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THE AMERICAN BEATLES: THE SINGLES 1964-65
Florida band The Ardells (sometimes R-Dells) were reasonably successful locally in the early sixties. In 1964 someone had the bright idea of changing their name to The American Beetles and, as well as touring South America and elsewhere more or less under false pretences, they cut some decent British invasion-influenced records. There were five singles which, as far as I can find, have never been collected together on one release. So I thought I'd do it.
I've added a version of Mean Woman Blues which they played live on Argentinian TV, and their later hit as The Razor's Edge, Let's Call It A Day Girl. I have had a listen to some Ardells/R-Dells records and not found them as interesting, so I've not included any. Here's the track list:
01 Hey, Hey Girl
02 School Days
03 I Wish You Everything
04 Say You Do
05 Don't Be Unkind
06 You Did It To Me
07 It's My Last Night In Town
08 You're Getting To Me
09 She's Mine
10 Theme of the A.B.s
11 Mean Woman Blues (Live on TV, Bonus)
12 Let's Call It A Day Girl (as The Razor's Edge, Bonus)
I've used the best version I can find of each track, but unfortunately some of them still aren't brilliant. If anyone has better versions they could share that would be great.
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THE BYRDS - SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO (MONO REMIX)
This is the first (and possibly the last) in a series I'm calling "Why The Heck Would Anybody Want to Do That Anyway?"
I was listening to Prof Stoned's compilation of the Byrds' complete singles in their original mono mixes (it's great - you should head over to profstoned.com and get it if you haven't already) and realised that the mono single versions of the 3 tracks fom SOTR sound better than the album tracks.
The album itself has never been issued in mono, except a fold-down version in 1968 for the still stereo-suspicious UK market. I wondered what a proper mono mix of the whole album would sound like.
My mono mixes are not fold downs. I used spectral extraction to separate the vocals, bass, drums and instruments, enabling me to rebalance and remix. I have tended to boost the bass and drums a bit.
There's a danger this may make me sound like some kind of technical wizard. I'm really not. I use the online service x-minus.pro and Audacity and that's it - nothing fancy (or expensive) at all.
I have included three bonus tracks from the SOTR sessions - All I have Are Memories, You Got A Reputation and Pretty Polly, which again I remixed to mono. (In case anyone's wondering, Gram Parsons's Lazy Days is a decent rocker, but imho has no place on this album).
I also took the opportunity to reinstate the Gram Parsons versions of the three songs on which, for whatever reason (it's complicated - see Wiki), McGuinn substituted his own vocals (The Christian Life, You Don't Miss Your Water and One Hundred Years From Now).
I like the resulting album. It's more impactful and immediate.
That was fun. Maybe I'll be doing more futile and pointless tinkering sometime soon.
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MICK JAGGER & THE RED DEVILS (MONO REMIX)
The bootleg of recordings Mick Jagger did with LA blues band The Red Devils in 1992 is fairly well known and widely available on the net.
It should really get a proper release, but as yet only one track has been made commercially available, on 2007's The Very Best Of Mick Jagger.
The bootleg has its problems, in my opinion. Generally, the sound is not brilliant. The one track that has been released shows how good it could be (it's horribly compressed/brickwalled, but it is clear and undistorted, unlike the bootleg - see video below). There are also multiple takes of several of the tracks, which doesn't make for a good listening experience.
So for my own enjoyment I have done what I can to improve matters and turn a bootleg into a listenable album. I have selected what I think is the best take of each song, rebalanced and remixed them all to mono (using spectral extraction to separate the vocals, instruments, bass and drums), put the tracks into a different order and made a new cover.
The band are excellent, particularly Lester Butler's completely convincing Chicago-style harmonica, and Jagger is in brilliant form too. If you're a blues fan, or a Jagger/Stones completist, you should give this a listen.
01 Talk To Me Baby
02 Blues With A Feeling
03 Checkin' Up On My Baby
04 40 Days, 40 Nights
05 I Got My Eye On You (You Better Watch Yourself)
06 Evil
07 Somebody Loves Me (Don't Go No Further)
08 Dream Girl
09 Shake 'em On Down
10 Mean Old WOrld
11 Still A Fool
12 One Way Out
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I'M ON AN ISLAND: A VIRTUAL TROPICAL HOLIDAY
]Fancy an all-expenses-paid exotic holiday on me?
Sorry, no can do, but this is nearly as good.
No need for tiresome packing and traveling, no foreign exchange or airline tickets - just put this on and and you'll instantly be transported to a paradise of azure seas, shining sands and balmy breezes.
01 Stephen Crane Village - (Let's Find A) Tropical Island
02 Lee Andrews & The Hearts - Island Of Love
03 Springfields - Island Of Dreams
04 Arthur Lyman - South Sea Island Magic
05 Peter Pete & The Lovers - A Lonely Island
06 Smoking Trees - Island Of Adventure
07 Beach Boys - Island Fever
08 Blue Jays - Lover's Island
09 Chico Hamilton - Tropical Island Mood
10 Shells - An Island Unknown
11 Darla Hood - Silent Island
12 Enchanters - On A Little Island
13 Xx - Islands
14 Kilaueas - Watusi Island
15 Parliaments - Lonely Island
16 Pillbugs - Popcycle Island
17 Quintones - South Sea Island
18 Kinks - I'm On An Island
19 Rosemary - Undiscovered Island
20 Leon Peels & The Blue Jays - A Magic Island
21 Mystic Braves - Desert Island
22 Duane Eddy - Lost Island
23 Golden Tones - Little Island Girl
24 Martin Denny & Si Zentner - Legend Of The Island Gods
25 Millennium - The Island
Islands
ROBIN WILLIAMSON - THE DEAR MOON
The Incredible String Band's first album was one of the weirdest and most exciting things I had ever heard when it came out in 1966 (the year I left school). I first heard it at Les Cousins folk club in Wardour Street, Soho, London and, not long after, saw ISB in person there.
I really liked the first 5 albums, but Robin's contribution was much more to my taste than Mike's. And reviewing their early work with the benefit of 50 plus years hindsight I still feel the same way, only more so.
I've put together a compilation of Robin WIlliamson's best songs for my own enjoyment and thought I might as well share it here. These songs are of such strangeness that you can only wonder what the heck he was on.
If psych folk is your thing then this is it, full strength. There has been nothing like it, before or since.
01 God Dog
02 The Mad Hatter's Song
03 October Song
04 Koeeoaddi There
05 The Half-Remarkable Question
06 Dandelion Blues
07 The Yellow Snake
08 Witches Hat
09 Womankind
10 Waltz of the New Moon
11 The Water Song
12 The Iron Stone
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KNICKERBOCKERS - LOVE IS A BIRD: SELECTED TRACKS 1965-68
Here's my personal best of the Kickerbockers, the New Jersey band which existed from 1964-68, and had a biggish hit with the Beatle-esque Lies. They made other good records too, and had a decent songwriter in the band, so I don't understand why they cut such a lot of poor cover versions. I have avoided these, and what I've chosen from the rest is all the Knickerbockers I'll ever need. Having said that, it's really good!
01 Rumours, Gossip, Words Untrue
02 They Ran For Their Lives
03 My Feet Are Off The Ground
04 High On Love
05 Just One Girl
06 Can't You See I'm Trying
07 The Coming Generation
08 I Can Do It Better
09 Lies
10 Come And Let Me
11 I Love
12 Stick With Me
13 One Track Mind
14 She Said Goodbye
15 Please Don't Fight It
16 Love Is A Bird
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HOLLIES - TOMORROW WHEN IT COMES: SELECTED TRACKS 1967-68
Quite a while ago now I posted a compilation of lesser known Hollies tracks from 1963 to 1966, which for me is their best period. I'm not so interested in the band after Graham Nash left in late 1968, but there are enough tracks to make a good compilation of 1967-68 material. As before I've avoided the hits, and this is what I've come up with:
01 Step Inside
02 Wings
03 You Need Love
04 Kill Me Quick
05 Like Every Time Before
06 Rain In The Window
07 All the World Is Love
08 Then The Heartaches Begin
09 Have You Ever Loved Somebody
10 Try It
11 Signs That Will Never Change
12 Leave Me
13 When Your Light's Turned On
14 Tomorrow When It Comes
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ELECTRIC PRUNES - ARE PRUNES ELECTRIC?
Here's a compilation of the Electric Prunes' most psychedelic tracks from their classic period.
01 You Never Had It Better (Live)
02 Children of Rain
03 Ain't It Hard
04 I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) (Live)
05 Shadows
06 World Of Darkness
07 Antique Doll
08 Hideway
09 Big City
10 Little Olive
11 The Great Banana Hoax
12 Long Day's Flight (Til Tomorrow) (Live)
13 Bangles
14 Train for Tomorrow
15 Get Me To The World On Time (Live)
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JONI MITCHELL: I HAD A KING: SELECTED TRACKS 1968-74
This is my compilation of favourite tracks from Joni Mitchell's first six albums, although in practice nothing from Ladies Of The Canyon or Blue (everyone's top Joni album but mine, apparently) made the cut.
It's easy to forget how revolutionary Mitchell's first two albums were. She wrote totally original songs, both musically and lyrically, sang them with haunting beauty, and her guitar accompaniments, based on a variety of non-standard tunings, were almost orchestral in their range and complexity. She inspired a lot of people.
01 I Had a King
02 Car on a Hill
03 I Don't Know Where I Stand
04 Cold Blue Steel And Sweet Fire
05 Sisotowbell Lane
06 Help Me
07 That Song About The Midway
08 Free Man in Paris
09 Marcie
10 Trouble Child
11 Michael From Mountains
12 Court and Spark
13 Cactus Tree
14 Blonde In The Bleachers
15 The Gallery
16 Night In The City
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JONI MITCHELL: MY SECRET PLACE
Joni Mitchell is an artist I greatly admired for about the first 10 years of her career, but after Don Juan's Reckless Daughter I lost track. She released 10 further studio albums, and recently I decided to go back and give them all a listen.
I have chosen my favourite 13 tracks and made a compilation which I have called My Secret Place. This is the name of one of the tracks, and also conveys the feel of the album.
01 Night Ride Home
02 The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)
03 Not to Blame
04 How do You Stop
05 Man From Mars
06 Sunny Sunday
07 Man To Man
08 Nothing Can Be Done
09 Impossible Dreamer
10 This Place
11 Number One
12 Ladies' Man
13 My Secret Place
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MAGIC SAM: EASY BABY
Mississippi-born Chicago blues artist Samuel Maghett was a talented and influential singer, songwriter and, especially, guitarist. whose career was tragically cut short by his death from a heart attack in 1969 at the age of 32.
Magic Sam cut a succession of singles from 1957, his first album being issued in 1967 and its follow up the following year. A live album in 1969 was the only other recording issued in his lifetime. A number of further live albums, and compilations of unissued studio recordings and demos have been released subsequently.
This is a compilation of his best (imho) studio and demo tracks.
01 You Don't Love Me, Baby
02 She Belongs to Me
03 Give Me Time
04 What Have I Done Wrong
05 Keep On Doing What You're Doing
06 I Just Want A Little Bit
07 Easy, Baby
08 Look Whatcha Done
09 That's Why I'm Crying
10 Everything's Gonna Be All Right
11 That's All I Need
12 Respect Me Baby
13 Sometimes
14 I'm So Glad
15 Mama, Mama Talk to Your Daughter
16 Walkin' By Myself
17 My Love Is Your Love
18 Sweet Little Angel
19 That Ain't It
20 A Hard Road
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THE KINKS: THE KINKS BEAT!
The Kinks are rightly admired for the poetic Englishness and ambitious scope of some of their music.
But in my book - and I know plenty of people agree with me - there's nothing better than an early Kinks B-side, or maybe some other lesser-known, slightly scruffy, track. You know, the ones where they still sound like a beat group.
I've put together a selection of my favourites, and called it The Kinks Beat!
No hits. All originals. All mono. All beat-tastic!
01 You Do Something To Me
02 You Can't Win
03 This Strange Effect
04 Look For Me Baby
05 I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight
06 I Don't Need You Anymore
07 She's Got Everything
08 Gotta' Get The First Plane Home
09 You Still Want Me
10 I've Got That Feeling
11 I'll Remember
12 Something Better Beginning
13 The World Keeps Going Round
14 It's Alright
15 Stop Your Sobbing
16 When I See That Girl Of Mine
17 Don't Ever Change
18 Just Can't Go To Sleep
19 So Mystifying
20 Who'll Be The Next In Line
21 Come On Now
22 Time Will Tell
23 Don't Ever Let Me Go
24 Such A Shame
25 Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
26 I Gotta Move
27 You Shouldn't Be Sad
28 I Took My Baby Home
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EVERLYS SING EVERLYS 1956-72
Here's a compilation of all (I think!) the songs written or co-written by either or both the Everly Brothers in their classic period, from the beginning until they parted company in 1973. If I've missed any, I'm sure someone will let me know. I'm not counting anything the Everlys wrote for other people and did not themselves record.
01 When Will I Be Loved!
02 Hello Amy
03 Dancing On My Feet
04 The Collector
05 I'll Never Get Over You
06 I Wonder If I Care as Much
07 Man With Money
08 Green River
09 Oh, What a Feeling
10 It's All Over
11 Keep A-Lovin' Me
12 So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)
13 Till I Kissed You
14 Should We Tell Him
15 You're My Girl
16 Made to Love
17 Kiss Your Man Goodbye
18 I Don't Want To Love You
19 Gone, Gone, Gone
20 I'm Tired Of Singing My Song In Las Vegas
21 The Drop Out
22 Up In Mabel's Room
23 Maybe Tomorrow
24 That's Just Too Much
25 Cathy's Clown
26 It Only Costs A Dime
27 Nancy's Minuet
28 Since You Broke My Heart
29 The Facts Of Life
30 The Price Of Love
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N.B. There is an official album of demos of early self-written material which were not released at the time. I have not included these. They are very good though - some of them could easily have been hits. EB fans should hear the album, called Too Good To Be True :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Good_to_Be_True_(album)
THE THIRD EYE: THE DOVERS IN STEREO
I'm a long-time fan of the Dovers, the Californian garage rock band of the mid sixties. They released 4 singles in 1965-66 and those 8 tracks are all they leave behind. They're pretty well known to garage fans, and 60's fans generally - the main reason being that they are really good. If you haven't heard them, you should.
The 8 tracks in question are available on an album called We're Not Just Anybody, and various digital versions are available online. It would take a lot of time and money to acquire the original 45s.
Mainly because imho the title and the artwork of the album are so poor, I have taken it upon myself to repackage the album, under the title The Third Eye, with a new cover and running order, using the best quality versions I can find.
I've also been playing around with some unmixing software which allows you to split audio tracks into vocals/bass/drums/piano/other components. This means that, using Audacity, you can make stereo versions of music previously available only in mono.
That's what I've done here. It is definitely experimental, and audio quality is perhaps slightly affected (sounds OK to me though). But I hope you'll think its worth a listen. There's only 18 minutes of it, so it's a small download.
I Could Be Happy
She's Gone
She's Not Just Anybody's
About Me
People Ask Me Why
Your Love
What Am I Gonna Do
The Third Eye
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WALTER BECKER: THREE SISTERS
Anyone who's interested in Steely Dan/Walter Becker should head over to walterbeckermedia.com/downloads.
The estate of Walter Becker has made over 30 tracks of unreleased material, demos and live tracks available for free and legal download (FLAC and mp3). The standard, both musically and in sound quality, is generally high and it's quite a fascinating collection. There is a lot of interesting stuff to read on the site too.
I have made an album out of about an hour's worth of my favourite tracks, for my own amusement, but I thought I would post it in case anyone is interested. Each track on the site is accompanied by a picture. I have called the album Three Sisters purely because I thought the picture accompanying the track of that name would make a good cover (it's Three Women at the Spring by Picasso).
I have trimmed the starts and ends of the tracks and normalised the volume levels for the purposes of the album. If you want the tracks in their original form, get them at the address given above.
01 Were You Close Today
02 Sanpaku (Improved Fidelity)
03 Cinder Annie
04 One in the a.m.
05 Boom Baby
06 Red Guitar
07 Danger Zone
08 Camilla
09 Couchriders In The Sky
10 She Was Good
11 Ghost Of Hipness Past (Improved Fidelity)
12 He Wants You (Out)
13 Three Sisters (Live at Slim's)
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NEIL YOUNG: OLDEN DAYS
A few weeks ago I posted Twisted Road, a compilation of selected tracks from Neil Young's 20 albums since 1992's Harvest Moon (regarded by some as his last great album). This was my attempt to create a classic NY album for those of us who got to know him from his first few releases, but have lost touch for a few decades. The result is imho a very listenable album (see below).
This selection brings together the rest of the tracks I chose from the post-'92 output. It includes tracks from 8 different albums but you wouldn't know it. It sounds like a proper album in its own right, although a very different one from Twisted Road. It's much more rock, and all the tracks feature NY's signature grungy guitar sound (with Crazy Horse on some tracks) but are not boringly samey, as the songs are musically quite varied.
01 Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')
02 When The Worlds Collide
03 Act Of Love
04 Devil's Sidewalk
05 Psychedelic Pill (Alternate Take)
06 Olden Days
07 Families
08 Throw Your Hatred Down
09 Big Green Country
10 After The Garden
11 Let's Roll
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NEIL YOUNG: TWISTED ROAD
I was a big fan of NY, like most of my contemporaries, in the early days i.e. for his first four albums. After that I sort of lost track for some reason and have heard extraordinarily little of his material ever since. So I thought I'd have a bit of a catch up. I listened to the (to my count) 20 post-Harvest Moon Neil Young studio albums (well it's a free country and I have lots of time and a Spotify account), picking out the tracks that appeal to me. There were 26 - actually not a bad hit rate for recent albums (which I define as anything released under 50 years ago). My conclusion was that while there is a lot of forgettable material and many what-was-he-thinking moments that I can definitely live without (7 of the albums yielded nothing to my taste), his best stuff is still remarkably good.
It occurred to me that with my 26 chosen tracks I could put together a classic Neil album that would be recognizable to an old-school fan like myself. So I further refined the list to 13 songs, stressing the best writing and the most melodic material. I have to say it turned out even better than I expected. In fact it's terrific. I've called it Twisted Road because it seems descriptive of NY's career.
So if you've lost touch with the great man in the last few decades, or you've given up on him in confusion at some point you should give this a try. If you've ever liked NY, you'll probably like this.
01 Horseshoe Man
02 Are You Passionate
03 Off The Road
04 Prime Of Life
05 No Wonder
06 Be With You
07 Red Sun
08 Here For You
09 Twisted Road
10 I'm Glad I Found You
11 Quit (Don't Say You Love Me)
12 Train Of Love
13 Change Your Mind (heckofanerve Edit)
A word about the final track, Change Your Mind. The song itself is excellent but, to my ears, the long guitar solos upset the balance and, at 14 minutes, it was just too long. I removed one 5 minute guitar solo, trimmed another and took out one whole verse (of four). Heck of a nerve, you might say, but it suits the album much better now at a more reasonable 6 minutes.
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CHUCK BERRY - CHECK ME OUT: THE BEST OF THE MERCURY YEARS 1967-69
Chuck Berry started and ended his recording career at Chess Records, where he cut all his classic sides. He left for a couple of years to record 5 albums for Mercury. One was a live album, one consisted of re-recordings of his Chess hits. The other three were studio albums, from which I have chosen:
01 Check Me Out
02 I Can't Believe
03 Louie to Frisco
04 Good Looking Woman
05 Soul Rockin
06 Laugh And Cry
07 Oh Captain
08 Misery
09 Rock Cradle Rock
10 Mum's the Word
11 Club Nitty Gritty
12 My Woman
13 It Hurts Me Too
14 Ma Dear
15 Back To Memphis
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CAPTAIN BEEFHEART: TROUT MASQUE REPLICANT
There have been many attempts to “do something” with Trout Mask Replica, to improve, explain or make sense of it, for the benefit of those who don’t get it or at least don’t think it’s the best album of all time.
Which of course it isn’t. It’s a sprawling, unfocused indulgence, the Captain’s fever dream in which he was, very unusually for the time, allowed to lay down any darn thing he wanted, and did.
But among the skits. in-jokes, field recordings and other distractions there can be found a theme, within the Captain's own take on reality. There is, clearly, a hard core of highly experimental rock music in TMR. Strip away everything else and put what remains in the right order and it all clicks together like Lego, making a coherent….some goddam weird thing.
The only way to present it is as one continuous piece. Here are the tracks I used:
01 Ella Guru
02 Ant Man Bee
03 Sweet Sweet Bulbs
04 Pachuco Cadaver
05 Steal Softly Thru Snow
06 Veteran's Day Poppy
07 Sugar 'n Spikes
08 She's Too Much for My Mirror
09 Old Fart At Play
10 Moonlight on Vermont
I gave it a new name to suggest something alive but hidden.
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ROCK AWAY MY BLUES: BLUES ROCKABILLY STYLE
Volume 1
01 Sandra Peters - Rock Away My Blues
02 Tommy Moreland - The Tennessee Blues
03 Ronnie Haig - Rocking With Rhythm And Blues
04 Bob Perry - Weary Blues Goodby
05 Sid Triplett - Married Life Blues
06 David Ray - Lonesome Baby Blues
07 Charlie Conrad with The Black Mountain Boys - Night Club Blues
08 Curtis & The Melody Cowboys - Mr. Blues
09 Jackie Whitley & The Red Coats - Mean Man Blues
10 Bill Garland - Guitar Blues
11 Charlie Gracie - Boogie Boogie Blues
12 Bob & Cindy Dean - Walk Walk Walking Blues
13 Billy Osborne & The Blue Denims - My Baby Blues
14 Dennis Puckett - By By Blues
15 James Wilson - Wilson Blues Number 1
16 Johnny Taylor - Mixed Up Rhythm & Blues
17 Roy Hall - Rockin' The Blues
18 The Del Tones - Rockin' Blues
19 Johnny Fuller - First Stage Of The Blues
20 Link Davis - Permit Blues
21 Lonnie Irving - I Got Blues On My Mind
22 Peggi Griffith - Rockin' The Blues
Volume 2
01 Larry Good - There's the Blues
02 Tony & Jackie Lamie - Sunset Blues
03 Ronnie Newton - Workingman's Blues
04 Spic & Span - Summertime Blues
05 Billy Tidwell - Folsom Prison Blues
06 Jess Hooper - Sleepy Time Blues
07 Aubrey Cagle - Be-Bop Blues
08 Ronnie Knull - G.I. Blues
09 Johnny Nace - You Got The Blues
10 Curley Griffin - Rock Bottom Blues
11 The Rockin' Rebels - Study Hall Blues
12 Pamala Law - When The Band Plays The Blues
13 Jack & The Knights - Rock The Blues Away
14 Pierre Maheu - School Day Blues
15 Bill Swing - Intoxicating Blues
16 Jerry Dyke - Mean Woman Blues
17 Jules Blattner - Rock And Roll Blues
18 Margaret Lewis - Birmingham Valley Blues
19 Ronnie Ray - Mean Mama Blues
20 Charles Walton - Teen Age Blues
Volume 3
01 The Blankenship Brothers - Hard Up Blues
02 Richard Moreland & The Pyramids - Mailman Blues
03 Buddy Phillips with The Rockin' Ramblers - River Boat Blues
04 Jim Foley - Blues In The Morning
05 Hank Spurling - Box Car Blues
06 The Rockets ft. Dave Folks - Rockin' The Blues
07 Beecher Hickman - Hey Blues
08 The Bill Stanton Trio - Rockin With The Blues
09 Don Ray - Those Rock & Roll Blues
10 Buddy Starr - Blues Around My Head
11 Gene Taft - Make These Blues Go Away
12 Uncle Hix & The Happy Six - The Big Man Blue
13 The Van Delles - I Got The Blues
14 Woody Burch - Aquacell Blues
15 Phil Gray - Bluest Boy In Town
16 Wibby Lee And Paul Allen - I'm Talking , Not Walking The Blues
17 Norman Bullock - Moaning Blues
18 John Hampton - Shadow Blues
19 Gene & Jerry - Freight Train Blues
20 Jean Martin - Rock-A-Knock Blues
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
CHUCK BERRY - CREAM OF THE CROP: NEGLECTED TRACKS 1960-70
Chuck Berry's 50 or so best songs are rightly famous the world over and, not surprisingly, have been re-released time and time again over the decades. There are 531 compilations of his work listed on Discogs.
Here's a selection of tracks that aren't on most Best Ofs and so probably don't get heard often enough.
01 House Of Blue Lights
02 I Got To Find My Baby
03 Dear Dad
04 Route 66
05 It Wasn't Me
06 Viva Viva Rock And Roll
07 Don't You Lie To Me
08 Go, Bobby Soxer
09 Back To Memphis
10 Promised Land
11 Club Nitty Gritty
12 Go Go Go
13 My Mustang Ford
14 Little Marie
15 Betty Jean
16 Check Me Out
17 It's My Own Business
18 County Line
19 Tulane
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BYRDS IS THE WORD: 18 BYRD-A-LIKE JANGLERS
There have been quite a few compilations over the years of songs which, supposedly, sound a bit like the Byrds. I thought I would give it a try.
01 Sheffields - Do You Still Love Me
02 Squires - I Don't Care
03 Bushmen - What I Have I'll Give To You
04 Scavengers - Always Travelling Around
05 Dovers - The Third Eye
06 Rogues - You Better Look Now
07 Fab Four - I'm Always Doing Something Wrong
08 Other Side - Walking Down The Road
09 Living Children - Now It's Over
10 Cyrkle - The Words
11 Contents Are - Don't Take My Freedom
12 F.B.I. - Day-Time Nite-Time
13 Words Of Luv - I'd Have To Be Outta My Mind
14 Calliope - Ryan 5
15 Roosters - Deep Inside
16 Toreros - Come
17 Mad Lads - Everything Is Blue
18 Night Flight - To Color Turn
Volume 1
BYRDS IS THE WORD VOLUME 2: 18 MORE BYRD-A-LIKE JANGLERS
For those of us who wish we had more early Byrds tracks when we've already got 'em all, dammit, here's something to get you through the night.
01 Lancastrians - The World Keeps Going Round
02 Tikis - Bye Bye Bye
03 Magic Circle - She Means All the World to Me
04 Bows & Arrows - I Don't Believe You
05 West Coast Natural Gas - A Favor
06 American Blues - Keep My Heart In A Rage
07 Rainbow Press - As I Went Out One Morning
08 Roosters - One Of These Days
09 Hard Times - That's All I'll Do
10 Fogcutters - I Want Your Love Again
11 Cedars - I Don't Know Why
12 Masterminds - She Belongs To Me
13 Squires - Go Ahead
14 Truths - Pending
15 Rooney Brothers - Geordie
16 His Majesty's Coachmen - I Don't Want to See You
17 Skunks - I Need No-One
18 Space Opera - Blue Ridge Mountains
Volume 2
BILLY BOY ARNOLD - YOU GOT TO LOVE ME: SELECTED TRACKS 1953-66
Billy Boy Arnold goes way, way back. The first Sonny Boy Williamson (the one who died in 1948) taught him to play harmonica. He played with Bo Diddley in the early fifties (that's him playing harp on "I'm A Man"). And Billy's still going at 85, having released a new album as recently as 2014. He was, I suppose, never among the top flight of blues artists, but he made some solid, rockin' records. As usual, my favourite era is the 50s and early 60s. I just like the way records sounded back then.
Here my "best of" for that period.
01 Evaleena
02 You've Got Me Wrong
03 I Ain't Got No Money
04 I Ain't Got You
05 Here's My Picture
06 Don't Stay Out All Night
07 Baby Left Me A Mule To Ride
08 Mattie Mae
09 Why Is Everybody Down On Me
10 Prisoner's Plea
11 Hello Stranger
12 I Love Only You
13 Billy Boy's Blues
14 I Wish You Would
15 Two Drinks Of Wine
16 You Got To Love Me
17 Left My Happy Home
18 Get Out Of Here
19 Baby Jane
20 School Time
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NB I was unable to find FLAC versions of 3 tracks - Nos 3, 8 and 11. I have therefore used mp3@320 versions converted to FLAC for convenience and consistency. These converted files are clearly marked.
If anyone has genuine FLAC versions of these tracks they are willing to share, please let me know.
THE BRILL BUILDING B-SIDES
In 1993 ERA records issued The Brill Building Sound, a 4-CD compilation box set of song hits written by professional songwriting teams based in New York's Brill Building.
I have brought together all the B-sides of the singles featured in the set to make companion volumes to the originals.
Track List
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II - SING IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT: SELECTED TRACKS
My personal "Best Of" compilation of the second Sonny Boy's (ie Rice Miller's) work. I've avoided anything dull and over-familiar and the result is more rockin' than I expected.
Which is nice.
01 Dissatsified
02 All My Love In Vain
03 V-8 Ford
04 One Way Out
05 Pontiac Blues
06 Unseeing Eye
07 Nine Below Zero
08 Too Young To Die
09 I Cross My Heart
10 Help Me
11 Stop Right Now
12 Stormy Monday
13 Ninety Nine
14 Bring It On Home
15 Do It If You Wanna
16 Too Close Together
17 I Don't Know
18 Mr. Downchild
19 Eyesight To The Blind
20 She Brought Life Back To The Dead
21 Come On Back Home
22 Don't Start Me Talkin'
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BO DIDDLEY - BO DIDDLEY IS LOOSE: NEGLECTED TRACKS 1955-61
Bo Diddley was one of the most influential artists of the rock and roll era. Maybe 40 or so of his songs are rightly famous: they were covered by just about every guitar band back in the day, and the records are still known and played the world over. Discogs.com lists 1530 compilations which include Bo numbers.
Look beyond Bo's top 40, however, and there are still treasures to be found. I've rooted out 20 which rarely get a mention:
01 Bo Diddley Is Loose
02 Do What I Say
03 Love Is Strange (Edit)
04 Willie Fell In Love (Edit)
05 Walkin' and Talkin'
06 Gonna Tell It Like It Is
07 Bo Diddley Is An Outlaw
08 Live My Life
09 You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)
10 Don't Let It Go
11 Look At My Baby
12 Unknown Title
13 Hong Kong Mississippi
14 Cheyenne
15 Say Boss Man
16 Craw-Dad
17 Let Me Pass
18 Sixteen Tons
19 I'm Sorry
20 Bo Diddley is a Lover
Some may think that editing classic records is sacrilege, but I think it's justified if it improves the listening experience. The originals are still out there if anyone wants them. In this case, every copy of Love Is Strange I can find has a horrible skip at about 1:41. I've done an edit to remove the whole verse where the skip is and repeat the first verse. If anyone has a version without the skip please let me know. I've also edited Willie Fell In Love from 6 mins+ to 4 mins because... well, it's too long.
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LITTLE WALTER - I'VE HAD MY FUN: SELECTED TRACKS
Little Walter Jacobs was one of the first blues harmonica players to use a microphone to bring his instrument to the front and centre of an electric band. But he took it a step further, pushing the no doubt primitive amplification available way beyond its technical limits and creating that blaring horn sound beloved of Chicago-style blues aficionados to this day.
No wonder, then, that most compilations of Walter's work are heavy on instrumental tracks. I've gone the other way and avoided instrumentals altogether, to illustrate that he was a fine singer who laid down many great vocal tracks. I've also excluded his most well-known songs which are commonly found on best-ofs and general blues compilations. As you will see, there is plenty left to enjoy.
01 One Of These Mornings
02 Up The Line
03 My Kind Of Baby
04 My Baby Is Sweeter
05 It Ain't Right
06 Hate To See You Go
07 Mean Old Frisco
08 Break It Up
09 Confessin' The Blues
10 Take Me Back
11 Nobody But You
12 I've Had My Fun
13 Everybody Needs Somebody
14 Come Back Baby
15 Ah'w Baby
16 Just A Feeling
17 I Don't Play
18 You Don't Know
19 Crazy For My Baby
20 Make It Alright
21 You're Sweet
22 I Got To Go
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THE BYRDS - FULL CIRCLE: SELECTED TRACKS 1969-90
The classic Byrds line-up was McGuinn, Crosby, Hillman, Clarke and Clarke, from their early Preflyte recordings to 1968's Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, stretching a point to allow for Gene Clark's departure after Fifth Dimension and Michael Clarke's replacement on drums after The Notorious Byrd Brothers.
For fans of this band's recordings, everything after Sweetheart Of The Rodeo is frankly a bit of a wasteland, with the exception of The Ballad Of Easy Rider. This even applies to the subsequent 1973 reunion album and the 1990 Nashville sessions, featuring the original members, neither of which was particularly successful.
Of the 13 songs I have selected for this compilation of later tracks, 3 are from the reunions and 6 are from The Ballad Of Easy Rider, the remaining albums yielding only 4 acceptable (to me) tracks between them.
The good news is that they all go together well, making a good quality, coherent album which stands up alongside the band's classic output.
01 Oil In My Lamp
02 Bad Night At The Whiskey
03 Jamaica Say You Will
04 All The Things
05 Gunga Din
06 Love That Never Dies
07 Ballad Of Easy Rider
08 I Trust
09 Tulsa County
10 (See The Sky) About To Rain
11 Full Circle
12 Jesus Is Just Alright
13 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
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MUDDY WATERS - STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH: SELECTED TRACKS
Artist complete box sets are great aren't they? You've got everything there is and you don't have to be on the lookout for more.
Trouble is, these sets are more of a resource than an entertainment in themslves, and tend to languish in their crates (or on your hard drive) for long periods, unheard. So what I like to do is pick out the tracks I like best and turn them into albums that I'll actually listen to from time to time.
This is what I've done in the case of Muddy Waters. I've concentrated on the more distinctive material and mostly avoided the well-known stuff that turns up on best of's and general blues compilations, and anything dull.
What you end up with is a generous CD's-worth of good songs you might otherwise almost never hear.
01 She's So Pretty
02 Last Time I Fool Around With You
03 I Won't Go On
04 Meanest Woman
05 Trouble No More
06 The Same Thing
07 Birdnest On The Ground
08 Find Yourself Another Fool
09 Blind Man
10 Rock Me
11 Messin' With the Man
12 You're Gonna Need My Help I Said
13 Moppers Blues
14 I Got a Rich Man's Woman
15 Gone To Main Street
16 Born Lover
17 You Don't Have to Go
18 Walkin' Thru the Park
19 Gypsy Woman
20 Stuff You Gotta Watch
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HOWLIN' WOLF - EVERYBODY'S IN THE MOOD: SELECTED TRACKS
I love the Wolf. That one-in-a-million voice can rock the joint and scare the bejesus out of you at the same time, but still has a hint of vulnerability. On harmonica he never does more than just enough, but the timbre and vibrato are truly expressive. The music is often dark, hypnotic and weird but is still nothing but the blues.
This home-made album brings together Howlin' Wolf's best material (imho), avoiding the songs which most people (around these parts anyway) are already familiar with.
01 Everybody's In The Mood
02 Can't Stay Here
03 I Have A Little Girl
04 Down In The Bottom
05 Stop Using Me
06 Going Back Home
07 I've Been Abused
08 My Baby Told Me
09 Leave Here Walking
10 Highway My Friend
11 Well That's All Right
12 My Baby Stole Off
13 I'm The Wolf
14 Moving
15 My Baby Walked Off
16 Who Will Be Next
17 I Didn't Know
18 Nature
19 Sweet Woman
20 Break Of Day
21 Oh Red
22 My Life
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THE BEATLES - BECAUSE
Beatles fan mixes are a dime a dozen, and worth every penny. But I've made one for my own enjoyment, and I really like it, so I thought I might as well post it. Sorry.
I'm more of a '62-'66 Beatles kinda guy as a matter of fact. It's just about the best music ever. From '67 on it was more "John OR Paul" rather than "John AND Paul" and that, to me, was not a good thing.
But, as a lockdown project, I thought that I'd make an album of post-Revolver tracks that I do like. This is it:
01 Because
02 Penny Lane
03 Dear Prudence (Because edit)
04 Two Of Us
05 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
06 The Fool On The Hill
07 I Am the Walrus (Because edit)
08 Martha My Dear
09 Happiness Is A Warm Gun
10 The Long And Winding Road
11 Strawberry Fields Forever
12 Getting Better
13 Hey Bulldog
Most of the tracks are from the 2009 stereo remasters. Exceptions are The Long And Winding Road and Two Of Us, which are from Let It Be...Naked, and I Am The Walrus which is the LOVE version. I think this is by far the best and cleanest mix of Walrus. Unfortunately the transititons to and from the tracks before and after are a problem. I overcame this by grafting on the short piano intro from the 2009 mono remaster, and fading out the ending. Dear Prudence also had a problem with the intro, fading in from the plane noise as it does. I found a clean, non-fading intro on a bootleg version which I stuck on.
I then spent a long time deciding on the running order.
On the whole, it makes a good 42 minute album.
I've included a link to a continuous mix this time. I've tried this before and nobody much seems to like them. I think this one's neat, so it's there if anyone wants it!
mp3
FLAC
CM (mp3) NEW: REVISED VERSION INCLUDING EXTRA TRACK!
SURFERTODAY.COM'S ULTIMATE SURF MUSIC PLAYLIST (revised)
Surfertoday.com magazine published their survey of surfers' favourite music a couple of years ago and I got all the tracks together and posted the result here.
I've now had another look at it, improved the running order and made new artwork. I've also found FLAC versions of every track. The mp3s are now my own conversions of the FLACS @320.
01 Jon & The Nightriders - Rumble At Waikiki
02 Deltones - Hangin' Five
03 Ventures - Walk Don't Run
04 Dick Dale - Let's GoTrippin'
05 Beach Boys - Surfin' USA
06 Surfaris - Wipe Out
07 Atlantics - Bombora
08 Jack Johnson - You And Your Heart
09 Surf Punks - My Beach
10 Bel-Airs - Mr. Moto
11 Honeys - Shoot The Curl
12 Lively Ones - Surf Rider
13 Marketts - Out Of Limits
14 Drums - Lets Go Surfing
15 Surf Raiders - The Curl Rider
16 Tom Curren - Summerland Road
17 Shadows - Apache
18 Dave Myers & The Surftones - Church Key
19 Phantom Surfers - Gypsy Surfer
20 Jan & Dean - Surf City
21 Chantays - Pipeline
22 Weezer - Surf Wax America
23 Aqua Velvets - Guitar Noir
24 Trashmen - Surfin' Bird
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SEARCHERS - SEARCHING: DEEP CUTS 1963-66
The Searchers are best known for their 14 hit singles between 1963 and 1966, but there is more where that came from. I got together all their B-sides, albums and stray tracks from that period and selected 18 songs which I believe represent the best of the rest of the Searchers' output from their heyday.
01 (I'll Be) Missing You
02 No One Else Could Love Me
03 Don't Cha Know
04 Where Have All The Flowers Gone
05 I Count The Tears
06 So Far Away
07 Hungry For Love
08 This Empty Place
09 All My Sorrows
10 Since You Broke My Heart
11 Does She Really Care For Me
12 It's Time
13 Listen To Me
14 Each Time
15 If I Could Find Someone
16 It's Just The Way
17 Ain't Gonna Kiss Ya
18 Can't Help Forgiving You
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HOLLIES - NOW'S THE TIME: DEEP CUTS 1963-66
The Hollies were famously a great singles band, with a long succession of hits over the 60s and 70s. For me, their best period was between 1963 and 1966 when they had 13 hits, all but 3 of them hitting the top 10.
A lot of people only know the hits, but there's plenty more good stuff if you dig a little deeper - B-sides, EP tracks etc, plus the 6 albums they released in the period.
I've listened to all of it, and selected 22 tracks which, for me, stand alongside the hits as the best of the Hollies' output in their classic period.
01 Baby Don't Cry
02 You'll Be Mine
03 Time For Love
04 Don't Run and Hide
05 Take Your Time
06 You Know He Did
07 Whatcha Gonna Do 'Bout It
08 Hey What's Wrong With Me
09 Put Yourself In My Place
10 Now's The Time
11 To You My Love
12 Little Lover
13 You Must Believe Me
14 Don't You Even Care
15 Come On Back
16 Please Don't Feel Too Bad
17 I've Got A Way Of My Own
18 When I'm Not There
19 It's You
20 Baby That's All
21 Don't Ever Think About Changing
22 So Lonely
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THE SHADOWS - DIVING DEEP: DEEP CUTS 1959-66
If you like the Shadows but only have a greatest hits album, you might like this. I've picked out 19 tracks which, to me, represent the best of the rest of their early work.
01 Round and Round
02 36-24-36
03 A Place in the Sun
04 The Lost City
05 Shadoogie
06 Blue Sky, Blue Sea, Blue Me
07 Theme from a Filleted Place
08 The Drum Number
09 The Windjammer
10 Driftin'
11 Brazil
12 Peace Pipe
13 The Boys
14 I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Arthur
15 Blue Star
16 Santa Ana
17 Tales of a Raggy Tramline
18 Sleepwalk
19 Breakthru'
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BOB DYLAN: AS I WENT OUT ONE MORNING - THE BRIEF BOB DYLAN
Are you a "non-hardcore" Dylan fan - one who doesn't dig the post-motorcycle accident voice so much, or want to bother with those really long songs? Well this could be the comp for you. I've taken the shortest 31 tracks from the first 8 albums (up to John Wesley Harding), the longest being 3:06, put them together and made a cool CD.
It’s chock full of good songs.
01 On the Road Again
02 Corrina, Corrina
03 Gospel Plow
04 One Too Many Mornings
05 All Along the Watchtower
06 Down Along the Cove
07 In My Time of Dyin'
08 Freight Train Blues
09 John Wesley Harding
10 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
11 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
12 Love Minus Zero , No Limit
13 Outlaw Blues
14 I Want You
15 Bob Dylan's Blues
16 Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
17 You're No Good
18 Blowin' in the Wind
19 Man of Constant Sorrow
20 Song to Woody
21 From a Buick 6
22 Oxford Town
23 She Belongs to Me
24 Drifter's Escape
25 Spanish Harlem Incident
26 Subterranean Homesick Blues
27 The Wicked Messenger
28 Highway 51
29 Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
30 Fixin' to Die
31 As I Went out One Morning
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BUDDY HOLLY: HOLLY BY HOLLY
I present for your delectation a 2-CD compilation (41 tracks in all) of all the songs Buddy Holly recorded which he himself wrote or co-wrote. FLAC version now available!
CD 1
1 You're the One
2 It's Not My Fault
3 Tell Me How
4 That's What They Say
5 Holly Hop
6 Think it Over
7 Not Fade Away
8 Peggy Sue Got Married
9 What to Do
10 Don't Come Back Knockin'
11 That Makes It Tough
12 Rock-A-Bye Rock
13 Well ... All Right
14 Wishing
15 Last Night
16 Changin' All Those Changes
17 Buddy's Guitar
18 Peggy Sue
19 Little Baby
20 Look at Me
CD 2
1 Love Me
2 I Guess I Was Just A Fool
3 Everyday
4 Love's Made a Fool of You
5 I'm Looking for Someone to Love
6 That'll Be the Day
7 Baby, It's Love
8 Because I Love You
9 Down The Line
10 I Gambled My Heart
11 Crying, Waiting, Hoping
12 Maybe Baby
13 Listen to Me
14 It's So Easy
15 I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down
16 Words of Love
17 True Love Ways
18 Lonesome Tears
19 Take Your Time
20 Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight
21 Learning the Game
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BEFORE THEY WERE BYRDS
I'm a big fan of the Byrds' earlier work, and that extends to the material they recorded before their first official album. The problem is that the Preflyte albums are very repetitive, having several version of each song - not the sort of thing you'd listen to for pleasure. So what is needed is for someone to listen to all of it, choose the best versions and make a 'best of' which can be listened to alongside all the other Byrds albums.
So that's what I've done.
01 It's No Use
02 Here Without You
03 I Knew I'd Love You
04 The Only Girl I Adore
05 The Reason Why
06 You Showed Me
07 You Won't Have To Cry
08 Everybody's Been Burned
09 Get Together
10 The Airport Song
11 Don't Be Long
12 Mr Tambourine Man
13 For Me Again
14 You Movin'
15 Please Let Me Love You
16 Boston
17 Tomorrow Is A Long Ways Away
18 She Has A Way
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ROLLING STONES: CRAWDADDY
I found some setlists of what the Stones used to play at the Crawdaddy Club, Richmond back in 1963 and decided to recreate an early stones gig.
Route 66
I Want To Be Loved
I'm A King Bee
Bright Lights, Big City
Poison Ivy
You Better Move On
Look What You've Done
Ain't That Lovin' You Baby
Memphis, Tennessee
Walking The Dog
Confessin' The Blues
Baby, What's Wrong
Honest I Do
Beautiful Delilah
I'm Alright
Hey Crawdaddy
Stones!
ORANGE&GREEN&YELLOW&NEAR: SOUNDS OF SIXTIES FOLK-ROCK
A series of lesser-known, forgotten, obscure (and a few more obvious) tracks from the mid-to-late sixties - or thereabouts - which satisfy my definition of folk rock. Dylan covers/copyists, Byrds-a-likes (but not Dylan or the Byrds!), jangly guitars, not too much keyboard, harmonies - you get the idea. Plus anything else I think fits.
Vol 1-2
Vol 3-4
Vol 5-6
Vol 7-8
Vol 9-10
Vol 11-12
Vol 13
Track List
BONGO CRAZY!!
I was wondering what I could contribute to lighten the mood round here, when it suddenly came to me.
Bongos! It's so obvious, why didn't I think of it before?
So I rustled up a bunch of tracks featuring bongos, knocked up some artwork - and here it is.
01 Jetstreams - Bongo Rock
02 Jimmy Daley & The Ding-A-Lings - Bongo Rock
03 Preston Epps - B'wana Bongos
04 Noisy Dad - Bongo Shmongo
05 Rod Derret - Bongo Train
06 Preston Epps - Bongo In The Congo
07 Ben Leonard & The Furys - Congo Bongo
08 Lucky Millinder - Bongo Boogie
09 Les Baxter - Balinese Bongos
10 Brain Fahey - Street of a Thousand Bongos
11 Curtis Amy - Bongo Blue
12 Lou Christie - Guitars And Bongos
13 Preston Epps - Watusi Bongos
14 Mel Taylor & The Magics - Bongo Rock
15 Desmond Dekker and the Aces - Bongo Gal
16 Preston Epps - Bongo Party
17 Preston Epps - Bongos In Pastel
18 Slim Gaillard - Bongo Cito
19 New Dimensions - Bongo Shutdown
20 Johnnie & Jack - Uncle John's Bongos
21 Bongo Teens - Baja Bongos
22 Shadows - Bongo Blues
23 Little Joey & The Flips - Bongo Stomp
24 Preston Epps - Bongo Bongo Bongo
25 Bongo Teens - Surfin' Bongos
26 Volchords - Bongo Love
27 TV Themers - Jungle Bongo
Before you know it you'll be doing the Watusi, or possibly the Frug, with the best of them.
Ideal for those of us self-isolating and in need of a bit of exercise!
Bongos!
ROCKABILLY GUITARS
01 Frankie & Margie - Bob Guitar
02 The Blue Echoes - Cool Guitar
03 Keith Anderson - Hot Guitars
04 Bill Garland - Guitar Blues
05 Scrapper Pratt's Falcons - Guitar Man's Struggle
06 Carl Miller - Rhythm Guitar
07 Ronnie Wilson - You Love That Guitar Better Than Me
08 Mike Waggoner - Guitar Man
09 Mike Cushman & The Interludes - Me And My Guitar
10 Big Daddy G. - Big Berry (Boss Man Guitar)
11 Bobby Hodge - Gonna Take My Guitar
12 Bill Garland - Lonesome Guitar
13 Cleve Warnock - Boy & A Guitar
14 Johnny Knight - Rock & Roll Guitar
15 Bill Flagg & His Rockabilliies - Guitar Rock
16 Dale Davis with The Tomcats - Crazy Little Guitar Man.
Rockabilly Guitars
Contact me here!