The Animals – Animal Tracks (1965)

The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon, as exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic number-one hit single “The House of the Rising Sun” as well as by hits such as “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, “It’s My Life”, “Don’t Bring Me Down”, “I’m Crying”, “See See Rider” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” The band balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.

The Animals in 1964: from left to right, Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Chas Chandler, Hilton Valentine, John Steel:

The Animals underwent numerous personnel changes in the mid-1960s, and suffered from poor business management, leading the original incarnation to split up in 1966. Burdon assembled a mostly new lineup of musicians under the name Eric Burdon and the Animals; the much-changed act moved to California and achieved commercial success as a psychedelic and hard rock band with hits such as “San Franciscan Nights”, “When I Was Young” and “Sky Pilot” before disbanding at the end of the decade. Altogether, the group had 10 top-20 hits in both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100.

The original lineup of Burdon, Alan Price, Chas Chandler, Hilton Valentine and John Steel reunited for a one-off benefit concert in Newcastle in 1968. They later launched brief comebacks in 1975 and 1983. Several partial regroupings of the original-era members have occurred since then under various names. The Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. (wikipedia)

Animal Tracks is the Animals’ third album in the United States, released as both LP Record and Reel to reel tape.[3] Musically, it was a hodge-podge of the group’s recent hit singles mixed in with tracks of assorted vintage that had not been included on either of The Animals’ first two U.S. albums. As such it bore little resemblance in content or purpose to the band’s British release also named Animal Tracks from four months earlier. “The Story of Bo Diddley” is an adaptation and expansion of a song recorded by Bo Diddley in 1960, utilizing some of the original lyrics but with additional verses and melody recapping the musician’s life in a talking blues style. (wikipedia)

The Animals’ second British album, recorded just before Alan Price exited the lineup, displays far more energy and confidence than its predecessor, and it’s fascinating to speculate where they might’ve gone had the original lineup held together. There are a few lightweight tunes here, such as “Let the Good Times Roll” and the rollicking opener, “Mess Around,” that capture the Animals loosening up and having fun, but much of Animal Tracks is pretty intense R&B-based rock. “How You’ve Changed” is a reflective, downbeat Chuck Berry number that Eric Burdon turns into a dark romantic confessional/inquisition, matched by Hilton Valentine’s chopped out, crunchy lead work over the break, while Alan Price does his best to impersonate Johnnie Johnson. The group doesn’t do as well with their cover of Billy Boy Arnold’s “I Ain’t Got You” as the Yardbirds did with the same number, treating it in a little too upbeat a fashion, and Hilton Valentine and Alan Price failing to add very much that’s interesting to the break (especially in comparison to Eric Clapton’s solo on the Yardbirds’ version).

“Roberta,” by contrast, is a great rock & roll number, and their version of “Bright Lights, Big City,” sparked by Burdon’s surging, angry performance and Price’s hard-driving organ solo. Price’s playing opens what is easily the best blues cut on the album, “Worried Life Blues,” where Hilton Valentine steps out in front for his most prominent guitar solo in the early history of the band, backed by Price’s surging organ. Burdon and company also excel on a pair of Ray Charles covers, turning in a jauntily cheerful, euphoric performance of “Hallelujah I Love Her So,” his jubilation matched by Price’s ebullient organ work; and a slow, pain-racked performance by Burdon and company on the slow blues “I Believe to My Soul,” arguably — along with “Worried Life Blues” — the singer’s best performance on either of the group’s EMI long-players, and matched by Price’s quick-fingered yet equally ominous piano playing. (by Bruce Eder)

Personnel:
Eric Burdon (vocals)
Chas Chandler (bass)
Alan Price (keyboards)
John Steel (drums)
Hilton Valentine (guitar)
+
Dave Rowberry – keyboards on 01., 06. + 13.)

Tracklist:
01. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Mann/Weil) 3.14
02. Take It Easy (Burdon/Price) 2.53
03. Bring It On Home To Me (Cooke) 2.43
04. The Story Of Bo Diddley (Burdon/McDaniel) 5-44
05. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (Benjamin/Caldwell/Marcus) 2.28
06. I Can’t Believe It (Burdon) 3.31
07. Club A-Go-Go (Burdon/Price) 2.20
08. Roberta (Smith/Vincent) 2.04
09. Bury My Body (Traditional) 2.51
10. For Miss Caulker (Burdon) 3.57
+
11. Roadrunner (McDaniel) 2-49
12. Don’t Want Much (unknown) 3.23
13. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (U.K. Single Version) (Mann/Weil) 3.14
14. It’s My Life (Atkins/DÈrrico) 3.07
15. I’m Gonna Change The World (Burdon) 3.35

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More from The Animals:

The Yardbirds – Having A Rave Up With The Yardbirds (1965)

The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band’s core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja, and bassist/producer Paul Samwell-Smith. The band started the careers of three of rock’s most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 greatest guitarists. The band had a string of hits throughout the mid-1960s, including “For Your Love”, “Heart Full of Soul”, “Shapes of Things”, and “Over Under Sideways Down”.

Originally a blues-based band noted for their signature “rave-up” instrumental breaks, the Yardbirds broadened their range into pop, pioneering psychedelic rock and early hard rock; and contributed to many electric guitar innovations of the mid-1960s. Some rock critics and historians also cite their influence on the later punk rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal trends. Following the band’s split in 1968, Relf and McCarty formed Renaissance and guitarist Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin – the latter of which was initially intended as a direct successor to the Yardbirds. The Yardbirds re-formed in the 1990s, featuring McCarty and Dreja as the only original members. Dreja left the band in 2012, leaving McCarty as the sole original member of the band in the present lineup.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. They were included at number 89 in Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” and ranked number 37 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock

Along with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds were part of the British blues scene of the 1960s. As the blues rock genre developed, some acts like Chicken Shack were playing a louder and more aggressive style, while the Yardbirds emphasized instrumental textures and extended instrumental improvisations. They covered blues classics like Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning (1956) and Bo Diddley’s 1955 I’m a Man which had a repetitive structure where instrumental solos were brief breaks between repetition of verses. The Yardbirds often extended these instrumental sections into “heavy jams”

Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds, or simply Having a Rave Up, is the second American album by English rock group the Yardbirds. It was released in November 1965, eight months after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton on guitar. It includes songs with both guitarists and reflects the group’s blues rock roots and their early experimentations with psychedelic and hard rock. The title refers to the driving “rave up” arrangement the band used in several of their songs.

The album contains some of the earliest live recordings with Clapton. Recorded in March 1964, they appeared on the band’s British debut album, Five Live Yardbirds, which was not issued in the United States. The songs with Beck were recorded in the studio in the months after he joined the group in March 1965. These include several charting singles and introduced “The Train Kept A-Rollin'”, one of the Yardbirds’ most copied arrangements. Although most were not written by the group, the songs became a fixture of the group’s concert repertoire and continued to be performed after Jimmy Page replaced Beck.

Next to their 1967 Greatest Hits collection, Having a Rave Up is the Yardbirds’ highest-charting album in the US and has remained in print longer than other in the band’s catalog. The album continues to be reissued, often with bonus material, such as the next single “Shapes of Things”, demo recordings for their follow-up album, and “Stroll On”, featuring dual lead guitar by Beck and Page, from the Blow-Up soundtrack. Several music critics have cited the album’s influence, particularly on hard rock guitar.

With the exception of “Still I’m Sad”, the songs on Having a Rave Up were not composed by the Yardbirds. Two of the album’s hits, “Heart Full of Soul” and “Evil Hearted You”, were written for the group by Gouldman, who had composed “For Your Love”. Both songs saw the group continuing to move beyond their blues-rock beginnings with Beck’s experimental guitar work. “Heart Full of Soul” is one of the earliest rock songs to incorporate Indian musical influences. Several months before the Beatles popularised the sound with “Norwegian Wood”, demos for “Heart Full of Soul” were attempted with sitar accompaniment. However, the Indian sitar player had difficulty with the 4/4 metre and the instrument lacked the power the group desired.[ Instead, Beck produced a sitar-like effect by bending the higher notes on his guitar in an Eastern-sounding scale and using a Tone Bender distortion device to get a more distinctive tone. The minor key, pop-oriented “Evil Hearted You” also incorporates exotic-sounding elements. Rock critic Richie Unterberger notes the “haunting Middle Eastern-influenced melody … typically eerie backup harmonies, [and] Keith Relf’s menacing, hurt lead vocal”. Beck provides a steel guitar-like slide solo, which biographer Martin Power describes as a “shimmering two-octave slide solo sounding almost ghostly”. “You’re a Better Man Than I” was written by Mike Hugg and his brother Brian. The song reflects the folk-rock style of the time with socially conscious lyrics. Relf’s folk-ballad vocal is complemented by Beck’s vibrato- and sustain-heavy guitar solo. “Still I’m Sad” is the album’s sole original tune by the band, written by Samwell-Smith and McCarty. It is a slow, brooding piece with psychedelic pop elements. Built on a mock-Gregorian chant, the song has seven vocal parts with producer Gomelsky adding a droning bass vocal under Relf’s melody.

Yardbirds records like these were eagerly taken up by the aspiring guitarists and other rock-and-roll obsessives who were forming garage bands at the time … “We’d do a lot of gigs where the opening band would play all our songs,” [drummer Jim] McCarty recalls.

The balance of the songs are blues and R&B numbers. Two versions of the Bo Diddley tune “I’m a Man” are on the album – a live rendering with Clapton and a re-worked studio version with Beck. These two recordings illustrate differences between Clapton’s and Beck’s styles during their tenures with the Yardbirds. Clapton employs a more traditional sound with chording,[35] whereas Beck takes a more novel approach, which Power describes: “[T]hings changed radically at one minute, 28 seconds into the song when Beck’s foot smashed into his Tone Bender [and he] and Relf chased after each other in a manic harmonica/guitar interface, notes swooping in and out of the mix”.[11] Although just over two and a half minutes, critic Cub Koda calls the Beck version “perhaps the most famous Yardbirds rave-up of all” and Power asserts “it was the closest the group had yet come to capturing the sound of the ‘rave-up’ on tape”.

The remaining three live songs with Clapton feature extended instrumental improvisation.[37] Bo Diddley’s “Here ‘Tis” and the Isley Brothers’ “Respectable” are fast-tempo, rhythmic-based songs that are essentially rave ups. On “Here ‘Tis”, Clapton adds an uncharacteristically energetic rhythm guitar over Samwell-Smith’s driving bass lines. In his autobiography, Clapton identifies Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” as the Yardbirds’ most popular live number. They usually played it every night and performances of the song could last up to 30 minutes. On the 5:35 album version, Clapton trades guitar licks with Relf’s harmonica lines. Howlin’ Wolf reportedly referred to the group’s “Smokestack Lightning” as “the definitive version of his song”.

The Yardbirds based their version of “The Train Kept A-Rollin'” on the 1956 rockabilly arrangement by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio. However, their recording adds a brief rave up section, new guitar parts, and a harmonica solo.[40] Beck biographer Annette Carson notes, “the Yardbirds’ recording plucked the old Rock & Roll Trio number from obscurity and turned it into a classic among classics”.(wikipedia)

In its original U.S. vinyl release, this album, comprised of several singles and B-sides plus excerpts off of Five Live Yardbirds, was one of the best LPs of the entire British Invasion, ranking on a par with the greatest mid-’60s work of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones; it was also just a step away from being a best-of the Yardbirds as well. No collection has ever outdone the sheer compactness and high quality of Having a Rave Up. (by Bruce Eder)

With star guitarist Eric Clapton departing the group unhappy with the musical branching out that the Yardbirds had been doing, they brought in the clearly more open-minded Jeff Beck. Beck’s adventures with feedback, distortion, and Eastern influences revolutionized the sound of the band, this record, and ultimately the sound of British rock ‘n’ roll. “Still I’m Sad” and “Heart Full of Soul” blatantly pointed in a direction toward the psychedelic experiments to come not ony for the Yardbirds, but for the Beatles, Stones, Cream, and pretty much all of the innovative British rock groups through the next handful of years.

Meanwhile, the band revived Tiny Bradshaw’s “Train Kept a Rollin'” with a manic ferocity that proved definitive, turning the song from a forgotten gem into a rock standard. Sure, Johnny Burnette got to it first, but his version was largely forgotten before Beck and crew reinvented it for a new generation.

The second side is live material left over from the Clapton years, depicting the band as one of the wildest blues cover bands of their era. Nowhere near as experimental as the Beck-dominated first side, the second side nonetheless rattles with contageous energy.

Both sides show the limited abilities of vocalist Keith Relf, but the rest of the band (especially Beck and Clapton, respectively) make up for that with their contageous passion for the performance and the material. (Kenneth Bridgham)

Personnel:
Jeff Beck (lead guitar on 01. + 6., 11.- 21.)
Eric Clapton (lead guitar on 07. – 10.)
Chris Dreja (guitar, bass on 21.)
Jim McCarty (drums, background vocals)
Keith Relf (vocals, harmonica, guitar, percussion)
Paul Samwell-Smith (bass guitar, background vocals)
+
Giorgio Gomelsky (background  vocals on 04.)
Jimmy Page (guitar on 21.)
Ron Prentice (bass on 05.

Tracklist:

Side 1 (1965 studio with Jeff Beck)
01. You’re a Better Man Than I (Hugg) 3.19
02. Evil Hearted You (Gouldman) 2.26
03. I’m A Man (McDanie[) 2.38
04. Still I’m Sad (Samwell-Smith/McCarty)  2.59
05. Heart Full Of Soul (Gouldman 2:28
06. The Train Kept A-Rollin’ (Bradsjaw/Mann) 3.27

Side 2 (1964 live with Eric Clapton)
07. Smokestack Lightning (Burnett) 5.41
08. Respectable (K.Isley/Ronald Isley/Rudolph Isley) 5.36
09. I’m A Man (McDaniel) 4.31
10. Here ‘Tis (McDaniel) 5.11
+
11. Shapes Of Things (Samwell-Smith/McCarty) 2.26
12. New York City Blues (Relf/Dreja) 4.19
13. Jeff’s Blues (“The Nazz Are Blue” demo. take 1) (Beck) 3.05
14. Someone To Love (“Lost Woman” demo, Part 1, Take 15) (Beck/Relf/Samwell-Smith/ Dreja/McCarty) 2.25
15. Someone To Love (“Lost Woman” demo, Part 2) (Beck/Relf/Samwell-Smith/Dreja/ McCarty) 4.18
16. Like Jimmy Reed Again (demo) (Beck/Relf/Samwell-Smith/Dreja/McCarty) 3.04
17. Chris’ Number (demo) (Beck/Relf/Samwell-Smith/Dreja/McCarty) 2.23
18. What Do You Want (demo, Take 4) (Beck/Relf/Samwell-Smith/Dreja/McCarty) 3.12
19. Here ‘Tis” (a.k.a. “For RSG”; instrumental track) (McDaniel) 3.50
20. Here ‘Tis (vocal version) (McDaniel) 4.06
21. Stroll On (Train Kept A Rolling’) (Relf/Beck/Page/Dreja/McCarty) 2.47

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More from The Yardbirds:

Georgie Fame – Sweet Things (+ bonus tracks) (1966)

Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only British music act to have achieved three number one hits with his only Top 10 chart entries: “Yeh, Yeh” in 1964, “Get Away”, in 1966 and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” in 1967.

Powell was born at 1 Cotton Street, Leigh, Lancashire, England. He took piano lessons from the age of seven and on leaving Leigh Central County Secondary School at 15 he worked for a brief period in a cotton weaving mill and played piano for a band called the Dominoes in the evenings. After taking part in a singing contest at the Butlins Holiday Camp in Pwllheli, North Wales, he was offered a job there by the band leader, early British rock and roll star Rory Blackwell.

At sixteen years of age, Powell went to London and, on the recommendation of Lionel Bart, entered into a management agreement with Larry Parnes, who had given new stage names to artists Marty Wilde and Billy Fury. Fame later recalled that Parnes had given him an ultimatum over his forced change of name: “It was very much against my will but he said, ‘If you don’t use my name, I won’t use you in the show'”.

Over the following year Fame toured the UK playing beside Wilde, Joe Brown, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and others. Fame played piano for Billy Fury in his backing band, the Blue Flames. When the backing band got the sack at the end of 1961, it was re-billed as “Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames” and went on to enjoy great success with a repertoire largely of rhythm and blues numbers.

Georgie Fame and Rick Brown performing at The Grand Gala du Disque, Amsterdam on Saturday, 2 October 1966:

Fame was influenced by jazz, blues, and the musicians Mose Allison and Willie Mabon. He was one of the first white musicians to be influenced by ska after hearing it in cafés in Jamaica and Ladbroke Grove in England. He recalled The Flamingo Club was “full of American GIs who came in from their bases for the weekend” who played for him the song “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the M.G.’s. “I had been playing piano up to that point but I bought a Hammond organ the next day.”

In 1963, the band recorded its debut album, Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo.[5] Produced by Ian Samwell and engineered by Glyn Johns,[10] the album was released in place of a planned single by EMI Columbia. It failed to reach the chart, but the October 1964 follow-up, Fame at Last, reached No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart.

Ronan O’Rahilly failed to get Fame’s first record played by the BBC. After it was rejected by Radio Luxembourg, O’Rahilly announced he would start his own radio station to promote the record. The station became the offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline.

Fame enjoyed continual chart success, with three number one hits in the UK Singles Chart. His version of “Yeh, Yeh”, released on 14 January 1965, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles chart. “In the Meantime” charted in both UK and US. Fame made his US television debut that same year on Hullabaloo. His single “Get Away”, released on 21 July 1966, spent one week at No. 1 on the UK chart and 11 weeks on the chart. The song was written as a jingle for a petrol commercial. His version of the Bobby Hebb song “Sunny” made No. 13 in the UK charts in September 1966. His greatest chart success was in 1967 when “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” became a number one hit in the UK, and No. 7 in the US. “Yeh, Yeh” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs.

Fame continued playing into the 1970s, having a hit with “Rosetta” with his friend Alan Price in 1971, and they worked together extensively.[5] In 1974, he reunited the Blue Flames and began to sing with European orchestras and big bands. He wrote jingles for radio and TV commercials and composed for the films Entertaining Mr Sloane (1970) and The Alf Garnett Saga (1972).

The artist released two singles produced by Stock Aitken Waterman in 1986, a cover of Richie Cole’s “New York Afternoon”, (credited as Mondo Kané featuring Dee Lewis, Coral Gordon and Georgie Fame) and a cover of a Gilberto Gil track, “Samba”, under his own name, for which he wrote the English-language lyrics.

He became a member of Van Morrison’s band, as well as his musical producer. He played keyboards and sang harmony vocals on “In the Days Before Rock ‘n’ Roll” from the album Enlightenment while recording and touring as a solo act. He played organ on Van Morrison’s albums between 1989 and 1997 and starred at Terry Dillon’s 60th-birthday party on 10 May 2008. Morrison refers to Fame in the line “I don’t run into Mr. Clive” in his song “Don’t Go to Nightclubs Anymore” on the 2008 Keep It Simple album. Fame appeared as a guest on Morrison’s television concert presented by BBC Four on 25 and 27 April 2008.

Fame was a founding member of Bill Wyman’s band Rhythm Kings. He also worked with Count Basie, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Joan Armatrading, and the Verve.

Fame has played residences at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.[5] He played organ on Starclub’s album. He was the headline act on the Sunday night at the Jazz World stage at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival after performing at the Midsummer Music at Spencers festival in Essex.

On 18 April 2010, Fame and his sons Tristan Powell (guitar) and James Powell (drums) performed at the Live Room at Twickenham Stadium[21] for the tenth birthday celebrations of The Eel Pie Club. Part of the proceeds from the concert benefitted the Otakar Kraus Music Trust, which provides music and voice therapy for children and young people with physical and mental difficulties. The trio performed later that year at the Towersey Festival.

In July 2014, Fame played at the village hall in Goring-on-Thames[24] and then at the Cornbury Festival in Oxfordshire.

In 1972, Fame married Nicolette (née Harrison), Marchioness of Londonderry, the former wife of the 9th Marquess. Lady Londonderry had given birth to one of Fame’s children during her marriage to the marquess; the child, Tristan, bore the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh and was believed to be heir to the marquisate. When tests determined the child was Fame’s, the Londonderrys divorced. The couple had another son, James, during their marriage.

Nicolette Powell died on 13 August 1993, after jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In an interview before her death, Fame said that they had stayed happily married because of her “charm, beauty, forbearance and understanding”.[29]

Fame supports the Countryside Alliance and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation. (wikipedia)

Sweet Things is the 1966 third album with the Blue Flames by Georgie Fame which reached No.6 in the album Top Ten in the UK. Following this album his band The Blue Flames was replaced with The Tornados. (wikipedia)

Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames’ third album very much follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, a punchy R&B stomper that could (even should) have been recorded live, so high is the energy, and so abandoned the backing of the Blue Flames. This is especially apparent on side two of the original vinyl, as the band all-but replicate the closing run of a hot and sweaty club gig, pounding through an electrifyingly note-perfect “My Girl,” a rattling “The Whole World’s Shaking” and a truly incredible version of “The In Crowd,” all honking horns and smooth-flowing Hammond. Don Covay’s “See Saw” is another jewel, but for sheer audacity, the highlight has to be calypso king Lord Kitchener’s gleefully risqué “Dr Kitch,” a percussively swaying romp that only grows more delightful as it becomes apparent that Fame himself is having trouble delivering the lyric straight-faced — the story of a doctor attempting to administer an injection to a nervous young lady, after all, is so rife with double meaning that it is virtually a sex act in its own right.

Not quite up to the standard of the group’s debut (which, of course, was recorded live), Sweet Thing is nevertheless one of the finest British R&B albums of the mid-’60s, and one of the last to illustrate just how many possibilities were still open to the U.K. scene at that time. The journey from soft soul to rude calypso, via every musical shade in between, was not one that many performers were willing to take, after all. Fame and co, on the other hand, make the journey in record time.by Dave Thompson)

And yes … on drums: Mr. Mitch Mitchell !

Personnel:
Neemoi “Speedy” Acquaye (percussion)
Cliff Barton (bass)
Peter Coe (saxophone)
Georgie Fame (organ, vocals)
Colin Green (guitar)
Glenn Hughes (saxophone)
John “Mitch” Mitchell (drums)
Eddie “Tan Tan” Thornton (trumpet)

Tracklist:
01. Sweet Thing (Stevenson) 2.33
02. See Saw (Covay) 2.43
03. Ride Your Pony (Neville) 2.39
04. Funny How Time Slips Away (Nelson) 3.15
05. Sitting In The Park (Stewart) 3.22
06. Dr. Kitch (Blackwell/Kitchener) 3.56
07. My Girl (White/Robinson) 2.56
08. Music Talk (Paul/Wonder/Hull) 3.18
09. The In Crowd (Page) 2.54
10. The World Is Round (Thomas) 2.37
11. The Whole World’s Shaking (Cooke) 3.09
12. Last Night (Laine) 5.05
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13. In The Meantime (Burch) 2.35
14. Telegram (Burch) 2.37
15. No No (The River) (from the EP “Fats For  Fame, 1965) (Bartholomew) 1.59
16. Blue Monday (from the EP “Fats For  Fame, 1965)  (Kenner/Bartholomew/Domino) 2.14
17. So Long (from the EP “Fats For  Fame, 1965) (Bartholomew/Domino) 1.48
18. Sick And Tired (from the EP “Fats For  Fame, 1965) (Kenner/Bartholomew) 2.18
19. Like We Used To Be (Single A-Side, 1965) (Powell) 2.16
20. It Ain’t Right (Single B-Side, 1965) (Powell) 3.04
21. Something (Single A-Side, 1965) (Mayall) 3.10
21. Outrage (Single B-Side, 1965) (Cropper/Jackson, Jr./Steinberg/Allen Jr.) 3.29

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More from Georgie Fame:

The official website (now deleted):

Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated – Red Hot From Alex (1964)

Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as “a founding father of British blues”. A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in the formation of several notable British bands including The Rolling Stones and Free.

After the war, Korner played piano and guitar (his first guitar was built by friend and author Sydney Hopkins, who wrote Mister God, This Is Anna) and in 1949 joined Chris Barber’s Jazz Band[8] where he met blues harmonica player Cyril Davies. They started playing together as a duo, started the influential London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in 1955 and made their first record together in 1957. Korner made his first official record on Decca Records DFE 6286 in the company of Ken Colyer’s Skiffle Group. His talent extended to playing mandolin on one of the tracks of this rare British EP, recorded in London on 28 July 1955. Korner encouraged many American blues artists, previously virtually unknown in Britain, to perform at the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club, which he established with Davies at the Round House pub in Soho.

Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Davy Graham, Ginger Baker, Art Wood, Long John Baldry, Ronnie Jones, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies, Malcolm Cecil, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Mick Jagger.

Korner (1928–1984) was a member of Chris Barber’s Jazz Band in the 1950s, and met up with Cyril Davies (1932–1964) who shared his passion for American blues. In 1954 they teamed up as a duo, began playing blues in London jazz clubs, and opened their own club, the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club, where they featured visiting bluesmen from America. The club embraced aspiring young musicians, including in its early days Charlie Watts, Long John Baldry, and Jack Bruce.

In 1961 Korner and Davies formed Blues Incorporated, the first amplified R&B band in Britain, and brought in singer Baldry (sometimes replaced by Art Wood), drummer Watts, bassist Bruce, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith. It was an informal band: its membership was intended to be fluid.

On 17 March 1962, Korner and Davies established a regular “Rhythm and Blues Night” at the Ealing Jazz Club. This brought together many more fans of blues and R&B music including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Paul Jones, John Mayall, Zoot Money, and Jimmy Page, some of whom would occasionally sit in on Blues Incorporated performances. Watts left the group around this time to join the Rolling Stones and suggested Ginger Baker as his replacement.

From 3 May 1962, Blues Incorporated secured a Thursday-night residency at the Marquee Club, which brought them to the attention of record producer and promoter Jack Good who arranged a recording contract with Decca Records resulting in the LP R&B from the Marquee, released in late 1962. The album was actually recorded in the Decca studio and featured Baldry as lead singer with songs by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Witherspoon and Leroy Carr.

Late in 1962 Davies disagreed with Korner’s intention to add a brass section to the band and turn more towards jazz than blues, so left to form his own group, the Cyril Davies All-Stars, and was replaced by Graham Bond. Blues Incorporated found a new residency at the Flamingo club but, shortly afterwards, Bond, Bruce and Baker left to form the Graham Bond Organisation.

Blues Incorporated concentrated on live work rather than recording and the group only released two singles on Parlophone, “I Need Your Loving” / “Please Please Please Please” (1964) and “Little Baby” / “Roberta” (1965). In 1964 they released the LPs At The Cavern and Red Hot From Alex, with American Herbie Goins as lead singer and Danny Thompson, later of Pentangle, on bass. By the time of the group’s last album Sky High (credited to Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated) in 1965, the group included Duffy Power on vocals. Korner dissolved the group in 1966. (wikipedia)

And here´s his second album with his Blues Incorporated:

One of Alexis Korner’s better and more obscure albums, Red Hot From Alex, features the 1964 version of Blues Incorporated, supported by alumnus Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor sax on a handful of tracks, recreating their live sound in the studio. The results are reasonably successful, the group at times achieving a fairly intense, swinging ensemble sound that, at its best, carries an infectious level of excitement. This band’s sound is a lot slicker throughout than that of the version of Blues Incorporated that played the Marquee Club in 1962 and 1963 and left behind the album R&B From The Marquee. The opener, “Woke Up This Morning,” has a convincingly funky sound, driven by Herbie Goins’ vocals, and a fairly together rhythm section, though Dave Castle’s alto sax seems a little too lightweight to pull off the authenticity. The group leaps back to somewhat purer blues on “Skippin’,” featuring Heckstall-Smith’s tenor, Korner playing some suitably animated rhythm guitar, and Ron Edgeworth aggressively attacking his organ. The first minute of “Herbie’s Tune” offers a great showcase for Korner’s guitar, soon joined by Heckstall-Smith’s sax, and Edgeworth’s organ, while “Stormy Monday” throws a flute into an otherwise similar mix — one can easily imagine Brian Jones dueting with Korner on those cuts.

The only real flaw in the album, apart from an over-reliance on jazz at the expense of blues, is the lack of any real charismatic presence within the band, vocally or instrumentally — “Stormy Monday” shows off the group to best advantage, with Korner in the spotlight playing some of the flashiest and most compelling blues licks of his career, and if the album could have had a few more tracks like that, it just might have found an audience not far from the listenership that John Mayall and Graham Bond were cultivating; a little too much of what surrounds the blues here, however, is significantly less exciting jazz, played well enough, but otherwise not really terribly diverting — “Roberta,” “It’s Happening,” and “Jones” probably went over big at the group’s club dates, but just don’t make for great moments on record, and Korner’s own “Cabbage Greens,” showcasing his low-wattage guitar pyrotechnics (which just might prove refreshing to those weary of, or only versed in, the Jimi Hendrix/Jimmy Page school of blues guitar) and Edgeworth’s organ playing, isn’t much more interesting. “Chicken Shack” is the track that best captures the group’s sound at its most engaging, and the album is a welcome document of their work, but it’s more of a historic curio than an essential acquisition, on a musical par with, say, John Mayall Plays John Mayall. (by Bruce Eder)

Personnel:
Dave Castle (saxophone)
Ron Edgeworth (keyboards)
Barry Howten (drums)
Alexis Korner (guitar)
Art Theman (saxophone)
Danny Thompson (bass)
+
Herbie Goins (vocals, percussion on 01., 04.,- 06. + 10.)
Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxophone on 02., 03. + 09.)

A German reissue:

Tracklist:
01. Woke Up This Morning (King) 2.37
02. Skippin’ (Korner) 2.14
03. Herbie’s Tune (Korner) 4.00
04. Stormy Monday (Walker) 4.40
05. It’s Happening (Bond) 2.06
06. Roberta (Koprner) 2.26
07. Jones (Terry/Ellington) 3.52
08. Cabbage Greens (Korner) 2.10
09. Chicken Shack (Smith) 2.01
10. Haitian Fight Song (Mingus) 3.32

*
**

Alternate edition:

More from Alexis Korner:

The Mike Cotton Sound – I Don´t Wanna Know + This Little Pig (1964)

A very important group from the early years of Britisch R & B:

Michael Edward Cotton (born 12 August 1939) is an English jazz and R&B trumpeter, flugelhornist, harmonicist, vocalist and bandleader born in Tottenham, North London. He is best known for leading his band under the names The Mike Cotton Jazzmen and The Mike Cotton Sound. Cotton currently plays with the Stars of British Jazz.

Mike Cotton formed The Mike Cotton Jazzmen in the early 1950s during the “Trad jazz” boom. From 1962 he changed the group’s name to The Mike Cotton Sound, and their musical direction to a more pop-based style, achieving a UK chart hit single “Swing That Hammer” that year. They appeared in a performance in the 1962 film The Wild and the Willing.

Member Dave Rowberry left the band in 1965 to join The Animals,[4] and among those who auditioned to take his place were Elton John and Joe Cocker.[3] Ultimately the position went to Steve Gray who went on to play in The Eric Delaney Band and Sky. In 1966 Cotton changed the band’s style again to a more soul-based sound and brought in a second vocalist, a former American airman named Bruce McPherson Lucas, known by his surname. He had been working with bands in the Norwich area. The band backed a number of artists in live and studio work at various times during the 1960s, including Sugar Pie DeSanto, Gene Pitney, Stevie Wonder, Doris Troy, The Four Tops and Solomon Burke.

When their bass player, Jim Rodford, joined his cousin Rod Argent in his new band Argent in 1969, Cotton changed the band’s name to the more modern-sounding Satisfaction, and the band recorded one album under that name in 1970 before splitting up. He retained the brass section, and this line-up, working again under the name Mike Cotton Sound, joined The Kinks, first on their 1971 album Muswell Hillbillies, and then appearing with them both in the studio and in concert until the mid-1970s, after which Cotton returned to playing jazz. (wikipedia)

And here´s their first amazing single … really hot R & B …

Personnel:
John Beecham (trumpet)
Mike Cotton (trumpet, vocals)
John Crocker (saxophone)
Stu Morrison (bass), Jim Rodford – bass, vocals;
Dave Rowberry (organ)
Bernie Byrnes (drums)

The UK labels:

Tracklist:
01. I Don’t Wanna Know (Rowberry/Beecham) 2.12
02. This Little Pig (Cotton) 2.04

*
**

Pete York – Superblues (1994)

Another very fine rarity from my archive … a Blues Session with Mr. Pete “Superdrumming” York:

The Blues has been a constant force in popular music for over eighty years. Out of the early ragtime and jazz recordings of the Twenties came hit sons which were often called blues-based, and out of the Rhythm and Blues scene in the Forties came the Rock n Roll wave of the Fifties.

The explosion of British groups in the Sixties laid the foundations for a Rock scene wich is still with us today.  The musicians and singers gatheredfor “Superblues” have a thoroughbackground in all forms of the Blues. Indeed many of them played with the old mastes and absorbed the simple truths about interpreting this deceptively simple music.

I first heard the blues as interpreted by people like Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday in a relatively sophisticated band setting, whilst my old friend Spencer Davis was absorbing the guitar songs of Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two sides of the same coin.

Before the formation of the hit-making Spener Davis Group we played in a tradtional band performing all of what we heard. Our versions of these classic songs came out differently because we subconsciously added other influences which we had also absorbed. Our original recording of “Dimples” was our first single and begann to sell in 1964 untill a rival record company realised they had John Lee Hookers own version to release. At least we were Number 1 in Birmingham. (Pete York, taken from the original liner notes)

So … enjoy a very special night … check the line-up … and you´ll agree when I write A night the legends cam out toplay … and to celebrate the Brith Blues and Rhthm & Blues scene on the Sixites !

Recorded live at the Zelt Music Festival in Freiburg on 19th June 1991

Personnel:
Miller Anderson (guitst, vocals)
Tony Ashton (keyboards, vocals)
Wolfgang Dalheimer (keyboards)
Spencer Davis (guitar, vocals)
Chris Farlowe (vocals)
Bea Gebauer (vocals)
Eddie Hardin (keyboards, vocals)
Dick Morrissey (saxophone)
Gary Twigg (bass)
Harvey Weston (bass)
Roy Williams (trombone)
Pete York (drums, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. High Heel Sneakers (Higginbotham) 6.30
02. Flip, Flop And Fly (Turner/Calhoun) 6.46
03. Parchman Farm (Allison) 5.44
04. Lover Man (Davis/Sherman/Ramirez) 5.04
05. Dimples (Bracken/Hooker) 3.00
06. Born Again (Davis/Dean) / Get Back (Lennon/McCartney) 7.35
07. Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City) (Walsh/Price) 8.00
08. Never Too Old To Rock (East/Jupp) 6.31
09. Resurrection Shuffle (Ashton) 10.35
10. Out Of Time (Jagger/Richards) 5.34
11. Johnny B. Goode (Berry) 4.5362

*
**

More Pete York:

The Yardbirds – Reunion Concert (1992)

The Yardbirds’ LIVE REUNION is not what you might expect. None of the band’s famous guitarists-Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page-are present for the proceedings. Neither is singer Keith Relf, who died in the mid-’70s. The only original Yardbirds featured are drummer Jim McCarty and guitarist Chris Dreja. They’re joined by newcomers “Detroit” John Idan (vocals/guitar) and Rod Demick (vocals/bass). While there is plenty of prime, live Yardbirds material out there dating from the band’s glory days-try CLAPTON’S CRADLE: THE EARLY YARDBIRDS RECORDINGS and THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION-LIVE REUNION is still recommended to longtime fans looking for newer, in-concert renditions of Yardbirds classics. (by AllMusic)

After being inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja and new member John Idan recorded this excellent live set. It’s better known as “The Yardbirds Reunion Concert” but even though it’s been retitled as “The Yardbirds Reunion Jam,” it’s still features the same terrific song selection. “Rack My Mind,”
“Sitting on Top of the World” and “Crying Out for Love,” a McCarty original, are among the stand-outs — with the latter song also being featured on their last comeback album, “Birdland.”

In a nice touch, they open with “Back Where I Started,” which was on their first reunion release, the self-titled Box of Frogs (which featured guest, Jeff Beck). A mixture of their classic hits, new originals and blues standards, this live album is a must-have for fans. With Idan and McCarty currently in the studio with the brilliant 2017 band line-up and the two-CD “Yardbirds 68” remix of the Anderson Theater concert and collector favorites such as “Avron Knows” finally released in an approved version surpervised by Jimmy Page, McCarty and Dreja, this is a perfect time to snap up this archival gem. The Yardbirds never stopped making fine music and this one compares well with their best. The price of the MP3 is quite reasonable and we who don’t downland can hope a remastered version may surface in the future. (Uncle Mickey)

THE YARDBIRDS are still the best blending of British Psychedelic Pop and good old American Blues. Submerged in the style that made them living legends, REUNION JAM is the epitome of what THE YARDBIRDS do best…ROCK and ROLL!
This collection of classic YARDBIRD’s sounds captures the essense of familarity with ecclectic authenticity. It showcases the talent and maturity of founding members, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja, and their unique ability to withstand the rigors of performing in live venue. These masters do this with grace and ease, and the ultimate performance released in REUNION JAM is about as “good as it gets” (Kate Baley)

Boah …what a night, what a concert … Listen and enjoy !

Personnel:
Rod Demick (bass, vocals
Chris Dreja (guitar)
“Detroit” John Idan (guitar)
Jim McCarty (drums, vocals)

Alternate frontcover:

Tracklist:
01. Back Where I Started (Ricky Ricardo Rave-Up) (Dreja/Fiddler/McCarty/
Paul Samwell-Smith) 6.28
02. I’m Not Talking (Allison) 3.04
03. Heavy Weather (McCarthy/Ober) 2.34
04. Train Kept A Rolling (Bradshaw) 3.26
05. Crying Out For Love (McCarty)  4:33
06.  Heartful Of Soul (Gouldman) 2.43
07. Three Lane Highway (unknown) 3.26
08.  Ain’t Done Wrong (Relf) 3.34
09. Sitting On Top Of The World (Chatmon/Vinson) 5.37
10 Ain’t Got You (Carter) 2.11
11 Rack My Mind (Beck/Dreja/Relf/Samwell-Smith) 3.43
12. Ain’t Superstitious (Dixon) 3.51
13. Bad Boy (Bramlett/Clapton) 5.26
14. Dust My Broom (James) 5.28
15. Mr. You’re A Better Man Than I (M.Hugg/B.Hugg) 3.42
16. For Your Love (Gouldman) 4.19

*
**

The Yardbirds in 2018

Graham Bond Organisation – The Sound Of 65 (1965)

The Graham Bond Organisation were a British jazz/rhythm and blues group of the early 1960s consisting of Graham Bond (vocals, keyboards, alto-saxophone), Jack Bruce (bass), Ginger Baker (drums), Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor/soprano saxophone) and John McLaughlin (guitar). They recorded several albums and further recordings were issued when the group’s members achieved fame in progressive rock and jazz fusion. The spelling of the band’s original name varied between releases, often depending on the intended audience. The British English spelled as “Organisation” or “ORGANisation” (Bond’s original plan), while in some other countries outside the UK spelled “Organization”.

At the start of the British rhythm and blues boom the Graham Bond Organisation earned a reputation for playing aggressive R & B with prominent jazz and blues. Bond was the primary songwriter but encouraged the other musicians to contribute material, including Dick Heckstall-Smith’s “Dick’s Instrumental” and Ginger Baker’s “Camels and Elephants”, in which the drummer explored ideas he eventually developed into his signature piece “Toad”. Jack Bruce’s harmonica-driven version of Peter Chatman’s “Train Time” would become a staple in Cream’s live performances.

The first commercial recording by the original lineup of the Graham Bond Organisation was released under the name of singer Winston G. (real name Winston Gork). A protégé of expatriate Australian impresario Robert Stigwood, Winston had launched his career under the pseudonym “Johnny Apollo”. In early 1965 both Winston and the Graham Bond Organisation were part of Stigwood-promoted UK package tour headlined by Chuck Berry (on which Stigwood incurred heavy losses). Since they shared management, the Graham Bond Organisation backed Winston on the Parlophone single “Please Don’t Say” / “Like A Baby”; the A-side was credited “Arrangement directed by Graham Bond” and the B-side “Arrangement directed by Ginger Baker”.[1] The band signed for Decca Records who released their dynamic version of the Don Covay composition “Long Tall Shorty” in 1964, backed with “Long Legged Girl” (“Long Tall Shorty” had been popularised by US singer/organist Tommy Tucker). Their best-known single, and the second released under their own name, was “Tammy” (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans) / “Wade in the Water” (trad. arr. group), recorded on 4 January 1965 at Olympic Sound Studios, London (EMI Columbia DB 7471, 29 January 1965). The track also appeared on their debut album The Sound of 65 (EMI Columbia, March 1965).

In 1965 the band appeared as themselves in the film Gonks Go Beat, where they played two songs including “Harmonica”.

The band’s fourth 45 featured the single-only tracks “Lease on Love” / “My Heart’s in Little Pieces” (July 1965). The A-side is noteworthy for its pioneering use of the Mellotron, which Bond also played on several tracks on their second LP There’s A Bond Between Us (November 1965); the album also included studio versions of the two aforementioned instrumentals. The single and the album tracks are believed to be the first ‘popular’ recordings to feature the instrument, since “Lease on Love” appeared more than a year before the first UK chart hit to feature a Mellotron—Manfred Mann’s “Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James” (October 1966)[2]—and at least 18 months before The Beatles made the Mellotron world-famous with “Strawberry Fields Forever” (January 1967).[3] The tracks recorded for the second album were also the last cut by the original Graham Bond Organisation lineup before Jack Bruce was fired in August 1965. On 7 August 1965 they played at the Richmond-on-Thames Jazz and Blues Festival which was televised on the Shindig TV show.

The band gained minor attention after their ‘Waltz For a Pig’ (originally titled ‘Ode to a Toad’) was issued as the B-side of the Who’s 1966 single ‘Substitute’, which reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The band was billed as ‘the Who Orchestra’ for this release and the track was written by Baker.

The group was plagued with problems because of substance abuse and Baker’s ongoing feud with Bruce. Retrospectives of Cream indicate that Bond deputised Baker to fire Bruce, who joined Manfred Mann for a short time until July 1966 when Baker formed Cream with Bruce and Eric Clapton. The group recorded “St. James’ Infirmary” without Bruce on 10 January 1966, which was released in the United States on the Ascot label and received indifferently. Another sideman was Mike Falana on trumpet.[5]

Bond reformed the Organisation with Jon Hiseman on drums. As a trio, Bond, Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman recorded the single “You’ve Gotta Have Love Babe” / “I Love You” (both by Graham Bond) on 18 January 1967 for Page One records.[5] Bond left for the USA, releasing two albums there in 1969 with well-known session players.[5] Hiseman and Heckstall-Smith would leave to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for Bare Wires (recorded April 1968)[6] before forming Colosseum in the summer of 1968, with Tony Reeves on bass and Dave Greenslade keyboards.

The Graham Bond Organisation’s lack of commercial success, internal struggles and drug problems brought the band to an end in 1967, but its importance was soon recognised with the vogue for blues and progressive rock and the increased sales of albums. The double album Solid Bond, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1970, compiled live tracks recorded in 1963 by the Graham Bond Quartet (Bond, McLaughlin, Bruce and Baker) and a studio session from 1966 by the final trio version of the Graham Bond Organisation (Bond, Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman).

Graham Bond reunited with his former bandmates in the early 1970s, playing with Ginger Baker’s Air Force and also spending a short time touring with Jack Bruce’s band. He subsequently signed a contract with Vertigo Records and was reportedly off drugs by this time, although he was becoming increasingly obsessed with black magic. Bond died in May 1974, when he was hit by a train at London’s Finsbury Park underground station.

The Sound of ’65 is the debut album by rhythm & blues/jazz group The Graham Bond Organisation and featuring its best-known line-up of Graham Bond on vocals, alto saxophone, Hammond B-3 organ and Mellotron, Jack Bruce on vocals, acoustic and electric basses and harmonica, Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor and soprano saxophone and Ginger Baker on drums.

Melody Maker’s Chris Welch has suggested The Sound of ’65 “may have been the greatest album of the Sixties” and “one of the most exciting and influential of its time”[3] given the respect paid by luminaries like Steve Winwood and Bill Bruford. This album and the group’s second and last, There’s a Bond Between Us are now considered “essential listening for anyone who is seriously interested in either British blues, The Rolling Stones’ early sound, or the history of popular music, in England or America, during the late ’50s and early ’60s” and is also known among fans of Cream, which Bond’s rhythm section joined in the next year. (by wikipedia)

Although the Organization’s first album was recorded a mere year or two before Cream’s debut, it bears little resemblance to Cream’s pioneering hard blues-rock. Instead, it’s taut British R&B with a considerable jazz influence. That influence comes not so much from the rhythm section as saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and lead singer/organist Bond himself. This LP is not as exciting or rock-oriented as those of contemporaries like the Rolling Stones or John Mayall, but is respectably gritty, mostly original material, with an occasionally nasty edge. There are some obscure treasures of the British R&B explosion to be found here, including the original version of “Train Time” (later performed by Cream), the thrilling bass runs on “Baby Be Good to Me,” and the group’s hardboiled rearrangements of such traditional standards as “Wade in the Water” and “Early in the Morning.” Even their blatant stab at commercialism (the ballad “Tammy”) has its charm. (by Richie Unterberger)

Personnel:
Ginger Baker (drums)
Graham Bond (organ, vocals, mellotron, saxophone)
Jack Bruce (bass, vocals, harmonica)
Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxophone)

Tracklist:
01. Hoochie Koochie Man (Dixon) 3.14
02. Baby Make Love To Me (Godfrey/Baker/Bond/Bruce/Heckstall-Smith) 1.53
03. Neighbour, Neighbour (Valier) 2.40
04. Early In The Morning (Traditional) 1.51
05. Spanish Blues (Bond) 3.05
06. Oh Baby (Bond) 2.43
07. Little Girl (Bond) 2.16
08. I Want You (Bond) 1.46
09. Wade In The Water (Traditional) 2.42
10. Got My Mojo Working (Morganfield) 3.11
11. Train Time (Baker/Bond/Bruce/Heckstall-Smith) 2.24
12. Baby Be Good To Me (Godfrey/Baker/Bond/Bruce/Heckstall-Smith) 2.36
13. Half A Man (Bond) 2.06
14. Tammy (Livingston/Evans) 2.50

*
**

Ginger Baker
(19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019)

Graham Bond
(28 October 1937 – 8 May 1974)

Jack Bruce
(14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014)

Dick Heckstall-Smith
(26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004)

 

 

Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers – Same (1965)

Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers are a 1960s British rhythm and blues, soul and beat group who had two Top 10 hits with “One Way Love” (#9 UK, 1964) and “Got to Get You into My Life” (No.6 UK, 1966).

Well-known members include Bennett himself (vocals, born Clifford Bennett, 4 June 1940, Slough, Berkshire, England) Chas Hodges (keyboards, bass, born Charles Nicholas Hodges, 28 December 1943, Edmonton, North London, England), Mick Burt (drums, born Michael William Burt, 23 August 1938, Middlesex, England) and Nicky Hopkins (piano, born Nicholas Christian Hopkins, 24 February 1944, Harlesden, North West London, England) and Maurice Groves , Birmingham

In 1957 Bennett formed the band the Rebel Rousers. They recorded several singles with record producer Joe Meek that were released by Parlophone. Bennett continued recording for Parlophone, issuing cover versions of “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” and “Got My Mojo Working”.

Brian Epstein became their manager in September 1964 and their seventh release, “One Way Love” (written by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy under their pseudonyms Bert Russell and Norman Meade) b/w “Slow Down”, reached No. 9 in the British charts. Their next, “I’ll Take You Home” (written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) b/w “Do You Love Him”, charted at No. 42. “Three Rooms With Running Water” (written by Jimmy Radcliffe and Bob Halley) did somewhat better. In early 1966, the band was the opening act for the Beatles on their final European tour. Bennett got the opportunity to hear the Paul McCartney song “Got to Get You into My Life”, which was used on the Revolver album but was never released as a single. Bennett recorded it, with his own composition “Baby Each Day” appearing on the B-side. McCartney was producer for the session. The record reached No. 6 on the British charts, becoming Bennett’s biggest ever hit.[1] Cliff returned to the songbook of McCartney / Lennon in 1968 when he recorded “Back in the USSR” as Cliff Bennett and his Band, a single on Parlophone but this failed to make any impression on the charts.

Bennett went on to be part of Toe Fat, whilst Chas Hodges (keyboards) and Mick Burt became Chas & Dave with Dave Peacock. After Toe Fat disbanded, two of their members (Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake) joined Uriah Heep, and Bennett was asked to join them but declined. He was also considered for the lead vocalist position in Blood, Sweat & Tears when David Clayton-Thomas left in the early 1970s but once again turned the position down. He released a solo album, Rebellion in 1971 but he was not to rekindle his success of the previous decade. Between 1975 & 1976, he was the vocalist for a band called Shanghai, which released two albums, in 1974 and 1976; other members included, Mick Green (guitar), Chuck Bedford (vocals, harmonica, 1974–75), Pete Kircher (drums, vocals), Mike Le Main (bass, keyboards, 1974–75), Brian Alterman (guitar, 1975–76), Pat King (bass, 1975-76).

In the late 1970s, Bennett retired from the music industry to go into shipping, through which he made a considerable amount of money. In 1988, Mark Lundquist reformed the Rebel Rousers and toured as manager and band leader of Cliff and the band until 1996. More recently he has toured alongside Mike d’Abo, Chris Farlowe, Zoot Money, Maggie Bell, Screaming Lord Sutch, The Manfreds, Steve Ellis and New Amen Corner. (by wikipedia)

Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers were a British soul combo that featured Bennett as pretty-boy soul singer with strong backing from the two saxes-guitar-organ-bass-drums lineup of the Rebel Rousers. Between 1964 and 1966, they cut these two albums for EMI, hooked up with Brian Epstein, and almost made it. In truth, they were a couple of years ahead of the curve, with Bennett possibly one of the few Brits who could tackle material by Marvin Gaye, Jimmy Reed, Smokey Robinson, Little Milton, and Curtis Mayfield without looking or sounding ridiculous in the process. The Rebel Rousers are a minimal — but deceptively fat and full sounding — sextet that makes these tracks come alive with stripped-down vitality. They make old soul tunes sound like Liverpool pop and pop throwaways sound like R&B rarities. This is one of the missing chapters in British rock that every fan ought to get around to sampling. (by Cub Koda)

Personnel:
Cliff Bennett (vocals)
Mick Burt (drums)
Maurice Groves (saxophone)
Sid Phillips (saxophone)
Bobby Thomson (bass)
Dave Wendells (guitar)
Roy Young (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. I Can’t Stand It (McAllister) 4.06
02. Sweet And Lovely (Arnheim/Tobias/Lemare) 2.39
03. Make Yourself At Home (Sherman/Clare/Tobias) 1.58
04. You Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson) 2.34
05. Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby (Reed) 2.45
06. Sha La La (Taylor/Moseley) 2.06
07. One Way Love (Russell/Meade) 2.19
08. Steal Your Heart Away (Parker) 3.29
09. It’s All Right (Mayfield) 2.47
10. Beautiful Dreamer (Foster) 2.09
11. Mercy Mercy (Covay/Miller) 2.39
12. Talking About My Baby (Mayfield) 2.30
13. The Pick-Up (Twitty) 2.07

*
**

The Rolling Stones – Sydney (1966)

I was given this cassette of the 2UW 1966 Stones Sydney broadcast in 1972 (I was 16) by a chap only 4 years older than me who went on to be one of Australia’s leading music historians. Hadn’t seen him for years except on the telly /radio or on the rare occasion on the opposite side of a music venue. After The Monkees Sydney Opera House June 2019 concert I bumped into him in the foyer, re-introduced myself, we chatted, then shared a train ride home to my suburb where he had parked his car.

I took the opportunity to quiz him about the 2UW Broadcast cassette he had given me decades before. Such as, did he record it himself from the radio at the time? If not did someone else tape it, was my copy a dub from a cassette or reel to reel, did he have any idea when 2UW broadcast the show? I was dead set gobsmacked when he replied he couldn’t remember having this cassette & most likely it was his copy that he gave me.

So what do I have? Methinks i have either a 1st or 2nd generation. I’m sure this would have been aired on radio like the Melbourne 3UZ 1966 broadcast with advertisements / radio station ID, probably too hard to edit them out at the time of taping so possibly this cassette could be a dub from that but with the ads removed. What is present In track 12 Satisfaction at the 3.41 mark are 5 loud pips. I’ve been told that these could represent that it’s 5.00 PM at the time of this broadcast or the 5.00 PM news was coming up next.

The cassette also included two radio reports. The first of these is about the Stones arrival at Kingsford Smith Sydney Airport on the 16th February 1966. The second a short interview with the Stones in Sydney most likely before the 18th February shows. Unfortunately both are incomplete. Both conducted by Ward “Pally” Austin, a Sydney Radio 2UW DJ. In the 60’s he was probably Sydney’s most famous albeit notorious disc jockey. Ward also introduces the band at the concert.

The 2UW Feb 1966 interview with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones (I think Keith Richards is in there as well) cuts in after a discussion has already started regarding As Tears Go By. Jagger states he recorded it first before Marianne Faithful but his voice was deemed to be a bit camp so they decided to re record it again in a deeper voice.

Mick & Brian talk about engagements prior to marriage. Ward asks the boys what they’re going to do while in Sydney.
Jagger in an exaggerated Aussie accent talks about going down the beach, doing a bit of water skiing, watch the old sheila’s, sheilas being Australian slang for females, young or old. (The equivalent of the terms birds in the UK & broads in the USA.)

During the interview a voice comes on to tell us that at the time 2UW was one of Sydney’s lowest rated radio stations but they’d been building a new image of 24 hour nonstop teenage music. The voice continues that this has paid off because 2UW is now Sydney’s 3rd highest rated radio station & Ward is the top DJ.

In the 80’s I had a fling with a 2UW employee who when I asked if they had access to the station’s radio library, replied they did as it was part of the job. I asked if it they would be agreeable to conduct a search of the 2UW library for me looking for the broadcast, “no worries” was the reply. And if located could they one way or the other obtain a copy of it for me. They searched high & low but nowhere could they find the 1966 Broadcast nor could any documentation regarding the broadcast be found. Probably long ago wiped or discarded.

The broadcast does not feature the 1st song of the concert The Last Time, it starts with the 2nd song of the night Mercy Mercy. audiowhore & myself have tried to find the actual date of the broadcast but have been unsuccessful. But he did find a newspaper ad for the Brisbane 4BH Stones 1966 live broadcast aired on the 22nd February 1966, so perhaps the Sydney broadcast was aired the day after the show as well. Hopefully one day the Brisbane broadcast might magically surface just as the Melbourne 3UZ 1966 broadcast did decades later.

We couldn’t find any reviews of the Sydney 1966 concerts apart from a very brief show report in Go-Set magazine but I have the next best thing. Someone who not only attended this very show but took photographs as well. My friend Big Knob (Big from here on in) attended this concert as a 20 year old, not as a professional photographer but as a fan whose hobby / passion was photography.

Not even a year after attending this show he would be drafted into the Australian army & fighting in Vietnam. I asked him if in his days of being an audience member taking photographs at concerts (starting with The Beatles in 1964) was he hassled in any way for doing so. He replied no, it was the opposite, people would come up to him asking why was he was bothering to take photographs. He told me that if any newspaper photographer did bother to turn up to shoot a show, they would grab a few photos & then bugger off asap.

When audiowhore & myself searched newspaper articles regarding the Stones Australian 1966 tour we located a few pro-shot B/W Sydney photos but they hadn’t been reproduced in very good quality & in all honesty Big’s photos piss all over them & in colour too! It’s his photographs that he has so kindly allowed me to use for the artwork. The inside front cover photograph with Brian playing harmonica was taken during Not Fade Away. The back cover photograph with Brian sitting down playing the organ is That’s How Strong My Love Is.

The show was held in the Commemorative Auditorium which is one of the halls inside the Sydney Showgrounds complex, it’s only a hop, skip & jump from the Hordern Pavilion where I would see many groups in the early 70’s to late 80’s. In some of the photographs you can see in the background a stained glass window of a reversed map of Australia on which NSW is the only state coloured in & because this was the early show the sunlight is streaming through it. Of course outside the building the map was the correct way round.

The concert was advertised (as can be seen in the newspaper add on the Back Inside Cover artwork) with the band being on the Centre Revolving Stage, which Big informed me was transported over from the Sydney Stadium at Rushcutters Bay. This would have been a bit of a task to do so. This stage was not electric but hand cranked around by stage hands, with a few songs performed to the front, then cranked around to the right for the next couple of numbers & so on.

In the artwork photographs you can notice that the reversed map of Australia appears in slightly different positions. The photograph of the Stones taken from the back that features on the back inner artwork was taken when the stage had revolved around. I asked Big if he had moved around to take that particular photograph, he replied that he’d taken all his photos basically staying in the same position.

Before Not Fade Away Jagger can be heard asking “Will you stop this thing this going round” referring to the stage. Apparently it was annoying him in some way. Big can’t remember if Jagger’s plea was granted but he does remember that the American singer P.J. Proby’s scarf was caught up in this stage the year before. Jagger says “Where are we?” followed by “Wait right there” & then something undecipherable in Satisfaction that could also be a another reference to the revolving stage.

Big definitely remembers the endless screaming of the sheilas, says it was just as loud as it was for the Beatles Sydney shows two years previously. He added that some brave girls would dash out of their seats, run past the cops to throw streamers at the stage, in the photographs some of these can be seen wrapped around various Stones & their instruments. I was aware that on this tour the Stones where supported by another UK band The Searchers plus New Zealand band Max Merritt & The Meteors but I was unaware until Big informed me that two Australian acts were also on the bill. They being Tony Barber and Steve & The Board.

Although this recording is certainly not Hi-Fi by any stretch I love hearing Brian’s contributions in this Sydney show. This live version of Satisfaction being my mid-60’s favourite version. Revisiting this show finds me wishing that one day soon hopefully the Stones From The Vaults series will release a Brian Jones era live concert instead of endless latter day releases that feature Ron Wood – the king of bum notes & out of tune solos.

Australian Women’s Weekly Magazine (February 23rd 1966)

I first traded this recording with Stones collectors in the late 70’s, but when I told people I had this recording I was asked a number of times how could I be sure this radio show was Sydney. Easy I wrote back – Ward Austin who can be heard introducing the show was a Sydney DJ plus Jagger himself can be heard shortly before Satisfaction starts saying “Thank you very much Sydney”. Although the word Sydney is not as loud as the preceding words because of background tuning, Jagger definitely says Sydney.

I’m sure it was one of my trades that became the source for it’s appearance on the Japanese Silver Bootleg VGP Label entitled He Is Not Dead because it has the same tape wobble in Get Off Of My Cloud plus the radio pips in Satisfaction. But Ward Austin’s concert introduction is missing and the two 2UW radio segments didn’t make it either. IMHO my original cassette version has slightly more definition & is somewhat superior than the VGP title & other CD-R versions I’ve heard.

Thanks to my old friend for the original cassette, Big Knob for his photographs & audiowhore for the 2019 transfer and mixing and last but not least Bobel. (by wazza50)

Recorded live at the Commemorative Auditorium, Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; February 18, 1966 (1st show). Passable Sydney 2UW Radio broadcast (unknown airdate)

Personnel:
Mick Jagger (vocals, tambourine)
Brian Jones (guitar, organ, harmonica, background vocals)
Keith Richards (guitar, background vocals)
Charlie Watts (drums)
Bill Wyman (bass, background vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Stones Arrival At Sydney Airport 16th February 1966 #1 1:21
(Soundtrack From UK TV Report)
02. Stones Arrival At Sydney Airport 16th February 1966 #2 1:57
(Ward Austin 2UW Report – Cuts out / then 2UW Ward Austin Stones Interview – Start of interview missing)

03. Intro 0.29
04. Mercy, Mercy (Covay/Miller) 2.19
05. She Said Yeah (Christy/Jackson) 2.01
06. Play With Fire (Jagger/Richards) 2.20
07. Not Fade Away (Hardin/Petty)  2.16
08. Spider And The Fly (Jagger/Richards)  2:57
09. That’s How Strong My Love Is (Jamison) 2.09
10. Get Off Of My Cloud (Jagger/Richards) 3.06
11. 19th Nervous Breakdown (Jagger/Richards) 3.52
12. Satisfaction (Jagger/Richards) 5.03

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Thanks to wazza50 for sharing the show at Dime