sábado, 30 de novembro de 2013

ROBERTO JORDÁN - "Estos Ojos" y cinco más



No conocía de nada a Roberto Jordán, el Tom Jones mejicano, pero compré el disco porque me sentía un poco intrigado por la adaptación al español del "These Eyes" de los Guess Who. El resto es bastante convencional pero hay otras cinco versiones que no están mal, en especial aquellas en las que se hace acompañar por Los Zignos: las dos chicleteras de 1910 Fruitgum Co: "1910 Cotton Candy Castle" y "Indian Giver, el "Make it With You" de  Bread y el "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" de Steam. La que falta es el "Take it Easy" de Jackson Browne/Eagles.


mércores, 20 de novembro de 2013

DOUG OWEN - Evenings East (ABC, 1978)


Xa hai un tempo puxemos o primeiro Lp de Doug Owen, "From The Start", e aquí vai o segundo nunha liña semellante de clásico pop-rock. Isto que ven a continuación é o que nos escribiu o propio Owen no seu día:

"It's interesting how records can hang around for so long. I recorded another one after "From the Start". It's called "Doug Owen/Evenings East. I was but a kid when I got my break in Nashville. I've never pursued  a career in music where I wanted to be a star. Just writing songs and traveling around the world. I'm now in the Atlanta area looking for jobs playing and doing session work. Anyway, thanks again for liking my early work".

Best wishes
Keith Destry (Doug Owen)

Por certo, tódolas ligazóns de Mediafire xa non están dispoñibles, cancelaron a miña conta. Se alguén quere algo en concreto terá que pedílo por mail.


luns, 28 de outubro de 2013

THE CALIFORNIA POPPY PICKERS - ¡Guateque! (Yupi, 1969)


Unha selección persoal das miñas favoritas dos catro discos editados polos California Poppy Pickers no ano 1969. Evidententemente case tódolos temas son puro expolio de éxitos do momento pero os poucos orixinais, case sempre asinados por Gary Paxton, non están nada mal.
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The California Poppy Pickers were one of several relatively anonymous studio projects assembled by Alshire label head Al Sherman to record budget-priced copycat LPs of '60's pop hits. Virtually all of the groups in question -- Fats and the Chessmen, Los Norte Americanos, and the Bakersfield Five, among them -- were helmed by producer and songwriter Gary Paxton, best-known for composing the novelty smash "The Monster Mash." In 1965, Paxton founded his own Hollywood recording studio, assembling a session crew that variously included guitarist Clarence White, bassist Jerry Scheff, and guitarist/fiddler Gib Guilbeau -- he also discovered brothers Rex and Vern Gosdin, releasing their country hit "Hangin' On" on his Bakersfield International label. By the late 1960s, Paxton was regularly licensing material to Alshire, and at Sherman's request, he put together The California Poppy Pickers to capitalize on the growing country-rock trend. Comprised of singers/multi-instrumentalists Ken Johnson and Dennis Payne, along with pedal steel guitarist Leo LeBlanc, the group released three 1969 LPs -- Sounds of '69, Hair/Aquarius, and Today's Chart Busters -- comprised primarily of covers and thinly-veiled rewrites. For reasons unknown, the fourth and final California Poppy Pickers album, Honky Tonk Women, was recorded without Paxton's involvement, and featured an entirely different lineup -- singer/guitarist Mike Messer, singer/bassist Don Larson, guitarist Randy Wilcox, and drummer Tom Slipp were, in reality, a Christian rock band called the Wilson McKinley, and they used the proceeds from their lone Alshire date to fund a self-released 1970 date titled Jesus People's Army: On Stage. Jason Ankeny


martes, 22 de outubro de 2013

K. PYTHACUNTHAPUSERECTUS - Voodoo Ju Ju Obsession (Barclay, 1969)


K. Pythacunthapuserectus foron un proxecto de estudo feito desde Francia por Davy Jones & Janko Nilovic. A folla de promo que acompañaba ó disco non ten desperdicio.




martes, 8 de outubro de 2013

THE STUDIO GROUP - Los Éxitos Del Espacio (Nevada, 1978)


Xa estou de volta e o disco escollido é este subproduto de 66 céntimos cunha bonita portada e un contido moito mellor do agardado. As tres versións de Bowie están ben, a de Deodato mola e a de Klaatu sorprende. Hai incluso un par de temas que non están nada mal asinados polos enigmáticos North e Dailly, probablemente membros do grupo de sesioneiros encargados de dar forma a este tipo de expolios baratos dos éxitos do momento. Este mesmo disco apareceu publicado en Italia con bonita portada tamén como "Space Concept" por The Atoms e en Francia  como "Spatial Disco 2005" por 2005 Stars Group.


venres, 6 de setembro de 2013

domingo, 4 de agosto de 2013

THE JOHNY LOUIS TRIO - The In Crowd (Crown Records, 196?)


Hard soulful grooves from an obscure little combo – that of west coast pianist Johnny Louis, working here on a set that's clearly designed to challenge the 60s fame of the Ramsey Louis Trio! The record's got a very similar approach – highly rhythmic, very soulful piano lines that are heavy on the left hand – which fits perfectly with the album's jumping grooves – handled by a bassist and drummer who are definitely not as fluid as Eldee Young and Redd Holt – but who more than make up for that fact with a lot of drive and enthusiasm!  Dusty Groove.


luns, 29 de xullo de 2013

RUSSELL MORRIS - The Real Thing (Part I) / The Real Thing (Part II) (Diamond Records, 1969)


Unha clásica en tódalas discoteques e boites de Barallobre.
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"The Real Thing" is a song originally recorded by Australian singer Russell Morris in 1969. His version, which was produced by Ian "Molly" Meldrum and written by Johnny Young was a huge hit in Australia and has become a classic. 

Young had originally written the song for Meldrum's friend Ronnie Burns, but when Meldrum heard Young playing it backstage during a taping of the TV pop show , he determined to secure the song for Morris, reportedly going to Young's home that night with a tape recorder and refusing to leave until Young had taped a "demo" version of the song for him.

In collaboration with engineer John Sayers, Meldrum radically transformed "The Real Thing" from Young's original vision of a simple acoustic ballad into a heavily produced studio masterpiece, extending it to an unheard-of six minutes in length and overdubbing the basic track with many additional instruments, vocals and sound effects. The bed track used the services of The Groop as backing band, with vocal contributions from Danny Robinson (Wild Cherries), The Chiffons, Maureen Elkner, with Sue Brady and Judy Condon, guitarist Roger Hicks from Zoot — who devised and played the song's distinctive acoustic guitar intro - and Billy Green who played electric guitar and sitar. The children's choir singing toward the end is the Hitler Youth singing "Die Jugend Marschiert" (Youth on the March). The single is reported to have cost A$2,000 — the most expensive single ever made in Australia up to that time (the typical budget for an entire album at the time) — and features one of the earliest uses of the studio technique known as "phasing" on an Australian recording. "The Real Thing" became a national number one hit for Morris in mid-1969 and is widely considered to be one of the finest Australian pop-rock recordings of the era. Wikipedia


luns, 15 de xullo de 2013

MIKI - Dear Auntie Mary / A Piece Of Heaven (RCA 1969)


O tal Miki é en realidade Miki Anthony do que tedes unha wikipédica biografía máis abaixo. "Dear Auntie Mary" é unha peza composta por Mark Wirtz que ben podería ir incluída naquel proxecto chamado "A Teenage Opera" pero eu prefiro a cara B, unha composición do propio Anthony.

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Miki Anthony's career in the music industry lasted approximately from 1970 to 1985 . During that time he had several hit records, as a singer, writer, and record producer, both in United Kingdom and abroad. As a singer he had a top 20 hit "If it wasn't for the reason" and a follow-up top 50 "Another without you day" both Greenaway/Cook songs and record productions. His only LP was "City of the Angels" recorded in LA for EMI in 1976, which is a collection of all his best songs, many of which were covered by other artists.

As a writer, his songs have been recorded by 5th Dimension, Vince Hill, Pat McGlynn (Bay City Rollers), Nolans, Congregation, Bob Monkhouse, The Goodies, Demmis Roussos,... His disco library music was strongly featured in all the Benny Hill TV series and the Avengers TV. After leaving the music industry he had a very successful career as a property developer converting NHS hospitals into apartments and houses until he retired in 2001 to work from home in Windsor and spend more time with his family. He continues to write songs and in 2010 "If you never have the chance" got to the final of the UK songwriting contest. Wikipedia