Hi - Happy Memorial Day!

Wild Turkey - Battle Hymn (1972)

First album from Wild Turkey, which was formed by ex-Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick, who also played some guitar and keyboards and wrote four of the songs. Vocals are by Gary Pickford-Hopkins, ex-Eyes Of Blue. Unlike Blodwyn Pig, Wild Turkey manages to not sound much like Jethro Tull. The album is a mix of great early 70's style progressive hard rock with some softer rock with folky touches. Good songs (this version has 2 live bonus tracks) well played - nothing fancy, just good solid rock.

Part 1 Part 2

Virus - Remember (1973)

Virus was a German band that played a straighforward brand of psychedelic hard rock. This performance recorded for WDR Radio in 1973 included I think only one song (King Heroin) from either of their studio albums, "Thoughts" and "Revelation". Also by the time of this show there had been significant personnel changes, that's probably why they were doing so much unreleased material. Most of the tunes are driven by some great electric guitar and saxophone playing - I wish this version of Virus had recorded a studio album.

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Ramses - La Leyla / Eternity Rise (1976-1978)

2-on-1 CD with a couple of great albums from German symphonic prog band Ramses. Eternity Rise sounds a little more 'sophisticated' than the earlier La Leyla, but both are real good albums, each in their own way. Bits and pieces here and there bring to mind other, more well-known, German prog bands like Anyone's Daughter, Eloy, Novalis and Jane. Well written songs, a first-rate vocalist (sings in English), excellent lead guitar and loads of warm sounding analog keyboards with a tight rhythm section all add up to a good listen.

Part 1 Part 2

Free - Bracknell Sports Center 1972

Great sounding bootleg by Free, from a performance at the Bracknell Sports Centre, Berkshire, UK, October 14, 1972. Paul Kossoff is on hand, and sounds brilliant. I think I got this from Big O Worldwide, so thanks to them.

01 - Heartbreaker
02 - I'm On The Run
03 - Soldier Boy
04 - Child
05 - Every Day I Have The Blues
06 - Come Together In The Morning
07 - Wishing Well
08 - Seven Angels
09 - Fire And Water
10 - All Right Now
11 - The Hunter

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Buckingham Nicks - The Coffee Plant Demos (1970-1973)

This is a collection of demos by Buckingham Nicks recorded between 1970-1973. They are called the "Coffee Plant Demos" because Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks used to record in the basement of Lindsey's father's coffee plant before they went to LA to get a record deal.

However, that seems to be a bit of a misnomer because both "Sorcerer" and "Garbo" were written after the couple arrived in LA. Regardless, these are wonderful quality demos.

While some of these songs were released later by Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac, the gem 'Without You', the aptly named 'Cathouse Blues', and the quaint 'Goldfish and the Ladybug' never made it off the shelf. Authorship is not documented in those cases, but although 'Without You' may have been co-written, it is probably safe to say the others were penned by Stevie Nicks..

It is to be noted that some of the songs have more than one version, the differences between these versions seem to be mainly which instruments are brought forward in the mix (as indicated in the titles).

All in all, these tracks represent an excellent collection of music from Buckingham Nicks, and a taste of what could have been, had they not joined Fleetwood Mac.

01 - Without You (Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 3:42
02 - Nomad (Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 2:10
03 - That's Alright (Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 3:11
04 - Garbo (Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 3:14
05 - Sorcerer (Acoustic Guitar Vocal/No Drum Machine) 4:45
06 - Cathouse Blues (Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 1:44
07 - Goldfish and the Ladybug (Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 3:04
08 - Without You (Bass Vocal) 3:44
09 - Nomad (Alternate Acoustic Guitar Vocal) 2:10
10 - That's Alright (Bass Vocal) 3:09
11 - Garbo (Bass Vocal) 3:16
12 - Sorcerer (Bass Drum Machine Vocal) 4:46
13 - Cathouse Blues (Bass Vocal) 1:44

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Jane - Age Of Madness (1978)

Jane's eighth album was the first to be recorded in their own studio, but from a progressive-rock point of view, this may not be their best. Nonetheless, a thoroughly enjoyable album that stays close to their roots - Floydian hard rock, romantic and melodic. As usual Klaus Hess's guitar playing is fantastic, and a visit from Eloy keyboardist Manfred Wieczorke helps the proceedings along.

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Epsilon - Move On (1971)

Epsilon started out as Germany's version of "The Nice" - their first album (Archives - Feb. 2006) has classically influenced keyboards all over it. On this, their second and best album, they are now Germany's version of "Traffic"! Much more song-oriented, a lot more guitar, slightly jazzy, with great soulful vocals from Michael Winzkowski (ex-Nosferatu, Orange Peel). This is surprisingly good. A great cover of Dylan's "She Belongs To Me".

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OK See you later.