THE HONEY DRIPPER | Rossevelt Sykes Vol 2 1944-1950 | Zerosounds

Roosevelt Sykes - The Honey Dripper, Vol. 2 - 1944 - 1950

Zero G hat gesagt: Next time someone voices the goofball opinion that blues is simply too depressing to embrace, sit 'em down and expose 'em to a heady dose of Roosevelt Sykes. If he doesn't change their minds, nothing will. There was absolutely nothing downbeat about this roly-poly, effervescent pianist (nicknamed "Honeydripper" for his youthful prowess around the girls), whose lengthy career spanned the pre-war and postwar eras with no interruption whatsoever. Sykes' romping boogies and hilariously risqué lyrics (his double-entendre gems included "Dirty Mother for You," "Ice Cream Freezer," and "Peeping Tom") characterize his monumental contributions to the blues idiom. He was a pioneering piano pounder responsible for the seminal pieces "44 Blues," "Driving Wheel," and "Night Time Is the Right Time."  

Sykes began playing while growing up in Helena. At age 15, he hit the road, developing his rowdy barrelhouse style around the blues-fertile St. Louis area. Sykes began recording in 1929 for OKeh and was signed to four different labels the next year under four different names (he was variously billed as Dobby Bragg, Willie Kelly, and Easy Papa Johnson)! Sykes joined Decca Records in 1935, where his popularity blossomed. After relocating to Chicago, Sykes inked a pact with Bluebird in 1943 and recorded prolifically for the RCA subsidiary with his combo, the Honeydrippers, scoring a pair of R&B hits in 1945 (covers of Cecil Gant's "I Wonder" and Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper"). The following year, he scored one more national chart item for the parent Victor logo, the lowdown blues "Sunny Road." He also often toured and recorded with singer St. Louis Jimmy Oden, the originator of the classic "Going Down Slow."  

In 1951, Sykes joined Chicago's United Records, cutting more fine sides over the next couple of years. A pair of Dave Bartholomew-produced 1955 dates for Imperial in New Orleans included a rollicking version of "Sweet Home Chicago" that presaged all the covers that would surface later on. A slew of albums for Bluesville, Folkways, Crown, and Delmark kept Sykes on the shelves during the '60s (a time when European tours began to take up quite a bit of the pianist's itinerary). He settled in New Orleans during the late '60s, where he remained a local treasure until his death.  
Precious few pianists could boast the thundering boogie prowess of Roosevelt Sykes, and even fewer could chase away the blues with his blues as the rotund cigar-chomping 88s ace did.    

ZeroSounds

John Lee Hooker - I´m John Lee Hooker (1959) | Zero G Sounds

John Lee Hooker - I´m John Lee Hooker (1959)

Zero G hat gesagt :Winding through the literally hundreds of titles in John Lee Hooker's catalog is a daunting task for even the most seasoned and learned blues connoisseur. This is especially true when considering Hooker recorded under more than a dozen aliases for as many labels during the late '40s, '50s, and early '60s. 

"I'm John Lee Hooker" was first issued in 1959 during his tenure with Vee Jay and is "the Hook" in his element as well as prime. Although many of these titles were initially cut for Los Angeles-based Modern Records in the early '50s, the recordings heard here are said to best reflect Hooker's often-emulated straight-ahead primitive Detroit and Chicago blues styles. The sessions comprising the12-track album are taken from six sessions spread over the course of four years (1955-1959). Hooker works both solo - accompanied only by his own percussive guitar and the solid backbeat of his foot rhythmically pulsating against plywood - as well as in several different small-combo settings. Unlike the diluted, pop-oriented blues that first came to prominence in the wake of the British Invasion of the early to mid-'60s, the music on this album is infinitely more authentic in presentation. 

As the track list indicates, "I'm John Lee Hooker" includes many of his best-known and loved works. From right out of the gate comes the guttural ramble-tamble of "Dimples" in its best-known form. Indeed it can be directly traced to - and is likewise acknowledged by - notable purveyors of Brit rock such as Eric Burdon - who incorporated it into the earliest incarnation of the Animals, the Spencer Davis Group, as well as the decidedly more roots-influenced Duane Allman. Another of Hooker's widely covered signature tunes featured on this volume is "Boogie Chillun." This rendering is arguably the most recognizable in the plethora of versions that have seemingly appeared on every Hooker-related compilation available. Additionally, this version was prominently featured in The Blues Brothers movie as well as countless other films and adverts. Likewise, a seminal solo "Crawlin' King Snake" is included here. The tune became not only a staple of Hooker's, it was also prominently included on the Doors' "L.A. Woman" album and covered by notable bluesmen Albert King, B.B. King, and Big Joe Williams, whose version predates this one by several decades. 

"I'm John Lee Hooker" is one of the great blues collections of the post-World War II era. Time has, if anything, only reinforced the significance of the album. It belongs in every blues enthusiast's collection without reservation.                 

Tracklist:  

A1	Dimples
A2	Hobo Blues
A3	I'm So Excited
A4	I Love You Honey
A5	Boogie Chillun
A6	Little Wheel
B1	I'm In The Mood
B2	Maudie
B3	Crawlin' King Snake
B4	Every Night
B5	Time Is Marching
B6	Baby Lee

ZERO-G-SOUNDS - REBEL SOCA : When The Time Comes

Rebel Soca - When The Time Comes

Soca? Isn´t that the ultimate party music? If you close your eyes, you may see a dancefloor teeming with revelers who, hands in the air, gyrate ecstatically to the liquid pulse generated by a throbbing, hypnotic bass and on-the-four bass drum countered with off-center percussion accents. Racheting rhythm guitar and stabbing horns supercharge the beat even further, making hip-shaking, belly-rolling, waist-winding almost an involuntary act. But there is even more...

Literally, the term "soca" abbreviates "soul calypso" and came into currency during the 1970´s when calypso was streamlined in response to the disco-dance juggernaut spreading over the world. Calypso, of course, has had a long and venerable history in the Caribbean, with variants in nearly all English-speaking and some French-speaking islands. One can easily trace its origins to the 18th century but its roots stretch back to Africa. In many West African societies singers and poets have traditionaly been not only historians but also mouthpieces for the people. They speak, obliquely, through satire and parables and commentary on everyday events, to the leaders, who ignore such criticism and advice at their peril. In contrast to the smiling, tourist-pleasing image propaged during the 50s and 60s, the business of being a calypsonian was serious business. Although soca lyrics tend to be "party-hearty" celebrations of love and life, a significant percentage deal with more serious issues; calypso´s tradition of social commentary remains vital with today´s "Rebel Soca". A minority of culturally-conscious soca artist have adopted a pan-african perspecitve, incorporating elements of reggae, african music and other caribbean styles into their soca. "Rebel Soca" brings together some of the finest conscious soca tracks of the 70s and 80s which combine unbeatable dance rhythms and some of the sharpest political lyrics in world pop. Often their lyrics are confrontatinal, politically-oriented commentary - a focus for the concerns of oppressed people.

Tracklist:

Side One

Afrika is Burning – Safi Abdullah

Spring Garden in Fire – Ras Iley

What About – Baron

Ring De Bell – Bro Resistance

Side Two

Hard Hard Hard – Black Stalin

When De Time Comes – Nelson

Can’t Find Me Brother – Red Plastic Bag

War Mongers – Johnny King

I first came across ’soca’ from my oldest friend Leon who had picked up an awful lot of musical vibe from going to Trinidad carnival one particular year, ages ago now and he came back with some platters we just couldn’t stop listening to . . . . . we continued the journey of calypso, mento, rock steady, ska, reggae and now soca! From Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica . . . . . 

Awesome and something about shaking what’s yours!

Ras Iley -Inez classic 1993

Neil Young - Buffalo Springfield - Down To The Wire (Live 1965) | Zero G Sounds

Neil Young - Buffalo Springfield - Down To The Wire (Live 1965)

This bootleg collects some early and rare Neil Young recordings. 

The Wichita Falls tracks are solo acoustic (pre-Springfield). Very good sound qualities for the time. There are also two Buffalo Springfield outtakes. As well, there are two 45 single demos with Neil’s Canadian group the Squires.

Tracklist:

1 Neil Young– Sugar Mountain 2:45
2 Neil Young– Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing 2:57
3 Neil Young– Run Around Babe 2:39
4 Neil Young– Don't Pity My Baby 4:59
5 Neil Young– I Ain't Got The Blues 2:38
6 Neil Young– The Rent Is Always Due 2:49
7 Neil Young– When It Falls, It Falls Over You 2:36
8 Buffalo Springfield– Down To The Wire 2:30
9 Buffalo Springfield– Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It 3:06
10 Neil Young– There Goes My Baby 1:43
11 Neil Young– One More Sign 2:00
12 The Squires – Sultan 2:31
13 The Squires – Aurora 2:07

Tracks 1-7; 10 and 11 were recorded live in Wichita Falls, Texas, 1-12-65

Tracks 8 and 9 are Buffalo Springfield studio outtakes.

Track 12, called "Sultan" and track 13 ("Aurora") are from The Squires' and Neil Young's first single, produced by Bob Bradburn, a DJ at CKRC in Winnipeg in 1963.

 http://zerosounds.blogspot.com

Speaking of Neil Young, here’s one from Zero G Sounds from 1970

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Danny By The River 

(Bootleg, Cincinnati, February, 25, 1970) 2 cds

Zero hat gesagt… :"Danny By The River" presents an almost complete soundboard from the first show on one of Neil Young’s early tours with Crazy Horse.

Recordings from this show have been released before on the two LP vinyl release "Winterlong". The acoustic set has been released on "Acoustic Tokens" and "The Loner" (along with tracks from the January 21st, 1971 Boulder, Colorado tape). The electric set has been issued as "Electric Prayers". This recording is listenable and considered one of the better tapes from this tour, but it is incomplete with only a fragment of “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” and “The Old Laughing Lady” missing from the first half.

This soundboard tape has been issued before on the two cdr set "Winterlong" on The Swingin’ Pig (TSP-CD-042-2) but the master reel-to-reel surfaced recently with much better sound. Seymour was the first to press it on to silver disc with "Danny By The River". There are faint traces of hiss during the acoustic set and the emphasis is upon the middle frequencies with an overall dull and quality. The mix of the instruments is very good in the electric set with only a cut eighteen minutes into “Down By The River” eliminating some words of the final verse of the song. The sound quality is very good to almost excellent and, compared to the audience recordings circulating, offers the best sounding document.

Young played six shows with Crazy Horse in February 1969 at The Bitter End in New York, but Cincinnati is the first show on the first proper tour with his band as he explains before “Broken Arrow”, “This is the first of a series of concerts with Crazy Horse, mostly in the east. Only one west coast gig. Even though we live there we play here.” They played ten shows over a month and this is one of the longest with sixteen different songs performed over an acoustic solo set at the beginning and a full band electric set in the second half. “On The Way Home” opens the show and is followed by the Buffalo Springfield tune “Broken Arrow”, which Neil sings in a very shaky and out-of-tune voice. Before “Dance Dance Dance” he becomes very chatty and asks, “should I play one of those up temp ones for you? I don’t have many up-tempo ones. I live up tempo but play down tempo. This is a new song. It’s going to be on the next Crazy Horse album… It could have been a big hit by Tommy Roe” which ends abruptly after two verses with Neil saying “this is where the chicks start singing and I can’t do anymore”. Only a minute and a half of the new song “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, making its stage debut, is played before segueing into “The Old Laughing Lady”. Whenever Young plays a solo acoustic set he brings warmth that add a lot. The electric set comprises is the bulk of the show. What warmth is lost is balanced by the intensity of the band playing together. “It Might Have Been” makes its live debut and is introduced as a song Young learned at a church dance and “kinda hokey”.

“Down By The River”, which reached thirty minutes in the Philadelphia show following this one, reaches a mere twenty in Cincinnati and is the only epic performed. It isn’t noted on the liner notes, but the post show talking is tracked separately. It is three and a half minutes of the audience calling for an encore and an announcer saying that the band are finished playing since they’ve gone past their contract.

Thanks to Collector’s Music Reviews for informations.

Albums bought when they came out no.469 | Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls (1980) | Zerosounds

Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls - Untitled (1980)

"Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls" (sometimes called "Untitled") is the only album made by Penetration singer Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, John Cooper Clarke's backing band. It was released in September 1980 on the RSO label.

Alongside core members Martin Hannett on bass and record production, Steve Hopkins on keyboards and Paul Burgess on drums, the band included several musicians from other Manchester bands: The Durutti Column's Vini Reilly and Dave Rowbotham on guitar, John Maher from Buzzcocks on drums, Dave Hassell on percussion and Murray's boyfriend Robert Blamire on bass. Like Murray, Blamire had been a member of Penetration until it dissolved in late 1979. With Blamire in the band, Hannett moved from bass to keyboards. Blamire and Murray reunited in the similarly short-lived Pauline Murray And The Storm, before retiring from the music business at the start of the following decade.



Tracklist:

"Screaming in the Darkness" – 3:36
"Dream Sequence 1" – 3:19
"European Eyes" – 3:20
"Shoot You Down" – 2:07
"Sympathy" – 2:47
"Time Slipping" – 4:04
"Drummer Boy" – 3:03
"Thundertunes" – 3:23
"When Will We Learn" – 3:35
"Mr. X" – 4:27
"Judgement Day" – 4:25
"The Visitor" – 3:44
"Animal Crazy" – 3:16
"Searching for Heaven" – 2:59


The three songs from the single "Searching For Heaven" are included as bonus track

The version of "Dream Sequence 1" on this CD differs from the one on the original vinyl release. It may be a completely different take or possibly a different vocal recording over the same backing.

HUGH MASEKELA - Still Grazing | Zero G Sound

Hugh Masekela - Still Grazing

Released to coincide with Hugh Masekela’s autobiography of the same name, "Still Grazing" picks up the Masekela story from Verve's summary of the best of the MGM albums, "The Lasting Impression of Ooga-Booga", and runs through the "Uni" and "Blue Thumb" material. The 1966 tracks are from "The Emancipation of Hugh Masekela", where the trumpeter mixes his florid horn calls and vocals with variations of the boogaloo, township jive, soul-jazz, and in Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Felicidade," a slight pinch of bossa nova into a hip, brightly colored cuisine that no one else was attempting at the time. 

As in the MGM days, Masekela is obliged to cover the hit tunes of the day, although "Up, Up, and Away" has more life and jazz licks than those earlier attempts. 1968's "The Promise of a Future" was the real commercial breakthrough - thanks to the out-of-the-blue success of the cowbell-beating "Grazing in the Grass," which improbably rose to the number one slot on Top 40 radio in those enlightened times. That triumphant track would be Masekela's last trip to the Top 40, whereupon he promptly used the exposure to shine a harsh light on what was going on in his homeland ("Gold") and America in 1968 ("Mace and Grenades"). The CD then jumps to a percolating, Echoplexed "Languta" from a 1973 session in Lagos, Nigeria, before concluding with a withering account of the South African coal-mining trains ("Stimela"). 

The package is given extra credibility by the original producer of these tracks, Stewart Levine, who compiled the album and also wrote a fond set of reminiscences. Many of these premonitions of today's world music scene have been gone for decades, and it's good to have at least some of them back in circulation again.  

here . . . . . . 

Tracklist:

1 Child Of The Earth 4:42 2 Ha Lese Le Di Khanna  6:45 3 Felicidade 10:12 4 Up, Up, And Away 5:32 5 Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song) 6:29 6 Grazing In The Grass 2:37 7 Gold 4:10 8 Mace And Grenades 3:54 9 Languta 4:49 10 Been Such A Long Time 3:59 11 Stimela (Coaltrain) 6:28

Why you think you have heard Hugh Masakela before . . . . . because you HAVE!

Don’t Go Lose It Baby!

Geoff and Maria Muldaur - Sweet Potatoes (1972) | Zero G Sounds

Geoff & Maria Muldaur ‎– Sweet Potatoes 

In the midst of leaving the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and beginning the juggernaut that would be the solo career of Maria Muldaur, the happily singing and swinging couple made several sides which made expert use of a loose-knit group of players who had grown into masters of the folk revival arts. 

At times the choice of material on this album is unfortunately lazy; "Havana Moon" was a song that not even Chuck Berry himself could complete without boredom setting in, and the efforts here don't pay off much better. At the same time, the players here really don't need much more than the most basic framework from which to jump off and they are hard at it, pushing the music forward with a sense of purpose that inevitably helped it earn its hard-fought respectability. As a whole, "Sweet Potatoes" is something of a masterwork, rich and revealing, possessing the contagious enthusiasm of young musicians finding a personal voice in the rich traditions of the past as well as the relaxed sophistication that develops when these players are no longer novices. 

The Geoff and Maria Muldaur combination, when it was working, was also very special, a challenging partnership that also was something of an inviting nucleus to the players with the talent to be drawn into the fold. This album contains some of the better playing of harmonica man Paul Butterfield, removed from the hyper-drive excess of his blues bands. "Kneein' Me" and "Cordelia" are among the song highlights.

- Eugene Chadbourne

Tracklist:  

1 Blue Railroad Train 3:00 
2 Havana Moon 4:52 
3 Lazy Bones 4:50 
4 Cordelia 3:55 
5 Dardanella 4:30 
6 I'm Rich 5:11 
7 Sweet Potatoes 2:03 
8 Kneein' Me 3:18 
9 Lover Man ( Oh Where Can You Be ) 4:07 
10 Hard Time Killin' Floor 4:55 

Here . . .

Velvet Underground Drummer makes album (11991) Mo’ Moe! | Zerosounds

Moe Tucker - I Spent A Week There The Other Night (1991)

Zero he gesagt: With more help from her indie-rock bigshot pals (Don Fleming, Brian Ritchie), "...Week..." also featured the first (sort of) Velvet Underground reunion, with Cale, Reed and Sterling Morrison guesting on separate tracks. Covering "And Then He Kissed Me" was inspired, as is the inclusion of the accusatory (and appropriately titled) "Fired Up." From start to finish, it rocks like crazy.

Included on the album is a cover of "Then He Kissed Me", originally by the Crystals, as well as a cover of the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man". "I Spent a Week There the Other Night" was reissued in 1994.

The album has performances by members of the Velvet Underground, including Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and John Cale. All four original Velvets play together on "I'm Not", making it their only studio collaboration on original material since 1968. Members of Violent Femmes also contributed to the album. Tucker stuck mostly to rhythm guitar

A truly wonderful unpretentious album that really rocks! and rumbles in its one fiery yet casual way. It also has the best cover of "(And then) He kissed Me...". Fun lyrics...Great playing...If you like Moe Tucker- get it Now!!!!"



Tracklist:

Fired Up 3:57
That's Bad 4:56
Lazy 2:24
S.O.S. 3:10
Blue, All The Way To Canada 3:48
(And) Then He Kissed Me 2:40
Too Shy 3:19
Stayin Put 4:16
Baby, Honey, Sweetie 3:15
I'm Not 6:38

The Slits - The Peel Sessions | Zero G Sounds

The Slits - The Peel Sessions

Upgrading an earlier disc that featured the band's first two John Peel sessions only, this ten-track compilation rounds up all of the Slits' BBC recordings, with the most crucial of their three sessions, the previously unreleased October 1981 airing, added in to remind listeners that the group's early reputation as a slipshod blur of punk-oid energy was only the first of the faces they turned to the world. In terms of classic punk energy, sessions dating from September 1977 and May 1978 are unbeatable, the sound of the unsigned, untutored, and -- in the eyes of many people -- unlistenable Slits crashing defiantly through distinctly formative renditions of songs that would not reach fruition for another year, and the completion of their debut album. "Vindictive" alone was not realigned for that disc; of the other six songs, all underwent sufficient reinvention to create starry-eyed converts of even the most disdainful of early witnesses. Famously, at the band's first BBC session, an anguished technician crept out to retune their instruments while the quartet was busy elsewhere. It doesn't affect their performance.

By the time the Slits returned to the BBC in 1981, their original vision had become totally skewed -- along with much of their early optimism. The Return of the Giant Slits, their long-awaited second album, had arrived to absolute incomprehension, and the band's future was already in doubt. The music they were playing, however, was the future. No longer the adrenalined D.I.Y. disaster that had clattered so alluringly across the early sessions, nor the dubbed-out hybrid of Cut, the Slits were now embracing a tribal thud that, while wholly anticipating the later fashion for world music, was so far out on a limb that even Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush had yet to clamber out to join them.

Lengthy throbs through "In the Beginning There Was Rhythm," the so-haunting mantra "Earthbeat," and (the aptly titled) "Difficult Fun" are readily superior to their vinyl counterparts, tasting much the same as the band's period live performances, but imbibed, too, with a questing tenderness that reveals just what a fabulous vocalist Ari Up was; her post-Slits recordings with the New Age Steppers caught many people by surprise, but the Peel rendition of "Earthbeat," in particular, proves there was no need for that.

Sometime during the mid-'90s, John Peel rated the first two Slits broadcasts among his all-time favorite sessions -- one reason why many first-time purchasers chose to overlook the repackaged Peel Sessions altogether. In terms of illustrating all that the Slits were truly capable of, however, the third session is even better than either.


Tracklist:

1 Love Und Romance 2:28

2 Vindictive 2:17

3 New Town 3:31

4 Shoplifting 1:31

5 So Tough 2:19

6 Instant Hit 2:32

7 FM 3:32

8 Difficult Fun 5:42

9 In The Beginning 11:03

10 Earthbeat / Wedding Song 8:31

From Zerosounds as always well worth the visit!

Sounds bought when they came out : SCRITTI POLITTI - Songs To Remember (1982) | ZEROSOUNDS

Scritti Politti – Songs To Remember (1982)

Zero G says : One needn't look much further than the song titles on the back of Songs to Remember to be struck with the thought that Scritti Politti had changed their scheme. Gone were the days of "Bibbly-O-Tek" and "Skank Bloc Bologna," replaced by brow-raising titles like "Gettin' Havin' and Holdin'" and, er, "Sex." Then there's the photo of Green Gartside -- he looks chipper! And at what point did his shoulders get so big? Oh, those must be shoulder pads. During a lengthy recovery process necessitated by a physical meltdown, 

Gartside found himself rejuvenated with a new agenda to become less like the Pop Group in favor of being more like a pop group; young communism would now be replaced by young romanticism. Influenced heavily by R&B and lovers rock reggae, Gartside opted to aim his group at the pop charts. After cajoling his returning mates to go with the flow, Gartside took advantage of producer Adam Kidron's rare availability and went about recording Scritti Politti's first LP with most of the material far from realization. With the addition of a saxophonist and a trio of backing singers, Scritti resurfaced with a rather scatterbrained record. Sometimes it sounds like T. Rex in miniature form ("Jacques Derrida"); sometimes it sounds like wannabe Dirty Mind-era Prince ("Sex"); sometimes it sounds like wannabe Young Americans-era David Bowie ("A Slow Soul"). 

Despite the well-intended but overt appropriations, there are moments of full-on glory that aren't sunk in their influences. The infectiously naïve "Asylums in Jerusalem" matches sunny reggae with '70s Stevie Wonder; the blue-eyed soul of "Faithless" is simply good, not simply red; and then there's the closing dessert of "The Sweetest Girl," a peerless block of lovers rock-inspired synth pop. In sum, there's as much to love as there is to skip. (allmusic.com)

Tracklist:
A1 Asylums In Jerusalem 3:12
A2 A Slow Soul 3:15
A3 Jacques Derrida 4:58
A4 Lions After Slumber 6:08
A5 Faithless 4:13
B1 Sex 4:20
B2 Rock-A-Boy Blue 5:49
B3 Gettin' Havin' & Holdin' 5:16
B4 The Sweetest Girl 6:16

I bought Green Gartside’s single Sweetest Girl as by a newly changed and re-charged Scritti Politti when it came out on a 12” single (e.p.?) and loved his unique sound. Well, I was a fellow art student don’t forget (poseurs all!)  The name Scritti Politti was chosen as a homage to the Italian Marxist writer and political theorist Antonio Gramsci. The correct spelling in Italian to refer to "Political Writings" would have produced Scritti Politici. Gartside changed it to Scritti Politti as he thought it sounded more rock and roll! Bloody art students!

 

ZEROSOUNDS CATCH UP No 4 | Buffy St. Marie

Now again I have mentioned Buffy early on and her influence via Donovan over here was an early inspiration both for her songwriting,vocal delivery and striking image that I was so drawn to. This from Zero G is well worth checking out and no mistake. It does appear from Zero’s notes to be something of an anomaly but for fans this is essential . . . if challenging! Truly a creative tour de force

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Illuminations (1969)

In the year 2000, the Wire magazine picked this spaced out gem from Native American folksinger and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie as one the "100 Albums That Set the World on Fire", originally released in 1969.

 Interestingly enough, it's a record Sainte-Marie doesn't even list on her discography on her website. It doesn't matter whether she cares for it or not, of course, because Illuminations is as prophetic a record as the first album by Can or the psychedelic work of John Martin on Solid Air. For starters, all of the sounds with the exception of a lead guitar on one track and a rhythm section employed on three of the last four selections are completely synthesized from the voice and guitar of Sainte-Marie herself. There are tracks whose vocals are completely electronically altered and seem to come from the ether -- check out "Mary" and "Better to Find Out for Yourself" as a sample. But the track "Adam," with its distorted bassline and Sainte-Marie throwing her voice all over the mix in a tale of Adam's fall and his realization -- too late -- that he could have lived forever, is a spooky, wondrous tune as full of magic as it is mystery and electronic innovation. 

The songs here, while clearly written, are open form structures that, despite their brevity (the longest cut here is under four minutes), break down the barriers between folk music, rock, pop, European avant-garde music and Native American styles (this is some of the same territory Tim Buckley explores on Lorca and Starsailor). It's not a synthesis in any way, but a completely different mode of travel. This is poetry as musical tapestry and music as mythopoetic sonic landscape; the weirdness on this disc is over-exaggerated in comparison to its poetic beauty. It's gothic in temperament, for that time anyway, but it speaks to issues and affairs of the heart that are only now beginning to be addressed with any sort of constancy -- check out the opener "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot" or the syncopated blues wail in "Suffer the Children" or the arpeggiated synthesized lyrics of "The Vampire." When the guitars begin their wail and drone on "The Angel," the whole record lifts off into such a heavenly space that Hans Joachim Rodelius must have heard it back in the day, because he uses those chords, in the same order and dynamic sense, so often in his own music. 

Some may be put off by Sainte-Marie's dramatic delivery, but that's their loss; this music comes from the heart -- and even space has a heart, you know. One listen to the depth of love expressed on "The Angel" should level even the crustiest cynic in his chair. Combine this with the shriek, moan, and pure-lust wail of "With You, Honey" and "He's a Keeper of the Fire" -- you can hear where Tim Buckley conceived (read: stole) the entirety of Greetings From LA from, and Diamanda Galas figured out how to move across octaves so quickly. The disc closes with the gothic folk classic "Poppies," the most tripped out, operatic, druggily beautiful medieval ballad ever psychedelically sung. That an album like Illuminations can continue to offer pleasure 32 years after it was recorded is no surprise given its quality; that it can continue to mystify, move, and baffle listeners is what makes it a treasure that is still ahead of its time.  - allmusic.com      

Tracklist:
01. God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot
02. Mary
03. Better To Find Out For Yourself
04. The Vampire
05. Adam
06. The Dream Tree
07. Suffer The Little Children
08. The Angel
09. With You, Honey
10. Guess Who I Saw In Paris
11. He's A Keeper Of The Fire
12. Poppies

ZEROSOUNDs | Catch up No 3 | CARLA BLEY 1989

Again another from Zero G and I don’t really say I collect Carla but I DO appreciate her and her place in jazz piano. Zero posted this lately and it is really worth checking out

Carla Bley – Fleur Carnivore (1989)

Zero G says "On "Fleur Carnivore", pianist Carla Bley deftly integrates her beautiful melodies into five complex, yet effortless sounding pieces. Taken from 1988 live dates at Copenhagen's Montmartre club, Carnivore spotlights Bley's very accomplished big band, which includes, amongst several others, trumpeter Lew Soloff, alto saxophonist Wolfgang Pusching, trombonist Gary Valente, tenor saxophonist Andy Sheppard, and organist/harmonica player Karen Mantler (Bley's daughter). 

The title track is a romantically bittersweet ballad swinger, which includes impassioned solos from Pusching and Soloff, while, in nice contrast, there's the buoyant, Latin-tinged "Song of the Eternal Waiting of Canute," featuring rousing solos by Valente and tenor saxophonist Christof Lauer. 

In addition to these extended pieces, there is the suite composition, "The Girl Who Cried Champagne (Parts 1/2/3)." This breezily swinging bossa nova features meaty tenor work from Sheppard and a minimalist harmonic solo by Mantler. Rounding out the set are the whimsical "Ups and Downs" and the gospel R&B tune "Healing Power." 

Combining surprising arrangements and pop song melodies, Bley creates a unique jazz language, setting herself apart from both traditionalist bandleaders (Wynton Marsalis, Thad Jones) and more avant-garde stylists (Muhal Richard Abrams, George Russell). "Fleur Carnivore" is one of Bley's best titles and good place to start for newcomers."

Tracklist:

"Fleur Carnivore" - 11:12

"Song of the Eternal Waiting of Canute" - 9:48

"Ups and Downs" - 7:05

"The Girl Who Cried Champagne Parts 1-3" - 17:15

"Healing Power" - 10:27

Recorded at the Montmartre, Copenhagen, Denmark on November 14–16, 1988.

MARTIN CARTHY : Sweet Wivelsfield 1974 | ZEROSOUNDS

Martin Carthy - Sweet Wivelsfield 1974 - Zerosounds

Martin Carthy – Sweet Wivelsfield (1974)

Zero G says: If the English folk revival of the 1960s had a single "father" and guiding spirit, then Martin Carthy was it. Carthy's influence transcends his abilities, formidable though those are -- apart from being one of the most talented acoustic guitarists, mandolinists, and general multi-instrumentalists working the folk clubs in the 1960s, he was also a powerful singer with no pretensions or affectations, and was an even more prodigious arranger and editor, with an excellent ear for traditional compositions. In particular, he was as much a scholar as a performer, and frequently went back to the notes and notebooks of folk song collectors such as Percy Grainger, scouring them for fragments that could be made whole in performance -- no "second hander," he used the earliest known transcriptions and recordings of many of the oldest folk songs known in England as his source, and worked from there.

By 1966, at the time he was cutting his first two albums, Carthy was already an influence on Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and by the end of the 1960s was de facto mentor to virtually every serious aspiring folk musician in England. At least three major English folk-rock bands, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and the Albion Band, were formed either directly or indirectly with his help and influence.

First released in 1974 and produced by Ashley Hutchings, "Sweet Wivelsfield" is a classic Martin Carthy album and served as a benchmark recording for many other artists. The ominously chiming guitar chords of Trimdon Grange and the ingeniously borrowed melody of King Henry exemplify Carthy’s unceasing search for new ways to present old songs, a thread that runs all through this impressive recording.

Martin Carthy: vocals, guitar

Tracklist:

1 Shepherd o Shepherd
2 Billy Boy
3 Three Jolly Sneaksmen
4 Trimdon Grange
5 All of a Row
6 Skewbald
7 Mary Neal
8 King Henry
9 John Barleycorn
10 The Cottage in the Wood

This is really fascinating and from the godfather of British Folk and the greatest dynasty of Folklore classics and standards in the Waterson Carthy band and all his own works (this a man who plays guitar to his own (I will repeat HIS OWN) tuning of said instrument and keeping the British folklore of story telling and passing of tales and songs in the age old oral tradition!

 Enjoy!