Thursday, September 13, 2007

Firefall Part 1 - Welcome To Byrdish Land










Quality: 320, 192, VBR

Michael Clarke - dr
Mark Andes - b, bv
Rick Roberts - v, g
Jock Bartley - g, v
David Muse - fl, sax, harm, p, clav, org, synth
Larry Burnett - v, g



In the early 1970s, Rick Roberts and Jock Bartley first met while Bartley was on tour with Gram Parsons as a member of his backing band The Fallen Angels. Both The Fallen Angels and Roberts were performing in New York City at the same venue on back to back nights. Roberts was impressed by Bartleys lead and slide guitar work. The duo soon began practicing and even performing together. Encouraged by their peers to form a band together, they contacted Mark Andes and Larry Burnett and coaxed them into joining their band, which they christened Firefall.
Although the band already had a vast repertoire of songs to play they still required a drummer. They auditioned several local musicians and played a few shows, they still required a drummer with more experience. Roberts chose his band mate from The Flying Burrito Brothers, Michael Clarke, who was most famous for his time in the Byrds. Clarke was literally hired over the phone.
The band then decided that they wanted to add a more exotic sound to their music, so they brought in Roberts' high school friend David Muse (who was later with Heart). Muse was a multi-instrumentalist who played
saxophone, flute, hamonica and keyboards. Jim Mason, who had worked with Poco in the past, was brought in as their producer. With their line-up complete, the band went into rehearsals in Boulder.
The resulting album, the self-titled Firefall became Atlantic Records quickest album to reach gold status. The group's first single Livin' Ain't Livin' reached the top 40.
The band's next single You Are The Woman, catapulted into the top 10. To add to their exposure, they began touring with Fleetwood Mac, who were at the beginning of their most successful days. Their next single, Cinderella, though played extensively on FM radio, did not fare well on AM radio due to its controversial lyrics being boycotted by feminist groups. This did not however, have a lasting affect on the band's sales.
The group then headed back to Criteria Studios to record their second album, which was to be titled Tropical Nights. After hearing the final mix, the band received a note from Atlantic CEO saying that the album needed to be reworked. The album was re-recorded and renamed Luna Sea. The album peaked at 27 on the charts and went gold less than two months after release. The single from the album Just Remember I Love You, featuring backing vocals by Poco's Timothy B. Schmit, reached the top 10.
In 1978, the band produced their third album Elan. It was a massive success, and it became their first album to reach platinum status. The singles Goodbye, I Love You and Sweet and Sour were released within a few months and continued the band's commercial hot streak.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Lokomotive Kreuzberg - Kollege Klatt

Kollege Klatt was Lokomotive (or Lok for short) Kreuzberg very first record. Lokomotive Kreuzberg were the most important political rock band to emerge from Berlin. Five left-wing ex-students formed the band at the beginning of 1972. They had theatrical live shows, where the music only served as a texture and background for their 'cabaret performances'. Kollege Klatt containes a full variety of musical styles.

Personnel:
Andreas Bauer(v/kb/vln), Karl-Heinz Scherfling(v), Volker Hiemann (v g), Franz Powalla(v/b), Uwe Holz (v/d/harm)
Quality: 192 kb/s vinyl rip

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Richie Furay - Part 4

Richie Furay - Part 4 - The Christian Awakening
In 1976 Furay formed The Richie Furay Band, with Jay Truax, John Mehler, and Tom Stipe, releasing one album 'I've Got a Reason', which reflected Richie's newfound beliefs. To support the release of this album Furay formed an alliance with David Geffen and Asylum records. Furay assured Geffen that his album would be Christian influenced but would not be an attempt to preach his newfound beliefs. Furay delivered on his promise and produced a good solid record. Unfortunately, the album along with subsequent releases failed to chart.




















Quality: 192 kb/s

After two tours during the late 70's, he hung up his rock & roll shoes in favor of a call to the ministry. But it seems that those who have hung onto the memory of the Buffalo Spingfield and the continual evolution of Poco have never forgotten Richie Furay and his innovative talent.Since the early 1980s, Richie Furay has been senior pastor of the Calvary Chapel in Broomfield, Colorado, a Christian church in the Denver area. He continues to perform as a solo artist, and sometimes with the old Poco friends.
Richie most recently toured as an opening act for America and Linda Ronstadt during the Summer of 2006. The 2006 release of his latest CD 'The Heartbeat of Love' returns Richie to his early country-rock roots with a contemporary flair. It is a showcase for his voice and songwriting talent.
Richie is on tour again, check his site for touring dates!!!

Albums:
1976 Richie Furay Band - I've Got A Reason
1978 Richie Furay - Dance A Little Light
1979 Richie Furay - I Still Have Dreams
1982 Richie Furay - Seasons Of Change
1997 Richie Furay - In My Father's House
2005 Richie Furay - I'm Sure

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Richie Furay - Part 3

The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band (1974)
After leaving Poco, Furay didn't wait long to rejoin the fray; he teamed up John-David Souther (songwriter and associate of the Eagles) and Chris Hillman (ex-Byrds) to form the country-rock group. Elektra figured it had another CSN on its hands: take one part Springfield, one part Byrds, one part pop songwriter, and stir. So they hyped the record heavily, and indeed it went gold and produced a Top 40 hit (Richie's lively "Fallin' In Love"). They're just following the same old L.A. country-influenced pop formula, with the usual watertight tenor harmonies, super-professional musicianship, and mournful romance lyrics. All of the material is solid; Furay's is as good as ever ("The Flight Of The Dove"), and Souther provides audible sincerity (the epic "Deep, Dark And Dreamless") matched with creative, Eagles-style tunefulness - his "Border Town" even features that band's trademarked, sardonic commentary on the Me Decade's party scene. The band is pretty high-powered: Jim Gordon (drums), Paul Harris (keyboards), Joe Lala (percussion on two tracks), and Al Perkins (pedal steel; his dobro plays excellently off of Hillman's mandolin on "Rise And Fall").
Quality: 320 kb/s ripped from CD.

Trouble in Paradise was the second and last from this band (1975).
Check out the cover of the album. J.D. Souther stares towards the ground, Richie Furay has his hands in his pockets, shrugging - and Chris has a no-nonsense stance, as if he was fed up with the proceedings. They were unhappy because they were forced to sound like CSN and the Eagles. If Souther, Hillman and Furay had had time to coalesce, to jell, write songs together, be a band they would have knocked the Eagles on their asses. Souther did not want to be in a group, did not want to be a team player. And S-H-F fell apart at the seams. Souther preferred to fly solo. Furay's two efforts are satisfying but nothing like "Falling in Love" or "Believe Me" (a song he originally recorded for Poco) off the first album.
Quality: Sorry don't know, because I got this from a friend. If you've a better one please submit.

Firefall is a band from the Byrds family tree. Two of it's founders are Michael Clarke and Rick Roberts. On this 1994 album Richie do background vocals on two tracks.

Quality: 320 kb/s ripped from CD.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Lokomotive Kreuzberg - Mountain Town

Mountain Town was the fourth and last album from german political rockers Lokomotive Kreuzberg. Recorded in 1977 with Herwig Mitteregger, Bernhard Potschka, Manfred Preaker already on board. The album features also Nina Hagen. No wonder they became the famous Nina Hagen Band one year later. After the Nina Hagen Band split up in 1980 Mitteregger, Potschka and Preaker became the band Spliff which had great comercial success with their singles and albums.
In 1986 Mitteregger went back to his political roots to produce the successful Rio Reiser album Rio I.
Quality: 160 kb/s ripped from vinyl

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Richie Furay - Part 2

Richie Furay - Part 2 - The Poco Days
After Buffalo Springfield, Furay and Jim Messina (who had already replaced Bruce Palmer in Buffalo Springfield) formed Poco with Rusty Young, George Grantham, and Randy Meisner. Poco recorded Pickin' Up the Pieces, and Randy Meisner quit soon afterward. The band continued as a quartet, building a reputation at the Troubadour.
Timothy B. Schmit, the later Eagles member, was added on 'Poco' their second album. After Poco's third album, 'DeLiveRin', Messina quit to form the duo Loggins & Messina. He was replaced by Paul Cotton. Poco went on to cut albums such as 'From the Inside', 'A Good Feeling to Know' and 'Crazy Eyes' before Furay left. Richie Furay was inducted with the Buffalo Springfield into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in May 1997.







Poco - Pickin' Up The Pieces (1969)
Poco - Poco (1970)
Poco - DeLiveRin' (1971)
Poco - From The Inside (1971)
Poco - A Good Feelin' To Know (1972)
Poco - Crazy Eyes (1973)

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Richie Furay - Part 1

Richie Furay - Part 1 - The Buffalo Springfield Days

The lyrics from the Buffalo Springfield's 1967 hit For What It's Worth have come to symbolize the turbulent decade of the 1960s. Employed in virtually every documentary, television special, and feature film (including Forrest Gump and Oliver Stone's Born On The Fourth Of July) chronicling that era in America, For What It's Worth has transcended the pop charts to become an anthem, a touchstone for an entire generation. In 1967, the Buffalo Springfield captured the restless, confrontational mood of that generation railing against the establishment and went on to be revered as one of rock music's most influential groups. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock 'N' Roll cites the band among a handful of seminal rock pioneers. A glance at rock's greatest movers and shakers of the 1970 and 80s reveals just how significant the Buffalo Springfield legacy has been: Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, Poco, Loggins and Messina, Souther, Hillman Furay, Neil Young & Crazy Horse. All arose from the ashes of the Springfield.

Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield (1966) - extended
First release (mono), second release (stereo) with 1 different track and different order. Both included here.
Quality: 320 kb/s



Buffalo Springfield - Again (1967)
This album has a little bit of everything. It's a real transition album. There are hints of 60's era folk, country rock, rock and even a little bluegrass.
Quality: 320 kb/s



Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around (1968)
Furay makes four contributions, the best of which is the melodic love ballad 'Kind Woman'. It's really a Poco tune, recorded without Stills or Young in the studio. While not groundbreaking, or even able to stand on their own, Furay's additions save the album from Palmer and Young's abandonment.
Quality: 320 kb/s
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Box Set (2001)
Contains Demos, Outtakes, Unreleased material
Quality: 320 kb/s


To be continued

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Richie Furay series in 5 parts

OK boys, next thing I want do is a Richie Furay series in four parts.
What the hell is Richie Furay you may ask. Short answer is ' One of the greatest songwriter/singer of all time '. If you want the long answer please read on.
Richie Furay (born Paul Richard Furay, on 9. May 1944, inYellow Sprongs, Ohio) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who is best known for forming the 1960 band Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin. His best known song with that band was "Kind Woman". Before the Buffalo Springfield, Furay performed with Stills in the nine-member group, the Au Go Go Singers (Roy Michaels, Rick Geiger, Jean Gurney, Michael Scott, Kathy King, Nels Gustafson, Bob Harmelink, and Furay & Stills), the house band for the famous Cafe Au Go Go in New York City.
In the late 60s he formed the country-rock band POCO, with Jim Messina andRusty Young. This band, were influential to many future country-rock acts (including The Eagles - Don Henley: "We ever tried to sound like POCO"). Furay's best known songs, Pickin'Up The Pieces and Good Feelin' To Know, however, have reached classic status and appear on many country compilations. He left Poco in 1974 to join the Supergroup Souther, Hillman, Furay Band. Al Perkins, the group'spedal steel guitar player, introduced Richie to Christianity, before poor record sales led to the band's demise.
Furay then formed The Richie Furay Band, with Jay Truax, John Mehler, and Tom Stipe, releasing the album "I've Got a Reason" in 1976, which reflected Richie's new found beliefs. After two tours during the late 70's, he hung up his rock & roll shoes in favor of a call to the ministry. But it seems that those who have hung onto the memory of the Buffalo Spingfield and the continual evulution of POCO have never forgotten Richie Furay and his innovative talent.

Richie Furay Tour Schedule

Richie Furay and Chris Hillman 7/20/2007 8:00 PM New York
Richie Furay 7/28/2007 7:00 PM Chicago
Richie Furay and Chris Hillman 7/29/2007 8:00 PM Minneapolis

Friday, July 20, 2007

Home - Home (1972)

Here's the third of Home's studio albums. It's their second album from 1972. So all the studio recordings regarding Home now posted.
Quality: 320 kb/s Vinyl ripped with some klicks.

Home - The Alchemist (1973)

Here are the third Album from this band. Again nice guitar work from Laurie Wisefield. In parts it sounds like his work in Wishbone Ash.
Quality: 256 kb/s

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Home - Pause For A Hoarse Horse (1971)

This a modest, sweet, vaguely "Band" sounding recording from the early seventies perhaps notable for the appearance of Cliff Williams on bass and Laurie Wisefield on guitar. Some lovely guitar work, solid tunes, good vocals and a dash of mellotron makes this a worthy listen. Soon to be out of print, I expect.
Home were good, competent players, capable of good-natured country-rock with some sparkling guitar.
Following Home's split guitarist Laurie Wisefield came to world attention in Wishbone Ash. Bassist Cliff Williams teamed up with
AC/DC for a lengthy tenure. Drummer Mick Cook went to The Groundhogs.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Kraftwerk - Computerwelt

By the 1980s, the world had at least somewhat caught up with Kraftwerk's chilling musical vision. Synthesizers were everywhere, and the automation of music was developing with alarming speed. As pioneers of the genre, Kraftwerk was hitting its stride as the rest of the pop music world was taking its baby steps. 1981's Computer World serves as an ominous reflection of our evolving technological world, and it's a seminal influence on electronic music to come.
Kraftwerk's music had always been completely based in technology, all the while reflecting a healthy fear of global automation. This album met that fear head on, from the plaintive musical theme and lonesome everyman protagonism of Computer Love to the chilling Home Computer which foretells the PC revolution via the group's trademark marriage of relentless, melodic electronic music and stark, touching human imagery. Other landmark compositions include the infectious, oft-sampled Numbers and Pocket Calculator a cut which stands out even on this album as a milestone in quirky, Teutonic synth-pop.The surprise album from the German electronic pioneer scientists surfaced in 1981, three years after their final monumental Trans Europe Express album. In the US, they shifted gears by electing to record for Warner Bros after many years with EMI (where they remained outside the US). Computer World was a revelation in that the band's sound was so totally refined and perfected, sounding almost other worldly for the times.... and that notion still holds true on listening to it today, as the tracks seem to have a cryogenic quality to them, sound fresh and modern. The flow and sequence of the songs is like an elaborate electronic symphony that is playful, intense, tongue in cheek and ultimately exhilarating.

Jane - Live in Dortmund 2006


Jane's Live in Dortmund 2006 transmitted on Krautrock Radio on 04.07.2007 as a memorium for Jane drummer and vocalist Peter Panka. Plus four unplugged bonus tracks. It was first released on Out Of Focus.
Quality:192 kb/s