Hello boys and girls - starting a new series this week, the Texas International Pop Festival. This festival took place at the Dallas International Motor Speedway in Lewisville Texas on August 30th and 31st, 1969. There are 13 volumes in the set, each volume featuring one artist. Well except for the last two, which have a couple tracks each by multiple acts. These are soundboard recordings with a bitrate of 320, front and back covers. I'll post a few each week until they're done. They vary in length.

Texas International Pop Festival Vol. 1 - Chicago Transit Authority

1. Intro / Introduction
2. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is
3. South California Purples
4. Beginnings
5. 25 or 6 To 4
6. announcements
7. I'm A Man

Tracks 1-5: August 30, 1969
Tracks 6-7: August 31, 1969

Robert Lamm - keyboards, Terry Kath - guitar,
Peter Cetera - bass, Danny Seraphine - drums,
Walter Parazaider - woodwinds,
Lee Loughnane - trumpet, James Pankow - trombone

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Texas International Pop Festival Vol. 2 - The James Cotton Blues Band

1. Intro / Cut You Loose
2. Fallin' Rain
3. Heart Attack
4. Knock On Wood
5. Nine Below Zero
6. Dust My Broom
7. The Creeper
8. Turn On Your Lovelight
9. Please Please Please

James Cotton - vocals, harmonica, Luther Tucker - guitar,
Bill Nugent - sax, Bob Anderson - bass, Barry Smith - drums

Part 1 Part 2

Texas International Pop Festival Vol. 3 - Janis Joplin & The Kozmic Blues Band

1. Intro / Raise Your Hand
2. As Good As You Been To This World
3. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
4. Maybe
5. To Love Somebody
6. Summertime

Janis Joplin - vocals, Snooky Flowers - sax,
Sam Andrews - guitar, Brad Campbell - bass,
Lonnie Castile - drums, Richard Kermode - keyboards,
Terry Clements - sax, Luis Gasca - trumpet

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Christine Perfect - Christine Perfect (1970)

After appearing on two Chicken Shack albums, "Forty Blue Fingers" and "OK Ken?", and before being convinced by her husband John McVie to join Fleetwood Mac, Christine Perfect made her first solo album which was not a commercial success. In later years she called this album a "contrived farce", referring to her lack of creative control. Nonetheless this is a very mellow, sweet album, featuring guest appearances on a couple tracks by members of Chicken Shack and Fleetwood Mac. A real standout is "I'd Rather Go Blind" from her days with Chicken Shack. Also a cover version of Danny Kirwan's "When You Say" from Fleetwood Mac's "Then Play On". Kirwan also co-produced this album. Contrived farce or not, this is a very very good album. My rip @ 320, with scans.

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My Solid Ground - My Solid Ground (1970)

One reviewer called this "one of the ten best krautrock albums of all time" - or something similar; I can't find the review now. A couple of the tracks are on the heavy side - the opening track "Dirty Yellow Mist" is 13 minutes of a simple guitar riff backed by brilliant keyboard playing, percussion, and other-worldly sounds - very cosmic. "The Executioner" is much shorter, but very disturbing in a way, with great lead guitar and keyboards. The rest of the album is hard rock, very inventive and original, sometimes aggressive, sometime very Pink Floyd like - I mean, there's pink pigs on the cover. Bonus tracks include tapes from the rehearsals and some alternate mixes, including a 24 minute version of one of the album tracks, "Flash". All in all this probably is one of the best 70's German albums - too bad the members seem to have disappeared from the music scene after recording this.

Part 1 Part 2

Neuschwanstein - Battlement (1978)

"Incredible masterpiece of 70's progressive epic-symphonic rock. This Genesis/Camel/Eloy style German band sings the lyrics in English. The singer sounds remarkably like Peter Gabriel with a German accent. The music is filled with beautiful lush Mellotron, acoustic and electric guitars, flute and tasteful moog synth work similar to Genesis and Camel. The energetic drumming and bass work however, sounds more German, similar to bands like Eloy and Epidaurus. Very nice music from this incredible band. Highly recommended!!" (Review by dalt99 - progarchives.com)

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Niagara - S.U.B. (1972)

Niagara was the brainchild of German drummer Klaus Weiss. The first self-titled album was all percussion, but the second, this one, included instruments and was much more in the conventional jazz rock vein. Still, there are four percussionists credited, including Udo Lindenberg and Danny Fichelscher of Amon Düül II, so this is jazz rock with a real emphasis on percussive rhythm. All instrumental with lots of funky guitar and bass runs, some great flute, sax, and other horns, this might remind some people of Can or maybe early Embryo. This is a vinyl rip that I cleaned up pretty good!

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The Nice - Swedish Radio Sessions (1967)

The Nice were booked to play live on Swedish radio in the fall of 1967, prior to the release of their debut album while they were still a quartet. Organist Keith Emerson was not yet the dominant force he became following the departure of guitarist Davy O'List, who is quite prominent on this session. The music is a bit of a mishmash, with Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me" starting a bit erratically but finally coming together. Their own composition "Flower King of Flies" has a more subtle vocal by bassist Lee Jackson than the studio version they eventually released. The version of jazzman Charles Lloyd's "Sombrero Sam" seems a bit like filler, but the booby prize of the evening is a cover of Vanilla Fudge's overwrought "You Keep Me Hanging On." A quick take of their own "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" is followed by the gem of the date: a 12-minute workout of "Rondo." This version of "Rondo" easily eclipses all the other versions by the Nice . Considering the vintage of this long overlooked music, the sound is quite good, so any fans of the Nice should consider this to be a lost treasure worth acquiring.

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Wishbone Ash - Fighters and Warriors

This bootleg is a great-sounding stereo soundboard of Wishbone Ash at the Paris Theatre in London on May 25, 1972 doing material mostly from their album "Argus".

1. Time Was
2. Blowin' Free
3. Warrior
4. Throw Down The Sword
5. The King Will Come
6. Phoenix

Andy Powell - guitar
Ted Turner - guitar
Martin Turner - bass
Steve Upton - drums

Part 1 Part 2

OK see you next week - as always comments appreciated!