This is two concerts from Blind Faith from 1969. The group debuted at a free concert at London's Hyde Park on 7th June 1969. This version of that concert comes from a 'Mid Valley Records' CD bootleg and in our opinion has a better audio track than the DVD film of the concert released in 2006. The second concert was recorded at the Konserthallen/Liseberg, Nöjespark/Göteborg, Sweden, on the 18th June 1969. The audio source was an audience based reel to reel tape recorder, and considering the age etc is really very good quality.
The beginnings of Blind Faith date from mid-1968, with the break-up of Cream. In retrospect as the first "super-group", Cream had become a financial powerhouse, selling millions of records within a few years and raising the group's (and each member's) repertoire to international popularity. Despite that success, the band was crumbling from within due to frequent animosity between Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, with Eric Clapton doing his best to mediate. In addition, Clapton had been tired of being coerced into playing commercially driven blues, and hoped to move forward with a new, experimental, less straitjacketed approach to the genre.
Steve Winwood was facing similar problems in The Spencer Davis Group, where he had been the lead singer for three years. Winwood wanted to experiment with the band's sound by infusing jazz elements, but left due to his musical differences, instead forming a new band — Traffic — in 1967. That band split temporarily in 1969, and Winwood started to jam with his good friend Clapton in Clapton's basement in Surrey, England. Winwood and Clapton had previously collaborated on the "Powerhouse" project.
Eric Clapton was pleased with the jam sessions, but was hesitant to start a serious group. Ginger Baker turned up one day to sit in with them in 1969, and the band took near-final form. Clapton questioned letting Baker in the band, because he had promised Jack Bruce that, if they were to work with one another again, all three of them would play. Moreover, Clapton didn't want to reunite with Cream barely nine weeks after the break-up, and also didn't want to deal with another "Cream-like" super-stardom situation. Winwood ultimately persuaded Clapton to finalize Baker's inclusion in the line-up, arguing that Ginger Baker strengthened their musicianship and that it would be hard to find an equally talented drummer.
By May 1969, Ric Grech, bassist with Family, was invited to join them (leaving Family, mid-tour). Andy Johns (engineer) recorded most of the Blind Faith backing tracks at Morgan Studios, and the album was finished at Olympic studios with Alan O'Duffy (engineer) who recorded some further tracks, all of the overdubs and who mixed the album. This was done under the supervision of producer Jimmy Miller. Jimmy Miller provided focus to the band, who often preferred jamming over the standard commercial 3–5 minute track. By then the group was known collectively as Blind Faith, a slyly cynical reference by Clapton to his outlook on the new group.
Source: London - soundboard, Stockholm - Audience.
Sound Quality: London good stereo mp3@320kbps. Stockholm very good audience recording mp3@224kbps.
Genre: Blues-rock, hard rock, british blues.
Set: Full Set.
Set List:
London:
01. Introduction
02. Well All Right
03. Sea Of Joy
04. Sleeping In The Ground
05. Under My Thumb
06. Can't Find My Way Home
07. Do What You Like
08. Presence Of The Lond
09. Means To An End
10. Had To Cry Today
Stockholm:
1. Well All Right
2. Sleeping in the Ground
3. Sea of Joy
4. Under My Thumb
5. Cant Find My Way Home
6. Do What You Like
7. Presence of the Lord
8. Means To An End
9. Had to Cry Today
Band Line Up:
Eric Clapton - guitar
Steve Winwood - piano, organ
Ginger Baker - drums
Rick Grech - bass, violin
This is Graham Parker & The Rumour back on the 17th March 1977 performing live in concert for BBC Sight & Sounds, in London. Fans of Graham Parker's music would do well to check out his website (link below) as he has been and continues to release a considerable amount of archive material from across his career.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham Parker sang in small-time English bands such as the Black Rockers and Deep Cut Three while working in dead-end jobs like a glove factory and a petrol station. In 1975, he recorded a few demo tracks in London with Dave Robinson, who would shortly found Stiff Records and who connected Parker with his first backing band of note, The Rumour. Graham Parker had one track, "Back to Schooldays", released on the compilation album, A Bunch of Stiff Records for Stiff Records.
In the summer of 1975, Parker joined forces with ex-members of three British pub-rock bands to form Graham Parker and the Rumour. The new group consisted of Parker (lead vocals, guitar) with Brinsley Schwarz (lead guitar) and Bob Andrews (keyboards) (both ex Brinsley Schwarz), Martin Belmont (rhythm guitar, ex Ducks Deluxe) and Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums). They began in the British pub rock scene, often augmented at times by a four-man horn section known as The Rumour Horns: John "Irish" Earle (saxophone), Chris Gower (trombone), Dick Hanson (trumpet), and Ray Beavis (saxophone).
The band's first album, Howlin' Wind, was released to acclaim in April 1976 and was rapidly followed by the stylistically similar Heat Treatment. A mixture of rock, ballads, and reggae-influenced numbers, these albums reflected Parker's early influences (Motown, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison) and contained the songs which formed the core of Parker's live shows – "White Honey", "Soul Shoes", "Lady Doctor", "Fool's Gold", and his early signature tune "Don't Ask Me Questions", which hit the Top 40 in the UK. Graham Parker and the Rumour built a reputation as incendiary live performers: the promotional album Live at Marble Arch was recorded at this time and shows off their raw onstage style. Like the pub rock scene he was loosely tied to, the singer's class-conscious lyrics and passionate vocals signalled a renewal of rock music as punk rock began to flower in Britain.
Source: TV audio soundtrack.
Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.
Genre: Rock, new wave, pub rock, rhythm and blues.
Set: Full Set.
Set List:
01. Heat Treatment
02. Silly Thing
03. Fool's Gold
04. Pourin' It All Out
05. Gypsy Blood
06. Don't Ask Me Questions
07. Hold Back the Night
08. Not If It Pleases Me
09. Soul Shoes
10. Kansas City
Background: Born out of Los Angeles synthpop trio NightWaves, Goldroom is Josh Legg’s solo effort and production alias. An amalgamation of dreamy synths, emotive vocals, and tropical disco grooves, Goldroom paints the soundscape of summertime in Los Angeles. A breezy response to the heavy, dub-laden clubs around Southern California, Goldroom’s music is ready-made to soundtrack a poolside soiree. Influenced heavily by French Touch innovators like Alan Braxe and Fred Falke, Legg has crafted an uniquely Californian take on the genre, incorporating live instrumentation and percussion with elements of down tempo disco to create something more than the sum of its parts.
Legg plans to begin collaborating with producers and songwriters with greater frequency while at the same time continuing work on both NightWaves and Goldroom. He is looking for songwriting, composing, and remix opportunities.
Josh added when he contacted Beehive Candy - "I think if you're a fan of Nu-Disco or French Touch you might dig this stuff, although I tried mostly to write great songs within that platform. I tried to paint a picture of what life is like here in Los Angeles and I think I succeeded in a lot of ways".
2011Candy Says: This has a really cool vibe running through it and the musical layering is spot on and whats more you can dance to it (although don't ask the beehive as we have two left feet). Listen:Morgans Bay. Web:Official.
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Background: Formed in early 2009 in San Diego, Little Deadman is Spencer Rabin, Anthony Levas, Brian Dall, and Tyson Wirtzfeld. Their reverb and echo steeped sound is alternately breezy California cool and caustic proto-punk, drawing influence in equal measure from the folk structure of Bob Dylan, the pop sensibility and moodiness of New Order, and 60's soul music.
After years of playing in different bands, the four-piece regrouped after writing several songs together, four of which appear on their new EP "Shooting Seagulls" as well as a 7-inch record featuring the title track via Single Screen Records. They are anticipating a full-length in early 2012.
2011Candy Says: Reminds us a little of OMD without the synths dominating. It's a fine song with loads of energy. Listen:Shooting Seagulls. Web: MySpace.
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Background: How do you describe something a sound that is high art, while being found art and art pop? You let is speak for itself. The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players kicked off their month-long residency at Bowery Electric on June 14th to celebrate their second full-length album Lost and Found coming out July 12th on Tummy Touch Records.
Tina Trachtenburg (Mother, projectors), Jason Trachtenburg (Father, guitar and piano), and Rachel Trachtenburg (Daughter, drums) scour estate sales, thrift shops, and other underground slide sources to procure the oddest, the most illuminating, and the most colorfully detailed examples from the golden age of slide projection. These found slides are musically reinterpreted and form the back drop to the Trachtenburg’s internationally acclaimed, award winning live shows. This family is alternative from the ground up, subscribing to a fierce yet fun DIY approach to style and aesthetic, fashion and formula. Environmental sustainability, passionate vegetarianism, and home schooling are at the front of this drawing board.
The Trachtenburgs released “Vintage Slide Collections from Seattle Vol 1” on Bar/None Records in 2003 to high acclaim, leading to TV appearances on “Late Night with Conan O’Brian,” MTV, VH1, Fuse, Starz, Sundance, Nickelodeon and many other stations around the world. On “Lost & Found,” vintage slide collections are spun to perfection, weaving tales of memories lost...and art found. Lyrical complexities and simplicities make for immediate musical memories featuring 10 new "slide songs," a theme song, a poem, and bonus-track debut recordings from the Trachtenburg's spin-off projects Supercute! (featuring Rachel Trachtenburg,) and The Pendulum Swings (featuring Jason Trachtenburg.).
2011Candy Says: Simple can sometimes be stunning. This just makes us feel so good. Simple as that. Listen:Open Everything. Web:tummytouch records.
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Background: The first of the cyber-Mohicans hits the stage, shredding like a rock star on a touch-screen tablet melded with a Guitar Hero controller—and creating a huge chorus of Brazilian rhythm. With a three-foot tall Mohawk and the blessing of the spirits, he and his crew invent new instruments for ancient roots: the rumbling joys of Afro-Brazilian beats, the rolling pulse of samba, and the deep presence of candomble.
Meet Percussivo Mundo Novo, led by producer and delightfully mad inventor Mikael Mutti. Mixing re-imagined traditional drums and video game controllers, the group brings spirit guides, stunning musical virtuosity, and catchy futuristic visions to North America for the first time this July and August, 2011.
PMN’s sound sparkles with laser-sharp solos played on apps and with a resounding pulse coaxed out of re-imagined Northeastern Brazilian drums. There are hints of Herbie Hancock at his funkiest, of prog rock panache. But the group’s roots go deep into Brazilian life: the samba schools of Salvador, the wisdom of candomble masters, the lighthearted and lightning fast bursts of repentista-style vocals.
Percussivo Mundo Novo, Summer 2011 Tour:
07/25/2011, Mon New York, NY Dub Spot Electronic Music School
07/28/2011, Thu Newark, NJ NJPAC - Sounds of the City
07/29/2011, Fri Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
07/30/2011, Sat New York, NY SOB's/Brazil SummerFest
08/04/2011, Thu Somerville, MA Johnny D's Uptown
08/06/2011, Sat New York, NY Lincoln Center Out of Doors - La Casita project
08/07/2011, Sun Bronx, NY Lincoln Center Out of Doors - La Casita project
08/09/2011, Tue Washington, DC Kennedy Center - Millenium Stage
2011Candy Says: If rhythm and percussion is your thing you are going to just love this band. As a challenge turn it up loud and try and keep your body still for at least a second! Listen:Shogun. Web:Official.
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Background:Doug Hoyer is among Edmonton’s premier pop practitioners. Having toured Canada several times in support of two previous EP’s and 2010’s Two New Songs From Doug Hoyer 7”, his long awaited full length debut Walks with the Tender and Growing Night has finally arrived via Old Ugly Recording Co. June 30th.
Commonly known as a ukulele troubadour, that sound has grown immensely. If you've had a chance to enjoy his recent 7" you will have already witnessed this transformation beginning. Doug's newest endeavor is heavily danceable and involves a deluge of different instruments, record samples, field recordings, and sound-makers on every track. Produced by Calvin McElroy (Gobble Gobble, Kuhrye-oo), the album's focus on infectious melodies and crooning heights is very much deliberate.
2011Candy Says: This is the first time I have heard music from Doug and on the strength of this and another song called 'Oh the wind will blow' I am intent on listening to more, great song and wonderful vocals. Listen: Northern Lights. Web: Old Ugly Recording Co.
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Background: Indiecater released Burning Codes 3rd album 'Rivers of Hope' recently on June 20th. Burning Codes is the brainchild of Belfast's Paul Archer and on 'Rivers of Hope' he is joined by members of Snow Patrol, Athlete and his brother, Ivor Novello winner, Iain.
Burning Codes create a Spirtualized like brand of jangle rock that is characterised by Paul Archer's redemptive themes. It is a calming influence on a world full of noise.
Paul Archer is a painter but not in the traditional sense. Instead of a brush and oils he uses words and melodies to document his environment. And in Burning Codes’ world positivity abounds, redemption is always possible and hope is all around. Archer’s gift is that he is able to turn such lofty concepts into something so beautiful.
Rivers of Hope is the third album to be released by Indiecater (Burning Codes and Burning Codes 2) and we (Indiecater Records) feel privileged in having being part of the grand journey.
2011Candy Says: This builds wonderfully and could sit comfortably being performed in a small club or in a stadium. Listen: We Are Like Gold. Web:Indiecater.
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Background: Sometimes all that glitters IS gold. At first glance, The Bandana Splits look like a pin-up girl group from the early 60s, yet behind the cutesy façade lurks a serious power pop trio. Annie Nero, Dawn Landes, and Lauren Balthrop were brought together by geography and their love of The Andrews Sisters charm and Spector-like musicality. Along with producer Sam Cohen (Apollo Sunshine/Yellowbirds) The Splits have effortlessly crafted your new favorite record.
The Bandana Splits’ self-titled debut album sends listeners whirling through the space/time continuum, conjuring images of soda jerks and varsity jackets. However, they’re much more than a throwback piece. Recorded at Landes’ Saltlands Studio in Dumbo, Brooklyn, the record displays their unique songwriting and sweet 3-part harmonies performed live around an old RCA ribbon microphone. Accompanied by spastic guitar, Muppetesque drum and bass jams, and slinky organ riffs, Cohen sonically infused the record with Motown grooves, Brazilian psychedelia, and a tasteful dash of classic country schmaltz.
2011Candy Says: This is just wonderful. Great song, fantastic harmonies, all girl group. Someone knows how to tick all of beehive candy's boxes and some!!! Listen:Sometimes. Web:Official.
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Background: Golden Bloom is Shawn Fogel’s soaring vocals, shimmering guitar hooks; whizzing keyboards and twinkling sounds. In fact, Golden Bloom is all Shawn Fogel. Under the moniker Golden Bloom, Fogel constructs intelligent contemporary indie power pop that rivals like-minded peers such as Wilco, Matt Pond PA, and Ben Kweller. The singer and multi-instrumentalist is so fully committed to his music that when he records an album, he plays nearly every instrument himself; tracking layers of his own vocal melodies for some of the purest and most encouraging indie pop out today.
The New York native, currently residing in New Jersey, Fogel is a one-man music-making machine. Fogel's latest EP is March to the Drums, which is set to release August 23, 2011. In 2009, he released his radiant album Fan the Flames. Since Fogel records the instruments himself, he brought in various producers to round out his sound. “A great album is only as good as the sum of its parts, so I like to focus on one song at time rather than thinking about the album as a whole until it’s pretty much done,” Fogel explains. Producer Peter Katis (The National, Mates of State), Roger Greenwalt (Ben Kweller), Dylan Magierek (Mark Kozelek) and Ryan Ball all worked together to make Fan the Flames energetic, exploring, personal, whimsical and fantastic.
When the multi-instrumentalist and front man isn’t working on Golden Bloom material, he can be found dabbling in a handful of other bands and projects. His 2010 project Neutral Uke Hotel (a re-interpretation of Neutral Milk Hotel’s seminal album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea) finds Fogel transforming one of his favorite albums entirely on the ukulele.
2011Candy Says: That Shawn Fogel is talented is a given. This song just adds to the evidence and whats more is the stuff that makes us get up and get on with living. Listen:You Go On and On. Web: Official.
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Background: “When I think about it, I guess my life has been pretty interesting,” says the Texas-raised, Los Angeles-based artist Lisa Sheppard. “I’m a person who’s easily bored, so I’m continuously looking for something new to wrap myself around. The stories in my songs tend to be about the process of life.”
Neon Lights, Lisa’s stunning sophomore album, burns with the grit-filled, heartfelt sounds of that process. The moods and tales within are as frank and richly varied as the life of their earthy-voiced creator: The disc’s 11 built-to-last songs are typified by such offerings as “You Got Your Freedom,” a rough-edged, blues-rocking kiss-off to a departing ex-lover, and “Once I Leave LA,” a sobering meditation on the thoughts of a desperate friend set to a bittersweet waltz. And then there’s the title track, an image-rich, gospel-tinged narrative that cashes in on the singer’s observations from her years as a professional poker player.
Lisa was born on Christmas Day. She grew up in Houston with music-loving parents who began bringing her to see live bands when she was just seven years old. Her mother, an impassioned follower of country and early rock ’n’ roll, was friends with Elvis Presley, George Jones, and rockabilly pioneer Tommy Sands, whose fan club she ran. Through her parents Lisa also discovered the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, and the Eagles, and at age nine she started guitar lessons. By age 16, however, her attention had turned toward a different type of stage, and she decided to pursue a theatrical career.
In 1988 Lisa moved to LA, where her focus eventually shifted from acting to play writing and directing. But in 1993 she received a not-so-subtle sign that maybe the theatrical world wasn’t for her: During the opening run of “Metro,” a three-act play she co-wrote and directed with her late husband, the roof of the presenting theater caved in (luckily, no one was hurt). Two further collapses, that of her house in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and that of the marriage, soon had her searching for another creative outlet.
Lisa dabbled in visual art while growing further immersed in LA’s rich music scene. Inspired by the latter, in 2008 she picked up her guitar, wiped away 20 years of dust, and not only started playing again but writing songs as well. “My ex-husband had died, and I’d been carrying that loss and a lot of other stuff,” she recalls. “It all started coming out.” In October 2009 Lisa debuted with One-Track Mind, a collection of 10 striking originals that was quickly snapped up by blues and alt.country radio and drew praise from Country Weekly and Belgian online magazines Rootsville.be and Rootstime.be. The album’s success soon had her appearing at the House of Blues and other top clubs.
2011Candy Says: Lisa Sheppard has that natural Americana meets blues rock vibe that we just love. Loads of grit and determination that powers out in some great songs. Alt country is alive and well! Listen:Neon Lights. Web:Official.
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Background: Finally a very recent release by the Supreme Court, which features members of two legendary Atlanta bands: the Hampton Grease Band (guitarist Glenn Phillips and bassist Mike Holbrook) and the Swimming Pool Q's (vocalists Jeff Calder and Anne Richmond Boston).
Reviews include - "rather magnificent....features an outrageous gooey center in the form of Phillips’ exquisitely lubricious solos." - Relix Magazine April/May 2011
Sun Hex is an hour-long tour de force that features 10 new Calder/Phillips originals (including the 9 minute epic title cut) plus a 10 minute cover version of "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place." Recorded and mixed on analog tape at the world-renowned Southern Tracks recording studio (Springsteen, Dylan, etc.), this is the long-awaited, 20 years in the making follow-up to Supreme Court's first album, which according to Rolling Stone's 4-star review, "welds deranged humor to a guitar that blows hot as an acetylene torch."
2011Candy Says: We finish off this round up with an album that we think is well worth checking out. Its a bit of a rough diamond, nice and edgy in places and with some fine guitar and vocals, good honest rock'n'roll. Listen:Frontier Of Here.Web:Official.
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This is two concerts from Welsh rockers Budgie the first recorded for broadcast in Birmingham, England back in 1978 (or possibly 1979, some cite 1975 however this is unlikely). The second is an audience recording that is clear and very listenable recorded live in Bydgoszcz - Poland on the 3rd, August 1982 (Budgie have maintained a large fan base in Poland for many years).
Budgie formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales under the name Hills Contemporary Grass. Their original line-up consisted of Burke Shelley on vocals and bass, Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals, and Ray Phillips on drums. After performing several gigs in 1968, the band changed their name to Budgie the following year and recorded their first demo. The band originally formed under such names as Hills Contemporary Grass and Six Ton Budgie. Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he, "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that".
Their debut album in strong blues oriented hard rock lines was recorded at Rockfield Studios with Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain and released in 1971, followed by Squawk in 1972. The third album, Never Turn Your Back On a Friend (1973), contained "Breadfan", which was covered by Metallica in 1988, the band having covered another Budgie song, "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" earlier in their career. Ray Philips left the band before the fourth album In for the Kill was recorded and was replaced by Pete Boot.
In late 1974, the band were joined by drummer Steve Williams for the album Bandolier, for live shows promoting this album and the follow up, 'If I Were Brittania I'd Waive the Rules', the band were augmented by Welsh guitarist Myf Isaac, but both Bourge and Isaac left mid 1978 and were replaced by ex Trapeze guitarist Robert Kendrick. Music from the 1978 LP Impeckable was featured in the 1979 film J-Men Forever (shown frequently on the USA Network's "Night Flight" television series in the 1980s) which is now a cult classic. In late 1978, having been dropped by A&M and with no new recording contract, this line up floundered, and after 12 months Kendrick was replaced by "Big" John Thomas in late 1979. This line up recorded two albums for Kingsley Wards 'Active' label: 'Power Supply' and 'Nightflight'. 1982 saw them signed to RCA for 'Deliver us From Evil' their final recording for a 'major label'.
The band continued to have success during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene, playing the Reading Festival in 1980 and then headlining the festival in 1982. They built a particular following in Poland, where they played as the first heavy metal band behind the Iron Curtain, in 1982. Also notable was their tour support of Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz Tour.
Source: FM Broadcast - Birmingham, Audience - Poland.
Sound Quality: Good mp3@128kbps Birmingham and mp3@160kbps Poland.
Genre: Heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock
Set: Two sets.
Set List:
Birmingham 1978:
01 Breaking the Rules
02 Pyramids
03 Ain't no Mountain
04 Can't Get Out of Bed
05 You and Me
06 Parents
07 Napoleon Bona-Part 1 & 2
08 Quacktors and Bureaucrats
09 Melt the Ice Away
10 In For The Kill Medley
11 Breadfan
Poland 1982:
1. Introduction
2. Forearm Smash
3. Crime Agains The Word
4. Napoleon Bona-Part One
5. Napoleon Bona-Part Two
6. Truth Drug
7. I Turned To Stone
8. Superstar
9. Panzer Division Destroyed
10. She Used Me Up
11. Wild Fire
12. Breadfan
