Gib Guilbeau - On the way to Burrito Town, or was it Sin City?

1967 Gib Gilbeau & Gene Parsons - Louisiana Rain
Gib Guilbeau and Gene Parsons released a couple of singles in 1967-1968, and also recorded an album of material at the time that almost got released in 1968. It didn't appear in the late '60s, though, and eventually a slightly altered version of the original album came out, credited to Gib Guilbeau and titled Cajun Country, in the early '70s. This 25-track disc, has the album, the singles, a half-dozen previously unreleased Guilbeau & Parsons demos and outtakes and a 1969 Gib Guilbeau solo single. It's for a specialized collector market, for sure. But anyone seriously interested in the genesis of country/rock should hear this, both for its historic importance and for the quality of the music. Gib Guilbeau and Gene Parsons, as well as other musicians heard here like Clarence White and Wayne Moore (who played with Gillbeau and Parsons in Nashville West), were forging some country-rock directions on these recordings that anticipated the late-'60s work of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Later Gene Parsons and Clarence White were members of the Byrds, Gib Guilbeau was a member of the later Flying Burrito Brothers.

1968 The Reasons (aka Nashville West) - Nashville West
Gene Parsons and Gib Guilbeau were hired for a recording session with the Gosdin Brothers' singing duo of Vern and Rex Gosdin. The session, being produced by Byrd Chris Hillman, included guitarist Clarence White, who had formerly played with the Kentucky Colonels. Parsons, Guilbeau and White then went on to play on sessions together. They became a band, joining with fellow session player, bassist-vocalist Wayne Moore, who played in the Castaways with Parsons and Guilbeau. The group was known by various names, including The Reasons, Gib Guilbeau and The Reasons, the Gary Paxton Band or Cajun Gib and Gene. Gene Parsons and Clarence White quit to be Byrds. The Nashville West moniker was taken from the name of the El Monte, California club where they sat as the house band. The album was reissued on CD by Sierra in 1997, and added four more tracks not included on the LP edition.

1970 Swampwater - Swampwater
Swampwater formed and started out as Linda Ronstadt’s backing group in 1969. In that time they featured Linda's first three solo albums. Eric White, Clarence’s brother was also in the band and prior to forming Swampwater had been in the excellent Kentucky Colonels. Swampwater made two distinct albums in the early 70’s. This album was different than many notable country rock acts of the time for adding cajun and swamprock elements. The album opens and closes with two certified country-rock classics, Louisiana Woman and Big Bayou. Guilbeau had recorded the classy Louisiana Woman with both Nashville West and on his 1970 album with Parsons, though the version heard on Swampwater is the best. Big Bayou is a hard rocking, white hot country song with pretty fiddle that has been covered by many popular artists including Rod Stewart. Other songs like the acoustic flavored Man From New Orleans are highlighted by beautiful harmonies and a tear in your beer ambience. Swampwater’s musicianship is high caliber and Guilbeau’s lyrics are always first-rate and thoughtful. Great songs like Kathleen, Desperation’s Back Again (an Everly Brothers homage) and River People are beautifully arranged and display superior craftsmanship. It’s really a wall of greatness, with each song just as good as the next. Swampwater mastered all the rural styles from cajun to folk-rock but just never received the breaks they so justly deserved. Their members were slugging it out in bars playing this sort of music years before anyone else had thought to do so. This album is a masterpiece and recommended to any true country fan.

1971 Swampwater - Swampwater
First, the album title is no error. These guys have two different albums with the same title!?
Their second album and another really good country-rock outing. This self-titled effort was released off RCA in 1971 and came packaged in a strange jacket. Swampwater’s lineup had remained the same since their debut.In comparison to that debut, there were a few more rock n roll tracks like the album opener Ooh-Wee California, the raw Dakota, and Ol’Papa Joe. These songs were good though, with well constructed guitar solos and strong bluegrass and cajun flavors. There were a few covers too but all were standouts like the excellent heartfelt version of One Note Man, a track with nice jangly Byrdish guitar solos and pretty fiddle, which gave the song real atmosphere. Guilbeau also resurrected Gentle Ways of Lovin’ Me, a track he had recorded on numerous occasions with many different bands. Swampwater turned in one of the best versions of this song which is highlighted by barrelhouse banjo and a delicate, sincere arrangement. Another great track, Headed For The Country, compared favorably with the country-rock era Byrds, and had beautiful, sad folk-like harmonies and fine guitar playing. All in all the album was strong, lacking any weak moments and showcased a great band that should have been at least as well known as Poco or Firefall.

Bee Gees - Horizontal (Remaster)

Horizontal is the Bee Gees second real album. It was released in early 1968, and included the international hit singles Massachusetts and World. Other standout tracks include And the Sun Will Shine, a love song by Robin Gibb complete with psychedelic references to trains walking by and pastoral orchestral backing conducted by Bill Shepherd. Two other Robin-led tracks are worth noting. Harry Braff is a rocking story about a racing driver that is reminiscent Beatles or Kinks and the poignant Really and Sincerely. Psychedelia also abounds in the quirky Lemons Never Forget which without the familiar string backing and featuring guitar work from Vince Melourney as well as the piano and bass interplay of Maurice Gibb, shows a side of the early Bee Gees rarely seen by singles buyers.

This is the 2006 remaster with both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs, non-album tracks, and alternate takes.

Gene Clark - The Byrd that flew too high, too early

May 24th 1991 was a sad date for everyone who has a weak spot for The Byrds. One of the most beautiful voices in the history of rock and folk music sang his swan song that day and this bird flew up to somewhere, maybe high in the sky. Gene was one of the founders of The Byrds and their most prolific songwriter in the early days. Gene's well-known fear of flying – how unsuitable for a Byrd – and some problems with Roger McGuinn made him the first Byrd to leave the nest. Eight Miles High was his last contribution to the band. Since his departure Gene didn't make a huge amount of albums, but the ones he did were all monuments of sheer beauty, be it as a solo artist, or with Dillard & Clark, or Carla Olson.

This year his enormous talent got a well deserved recognition when Robert Plant and Allison Kraus recorded an album containing two great songs of the Dillard & Clark period: "Polly" and the titlesong "Through The Morning Through The Night", two heartbreaking duets by Gene and Donna Washburn found two worthy successors. Both songs are included on "Flying High", a career spanning 2 cd compilation and a must for everyone who loves The Byrds and all their spin-offs. Here's what AMG writes about it:

When someone mentions the Byrds in conversation, the names of McGuinn, Crosby, and maybe Hillman pop up, but hardly anyone mentions Gene Clark, the Byrds' first original songwriter and lead singer until a fear of flying caused him to leave the band and strike out on his own. With Flying High, all of that should be put to rest, because the spotlight is finally on Clark and his many contributions to both rock and country. Starting with Byrdscuts like "Feel a Whole Lot Better" and "She Don't Care About Time," this two-disc set moves through Clark's early solo career into his fine collaboration with Doug Dillard and onto more mature solo work while attempting to reunite the Byrds on "One in a Million" and "She's the Kind of Girl," which never quite got off the ground. Added here are some otherwise unreleased cuts, such as "Winter In," "That's Alright by Me," and Dylan's "I Pity the Poor Immigrant," which show that Clark had more talent than was released to the public in his lifetime. And while disc two does have waning interest and fewer cuts, it does show that Clark never gave up on trying to restart his career, even if the chips appeared to be down; of special note is his sensitive cover of Phil Ochs' "Changes." Compiled and re-produced for disc by Sid Griffin, Flying High is a fine spotlight on an underappreciated artist. With liner notes by Griffin and Chris Hillman, this has just about everything one needs to know about Gene Clark.

Gene Clark - Flying High 2CD MP3 @320
Full artwork included
Links in comments

Golden Earring - The Fully Naked Truth

Our first Dutch recording is a really great one. As I'm a big Earrring fan for years now I simply had to post it.









Golden Earring is a Dutch band, founded in 1961 in Den Hague as the Golden Earrings. The s was dropped in 1969. They had international chart success with many songs. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums. Current members of Golden Earring are Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone), George Kooymans (vocals and guitar), Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboard), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion). Golden Earring have sold millions of albums worldwide, and are the oldest rock band in the world that is still performing. In March 2009 Golden Earring celebrates its comeback in the UK with concerts in London and Ipswitch. This triple CD is an outstanding unplugged live recording originally released in 1992 (disk 1), extended as The Complete Naked Truth in 1998 (disk 2) and again extended in 2000 as The Fully Naked Truth (disk 3).
I'm willing to post another Golden Earring album. Please comment which one I should post.

Bee Gees - 1st (Remaster)

To my knowledge we never had an Australian recording. So here's the first one and it don't will be the last.
1st is the debut album by the Bee Gees, released in July 1967. Contrary to the group's later disco-oriented releases, 1st was a psychedelic rock album with some folk aspects. The album cover was designed by no other than Klaus Voorman who had previously done the cover for the Beatles Revolver album. Klaus is a German bassist who played sessions with Beatles members and the likes. A really nice guy, I know him myself. This remaster from 2006, reissues both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs and alternate takes. Bee Gees 1st peaked at #7 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart.

Various - Easy Rider (OST)

As a biker myself I'm forced to post this one:

Easy Rider is the soundtrack to the cult classic 1969 film, often remembered for its epic late 1960s music. The album was released in August 1969, and was a strong success along with the film, peaking at #6 on the Billboard album charts in September of that year. It features music from The Byrds, Roger McGuinn, Steppenwolf besides others.

Desert Rose Band - Life Goes On

Excerpt from the DamGreek's review:
1993's Life Goes On sticks very closely to the previous format and style of the earlier Desert Rose Band albums, with Chris writing nearly all of the songs, and singing lead, with Herb Pedersen’s vocal backing him up. Some classic stuff here, and Chris Hillman was also able to recruit Tom Brumley to play very cool Steel Guitar on this record and join this short lived lineup of the band. His Pedal Steel is one of the highlights of this record.
Shortly after the CD was finished, Chris Hillman decided it was pretty much over, and broke up the band. This line-up, as far as I know, never toured together, although Bill Bryson had been a touring member of the band for a while.
This download came possible due to the DamGreek.

Scorpions - Scorpions As Hunters

This is the rarest Scorpions recording you will ever own. In 1975 the Scorpions went into the studio under their pseudonym The Hunters and recorded two songs by the British band Sweet. The Songs are Fox on the run and Action. They released these recordings on single only . Klaus Meine sings both songs with German lyrics and Uli Roth plays killer guitar solos as usual for this era. I like the cover, the little fox on the cover try to look dangerous. Nice try foxy:-)
Have found this somewhere on the net and cleaned this vinyl rip a bit.