On its way
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
TUCKER ZIMMERMAN - same (Village Thing, 1972) @320
This album by Tucker Zimmerman, the second, was released in two different countries, years and labels (in Germany on Autogramm, 1971, and in UK on Village Thing one year later). For those who know his first LP, "Ten songs" (Regal Zonophone, 1969), it might be difficult to recognize the author. There we have some very nice acoustic songs ("Roadrunner" and "Alpha centauri" above all) drowned among others with rock arrangements. Here, instead, all the electrical gear and equipment have disappeared, this is a real folk album and I personally prefer it this way. TZ sings and plays his 12 string guitar and other instruments (with P. Chapelle's help on track 5) - but I fundamentally think that these songs would render at their best where no other instruments are employed, first of all this kind of "vibrato children organ" (how can I otherwise define it?), which I find rather disturbing, especially tracks 1 and 6. Often the voice is brought to the verge of "falsetto", like on track 2, and many melodies shine thanks to their "not resolving" harmonical solutions, especially "Left hand of Moses". My favourite is "Canary island rain". I personally find it great that TZ had M° Goffredo Petrassi as a teacher for composition.
The vinyl is in quite good conditions, the scan is 320 bitrate MP3
Your COUNTESS
Friday, 23 April 2010
PAUL SLADE - Dutchman (CBS, 1972)
Very good album, his second and best, many acoustic guitars and some too-electrical arrangement solutions, at times, but also a group of really beautiful songs, with "Train song" on top, for me.... Paul Slade recorded his first two LPs on CBS, the only ones with some real folky lymph in their veins; from 1974 he often recorded songs in French, not much common for an Englishman. The title can be related to the (ghostly?) Vasseau drawing on the sleeve, from the legend of the cursed Flying Dutchman, which Heinrich Heine and Richard Wagner took inspiration from, about 150 - 170 years ago...
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
SPIROGYRA - The return of SPIROGYRA on stage, June 2010!
THE RETURN OF
SPIROGYRA
LIVE IN CONCERT at the UNION CHAPEL,
London, 6 JUNE 2010
The cover of Spirogyra's marvellous live album, recorded 1974, coming soon on these columns for you!
Love and gratitude to
MARTIN COCKERHAM
the great survivor of Progressive - Folk,
who leads the resurged group on stage for this concert
- more infos will follow -
Your COUNTESS
Monday, 22 March 2010
MAGNA CARTA - Live in Bergen 1978
At the time it came out, rumours said that it was practically only available in Northern Nations like Scandinavia, it was nearly a ghostly album for many many collectors and music lovers. Personally, I only managed to see two copies of this, the other is in the hands of a Magna Carta specialized collector, in Florence, Mr. G.R., whom I say hello to :-)
Songs like "Idle wind" and "Midwinter" have such a power to feel the ice of Artica in your veins...
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Monday, 8 March 2010
JIMMIE SPHEERIS - Isle of view (CBS, 1972)
The original USA covers, front and back, and the slightly different UK edition.
A MASTERPIECE
Friday, 5 March 2010
FRED WEDLOCK (1942-2010) - The folker (Village Thing, 1971)
Fred Wedlock died yesterday of a heart attack.
He was a folk singer, humorist, actor and more. To remember him, this is his first album he made
The title track is a funny re-elaboration of Simon & Garfunkel's hit "The boxer"
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Sunday, 28 February 2010
DEAR FRIENDS - Communication for the LINKS
MY DEAR FRIENDS, HELLO EVERYBODY!
I must apologize, but I have received so many requests of download links in these days, that I really have lost track of so many of them.
So I ask you a favour: I need that you write me again a new email where you tell me again which LPs you want, the exact list one by one.
Yes, this method of using single comments and emails for requests, is a bit annoying for you and me, I know, but it's giving me the results I was hoping to get!
So, finally one good new, at last!
Thank you for your closeness, it's beautiful to be a blogger! - LOL!
your
COUNTESS
Friday, 26 February 2010
IRISH ROVERS - Live at CBC TV Center, Vancouver (Interfusion, 1972)
As you can see, the foto comes from UnmöglichFolk times ;)))
JOHNSTONS - The travelling people [singles' compilation, 1966-69] (Hallmark/Marble Arch, 1969)
Chronologically, this compilation of singles stays between the LPs "The barley corn" and "Bitter green".
JOHNSTONS - "Give a damn" (Transatlantic, 1968) and "Both sides now" (Polydor, 1969)
The Johnstons started as a kind of sunshine-folk group, in 1966, they published a bunch of singles for the labels PYE (1966-67, most of which mono) and BigT (1968-70), and recorded their first LP for Transatlantic in 1968, "The Johnstons". Their second album was this, "Give a damn" again in 1968, which included some of the original BIG T singles.
Shortly after, for reason unknown to me, the labels Polydor (in UK) and Tetragrammaton (in the USA) republished the same tracks list of this Transatlantic album, including "My house" / "The wherefore and the why" (absent on the "Give a damn" LP), on a compilation entitled "Both sides now".
Therefore, practically, these two LPs contain the same songs, but "Give a damn" lacks the above mentioned single, while "Both sides now" lacks "Julia" and "Urge for going". So, what I 'm going to post here is this: the complete "Give a damn" album with the songs "My house" / " The wherefore..." as bonus tracks.
****************************************
As to the Johnstons' early mono singles, the Marble Arch / Hallmark label packed them on a compilation album named "The travellin people" in 1969, where the songs are re-channeled into stereo. This LP will also soon appear.
XXX Your COUNTESS
JOHNSTONS - The barley corn (Transatlantic, 1969)
Again an album that Transatlantic reissued on CD, but excluding one song
Check what I wrote on my post of the Johnstons' "Bitter green" LP
The original album cover on Transatlantic.
This is a reprint, different cover, title and label, but the songs are exactly the same.
The album is named "Ye Jacobites by name", from the title of the opening track, and was reprinted shortly after the first issue in 1969, on the Contour label, a subsidiary of Philips records.
A similar things happened for Martin Carthy's LP "The bonny black hare...", which is a compilation.
JOHNSTONS - Bitter green (Transatlantic, 1970)
Recently Transatlantic Records (or whoever for them) has decided to make some "2 LPs on 1 CD" reprints. I don't have any of them, but I gave a look online, and I see that for some Artists, and especially for the Johnstons, reissues are not completely faithful to the originals...
This is not only a matter of being collectors, it's a problem of deleting materials making people believe in fatamorganas... Once more, I'm happy that I can stick to my glorious big pads of black plastic, what would I do without them?
This (vinyl) album, "Bitter Green" presents two tracks more than the CD reissue.
They are maldestrously "substituted" with a version of "Streets of London", which appeared as an A-side single in 1970 for the Big T label.
Your COUNTESS
Thursday, 25 February 2010
MICHAEL CHAPMAN - Millstone grit (Deram, 1973)
Not as the same level of the second LP, but again a respectable one
COUNTESS V
MICHAEL CHAPMAN - Window (Harvest, 1971) - original LP version
I understand from other sources that the reissue on CD offers a different mixage... Not easy to understand why... Anyway, as you know, here by me you always find the originals.
The album was also issued in Italy, under the CBS label, no-gatefold cover.
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