Babe Ruth - First Base (1973) CD

Year: 1973 (CD 1991)
Label: One Way Records (Canada), CDLL-57343
Style: Rock, Art Rock
Country: Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England (1970–1976)
Time: 42:06
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 279 Mb

Babe Ruth were a rock music group active in the 1970s from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. They had a heavy sound marked by powerful vocals from Janita Haan and full arrangements by Alan Shacklock. They had more success in North America than at home.

When the group was first formed in 1971 (year in music), they were called Shacklock after their guitarist Alan Shacklock. Members included Janita Haan and Dave Hewitt. Then Dave Punshon and Dick Powell (brother of Slade drummer Don Powell) joined. The first release was their single "Elusive". The first album, "First Base" went gold in Canada. In 1973, Ed Spevock replaced Powell and Chris Holmes replaced Punshon on the second album. In 1975, Steve Gurl, keyboardist from Wild Turkey replaced Holmes for the third album. The same year, Shacklock exited and Bernie Marsden (Wild Turkey) joined the team for the fourth album. After that Haan and Hewitt left. Though no original member remained, the group got Ellie Hope and Ray Knott for the fifth album in 1976. Shortly before they disbanded they were joined by the young 17 year old Birmingham born Simon Lambeth who made a few appearances on their last tour, his hauntingly naive sound on rhythm guitar behind the lead of Marsden promised much but sadly it was too late; Marsden moved on to bigger things and joined Whitesnake. Simon changed careers and sadly was lost to the music scene.

A disco cover of Babe Ruth's classic "The Mexican" appeared in the late 70's, performed by the Bombers. This version inspired an electro/freestyle cover produced by John Jellybean Benitez in 1984, for which he managed to recruit Haan on vocals. It was a huge underground dance hit.

In late 2005 and early 2006, Haan (now Janita Haan Morris), Shacklock, Punshon, and Hewitt were recording new material together in Nashville [http://www.bobbyshred.com/baberuth.html] , with Spevock recording his drums in London. The album was completed September 2006, and is now available.

(Alan Shacklock (guitars, vocals, organ, percussions) FaceBook - http://www.baberuthband.com/news.asp)

01. Wells Fargo (06:17)

02. The Runaways (07:27)

03. King Kong (06:44)

04. Black Dog (08:03)

05. The Mexican (05:49)

06. Joker (07:43)

TurboBit           KatFile

Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake) - Look At Me Now (1981) CD

Year: 1981 (CD 2014)
Label: Provogue Records (EU), PRD 7418 2
Style: Hard Rock, Pop Rock
Country: Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England (7 May 1951)
Time: 49:45
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 355 Mb

EARLY CAREER:

After playing with a Buckinghamshire band called Skinny Cat, Marsden got his first professional gig with UFO. He next played with Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey in 1974, before he joined Babe Ruth in 1975, and played on two releases, Stealin' Home (1975) and Kid's Stuff (1976), before moving on to Paice Ashton Lord in 1977, with Tony Ashton and ex-Deep Purple members, Ian Paice and Jon Lord.

WHITESNAKE:

After Paice Ashton Lord folded, in 1978, Marsden joined the hard rock band, Whitesnake, playing on eight albums, from Snakebite (1978) to Saints and Sinners (1983). He reportedly turned down the possibility of playing with his boyhood hero, Paul McCartney, in Wings, to join Whitesnake.

ALASKA:

Following his departure from Whitesnake, Marsden formed a new band, initially called Bernie Marsden's SOS, which featured Marsden (guitar), Tommy Jackson (vocals), Brian Badham (bass), Richard Bailey (keyboards) and John Marter (drums). Shortly after, Jackson was replaced by Rob Hawthorn and the band was renamed Bernie Marsden's Alaska. They released two melodic rock albums, Heart of the Storm (1984) and The Pack (1985), before splitting.

(peoplepill.com/people/bernie-marsden)

01. Look At me Now (03:58)

02. So far Away (03:39)

03. Who's Fooling Who (03:54)

04. Shakey Ground (04:04)

05. Behind your Dark Eyes (04:42)

06. Bylbos Shack Pt 1 & 2 (04:04)

07. Thunder & Lightning (04:21)

08. Can You Do It ? (Rock City Blues) (04:18)

09. After All the Madness (04:04)

10. Always Love You So (b-side) (03:41)

11. Look At Me Now (live) (04:21)

12. Bylbos Shack (live) (04:35)

Musicians:

Bernie Marsden - guitar, vocals, Organ, Piano
Ian Paice - drums
Jon Lord - Piano, Synthesizer
Michael Schenker - Handclaps
Cozy Powell - drums
Neil Murray - bass
Doreen Chanter - Lead Vocals (track 3)
Irene And Doreen Chanter - Backing Vocals, Handclaps

TurboBit           KatFile

Blue Cheer - OutsideInside (1968) CD

Year: 1968
Label: Mercury Records (US), 314 514 683-2
Style: Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Country: San Francisco, California, U.S. (1966-2009)
Time: 33:07
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 197 Mb

Cult Heroes: Blue Cheer - the band who invented heavy metal. (By Ken McIntyre (Classic Rock) November 04, 2016)

LSD, rehab, whiskey, fights. And in their spare time they invented heavy metal. Blue Cheer leaders Peterson, McDonald and Whaley tell their twisted tale.

They were the bellowing Gods Of Fuck. There were no big ugly noises in rock’n’roll before Blue Cheer. They created sonic brutality, coiling their teenage angst into an angry fist of sludge and feedback and hurling it at stunned, stoned hippies like a wave of mutilation. Everything about them was badass. They had a Hell’s Angel for a manager, they were despised by the other bands in their scene, and they played so loud that people ran from them in fear. Proto-punk, proto-metal and proto-rehab, Blue Cheer took acid, wore tight pants, cranked their walls of Marshall stacks and proved, once and for all, that when it came to all things rock, excess was always best.

Formed by singer/bass player/mad visionary Dickie Peterson in San Francisco in 1966, Blue Cheer – named after the band’s favourite brand of LSD – was at first a gangly, six-piece blues revue with much teenage enthusiasm and little direction. After seeing Jimi Hendrix perform for the first time, the band’s prime movers – Peterson, drummer Paul Whaley and guitarist Leigh Stephens – thinned the line-up and discovered their sound, a wall-shaking throb of low- end beastliness that sounded exactly like the world ending.

Anchored by a sweat-soaked, hell-for-leather cover of Eddie Cochran’s teenage lament Summertime Blues, Blue Cheer’s definitive sonic manifesto Vincebus Eruptum arrived in 1968. It was the blues defined by acid-fried biker goons, and it changed the world. Two years later, the band was effectively over, its members shell-shocked, disillusioned, ripped-off and super-freaked. And it would take 40 years for them to put all the pieces back together.

Blue Cheer’s original and present drummer, Paul Whaley, speaks in a ragged whisper that suggests life done the hard way. Much like his perpetual partner- in-crime, band leader Dickie Peterson, Paul now lives in Germany, far from the psychedelic madness of the US west coast that spawned them.

"He met a girl, I met a girl," he explains, simply. "I’m much happier here. That American style of life, it just makes me nervous." Between long and thoughtful pauses, Paul recalls how the Blue Cheer story began.

"Dickie and his brother showed up in Davis, California, in 1966," he says. "They just showed upon the streets of this small town, these two trolls. These two long-haired freaks."

Paul and Dickie became acquainted, and when Dickie moved to San Francisco to soak up the free-love-and-cheap-drugs atmosphere and form a band, he gave Paul a call. "I was doing nothing at the time, so I agreed, and I moved down there to this commune he was living in. I joined the band he was in and it eventually became Blue Cheer.

It was a 60s blues band. We went to the Monterey Pop Festival and saw Hendrix there, and decided we wanted to be a three-piece. It all happened really fast. Within six months we were signed to Mercury Records and playing loud, aggressive music. The three of us got together and wrote Doctor Please and Auto Focus for the first album, and it sold millions. That Vincebus Eruptum album has brought us to this point."

As with any revolutionary concept, Blue Cheer had its detractors. Summertime Blues climbed the charts, and Blue Cheer were the toast of the town. Unless, of course, you asked the bands they actually had to play with.

(Full version: www.loudersound.com/features/cult-heroes-blue-cheer-the-band-who-invented-heavy-metal)

01. Feathers From Your Tree (03:31)

02. Sun Cycle (04:14)

03. Just A Little Bit (03:27)

04. Gypsy Ball (02:59)

05. Come And Get It (03:17)

06. Satisfaction (05:10)

07. The Hunter (04:31)

08. Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger (01:32)

09. Babylon (04:22)

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Dickie Peterson (ex Blue Cheer) - Child Of The Darkness (1997) CD

Year: 1997
Label: Captain Trip Records (Japan), CTCD-077
Style: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
Country: North Dakota, U.S. (12.09.1946-12.10.2009)
Time: 43:52
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 302 Mb

Dickie Peterson, whose screaming vocals and pounding bass lines helped push the psychedelic blues-rock trio Blue Cheer into the musical territory that would later be called heavy metal, died Monday in Erkelenz, Germany. He was 63 and lived in Erkelenz and Cologne.

The cause was liver cancer, said Ron Rainey, his manager.

Blue Cheer, a San Francisco group formed in late 1966, took its name from a street brand of LSD but never exuded the peace and love vibe of groups like Jefferson Airplane or the Grateful Dead. It stood for raw, animalistic power, on full display in the raucous, hard-driving “Summertime Blues,” the group’s biggest hit.

Pitted against Paul Whaley’s savagely thrashing drums and Leigh Stephens’s screeching guitar, Mr. Peterson, the group’s lead singer, adopted the only possible vocal strategy: he opened his mouth wide and emitted primal sounds at top volume.

“People keep trying to say that we’re heavy metal or grunge or punk, or we’re this or that,” Mr. Peterson told the Web site Stoner Rock in 2005. “The reality is, we’re just a power trio, and we play ultra blues, and it’s rock ‘n roll. It’s really simple what we do.”

Richard Allan Peterson was born on Sept. 12, 1946, and grew up in Grand Forks, N.D. He started playing bass guitar at 13, influenced by his brother, Jerre, who played guitar in an early, six-member version of Blue Cheer.

Mr. Peterson moved to San Francisco in the mid-1960s and, with his brother, began playing with Group B. He was thrown out of the band for insisting on a hard-rock style, which he indulged to the fullest with Blue Cheer.

Blue Cheer’s six-member configuration was quickly reduced to three to achieve a heavier sound, Mr. Peterson told Rocktober Magazine in 2007. In 1968, the group released the album “Vincebus Eruptum,” generally regarded as its best. It included the band’s cover version of the Eddie Cochran hit “Summertime Blues,” which reached No. 14 on the Billboard charts. The album rose to No. 11.

 The group released several more albums in quick succession, notably “Outsideinside” (1968), “New! Improved! Blue Cheer” (1969) and “Blue Cheer” (1969), before breaking up in 1972.

Mr. Peterson’s first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife, Ilka, of Erkelenz; a daughter, Corrina Peterson Kaltenrieder of Fort Worth, Tex.; and a grandson.

In various configurations, but always with Mr. Peterson, new versions of Blue Cheer recorded many studio and live albums over the years. Mr. Peterson recorded two solo albums in the 1990s, “Child of the Darkness” and “Tramp,” and toured frequently with Blue Cheer in the United States and Europe.

(archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com)

01. Brainkiller (03:24)

02. Spoonfull (03:51)

03. Dogs of War (02:53)

04. Dragon Song (07:20)

05. Who Do you Love (05:32)

06. Dirty Girls (02:22)

07. Back on the Streets (02:28)

08. Reptile (04:57)

09. Child of the Darkness (06:18)

10. Little Red Rooster (04:42)

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John Mayall - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966) [Vinyl Rip] 180g, 4 bonus tracks

Year: 22 July 1966 (LP 2008)
Label: Decca Records, Lilith Records (Russia), 900020
Style: Blues Rock
Country: Macclesfield, England
Time: 54:51
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 342 Mb

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (a.k.a. The Beano Album) is a 1966 blues/blues rock album recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton as part of the band. It is the second album credited to John Mayall after the live John Mayall Plays John Mayall. Clapton left to form Cream after this recording, though would team up again in 1971 for the double LP Back to the Roots.

It is also known as The Beano Album because of its cover photograph showing Eric Clapton reading The Beano, a British children's comic. Clapton stated in his autobiography that he was reading The Beano on the cover because he felt like being "uncooperative" during the photo shoot. The photographer was Derek Wedgbury and the location was near the Old Kent Road.

In 2003 the album was ranked number 195 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Apart from being one of the most influential blues albums, it also started the now-legendary combination of a Gibson Les Paul guitar through an overdriven Marshall Bluesbreaker amplifier.

Originally, John Mayall intended for his second album to be also a live one in order to capture the guitar solos performed by Eric Clapton. A set was recorded at the Flamingo Club, with Jack Bruce (with whom Clapton would subsequently work in Cream) on bass. The recordings of the concert, however, were of bad quality and were scrapped.

The album consists of blues standards by long-established artists such as Otis Rush, Freddie King and Robert Johnson, as well as a few originals penned by Mayall and Clapton. Most tracks serve as a showcase for Clapton's playing. Although he sang on several Yardbirds' recordings, "Ramblin' on My Mind" was Clapton's first recorded solo lead vocal performance, which Eric had been reluctant to record.

Musicians:

John Mayall - lead vocals, piano, Hammond B3 organ, harmonica
Eric Clapton - lead guitar, lead vocals on "Ramblin' on My Mind"
John McVie - bass guitar
Hughie Flint - drums

01. A1 All Your Love (03:34)

02. A2 Hideaway (03:15)

03. A3 Little Girl (02:35)

04. A4 Another Man (01:46)

05. A5 Double Crossing Time (03:02)

06. A6 What'd I Say (04:27)

07. A7 Parchman Farm (02:22)

08. A8 Ramblin' On My Mind (03:08)

09. A9 It Ain't Right (02:39)

10. B1 Key To Love (02:06)

11. B2 Have You Heard (05:52)

12. B3 Steppin' Out (02:28)

13. B4 They Call It Stormy Monday (Bonus Live) (04:33)

14. B5 Intro To Maudie (Bonus Live) (02:25)

15. B6 Have You Ever Loved A Woman (Bonus Live) (06:40)

16. B7 Hoochie Coochie Man (Bonus Live) (03:53)

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Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) - The Legendary Christine Perfect Album (1976) [Vinyl Rip]

Year: 1970 (LP 1976)
Label: Sire Records (USA), SR 6022
Style: Rock
Country: Lancashire, England (12 July 1943)
Time: 37:21
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 206 Mb

With her naturally smoky low alto vocal style and a knack for writing simple, direct, and memorable songs about the joys and pitfalls of love, Christine McVie has had a long and productive musical career while seldom insisting on being center stage. Born Christine Anne Perfect on July 12, 1943, in the small village of Bouth, the daughter of a concert violinist and a faith healer, a combination that just begs for uniqueness, McVie began playing the piano at the age of four and then found herself seriously studying the instrument at the age of 11, continuing her classical training until she was 15. That?s when she discovered rock & roll. While studying sculpture at an arts college near Birmingham for the next five years, she immersed herself in the local music scene, joining the band Sounds of Blue as a bassist. By the time McVie graduated with a teaching degree, Sounds of Blue had broken up, and she moved to London. In 1968 she reunited with two of the band?s former members, Andy Silvester and Stan Webb, in the British blues band Chicken Shack, playing piano and contributing vocals. The band released two albums, 40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve in 1968 and O.K. Ken? in 1969, and garnered a Top 20 hit in the U.K. with McVie?s impressive version of Etta James? ?I?d Rather Go Blind.? She left the band in 1969 after meeting Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, marrying him a year later, just after the release of her first solo album, the self-titled Christine Perfect.

Following the marriage, and now known as Christine McVie, she joined Fleetwood Mac as a pianist and singer and remained a member for the next 25 years, becoming a superstar in 1975 as part of the Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks version of the band. She and John McVie divorced in 1978, although both continued as members of Fleetwood Mac through the albums Tusk (1979) and Mirage (1982). She recorded and released a second solo album, simply called Christine McVie, in 1984. She married keyboardist Eddy Quintela in 1986. They would separate four years later in 1990 (and divorce later in the decade), just as the band -- now minus Buckingham -- released Behind the Mask. Following the tour for that album, McVie announced to the band that she would not longer go on the road, although she continued to work in the studio with them, contributing five songs to 1995?s Time. A reunion of the Buckingham/Nicks incarnation of the band for 1997?s live The Dance followed, and McVie did the resulting tour with the group before officially retiring from Fleetwood Mac in 1998 after the group?s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that year. She then lived quietly out of the music limelight until the release of her third solo album, In the Meantime, in 2004.

(Steve Leggett, Rovi. www.billboard.com/artist/299258/christine-mcvie/biography)

01. A1 Crazy Bout You Baby (03:05)

02. A2 I'm On My Way (03:13)

03. A3 Let Me Go (Leave Me Alone) (03:39)

04. A4 Wait And See (03:18)

05. A5 Close To Me (02:45)

06. A6 I'd Rather Go Blind (03:16)

07. B1 When You Say (03:18)

08. B2 And That's Saying A Lot (03:02)

09. B3 No Road Is The Right Road (02:53)

10. B4 For You (02:50)

11. B5 I'm Too Far Gone (To Turn Around) (03:30)

12. B6 I Want You (02:26)

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Electric Light Orchestra - Face The Music (1975) CD

Year: 1975 (CD ?)

Label: EPIC/LEGASY Records (US), 82796 94278 2

Style: Rock, Prog Rock

Country: Birmingham, England

Time: 52:33

Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz

Size: 327 Mb

Face the Music is more fine work from the Electric Light Orchestra, which rather quietly has evolved into a most consistent septet. Leader Jeff Lynne remains one of a few Sixties rockers who has developed a new and more adventurous style with a minimum of chaff in the process. In this setting he has successfully integrated a recognizable string trio (an achievement in itself) with his own melodic strings, producing a stately music without being stuffy or saccharine. Nor do the cellos and violin seem a mere afterthought.

All eight compositions are strong and fully realized: "Poker" with its hard rock guitar explosions, the oddly workable C&W flirtation "Down Home Town" and an instrumental with lavish but spirited orchestration. The seven outdo themselves, however, on "One Summer Dream," a beautiful and evocative tune sung touchingly by Lynne. A trifle sentimental perhaps, but lyrically and musically, it displays more emotion (not to mention pure ability) than one ordinarily hears from a rock group. Most importantly the song, and the rest of Face the Music as well, reiterates that rock can be complex, ambitious and "arty," yet still remain rock.

(Charley Walters, Rolling Stone, 1-1-76.)

The Electric Light Orchestra, led by former Move member Jeff Lynne, is better than most groups who try to combine rock with classical motifs. At least the ELO is skillful and unpretentious. But what is the sense of mixing whiskey and wine? The powers, techniques, effects, and schematics of rock and classical music are at polar odds with one another. Outside of relief from the boredom of playing the twang-thump of rock, there doesn't seem to be any valid reason to try to achieve this mutant sound. And, even though ELO's classical orchestrations are neatly done, they cannot disguise the basic weakness of the rock material.

(Joel Vance, Stereo Review, 2/76.)

Another beautiful set from the seven Brits who helped pioneer the merger of classical and rock on a mass basis. Divided fairly equally into smooth, flowing melodies fronted by equally relaxing singing and easy rockers, the guitar, vocals and writings of Jeff Lynne remain dominant. New to the group, however, is Kelly Groucutt, who handles bass and takes over on lead vocals from time to time. With a softer voice than Lynne's, Groucutt provides the balance that has been missed in past albums. Guitars, violins and cellos melt together easily under Lynne's production, and the unlikely combination works as well as anything the band has ever done. Musically, a truly beautiful LP. Best cuts: "Waterfall," "Evil Woman," "Poker," "Down Home Town."

(Billboard, 1975.)

Superb production and a good song lineup featuring "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic."

(Bruce Eder, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.)

ELO's formula first jelled into a sleek hit-making machine with Face The Music, an album on which Jeff Lynne's producing chops first match his songwriting prowess -- fueled by songs such as the radio staple "Evil Woman" and dreamy ballad "Strange Magic."

(Eric Deggans, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.)

01. Fire On High (05:31)

02. Waterfall (04:11)

03. Evil Woman (04:29)

04. Nightrider (04:26)

05. Poker (03:32)

06. Strange Magic (04:29)

07. Down Home Town (03:54)

08. One Summer Dream (05:51)

09. Fire On High Intro (Early Alt Mix) (03:23)

10. Evil Woman (Stripped Down Mix) (05:00)

11. Strange Magic (U.S. Single Edit) (03:27)

12. Waterfall (Instrumental Mix) (04:15)

Tracks 9, 10, 12 Previously Unreleased.

TurboBit          KatFile

Rick Wakeman - The Myths and Legends Of King Arthur (1975) [Vinyl Rip, 1st press]

Year: 1975 (LP 1975 1st Press)
Label: A & M Records (UK), AMLH 64515
Style: Symphonic Rock, Rock
Country: Perivale, London (born 18 May 1949)
Time: 44:40
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 263 Mb

Solo Career:

In August of 1971 Wakeman left Strawbs and joined a group called Yes as a replacement for one of the original band members, Tony Kay. Wakeman’s first album with that group was released in early in 1972. The recording, called Fragile, drew praise as a classic example of progressive rock, and by 1972, the band was a worldwide sensation. Wakeman played with Yes until 1974 when Patrick Moraz replaced Wakeman who left the group to further his solo career. Wakeman returned to Yes in 1976 and remained with the group until the end of the decade, after which time he continued a sporadic association with the group.

Even during his years with Yes, Wakeman spent a great deal of time in solo recording sessions for A&M Records. His earliest releases received notable reviews and earned gold records. Six Wives of Henry VIII was released in January of 1973, and Journey to the Center of the Earth appeared in 1974. Journey, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and narrated by David Hemmings, was an original Wakeman composition, based on the Jules Verne novel by the same name. The recording topped the charts in England, and Wakeman performed the composition at London’s Royal Festival Hall on January 18, 1974. He recorded his next album, Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, with the English Chamber Choir in 1975. Myths received mixed reviews, and Wakeman recorded and released afourth album, No Earthly Connection, in 1976, shortly before he rejoined with Yes. His reunion with Yes was encouraged by the resurgence of longer, symphonic renditions by the group, music that was abandoned during Wakeman’s absence. The Wakeman charisma was seen especially on their 1977 gold album, Going for the One, and their platinum release, Tormato, in 1978. According to Irwin Stambler in Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock Soul, Wakeman returned to Yes because, “they were back to playing the kind of music they should be playing.” Wakeman also recorded two solo albums for A&M during the nextfewyears: CriminalRecordin 1977, and Rhapsodies in 1979.

In 1980 Wakeman left Yes once more and signed with Charisma Records. Later in 1990, he reunited with Yes co-founder Jon Anderson Bruford, to try to reignite Yes. Although the reunion failed to earn critical approval, the music received a warm reception from audiences. In 1989 Wakeman rejoined with his old Yes bandmates to form the group Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe. The foursome released an album that sold over a million copies worldwide; they tou red extensively that year, and in 1991 their album, Union, sold over two million copies worldwide. Wakeman toured extensively throughout the United States with Yes in 1977, 1978, 1979, and again in 1991.

(www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/wakeman-rick)

Rick Wakeman - synthesisers, keyboards, grand piano
Gary Pickford-Hopkins - lead vocals
Ashley Holt - lead vocals
Geoffrey Crampton - lead and acoustic guitars
Roger Newell - bass guitar
Barney James - drums
John Hodgson - percussion
New World Orchestra, English Chamber Choir

01. A1 Arthur (07:26)

02. A2 Lady Of The Lake (00:46)

03. A3 Guinevere (06:44)

04. A4 Sir Lancelot And The Black Knight (05:22)

05. B1 Merlin The Magician (08:51)

06. B2 Sir Galahad (05:51)

07. B3 The Last Battle (09:38)

TurboBit           KatFile

Steamhammer - Mk II (1969) CD

Year: 1969 (CD 20 Jan 2010)
Label: Air Mail Archive Records (Japan), AIRAC-1566
Style: Rock, Art Rock
Country: England (1968–1973)
Time: 59:18
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 317 Mb

Steamhammer:

— (noun) A ram worked piston-wise by steam striking downward.

— (verb) Blows whose force and level are delicately adjustable.

Steamhammer’s origins began with the blues. Like many of their peers, they soon experimented with instrumental passages, introspective lyrics, and ultrasonic guitar effects, along with folk, jazz and classical influences. After making a name for themselves in the English pubs of the late 1960s, Steamhammer’s self-titled album debuted on Columbia Records in 1968. It featured their trademark single, “Junior’s Wailing” — a pumping “…Rock me baby, rock me all night long” number that sold well in Europe. Their first album proved formative to the band’s memorable sound, with performances built on a series of complex movements: changes of key and rhythm, one moment delicate, the next, hard-hitting ‘body’ music. Each instrument – drums, guitar, bass, and flute — alternated lead, the rest providing a background framework for the solos. These were the qualities that captured blues legend, Freddie King’s attention, when he asked the band to back him on two European tours. “It was a real blast,” Martin remembers. “Steamhammer would play their set, then Steve Davy, Mike Rushton and Martin Quittenton would stay up on stage with Freddie to play his set. White and I would sit in the audience to watch Freddie play. He could surf, he could rock – a real master, he was.”Steamhammer stayed on the road as one of the era’s hardest working bands, relentlessly refining their live set to create sophisticated arrangements and a generous helping of spontaneity, where everyone always got a crack at the whip.

Beginning in 1970, personnel changes shifted the band’s sound, which ultimately helped them expand their musical scope:

-Drummers Mike Rushton and Mickey Waller were replaced by Mick Bradley, whose aggressive drumming pushed the band to further experiment.

-Flute player Steve Joliffe left in 1970, later emerging in Tangerine Dream

-Bassist Steve Davy left in late 1970, replaced by the classically trained Louis Cennamo

-Lead vocalist Kieran White left the band in early 1973 to record solo albums, after which, the band decided to proceed as a trio, with a focus on complex arrangements and a more progressive rock sound

The genesis of Armageddon began, in fact, with the final Steamhammer album, Speech, in 1973, produced by ex-Yardbird and Renaissance frontman, Keith Relf. In the winter of ‘74, two years after drummer Mick Bradley’s sudden death from leukemia, Relf sought Louis and Martin out to form a band in California. Armageddon exploded onto the scene in late 1974, their potential so great that Rolling Stone magazine ran two articles on them before they had a drummer, a contract, or even a name for themselves. Relf brought in Bobby Caldwell on drums, and introduced the band to A&M Records producer Jerry Moss. Half a song into a set at the Charlie Chaplin Sound Stage in Hollywood, Moss signed Armageddon.

After much industry buzz, Armageddon released a stunning self-titled effort that landed in stores, fall of 1975. Liner notes on the album describe the band’s music as, “breathtaking, intense, and highly sophisticated.” The band’s secret weapon was their musicianship. Given complete creative reign over the project, the stark, powerful energy of their “live” sound quality was integral to the album’s success. “We were pleased with how the record came out,” Pugh recalls, “but to hear the band live was to witness the real epicenter of where we were coming from. Armageddon was all about four guys who were just crazy about the music.”

Armageddon never took their mind-blowing record on the road, due to another string of setbacks that stunted their momentum. Foremost was Relf’s battle with chronic asthma, which forced him to retire in spring of 1976. (Relf died suddenly in May of that year.) Punk and “arena” rock also loomed large on the horizon, a sharp veer away from the band’s interests. Through it all, Martin Pugh had been a central figure in the Steamhammer-Armageddon story. Pugh appeared on each album and co-wrote, co-produced, and co-arranged every track on the Armageddon LP. Martin also pushed forward with various musical efforts when the band dissolved. He and Caldwell tried to reassemble Armageddon in the early 1980s, producing a number of songs for a second LP under Capitol Records with Jesus Christ Superstar’s lead singer on vocals, and were literally hours away from completing the deal, when it fell through, due to creative differences. Caldwell eventually returned to Captain Beyond, Louis reunited with his former band, Renaissance, and Martin stayed in Los Angeles, continuing to pursue musical projects. Although their careers took them in different directions rather prematurely, rock aficionados agree that Armageddon was one of the most inspired collaborations ever undertaken, bringing together four extremely talented musicians, and garnering a loyal group of fans — many of them Steamhammer followers — worldwide.

(steamhammer.com/about-steamhammer)

01. Supposed To Be Free (05:56)

02. Johnny Carl Morton (04:35)

03. Sunset Chase (01:39)

04. Contemporary Chick Con Song (04:52)

05. Turn Around (03:32)

06. 6/8 For Amiran (03:00)

07. Passing Through (05:03)

08. Down Along The Grove (00:41)

09. Another Travelling Time (16:07)

10. Fran & Dee Take A Ride (03:16)

11. Autumn Song (04:04)

12. Blues For Passing People (06:26)

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