble,'" I would have never picked up a guitar."

Everything that was handed down to today's current crop of headbangers from the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Whocan be traced back to the guy from Dunn, North Carolina, who started out in 1955 recording for Starday as a member ofLucky Wray & the Palomino Ranch Hands. You see, back in the early '50s, it was a different ball game altogether. Rock & roll hadn't become a national event in the United States yet, and if you were young and white and wanted to be in the music business, you had two avenues for possible career moves. You could be a pop-mush crooner like Perry Como or a hillbilly singer like the late Hank Williams, and that was about it. With country music all around him as a youth in North Carolina, the choice was obvious; Wray joined forces with his brothers Vernon and Doug, formingLucky Wray & the Lazy Pine Wranglers, later changing the band name to the spiffier-sounding Palomino Ranch Hands. By the end of 1955, they had relocated outside of Washington, D.C., and added Shorty Horton on bass. WithLink, Horton, and brothers Doug and Vernon ("Lucky," named after his gambling fortunes) handling drums and lead vocals respectively, they fell in with some local songwriters, and the results made it to vinyl as an EP on the local Kay label, with the rest of the sides being leased to Starday Records down in Texas.

But by 1958, the music had changed, and so had Wray's life. With a lung missing from a bout with tuberculosis during his stint in the Korean War, Link was advised by his doctor to let brother Vernon do all the vocalizing. So Link started stretching out more and more on the guitar, coming up with one instrumental after another. By this time, the band had sweated down to a trio, and changed its name to the Ray Men. After a brief flirtation as a teen idol -- changing his name to Ray Vernon -- the third Wray brother became the group's producer/manager. Armed with a 1953 Gibson Les Paul, a dinky Premier amp, an Elvis sneer, and a black leather jacket, Link started playing the local record hops around the D.C. area with disc jockey Milt Grant, who became his de facto manager. One night during a typical set, says Link, "They wanted me to play a stroll. I didn't know any, so I made one up. I made up "'Rumble.'"

"Rumble" was originally issued on Archie Bleyer's Cadence label back in 1958, and Bleyer was ready to pass on it when his daughter expressed excitement for the primitive instrumental, saying it reminded her of the rumble scenes inWest Side Story. Bleyer renamed it (what its original title was back then, if any, is now lost to the mists of time), and "Rumble" jumped to number 16 on the national charts, despite the fact that it was banned from the radio in several markets (including New York City), becoming Wray's signature tune to this day. But despite the success and notoriety of "Rumble," it turned out to be Wray's only release on Cadence. Bleyer, under attack for putting out a record that was "promoting teenage gang warfare," wanted to clean Link and the boys up a bit, sending them down to Nashville to cut their next session with the Everly Brothers' production team calling the shots. The Wrays didn't see it that way, so they immediately struck a deal with Epic Records. Link's follow-up to "Rumble" was the pounding, uptempo "Rawhide." The Les Paul had been swapped for a Danelectro Longhorn model (with the longest neck ever manufactured on a production line guitar), its "lipstick tube" pickups making every note of Link's power chords sound like he was strumming with a tin can lid for a pick. The beat and sheer blister of it all was enough to get it up to number 23 on the national charts, and every kid who wore a black leather jacket and owned a hot rod had to have it.

But a pattern was emerging that would continue throughout much of Wray's early career; the powers that be figured that if they could tone him down and dress him up, they'd sell way more records in the bargain. What all these producers and record execs failed to realize was the simplest of truths: if Duane Eddy twanged away for white, teenage America, Link Wray played for juvenile delinquent hoods, plain and simple. By the end of 1960, Wray found himself in the mucho-confining position of recording with full orchestras, doing dreck like "Danny Boy" and "Claire de Lune." But when these gems failed to chart as well, relations with Epic came to a close, and by years' end, Link and Vern formed their own label, Rumble Records.

Rumble's three lone issues included the original version of Wray's next big hit, "Jack the Ripper." If "Rumble" sounded like gang warfare, then "Jack the Ripper" sounded like a high-speed car chase, which is exactly what it became the movie soundtrack for in the Richard Gere version of Breathless. Link's amp was recorded at the end of a hotel staircase for maximum echo effect, while he pumped riffs through it that would become the seeds of a million metal songs. After kicking up noise locally for a couple of years, it was going through another period of disc jockey spins when Swan Records of Philadelphia picked it up and got it nationwide attention. Certainly Wray was at his most prolific during his tenure with Swan, and label president Bernie Binnick gave Link and Vernon pretty much free rein to do what they wanted. Turning the family chicken coop into a crude, three-track studio, the Wray family spent the next decade recording and experimenting with sounds and styles.

At least now they could succeed -- or fail -- on their own terms. Most of these sides were leased out as one-shot deals to a zillion microscopic labels under a variety of names like the Moon Men, the Spiders, the Fender Benders, etc. What fueled this period of maximum creativity is open to debate. A lot of it had to do with the fact that Link and the boys honed their particular brand of rockin' mayhem working some of the grimiest joints on the face of the planet when these tracks were cut. When Swan label chief Binnick was questioned as to how he could issue such wild-ass material, he would smile, throw his hands up in the air and say, "What can you do with an animal like that?"

As the new decade dawned, Link Wray's sound and image were updated for the hippie marketplace. Wray's career fortunes waxed and waned throughout the '70s, a muddle of albums in a laid-back style doing little to enhance his reputation. After a stint backing '70s rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon, Wray went solo again, taking most of Gordon's band (including drummer Anton Fig) with him. But if the studio sides were a bit uneven, he still could pack a wallop live, and his rare forays on the stages of the world spread the message that rock & roll's original wild guitar man still had plenty of gas left in the tank.

Wray married and moved to Denmark in 1980, recording the stray album for the foreign market, and throughout the 1990s he was still capable of strapping on a guitar and making it sound nastier than anyone in his sixties had a right to. And his back catalog got a lot attention in the '90s when the grunge revolution hit, with several young, hip guitarists citing Wray as an influence, and his early work continued to be reissued under various imprints. He recorded two new albums for Ace Records, Shadowman in 1997 and Barbed Wire in 2000 and toured up until his death in Copenhagen on November 5, 2005. AMG.

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The Flying Burrito Brothers - Hot Burrito 1971

The Flying Burrito Brothers helped forge the connection between rock and country, and with their 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin, they virtually invented the blueprint for country-rock. Though the band's glory days were brief, they left behind a small body of work that proved vastly influential both in rock and country. The Flying Burrito Brothers reunited later in the '70s, albeit without their founding members Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, and continued performing and recording in a variety of incarnations into the '80s.

Originally, The Flying Burrito Brothers were a group of Los Angeles musicians who gathered together to jam. Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman took the band's name when they were forming their own band after leaving the Byrds. Parsons had helped steer the Byrds toward a country direction during his brief stint with the band, as captured on the 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Following the release of Sweetheart, he left the Byrds, followed shortly afterward by Hillman. The duo added pedal steel guitarist "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow and bassist Chris Ethridge to the band and set about recording their debut album with a variety of session drummers.

The Gilded Palace of Sin, The Flying Burrito Brothers' debut album, was released in the spring of 1969. Although the album only sold 40,000 copies, the band developed a devoted following, which happened to include many prominent musicians in Los Angeles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. Around this time, Parsons and Stones guitarist Keith Richards became good friends, which led to Parsons losing interest in the Burritos. Before the band recorded their second album, Ethridge left the band and was replaced by Bernie Leadon, and the group hired ex-Byrd Michael Clarke as their permanent drummer.

Burrito Deluxe, the group's second album, was released in the spring of 1970. After its release, Gram Parsons left the group and was replaced byRick Roberts, a local Californian songwriter. Roberts' first album with the band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, was released in 1971. After its release,Kleinow left the band to become a session musician and Leadon departed to join the Eagles. the Burritos hired pedal steel guitarist Al Perkins and bassist Roger Bush to replace them, as well as adding guitarist Kenny Wertz and fiddler Byron Berline to the lineup. This new version of the group recorded the live album The Last of the Red Hot Burritos, which was released in 1972. Before its release, the band splintered apart. Berline,Bush, and Wertz all left to form Country Gazette, while Hillman and Perkinsjoined Manassas. Roberts assembled a new band to tour Europe in 1973 and then dissolved the group, choosing to pursue a solo career. Roberts would later form Firefall with Michael Clarke.

Close Up the Honky Tonks, a double-album Flying Burrito Brotherscompilation, was released in 1974 because of the burgeoning interest inGram Parsons. Capitalizing on the collection and the cult forming aroundParsons, Kleinow and Ethridge formed a new version of The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1975. The duo recruited Floyd "Gib" Gilbeau (vocals, guitar, fiddle), bassist Joel Scott Hill, and drummer Gene Parsons and recordedFlying Again, which was released on Columbia Records in 1975.

Ethridge left the band after the release of Flying Again; he was replaced by Skip Battin, who appeared on the 1976 albumAirborne. Also in 1976, a collection of Gram Parsons-era outtakes entitledSleepless Nights was released on A&M Records. For the two decades following their 1975 reunion, The Flying Burrito Brothers performed and recorded sporadically, undergoing the occasional lineup change. In 1979, the group released Live From Tokyo on Regency Records; the album spawned their first country hit, a cover of Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever," which hit the charts in 1980. Also in 1980, the group abbreviated its name tothe Burrito Brothers when they signed a contract with Curb Records. the Burrito Brothers' Hearts on the Line spawned three minor country chart hits in 1981. Sunset Sundown, the Brothers second Curb album, appeared in 1982 and like its predecessor, it produced three minor hits. Following the release of Sunset Sundown, Kleinow left the band to become an animator and special-effects creator in Hollywood. The group carried on without him, led by Gib Gilbeau and John Beland. That incarnation of the band fell apart in 1985, the same year that Kleinow assembled yet another version of the band. For the next three years, this incarnation of The Flying Burrito Brothers toured America and Europe. In 1988, the group split apart again, although it did occasionally reunite for further tours and recordings in the '90s, including 1999's Sons of the Golden West. AMG.

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Goose Greek Symphony - Established 1970

Goose Creek Symphony found its roots in the Phoenix, AZ, area originally as a countrified side project for Richie Hart & the Heart Beats. Vocalist and guitarist Charles Gearheart (aka Richie Hart) spent his childhood "up Goose Creek Hollow" in Floyd County, KY, and when he put together his good-time country-rock group, he drew upon his home's rich musical heritage as well as its name. In 1970, Gearheart and a group of local studio musicians assembled a handful of songs and presented them to Capitol Records. Capitol signed his project, forcing Gearheart to assemble a touring group. Banjo player and fiddler Fred Weisz was brought in to complement existing guitarists Paul Spradlin (listed as "Paul Howard" on the album), Bob Henke ("Williard"), Mike McFadden (following the breakup of his psychedelic groupSuperfine Dandelion), as well as a rotating cast of bassists and drummers.

With a sound very similar to what the Band was doing at the same time, Goose Creek Symphony were rock & rollers who played a very faithful brand of country music, all the while layering rhythms and harmonies along the same lines as Buffalo Springfield and the Grateful Dead. They released albums through the mid-'70s, with that streak ending in a long hiatus from 1976 to 1990, when the group decided to re-form and record again.

Their marriage of earthy instrumentation and easygoing vibes have been able to give the group a certain longevity. Into their third decade, Goose Creek Symphony is drawing strong groups of fans to their summer festival appearances, similar to what the Dead and Jimmy Buffett have known.

If the Grateful Dead had come from Kentucky instead of San Francisco, they might have sounded much like these guys. "This song might sound kinda strange, but it's got more soul than Home on the Range," they accurately sing in "Talk About Goose Creek and Other Important Places," an eight-minute psychedelic showstopper complete with Beatles-style tape tricks. This album is a fun listen that can suck even a city slicker into a stoned, good-time, backhills vibe. AMG.

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Alvin Lee - Pump Iron! 1975

As with many of the other English beat groups of the '60s, Alvin Lee cut his musical teeth in Hamburg, Germany in a band called the Jaybirds. By 1966, back in England, he had changed the name of his band to Ten Years Afterand was rapidly becoming a major attraction because of the virtuosity of his solo work. Most Americans first became familiar with Lee through his appearance at Woodstock, although he remained active throughout the decades that followed; among his releases were 1974's In Flight, 1986'sDetroit Diesel, and 1996's Live in Vienna. Alvin Lee died on March 6, 2013 due to complications from a routine surgical procedure. AMG.

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Alceu Valença - Vivo! 1976

Alceu Valença is an extremely successful composer and the owner of a distinctive style that mixes his northeastern roots and contemporary grooves; he is also an energetic and mesmerizing live performer. His songs have been recorded by several major artists, including Luiz Gonzaga (with whom he wrote "Plano Piloto"), Maria Betânia, and Elba Ramalho. His life was depicted in Anamelia Maciel's book Alceu Valença em Frente e Verso (Edição do Autor, recife, 1988).

The son of a locally renowned lawyer, Valença always worried his father with his rebellious character. At four, he participated in an infant concourse promoted by the postman Luís Jacinto, singing a Capiba tune. He didn't win the competition or the prize (a soap box), but his acrobatic performance during the prize delivery won the sympathy of the audience and he won another soap box. Moving with his family to Recife PE, Valença was always a bad student, and was even expelled from school, until he finally graduated from law school in 1970, but he never worked in that profession. There, he began his first professional musical experiences with the band Tamarineira Village, after transforming into Ave Sangria. He later incorporated new musicians into his band who were highly successful artists:Zé Ramalho (who played the Brazilian viola) and Elba Ramalho (as chorus girl). In 1968, Valença did his first show, Erosão: a Cor e o Show, to enthusiastic critical praise. In September, he participated in the I Festival Universitário Brasileiro de Música Popular (Rio) with "Maria Alice" (written with Sérgio Bahia), defended by Ivete e Arlete. The next month, he concurred in the I Festival Regional Universitário da MPB (Recife). In the next year, he classified two songs at the regional phase of the IV Festival Internacional da Canção: "Acalanto Para Isabela" (first place) and "Desafio Linda" (third place). At the national phase in Rio, he unsuccessfully defended the first song. With a scholarship from Harvard University (Boston), he knew some of the U.S. and reconciled himself to the indigenous culture of his home state, perceiving its universalizing possibilities through the interest displayed by passersby while he played on streets and squares.

In 1980, he released Coração Bobo, which had the hit "Na Primeira Manhã," and in the next year, Cinco Sentidos. In 1982, he recorded Cavalo de Pau with the hits "Tropicana" and "Como Dois Animais." In 1983, he released Anjo Avesso with "Anunciação," and from the live show recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Brazil Night -- Ao Vivo em Montreux was released. In 1984, he recorded Mágico, which had the hit "Solidão," and in the next year, Estação da Luz.Returning to Brazil in 1970, Valença married Eneida in June and worked together at the III Festival Universitário de Música Popular Brasileira, receiving second place with "Manhã de Clorofila." He returned the trophy to the jury (under applause), declaring (euphemistically) that the jury already had its decision, regardless of the manifest desire of the audiences. It led him to decide to move to Rio with his wife, son, and a recommendation letter from José Humberto Patu. There he met Geraldo Azevedo, another pernambucano (from the Pernambuco state) who had abandoned music and was working with industrial design. Valença convinced him to return to music and they both wrote a song. Valença participated in July at the V Festival Internacional da Canção (Rio) with the songs "Fiat Lux Baby," "Erosão," and "Desafio Linda"; and at the IV Festival Universitário da Música Brasileira (August 1971, Teatro João Caetano), Valença participated with "Água Clara," "78 Rotações" (with Geraldo Azevedo), and "Planetário." Also with Azevedo's songs (which competed against Valença's at the festivals), they recorded together their first LP Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo (Copacabana, 1972). In 1972, Valença asked the great Jackson do Pandeiro to defend his "Papagaio do Futuro" at the VII Festival Internacional da Canção (September, Rio). The song wasn't classified, but was presented with success in several shows by Valença and Azevedo throughout the country, and opened the doors for a friendship with Pandeiro that resulted in live performances by the duo at the Teatro João Caetano's (Rio), Projeto Seis e Meia (1975), and in the national tour of the Projeto Pixinguinha series (1977). Still in 1972, Valença became disappointed with the result of the FIC and returned to Recife with the decision to abandon music. In January 1974, he opened the show O Ovo e a Galinha (Nosso Teatro, Recife), touring several upstate Northeastern cities. In that same year, participated in Sérgio Ricardo's film A Noite do Espantalho as the main character, and recorded its soundtrack (released on LP by Continental in 1974) as singer. He also released his first solo album, Molhado de Suor (Som Livre). The album didn't get major interest from the audiences, but was well-received by critics. In February 1975, he got a big hit with "Vou Danado pra Catende," inspired in the verses by modernist Pernambucan poet Ascenso Ferreiraat the Festival Abertura (Rede Globo). The support from the audience led the jury to create a special "Research" prize. It made possible the show Vou Danado pra Catende (Teatro Teresa Rachel, Rio, 1975), which was a complete failure in the first three days until Valença got dressed as a clown and swept through downtown Rio with a megaphone, promoting the show. It then became a full-house success at the theater and in all subsequent national tours. In the next year, he recorded Vivo, a rock album, and in 1977, Espelho Cristalino. In 1979, he recorded Saudade de Pernambuco, and in the same year, began to record frevos on the LP series Asas da América (compilations with several interpreters). The series and the subsequent dedicated shows by Valença, in parallel with his solo career, turned Olinda's Carnival a national success. During a tour in 1979, he recorded an album in Paris, France, that is still unreleased in Brazil.

At that point, with his career established, several of his songs became soap opera themes (the fastest way of reaching high selling records in Brazil). In 1986, he recorded the live album Ao Vivo, and in the same year, Rubi. In 1987, he recorded Leque Moleque, and in the following years, Oropa, França e Bahia (1988), Andar, Andar (1990), and Sete Desejos (1991), which had the hit "Tesoura do Desejo." In that year, he participated in the megafestival Rock in Rio 2. In 1994, he recorded Maracatus Batuques e Ladeirasfeaturing the track "Pétalas" (with Herbert Azul), which received the Sharp prize for the Best Song of the Year. Together with Geraldo Azevedo, Elba Ramalho, and Zé Ramalho, he recorded the 1996 live album O Grande Encontro and the solo CD Mourisco. In 1997, he released Sol e Chuva and, in 1998, Forró de Todos os Tempos. Sino de Ouro followed in early 2001. AMG.

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