Dienstag, 31. Mai 2022

Louis Killen - Gallant Lads Are We - Songs Of The British Industrial Revolution

A mainstay of British folk music since the '50s best-known for his collections of sea shanties and whaling songs, Louis Killen is a singer, archivist, lecturer, and historian on the level of Ewan MacColl, Pete Seeger, and A.L. Lloyd, all of whom Killen worked with at one time or another.

Drawing from his extensive collection of English ballads and folk songs, Killen compiled this collection of songs from 19th century industrial Great Britain. Unaccompanied, Killen's voice is strong and clear, as is underlying message of these songs - that The Factory Girl and The Cropper Lads would not be defeated.

From the sleeve notes:

"This is what the critics say about Louis Killen:
New York Times—"a master of the traditional English ballad...a master in fact, of almost any kind of fine singing."
The Melody Maker (London)—"a giant of the British folkmusic revival."
Folk Scene Magazine (Los Angeles)—"a singer of grace and genius."

In his huge repertoire of traditional English ballads and folk songs, Killen includes scores of songs about the lives and times of coal miners, textile workers, sailors, railroaders and other laborers and craftsmen. When COLLECTOR RECORDS decided to add an album of British industrial folk songs to its catalogue, there was never any question that the singer for the job was Louis Killen.
Killen was born in Gateshead-on-Tyne in northeastern England into a family that looked upon singing as its main entertainment. In the 1950's and '60's he played a leading role in the British folk revival and in 1961 he made the performance of folk music a full-time career.
Killen has lived in the United States since 1967 (currently in Massachusetts, near Boston) where he has had a major impact on the traditional music scene. He has performed in hundreds of festivals, coffee houses, colleges, and folksong clubs in the U.S., Great Britain & Canada, as well as at Carnegie and Avery Fisher Halls in New York and Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls in London.
Although Louis Killen is a master of the English concertina, he decided to do all the songs on this record unaccompanied, just the way workers sang them in the olden days. On this album Killen's voice is his musical instrument and a delightful one it is.
"Louis Killen brings to life scenes from the past, through song, story, and ballad. He is a teller of tales, large and small, spoken or sung, which reflect the lives and views, real or imaginary, of ordinary men and women, be they farm or factory worker, sailor or sinner, loved or lost. He is a presenter of the common people's view of history, as portrayed in their tales and music."
Margaret Osika"

Notes on the songs by Louis Killen:

"THE COALOWNER AND THE PITMAN'S WIFE
A humorous look at strike attitudes showing how removed the owners were from the workers. Class differences were so great that many thought the miners must, by their very blackness of skin, be in league with the devil.
THE BANKS OF THE DEE
From the days when coal-owners could manipulate the men's wages through their agreements with the unions. Anyone earning above the county average was clear proof that the wage rates were too highl!
THE RECRUITED COLLIER
Not so much a song about industry but more a verbal picture of part of a mining community and the effect one person going to the wars has on those left behind.
PIT BOOTS
A piece of bawdiness often found attributed to other trades, too.
THE FACTORY GIRL
Working class girls were often the prey of the idle sons of the rich, though most songs of this type follow the "rags to riches" dream. The girl here, has a much better grasp of reality.
AA CUD HEW (I COULD HEW)
Ed Pickford's moving song of a man whose health, but not his spirit, has been ruined by "black lung", pneumoconiosis, caused by inhalation of the coal dust
THE DALESMAN'S LITANY
A countryman's view of working in Yorkshire's manufacturing towns. The Dales are the valleys running through the hill-country north of the Yorkshire industrial region.
CHARLES DOCHERTY
An unusual song about an industrial accident where the dead man is explaining his reasons for dodging around the safety regulations-to keep the production line moving.
THE JOLLY GRINDER
A nice blend of anti-work and anti-temperance in this parody of "The Miller of Dee".
PADDY WORKS ON THE RAILWAY
Two distinctly British versions of the well-known song collected in the engine sheds of Manchester, Birkenhead, and Hellefield, and collated by Ewan MacColl.
IN THE SIDINGS
Cyril Tawney wrote this song from the viewpoint of a rural stationmaster, who loses his job because a government policy change closes down his line. Being in his late 50's, the chances of finding a new trade are almost nil.
THE FOUR LOOM WEAVER
Becket Whitehead's version of an older, lengthier song, "The Poor Cotton Wayver", with the song pared down to fit later and perhaps harder times.
THE CROPPER LADS
A song in praise of the frame-breakers in the Yorkshire woolen mills of the 1820/30's. "Croppers" cropped the knap off the newly woven cloth with shears weighing up to 40 Ibs. When the owners brought in mechanical shears the men took a very "direct action" against losing their jobs."


Tracks:

1. The Coal Owner and the Pitman's Wife
2. The Banks Of The Dee
3. The Recruited Collier
4. Pit Boots
5. The Factory Girl
6. AA Cud Hew
7. The Dalesman's Litany
8. Charles Docherty
9. The Jolly Grinder
10. Paddy Works On The Railway
11. In The Sidings
12. The Four Loom Weaver
13. The Cropper Lads

Louis Killen - Gallant Lads Are We
(56 MB, VBR, pdf with cover scan included)

Hein & Oss - Bertolt Brecht ~ Lieder, Balladen & Songs (1969)



This collection of Hein & Oss interpretations of some Bertolt Brecht material was released in 1969 on the Da Camera label.

Tracklist:
1. Mahagonnygesang Nr. 1
2. Legende vom toten Soldaten
3. Am Grunde der Moldau
4. Mutter Courages Lied
5. Ballade von den Selbsthelfern
6. Der Kanonensong
7. Die Ballade von Hanna Cash
8. Mahagonnygesang Nr. 3
9. Lied des Pfeifenpieter
10. Ballade vom Förster und der Gräfin
11. Gegen Verführung
12. Die Ballade vom dem Soldaten
13. Die Schlußstrophen des Dreigroschenfilms


Hein & Oss - Bertolt Brecht - Lieder, Balladen & Songs (1969)
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Louis Killen - A Bonny Bunch (1993)

A mainstay of British folk music since the '50s best known for his collections of sea shanties and whaling songs, Louis Killen was a singer, archivist, lecturer, and historian on the level of Ewan MacColl, Pete Seeger, and A.L. Lloyd, all of whom Killen worked with at one time or another. In 2010, at the age of 76, Killen began living and performing as a woman, and underwent a sex-change operation in 2012. Now known as Louisa Jo Killen, she lived only a brief time longer, dying of cancer at her home in Gateshead, England in August 2013 at the age of 79.              

The tracks on "A Bonny Bunch" - a collection of traditional songs from Engald, Scotland and Ireland - were recorded in San Francisco in 1991/93.

Tracklist:

  1. Lovely Joan
  2. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
  3. The Unquiet Grave
  4. The Recruited Collier
  5. Rap Her to Bank
  6. The Painful Plough
  7. The Verdant Braes of Skrene
  8. Na' Bhouchaill N'Gruage Bhui
  9. The Gallawa' Hills
  10. The Fireship
  11. The Croppy Boy
  12. The Lag's Song (Ewan MacColl)
  13. Van Diemen's Land
  14. The Kielder Hunt
  15. General Wolfe
  16. The Death of Nelson
  17. The Bonny Bunch of Roses

Louis Killen - A Bonny Bunch (1993)
(256 kbps, front cover included)

Tom Robinson Band - Rising Free EP (1978)


In post-Sex Pistols England, the Tom Robinson Band bridged the gap between punk and new wave, challenging the ennui of the former and the apathy of the latter with songs about politics and social justice as their rallying cry.

Robinson – who was open about his orientation for the entirety of his career (although he now classifies himself as bisexual) – wrote the song "Glad To Be Gay" for a London pride parade. The EP reached #18 in the UK, despite the song being banned by the BBC. This is a great song, as it attacks both anti-gay bigotry and the complacency of those who allow it to happen. It's amazing (and a little depressing) how many of the lyrics are still relevant today.

The "Rising Free" EP, the bands second 7'', was recorded live at London's Lyceum in November 1977 & released in 1978. Tom Robinson was accompanied by Danny Kustow, Mark Ambler and Dolphin Taylor.

Tracklist:

A1 Don't Take No for an Answer
A2 Martin
B1 Glad to be Gay
C1 Right On Sister

Lyrics of the "Glad To Be Gay" version released on this EP:

"This song is dedicated to the World Health Organization, it’s a medical song and it concerns a disease whose classification according to the International Classification of Diseases is 302.0

The British police are the best in the world
I don’t believe one of these stories I’ve heard
‘Bout them raiding our pubs for no reason at all
Lining the customers up by the wall
Picking out people, knocking them down
Resisting arrest as they’re kicked on the ground
Searching their houses, calling them queer
I don’t believe that sort of thing happens here

Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way

Pictures of naked young women are fun
In Titbits and Playboy, page three of The Sun
There’s no nudes in Gay News our one magazine
But they still found excuses to call it obscene
Read how disgusting we are in the press
The Telegraph, People and Sunday Express
Molesters of children, corruptors of youth
It’s there in the paper it must be the truth

Try and sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way

Don’t try to kid us that if you’re discreet
You’re perfectly safe as you walk down the street
You don’t have to mince or make bitchy remarks
To get beaten unconscious and left in the dark
I had a friend who was gentle and short
He was lonely one evening, he went for a walk
Queerbashers caught him, kicked in his teeth
He was only hospitalised for a week
And he still bears the scars

Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way

And sit back and watch as they close all our clubs
Arrest us for meeting and raid all our pubs
Make sure your boyfriend’s at least 21
So only your friends and your brothers get done
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks
Put down the queens, tell anti-queer jokes
Gay Lib’s ridiculous, join their laughter
‘The buggers are legal now, what more are they after?’
Tell them!

Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way

Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy this way"


Tom Robinson Band - Rising Free EP (1978)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Hein & Oss - Songs Of The World (Saga, 1968)


The twin brothers Oskar and Heinrich Kröher as "Hein & Oss" stood for over fifty years on stages in Europe and North America. They are German songwriter and call themselves "The People's Singer" - to use an expression from the Biedermeier.  Long before there was talk of a new folk song movement, the vocal and guitar duo played and sung democratic folk songs, workers' songs, songs of 1848/49, songs from the Hambach Festival, partisan songs and soldier songs, sea shanties and cowboy songs.
Together with Peter Rohland they initiated the festivals “chanson folklore international” on Burg Waldeck (1964-1969).
Tracklist:

Ponte de quatro colores
Streets of Laredo
Psaropula
Tamo Daleko
Chevaliers de la table ronde
Venezuela
Ty Morjak
Der Mond ist aufgegangen
John Kanaka
Mesa
On the Grand Canyon Line
Tsen Brieder
Dos palomitas
From the Volga to the Don
Colorado Trail
Les canuts

Hein & Oss - Songs Of The World (Saga, 1968)
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Louis Killen, Jeff Warner, Gerret Warner, John Benson - Steady As She Goes (1976)

Steady as She Goes is an album dedicated to workers on the sea. During a time when a captain’s reign could be tyrannical, the work tough, and the sea unkind, the men maintained that "a song is as good as ten men." Often used in the manner of a work song in the fields, these shanties tell the tales of loneliness, families left behind, and the daily hardships of nautical life, but also about raising anchor with certain knowledge that you are heading home.

Excerpts from Sleeve Notes:
"LOUIS KILLEN was brought up in a singing family in the industrial and mining region of the river Tyne in Northeastern England. He arrived in the United States in 1966 with a bag full of hundreds of marvelous traditional British songs of sailors and fishermen, miners and milkmaids, farmers and weavers. Britain's loss has been America's gain. His subtle, full bodied interpretations, sometimes mournful, sometimes hilarious, have delighted audiences from coast to coast. He has recorded for Topic and Front Hall records."

Tracklist:

A1Paddy Lay Back
A2Bold Riley
A3Rolling Down To Old Maui
A4Jolly Roving Tar
A5Topman And The Afterguard
A6Off To Sea Once More
B1Strike The Bell
B2Ship In Distress
B3Blow The Man Down
B4The Coast Of Peru
B5All For Me Grog
B6Shallow Brown
B7Bring 'Em Down
B8Away Rio


Louis Killen, Jeff Warner, Gerret Warner, John Benson - Steady As She Goes
(320 kbps, cover art included)



Sonntag, 29. Mai 2022

Hanns Eisler - Lieder und Kantaten im Exil - Songs and Cantatas in Exile


Originally posted on June 17, 2014:

These previously little known songs and cantatas from exile are poetic and musical commentaries on exile. They are unique testimonies to the way Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler in particual,who had to leave theri homeland on account of their political beliefs, reacted as Communist and anti-Fascist artists to the new situation facing them and Germany after Hitler came to power on January 30, 1933 - the poet in countless little poems, the composer in many miniatures of vocal chamber music.

Eisler continued in established genres while in exil e- the functinal mass song (e.g. "Eineheitsfrontlied"), film and stage music (e.g. "Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe"), choral and orchestal works (e. g. "Gegen den Krieg") - but the songs and cantatas represent a new element in his creative work, emerging only after 1937 and in particular between 1942 and 1944.

We´re glad Verde called our attention to the 111 birthday of Hanns Eisler, which we like to clebrate with this posting.
(192 kbps, front cover inlcuded)

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Aribert Reimann - Eisler Lieder

Nearly all the songs recorded here were written during Hanns Eisler´s exile years, and thus belong for the most part to the imaginary cycle of a "Hollywood song-book", which Eisler at one stage planned to put together from the songs he wrote in the United States.
These songs are exemplary for the way biographical, aesthetic and political elements are combined in the small-scale prism of the art song.

Eisler´s American songs show clearly how these elements made the rebirth of the "Lied" possible in the first place; the genre is seen here in search of a new meaning, independent of tradition and convention.

The interpretations on this album were recorded at Sender Freies Berlin, Kleiner Sendesaal, in December 1987 with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone, and Aribert Reimann, piano.

(192 kbps)

Hanns Stein & Cirilo Vila - Eisler Brecht Canciones (1971)

This is an album with classical songs by Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht interpreted by the tenor Hanns Stein accompanied by Cirilo Vila on piano. It was released in 1971 on the label "Monofonico" in Santiago, Chile.
.
Hanns Stein was born in 1926 in Prague and exiled to Chile at the age of 12.
Cirilo Vila was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1937. He was the teacher of most Chilean art music composers from the 1970s to the 1990s.
.
Hanns Stein & Cirilo Vila - Eisler Brecht Canciones (1971)
(192 kbps, front & back cover included)

Ernst Busch - Tucholsky, Eisler, Wedekind

Ernst Busch died 39 years ago, on June 8, 1980.

This "pläne"-release includes some Ernst Busch interpretations of songs from Eisler's Tucholsky lieder like "Revolutionsrückblick", "Ja, damals, im November", "Rosen auf den Weg gestreut" and others.

And it contains recordings of some of Frank Wedekind´s - a German playwright, whose work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism, and he was a major influence on the development of epic theatre - "Spottlieder".

Tracklisting:
01 Märchen (1:38)
02 Das Heil Von Außen (1:18)
03 Prophezeiung (1:54)
04 Der Zerstreute (1:50)
05 Revolutionsrückblick (3:34)
06 Ja, Damals, Im November (2:25)
07 Couplet Für Die Bierabteilung (1:16)
08 Immer Raus Mit Der Mutter...! (2:20)
09 Zuckerbrot Und Peitsche (2:45)
10 Die Mäuler Auf! (1:49)
11 Rosen Auf Den Weg Gestreut (2:11)
12 Heute Zwischen Gestern Und Morgen (2:35)
13 Im Heiligen Land (4:21)
1 4Der Anarchist (1:32)
15 Der Zoologe (4:05)
16 Der Blinde Knabe (2:12)
17 Brigitte B. (4:38)
18 Mein Lieschen (1:15)
19 Die Wetterfahne (0:58)
20 Die Sieben Heller (2:15)
21 Diplomaten (3:16)
.
Ernst Busch - Tucholsky, Eisler, Wedekind
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Critics Group - The Female Frolic (1968)



From the sleeve notes:

"A woman is an angel at ten, a saint at twenty,
A devil at forty and a witch at fourscore.
(traditional proverb).

There can be no doubt that the above saying was coined by a man, and most men would cheerfully agree with it, without thinking that with a little re-writing it could apply equally well to themselves. The battle of the sexes has been raging throughout human history and shows no signs of stopping in the foreseeable future. Indeed, life would be very dull if it did. In individual skirmishes, honours are probably more or less equally shared between the two sides, but on the larger social scale, men have usually succeeded in keeping women in a state of subjugation, despite gallant forays mounted by shock-troops as various as the Suffragettes and Lysistrata and . her determined band of Athenian beauties. How long men can continue to maintain their supremacy is a matter for conjecture.

Great writers from the time of Aristophanes to the present day have drawn inspiration from the sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious incidents of this battle and so also have the innumerable and mostly un-named poets of the folk tradition. It is with the attempts of this latter group to delineate some of the many aspects of woman's life that this record is concerned.

In the late 1950's. the British folk song revival grew out of the craze for American skiffle and, at first, singers tended to base their repertoires on the folk-songs and blues of North America. However, in searching for the origins of Appalachian music, they turned their eyes back across the Atlantic and rediscovered the ballads and songs of their own islands. The singers of the British folksong revival, who originally thought their native music dowdy and unexciting, were astonished to find a rich treasury of song waiting to be explored. Men and women alike chose their repertoires with little consideration towards their sex. For example, it was not uncommon to hear pretty and solemn young girls performing songs from the abouring industries such, as mining, or singing tough and lusty sea shanties in voices that would have been reduced to inaudibility by the gentlest of Atlantic zephyrs: It would have appeared from a folk club programme that men were predominant amongst traditional singers.

This certainly was not so for singers in the oral tradition. Many of the finest traditional performers have been women and in many instances it has been the sole responsibility of the female to carry the songs and traditional style of singing to the next generation. This is especially true of our nomadic people, the gypsies and tinkers, for it is their women who carried some of the great song masterpieces into our time. A few that spring to mind are Jessie Murray of Frazerborough, the Stewarts of Blairgowrie and Queen Caroline Hughes, a travelling woman with a great fund of traditional songs and a brilliant singing style who was recorded for the first time outside Poole, Dorset in 1964. Cecil Sharpe, who collected songs in the early years of this century, found that a great number of his informants were women, one of the finest being Mrs. Overd of Langport in Somerset, who gave him over 200 songs. Sharpe said of her "Probably every generation has produced a small percentage of singers like Mrs. Overd and to her special gifts must be attributed many of those musical qualities which are the glory of folksong". Writing songs also is a field which women have not left untouched; the 1930's produced a proliferation of female song-writers in the U.S.A., Fanny Sellins, Sarah Ogan and Aunt Molly Jackson among them.

Frankie Armstrong, Sandra Kerr and Peggy Seeger are all members of the Critics Group, which meets regularly to discuss and explore the art of folksong and how best these arts can be applied in the revival. They felt that there was a need for a record to trace the Woman's constantly changing position in terms of traditional folksong and to try and open up the large and varied repertoire available to the female revival singer."

Tracklist: 
Side 1:
1. The Doffin' Mistress (Irish)
2. Girl of Constant Sorrow (American)
3. The Blacksmith (English)
4. My Husband's Got No Courage in Him (English)
5. The Generous Lover (Irish)
6. The Whore's Lament (American)
7. Geordie (English)
8. Come Me Little Son (Contemporary English)

Side 2:
9. The Female Frolic (English)
10. Children's Sequences (English / Scottish / American)
11. An Old Man Came Courting Me (Canadian)
12. Miner's Wife (Contemporary English)
13. The Factory Girl (Irish)
14. Lowell Factory Girl (American)
15. The Broomfield Hill (English)
16. The Housewife's Lament (American)

Critics Group - The Female Frolic (1968)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Bob Dylan & The Band´s Basement Tapes Influences - Original Versions Of The Big Pink Recordings

The recordings that took place during 1967 in the quiet backwaters of upstate New York, near the town of Woodstock, probably represent Bob Dylan's most productive song writing period to date. In March of 1967, almost nine months after falling from his motorcycle, Dylan recommenced music-making and in May/June he began recording informal sessions with the Hawks - soon to become The Band - in the Red Room at his Byrdcliffe home. The distractions of family life soon became too much however and the musicians relocated to the unremarkable pink painted property that would come to be known as The Big Pink . Dylan would later tell Rolling Stone, That's really the way to do a recording, in a peaceful, relaxed setting in somebody's basement. With the windows open... and a dog lying on the floor. Working in their makeshift studio became a daily ritual and between June and late October 67, the musicians committed well over a 100 songs to tape. The sessions, which would become known as The Basement Tapes, produced a kaleidoscope of American music and more. Alongside the tracks composed by Dylan, the musicians summoned up cowboy songs ( Cool Water ); sea shanties ( Bonnie Ship The Diamond ); blues (John Lee Hooker s I m In The Mood ), country (Hank Williams and lots of Johnny Cash) and several traditional songs ( The Trees They Do Grow High , Hills Of Mexico ). Guitarist Robbie Robertson told Greil Marcus: [Dylan] would pull these songs out of nowhere. We didn't know if he wrote them or if he remembered them. When he sang them you couldn't tell. This compilation collects together the originals - or the version that Dylan likely knew - of 26 of the tracks recorded during this sublime period of creativity, undertaken while the majority of American and British act were dabbling in acid fuelled psychedelia, the majority of which today sounds nothing but dated.           

Tracklist:

- Joan BaezThe Trees They Do Grow High2:57
Roscoe HolcombThe Hills Of Mexico2:32
Luke The DrifterBe Careful Of Stones That You Throw2:59
Hank SnowA Fool Such As I2:29
The Rays Silhouettes2:45
Judy CollinsBonnie Ship The Diamond2:19
Dinah WashingtonI Don't Hurt Anymore3:13
Glenn YarbroughSpanish Is The Loving Tongue3:13
Clancy BrothersRosin Le Beau3:23
Barbara Dane900 Miles2:18
Bob NolanCool Water2:42
Elizabeth CottenGoin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad2:11
James Carter Po' Lazarus4:32
Elvis PresleyI Forgot To Remember To Forget2:28
Ronnie HawkinsYou Win Again2:08
Sonny BurnsWaltzin' With Sin2:38
Johnny CashBig River2:32
Johnny CashFolsom Prison Blues2:42
Pete SeegerThe Bells Of Rhymney5:22
John Lee HookerTupelo Blues3:25
John Lee HookerI'm In The Mood2:44
Gid TannerYa Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Aroun'3:06
Bobby BareThe All American Boy3:09
Carter FamilyWildwood Flower3:11
Sonny KnightConfidential2:33
Blind Lemon JeffersonSee That My Grave Is Kept Clean2:55

VA - Bob Dylan & The Band´s Basement Tapes Influences - Original Versions Of The Big Pink Recordings
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - The Folk Song Tradition (Tradition Records)


Tradition Records was started in the 1950s by folk song collector Diane Hamilton and Patrick Clancy of the Clancy Brothers, initially as an outlet for Clancy's group, but the label eventually recorded all manner of traditional artists and folk revival musicians, and even issued a few LPs of field recordings gathered by Alan Lomax.

When the Clancy Brothers signed to CBS, the label was sold, and Tradition's catalog has surfaced ever since under countless imprints, including Ember, Everest, Transatlantic, Ossian, and most recently, Rykodisc. This Tradition sampler suggests the wide range of folk material the original label featured, all of it recorded simply and with few or no embellishments, giving most tracks the feel of field recordings. Highlights include the great Etta Baker's slide guitar instrumental version of "John Henry," Paul Clayton's moody and nuanced "Johnny's Gone to Hilo," the odd John Jacob Niles' thin, fragile, and deeply affected tenor on "Lulle Lullaby," Odetta's striking, slowed-down take on "Sail Away Ladies," and the shaky, halting, and over-dramatic vocal approach by Alan Lomax to "Ain't No More Cane on This Brazis." There are also sea shanties, flamenco guitarists, and brass bands on this diverse, scattershot, and intriguing collection.

This is the real deal from one of the most overlooked catalogs in the music business, Tradition Records. This is where the great Sea Shanty records of Ewan MacColl first surfaced; Odetta made her first album for Traditon in 1956; folk enthusiasts of the 50's first exposure to "World" music were found on the LP's of Tradition. Ask Bob Dylan who mentions the Tradition label as being the only label in the mid-fifties to make available these kinds of records in his book "Chronicles". Among the many LPs Tradition released, in the early sixties they released 2 compilation LPs - "Traditon Folk Sampler" and "The Folk Song Tradition". This CD comprises both LPs on one disc.

VA - The Folk Song Tradition
(192 kbps, front cover included)

The Critics Group - Living Folk (1970)



"The Critics Group (also known as the London Critics Group) started out as a study group for singers in 1963, meeting at Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's home in Beckenham.  The Group, with no permanent membership, performed for each other and criticised each other, with a shared aim of improving the singing and performance of traditional folk song. "Living Folk" from 1970 features Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Sandra Kerr, John Faulkner, Terry Yarnell, Denis Turner, Brian Pearson-

Tracklist:

1. Broomfield Hill
2. Strawberry Town
3. I'm a Girl of Constant Sorrow
4. The Driver's Song
5. Sweet Trinity
6. Lucy Wan
7. The Doffin Mistress
8. Single Girl
9. The Dirty Union Leaders
10. Song of Choice
11. Johnny Sands
12. Irish Dance Music
13. Sea Shanties
14. The Whale Catchers
15. We'll Rant and We'll Roar
16. The Crooked Cross
17. Ballad of Ho Chi Minh
18. Oh, Brother, Did You Weep?

The Critics Group - Living Folk (1970)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Samstag, 28. Mai 2022

East German Revolution - Hanns Eisler - A Composer´s Portrait


"East German Revolution, Hanns Eisler, A Composer's Portrait" was released in 1990 on the small PILZ label. It is no longer available due to the bankruptcy of this label.

This album contains "Sturm-Suite für Orchester" (Großes Rundfunkorchster Leipzig, directed by Adolf Fritz Guhl), "Sätze für Nonett" 8members of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchesters Leipzig), "Sonate für Violine und Klavier" (Gustv Schmahl, violin; Herbert Kaliga, piano) and "Fünf Orchesterstücke" (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, directed by Herbert Kegel) - live recordings of a concert broadcast on June 14th, 1973.

Tracklist:
1. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#1,Sturm-Allegro}1:09
2. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#2,Pantomime-Melodram-AllegrettoSpirito}1:58
3. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#3,Bequem}1:09
4. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#4,PocoLarghetto}1:40
5. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#5,AllegroConFuoco}1:58
6. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#6,AllegroAgitato}1:13
7. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#7,Lento}1:08
8. Storm - Suite For Orchestra {#8,Destinado}1:19
9. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#1,Allegro"Allegretto"Andante}4:18
10. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#2,Allegretto}2:50
11. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#3,Allegro}3:47
12. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#4,QuasiRezitativo-Moderato}2:27
13. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#5,Presto"Treibend"AndanteConMoto}2:18
14. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#6,AllegroModerato}5:24
15. Movements For Nonet,OpPosth {#7,Presto"Treibend"Energico,AllaMarcia}3:11
16. Reise Sonate {#1,ConSpirito}4:23
17. Reise Sonate {#2,Intermezzo-AndanteSemplice}3:48
18. Reise Sonate {#3,AllegroSpirito}4:20
19. Five Orchestral Pieces {#1,Andante}3:49
20. Five Orchestral Pieces {#2,Allegro}2:10
21. Five Orchestral Pieces {#3,KleinePassacaglia}1:22
22. Five Orchestral Pieces {#4,Presto}1:19
23. Five Orchestral Pieces {#5,Finale-Improvisation}2:23

East German Revolution - Hanns Eilser - A Composer´s Portrait
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Ernst Busch - Eisler / Majakowksi Lieder (Aurora, 1964)


Ernst Busch was a famous German actor and singer and prominent figure of the international communist movement. He is known for his interpretations of Kurt Weill's and Hanns Eisler's compositions and Kurt Tucholsky's and Bertolt Brecht's pieces. He was also the founder of "Lied der Zeit GmbH" (1946), the predecessor of Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin.

In the year 1957, Ernst Busch took over the leading role in the stage play "Sturm" by Wladimir Bill-Belozerkowski at Deutsches Theater (Berlin), celebrating the 40th anniversary of the october revolution. Hanns Eisler wrote three songs for Busch´s leading role, using lyrics by the poet Wladimir Majakowski ("Linker Marsch", "Subotnik") and by Peter Hacks ("Läuselied"). In 1958, Eisler wrote "Zeit-Marsch" for the Majakowski production "Schwitzbad" at the Volksbühne (Berlin).

These tracks were released some years later, in 1964, on the Ernst Busch "Aurora" EP series. The EP was released with an informative magazine including photos, articles about the artists and the poems/lyrics.

Tracks:
01. Linker Marsch
02. Zeit-Marsch
03. Subotnik
04. Vorwärts, Bolschewik!

Fresh link:

Ernst Busch - Eisler / Majakowski Lieder (Aurora, 1964)
(192 kbps, art work included)

VA - Island In The Sun - A History Of Caribbean Music (Sunrise Records, 2013)

Dating all the way to the late 1920’s ‘Islands In The Sun…’ looks to give an in depth overview of fantastic Caribbean music that marked the start of Ska, Reggae, Dancehall and Rapso.

 Essentially Jamaican folk music, over it’s development Calypso music began incoporating elements of the various styles produced from the West Indies with topics ranging from love to enjoying life and island living.

Some of the better known artists such as Lord Kitchener, The Mighty Sparrow and Count Owen all have multiple appearances on the compilation as their contribution to the genre is immesurable especially in breaking Calypso on over seas territories.


Disc 1

1. Caroline - Wilmouth Houdini & Lionel Belasco & His Orchestra
2. Man Smart Woman Smarter (Not Me) - King Radio
3. Vitalogy - The Lion with The Cyril Monrose String Orchestra
4. Mathilda (aka Matilda) - King Radio
5. In The Dew And The Rain - The Growler
6. Freddo - Atilla The Hun
7. (Shame And) Scandal In The Family - Sir Lancelot
8. Mary Ann - The Lion
9. Music Lesson - The Duke Of Iron
10. Kitch - Lord Kitchener
11. Parakeets - The Duke Of Iron
12. The Monkey Song - Blind Blake & The Royal Victoria Hotel Calypsos
13. The Lost Watch - The Duke Of Iron & His Trinidad Troubadours
14. John B Sail (The Wreck Of The John B) - Blind Blake & The Royal Victoria Hotel Calypsos
15. Muriel And The Bug - Lord Kitchener
16. Go Down Emmanuel Road (Lady Oh) - Blind Blake & The Royal Victoria Hotel Calypsos
17. I Left Her Behind For You - The Duke Of Iron
18. You Don’t Need Glasses To See - Lord Invader with Gerald Clark & The Calypso Orchestra
19. Hold ‘Im Joe - MacBeth The Great with Gerald Clark & The Calypso Orchestra
20. Trouble In Arima - Lord Kitchener
21. The Big Bamboo - The Duke Of Iron
22. Ugly Woman (If You Want To Be Happy) - The Lion with Gerald Clark & The Calypso Orchestra
23. Don't Touch Me Tomato - George Symonette & The Native Bahamian Rhythms
24. Boo Boo Man (Mama Look A Boo Boo) - Lord Melody & The Caribbean All Stars
25. Wife And Mother - Lord Kitchener
26. My Lima Beans - George Symonette & The Native Bahamian Rhythms
27. Four Day In The Morning - The Four Deuces
28. I Will Die A Bachelor - Lord Beginner with Cyril Blake's Calypso Serenaders

Disc 2

1. Jean And Dinah - The Mighty Sparrow
2. Rock & Roll Calypso - Lord Melody & The Caribbean All Stars
3. Pretty Woman - The Torpedo with The Caribbeans
4. The Three Old Maids - Erskill Zuill
5. The Dollar And The Pound - Lord Beginner with Cyril Blake's Calypso Serenaders
6. Lazy Janie - The Torpedo & The Caribbeans
7. Love, Love, Love! - Lord Beginner & The Calypso Rhythm Kings
8. No Doctor No (The Situation In Trinidad) - The Mighty Sparrow
9. Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) - Lord Foodoos & His Calypso Band
10. Picong Duel - The Mighty Sparrow & Lord Melody
11. Island Woman - Vincent Martin & The Bahamians
12. Island In The Sun - Count Owen & His Calypsonians
13. The Naughty Little Flea - Boysie Grant & Reynolds Calypso Clippers
14. The Weed - Count Owen & His Calypsonians
15. Hill And Gully Ride (Mandeville Road) - Lord Composer & The Silver Seas Orchestra
16. Evening News - Lord Creator with Fitz-Vaughn Bryan & His Orchestra
17. Healin’ In De Balmyard - Harold Richardson & The Ticklers
18. Dr Kinsey Report - Lord Lebby & The Jamaican Calypsonians
19. Rose - The Mighty Sparrow
20. Yellow Bird (Choucoune) - Roy Shurland & The Big Bamboo Orchestra
21. Madame Dracula - The Mighty Sparrow
22. The Laziest Man - The Mighty Douglas
23. Love In The Cemetery- Lord Kitchner

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Donnerstag, 26. Mai 2022

Neville Marcano - The Growling Tiger Of Calypso (Rounder, 1998)

Known as the "Growling Tiger of Calypso," Neville Marcano was noted for his skill at both political/current events-inspired songs and tunes with more conventional folk/romantic themes. A teenage flyweight champion boxer, he became a calypso singer by profession after placing high in local calypso competitions in the mid-1930s. Marcano recorded nearly 50 tracks for Decca, favoring minor-keyed melodies and a delivery influenced by the French patois he had spoken as a child; his first calypso composition was about a labor dispute, though he would write about all kinds of subjects throughout his career. He enjoyed some degree of international recognition after being recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax in the early 1960s, and appeared at the Newport Folk Festival; he also recorded an album for Rounder in the late 1970s. Much of his early work can be found on several anthologies, most of which are on the Rounder label.

Most of this  album was recorded by Alan Lomax in Trinidad in 1962, with a traditional-styled band backing with flute, fiddle, guitar, bass, and percussion. It's pretty well-recorded, Marcano is in good vocal form, and the band has a fine loose, informal vibe. This largely sticks to songs about romance and gently moralistic tales, getting into more serious territory with "War" (sung with Lord Iere and Indian Prince), with its references to the atomic bomb. The tunes have Marcano's trademark minor-key melodies, yet they're sung and played in a jovial style that makes them rather uplifting. Two tracks recorded at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival - Marcano talking at length about calypso music, and an a cappella "Atomic Energy Calypso" - are tough to enjoy because of the mediocre fidelity and dry unaccompanied vocals.
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(320 kbps, front cover included)

Playgroup - Epic Sound Battles Chapter 1 (1982, On-U Sound)

Of all the acts with whom Adrian Sherwood worked during the late '70s/early '80s, few have been so cruelly overlooked as Playgroup, a studio collective built along similar lines to the New Age Steppers, who were responsible for two of the most eclectic albums in the catalog. The musicians themselves were familiar members of the On-U collective: Bruce Smith, Sean Oliver, Charlie Eskimo Fox, Nick Plytas, Style Scott, Steve Beresford, "Deadly Headley" Bennett, John Waddington, Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, and George Oban all feature across the two Playgroup albums.

The music, for the most part, is the heavy, scratchy dub for which Sherwood is best known, haunting effects-riven instrumentals with the power to shake the solidest walls. But enough variables are shot through the brew to ensure that period critics had a hell of a time trying to categorize the music. "Deep and Mintyful," with its spectral spy theme bassline, is straightforward enough. But the worldbeat rhythms and chants of "Crunch" could have been formulated during the sessions for the Slits' second album, and "Epic One" was a mystery, unfolding around a stupendously crunchy drum pattern. And so on.

Tracklist:
Bomb's Scare
Epic Sound Battles
Crunch
The Slither
Burn Up
Deep And Mintyful
Silent Mover
Epic One Drop
Shock Absorbers
No Speed Limit
Hoggs Might Fly

Playgroup - Epic Sound Battles Chapter 1 (1982, On-U Sound)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Lead With The Bass (1995)

"Lead With The Bass" is a fine neo dub compilation, released on the Universal Egg label, which initially was started by Zion Train to promote their music and productions.

The Disciples are a United Kingdom roots/dub reggae band and early protegees of Jah Shaka. They were formed by Russ D and his brother Loi, whose's no longer a member, around 1985. They released their first album Deliverance, in 1987 on Jah Shaka King of the Zula Tribe Records, and released three more albums in subsequent years on Shaka's label. In 1991 they built their own sound system for gigging, and financed a successful 12-inch recording entitled Prowling Lion in 1993, releasing it on their newly started Boom-Shacka-Lacka Records. In 1996 they started a second label Backyard Movements Records for the sole purpose of issuing contemporary Reggae, Jungle, Techno, Jazz, and World music. For a decade, the Disciples has been part of an impressive list of 7, 10 & 12 inch releases, and are also featured on many recordings of other artists.

Power Steppers’ true identity remains a mystery as he shuns publicity. Interviews with the elusive performer can only be conducted through facsimile or e-mail. The main force behind Power Steppers had no previous experience in the field of music, but had been active in the areas of eco-agriculture, conservation and primate research. His credentials led to preservation work in Africa and South America. His musical influence began in north London’s dancehall scene, primarily through the eminent Jah Shaka. Although predominately inspired by Shaka, his other influences include Ash Ra Temple, Faust and Brain Ticket, resulting in a definitive dub sound. Power Steppers utilized the bass guitar and delay as the fundamental instruments of protest, producing minimal dubs that captivate and stimulate. He recorded with gabba gabba dubbers Zion Train through the band’s own Universal Egg outlet, and his sound was promoted through the band’s Bass Odyssey system. Power Steppers’ dub outings particularly appealed to the rapidly expanding audience of the prevalent ambient dub sound. Zion Train have stated: ‘Power Steppers is one of the strangest people it has ever been our pleasure to meet’.

Formed in 1993 as an offshoot project to Centry, the dub/reggae outfit the Bush Chemists has issued several albums and EPs since 1996's, including Dub Outernational, Money Run Tings, Dubs From Zion Valley, In Dub: Light Up Your Chalice, and Dub Fire Blazing. Part of the U.K. roots and dub scene, the band often works from member Dougie Wardrop's home studio -- combining modern sounds with more authentic reggae sounds. A prolific recording outfit, the Chemists released Raw Raw Dub on Roir Records in 2005.

Iration Steppas was originally set up by Mark Iration as a sound system in Leeds, where he played the latest sounds at blues dances, clubs and parties. With a posse of like-minded individuals Iration toured the country absorbing various sounds. With Papa Sam, the sound initially performed under the name Ital Rockers Hi Fi. Notable influences were Jah Shaka and Jah Tubby. Iration acknowledged that he was amazed by Jah Tubby’s collection of original dub plates when he secured his first acetates. A sound system clash in Leeds against Jah Shaka resulted in praise from the legendary soundman, encouraging Iration to continue in the business. In 1993, Iration linked up with Dennis Rootical (under the guise of Kitachi), performing the leftfield dope beat sound. Live appearances by the duo were greeted with enthusiasm, playing festivals and clubs around the UK. They are also acknowledged as being the first to utilize DAT recordings of their own tunes at the High Rise studio in Leeds and to mix them live. With Jack Rouble joining the group, their reputation grew and Iration Steppas released the classic ‘Scud Missile’ in 1993. The single was met with enthusiasm and demand led to the discomix being re-pressed three times before eventually being deleted. The initial hit was followed by the equally popular 12-inch discomix, ‘Mystical Warrior’. Acclaimed by the media as Jah Shaka’s ‘enlightened offspring’, they followed the hit with two 10-inch releases, ‘Reminiscence Dub’ and ‘Killimanjaro’ both of which were featured on their debut album. As Kitachi they released three dope beat singles, ‘Spirit’, ‘Scratch Remix’ and ‘Heavyweight’. The new wave of dub followers can also discover many specials recorded for a variety of 90s-style dub compilations, including Macro Dub Infection, Dubhead Volumes One and Two, Club Meets Dub and Dope On Plastic.


Tracklist:
The Disciples – Prowling Lion 4:18
The Disciples – Prowling Lion (Version) 4:12
Power Steppers – Beethoven 4:31
Power Steppers – Beethoven (Version) 2:46
The Disciples – Return To Addis Ababa 4:42
The Disciples – Return To Addis Ababa (Version) 3:53
Israelites – Lord 3:52
Israelites – Lord (Version) 3:45
Iration Steppas – Scud Missile 4:26
Iration Steppas – Scud Missile (Version) 4:26
The Bush Chemists – Come Together 3:33
The Bush Chemists –Come Together (Version) 3:42
Iration Steppas –High Rise 4:20
Iration Steppas – High Rise (Version) 4:18
Power Steppers – Make Love Not War 4:08
Power Steppers – Make Love Not War (Version) 5:08

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Mittwoch, 25. Mai 2022

Peter Stampfel And The Bottle Caps – The People's Republic Of Rock´n´Roll (1989)

One of the first artists to explore the nexus where folk and psychedelia meet, Peter Stampfel is best known as the founder of the freewheeling acid-folk collective the Holy Modal Rounders, one of the first salvos in a recording career that's spanned six decades. Stampfel was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on October 29, 1938, and developed a fascination with music at an early age, listening to pop standards and country music on the radio. 

After enrolling at the University of Wisconsin, Stampfel fell in with a group of bohemian students who turned him on to bluegrass and old-time folk music; the Anthology of American Folk Music, Vols. 1-3, edited by Harry Smith, became a favorite and major influence, and when the collection was reissued in 1997, Stampfel wrote new liner notes for the set that won him a Grammy award. 

Stampfel took up the fiddle and banjo, and dropped out of school after two years to travel and explore the Beatnik culture. By 1963, he was living in New York City, and met fellow eccentric folk fan and poet Steve Weber, who played guitar. Stampfel and Weber formed a duo and named their group the Holy Modal Rounders, playing folk rarities and offbeat originals with a purposefully primitive bent. The group attracted an audience on the New York folk scene, and they landed a deal with Prestige Records, who released their first album in 1964. 

That same year, Stampfel was recruited to play with the Fugs, and not only served as an accompanist but wrote and sang a few songs with the group, including the crazed "New Amphetamine Shriek." Eventually the Rounders would grow into a full band and dive into proper lysergic madness, winning major-label recording contracts and scoring an underground hit with "Bird Song," which would appear on the soundtrack to the hit film Easy Rider (the Rounders also featured Sam Shepard on drums years before the playwright became a successful actor), but the group was never especially stable, and one of their greatest successes came after Weber left the group: "Have Moicy!", a 1976 album Stampfel recorded as the "Unholy Modal Rounders" in collaboration with Michael Hurley and Jeffrey Frederick. 

While Stampfel and Weber would periodically collaborate, by the end of the '70s he spent more time working with other artists (most often Michael Hurley), and was one of the few artists from the folk scene who remained a presence when punk and new wave came to dominate New York clubs in the '80s. In 1986, Stampfel introduced his folk-rock band Peter Stampfel & the Bottle Caps, with whom he would release three albums, and he would appear as a guest on albums by Yo La Tengo, They Might Be Giants, Bongwater, and Mark Bingham; he also performed and recorded with the Du-Tels, a project with celebrated guitarist Gary Lucas. 

Stampfel made his belated solo debut with 1995's "You Must Remember This", in which he reinterpreted classic songs of the '30s and '40s, and continued to perform and record with a variety of ad hoc ensembles, including the Ether Frolic Mob (2013's The Sound of America), the Brooklyn & Lower Manhattan Banjo Squadron (2014's Better Than Expected), and the Brooklyn & Lower Manhattan Fiddle/Mandolin Swarm (2016's Holiday for Strings). When not busy with music, Stampfel has enjoyed a long career as an editor with science fiction publishing house DAW Books.

Tracklist:

1 When Things Come True
2 Mindless Boogie
3 Whatchuwanna
4 Little Robin
5 Oh Rosie
6 Bridge And Tunnel Girls
7 Of You
8 Bigfoot Stole My Wife
9 New York Minute
10 Just One Yesterday

Peter Stampfel And The Bottle Caps – The People's Republic Of Rock´n´Roll (1989)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Dienstag, 24. Mai 2022

Gil Scott- Heron - Spirits (1994)

With "Spirits", Gil Scott-Heron made a triumphant return to the studio after a 12-year absence. Though the politically charged R&B singer's voice had deteriorated, much of his soulfulness comes through. His songwriting is consistently excellent, and songs ranging from "Message to the Messengers" (which advises young rap artists to use their power wisely) to "Work for Peace" leave no doubt that his sociopolitical observations are as sharp as ever. 

One of the most riveting cuts is "The Other Side," an extended remake of his early-'70s classic "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" (which describes a drug addict's struggle). The East Coaster had been battling addiction himself during his absence from recording, and this heartfelt song isn't for the squeamish. Scott-Heron had successfully dabbled in jazz over the years, and in fact, among the CD's many strong points are the lyrics he adds to John Coltrane's "Spirits." One cannot help but wish Scott-Heron still had a great voice to go with this material, but even so, "Spirits" is powerful listening.

In the liner notes, Scott-Heron discusses the new, jazzier tone of the record, and the attempts to define his sound:

"What do you call reggae, blues, African vibration, jazz, salsa, chants and poetry?... Seriously trying to define it, I've said it's Black music. Or Black American music. Because Black Americans are now a tremendously diverse essence of all the places we've come from and the music and rhythms we brought with us."



Tracklist:

1 Message To The Messengers
2 Spirits
3 Give Her A Call
4 Lady's Song
5 Spirits Past
6 The Other Side, Part I
7 The Other Side, Part II
8 The Other Side, Part III
9 Work For Peace
10 Don't Give Up

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Montag, 23. Mai 2022

Dog Faced Hermanns - Those Deep Buds (1994)

Not many rock bands have a trumpet as a key instrument, but then again not many rock bands - not many musical groups, period - are quite like the Dog-Faced Hermans. 

With production by noted U.K. boardsman Guy Fixsen, "Those Deep Buds" kicks with a vicious, smart passion, with lead figure Marion handling the vocals and aforementioned brass with aplomb. Backed by the fine, ragged rhythm section of bassist Colin and drummer Wilf and playing off the rough, spindly riffing of guitarist Andy, she leads her charges down constantly unexpected musical detours with entertaining results. 

It might not be too far to suggest that the group has the same questing spirit as bands like Wire, the Slits, or the Raincoats, but rather than simply recreating the work of those leaders of U.K. post-punk, the Hermans doggedly pursue their own distinct muse. Hints of Krautrock also crop up, both in trancy rhythms (the ebb and flow of "Keep Your Hands/Off My Body") and in the sudden shifts and stops in the music at many points. Fragmentation and propulsion rather than easily hummed melodies are the name of the game, with everything from flamenco-touched percussion and playful, '20s/'30s jazz runs to virulent condemnation of societal idiocies on the agenda. Fixsen's production brings out the strength in the individual performances while retaining space and depth in the mix, even when everything ratchets up to a full explosion. Marion's vocals are never entirely buried, her strong voice cutting through it all, while Andy's guitar play often reaches majestic heights, equal to the sonic wash of shoegazing without losing any bite. 

Particular highlights include the tight, swinging groove of "Les Femmes et les Filles Vont Danser" and the harrowing peek into the heart of evil "Calley," reliving the horror of the My Lai massacre as echoed down through time.



Tracklist:

Blessed Are The Follies 5:31
Volkswagen 5:35
Keep Your Laws / Off My Body 5:19
Lie And Swell 2:59
H Tribe 4:56
Human Spark 4:47
Les Femmes Et Les Filles Vont Danser 4:51
Virginia Fur 5:58
Calley 4:11
Dream Forever 3:22


Dog Faced Hermanns - Those Deep Buds (1994)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Hannes Wader - 7 Lieder (1972)


Hannes Wader (born 23 June 1942 in Bethel near Bielefeld, Germany as Hans Eckard Wader) is a musician and songwriter. Beside Konstantin Wecker he is one of the last songwriters of the "old school".

Initially known as a socially critical chansonnier, he had a strong influence on the anti-authoritarian movement in 1970. In the 1970s, Hannes Wader became one of the stars of the political left through his provocative songs. Since the late 1970s until 1991 he was engaged as a member of the DKP (German communist party) and has performed at many political events. He interpreted socialist workers' songs and hymns. Wader even came under suspicions of terrorism because of his song Der Tankerkönig, a spoken song about kidnapping a tycoon. Since the 1990s, Wader performs folk songs and songs from the Romantic era besides his own tunes.

The album "7 Lieder" from 1972 contains one of his most famous song, "Heute hier, morgen dort" ("here today, gone tomorrow").

Hannes Wader - 7 Lieder (1972)
(192 kbps, no cover included)

Sonntag, 22. Mai 2022

Hannes Wader - Ich hatte mir noch soviel vorgenommen (1971)

Hannes Wader is a German songwriter (Liedermacher), singer and guitarist. He was an important figure in German leftist circles from the 1970s on, with his songs covering such themes as socialist and communist resistance to oppression in Europe and other places like Latin America. He both wrote new songs and played versions of older historical works.

Wader was born in Bielefeld, Westphalia, Germany, on 23 June 1942. His works are mostly based on German folk songs. Aside from his own lyrics, he also performs works of famous poets like Eichendorff. He now rarely sings the workers' songs and socialist hymns that used to be a large part of his repertoire. He recently published an album exclusively with songs by Franz Schubert. He also performed translated works from Carl Michael Bellman on the album "Liebe, Schnaps & Tod".

Remarkably, many of the social issues Wader sang about are still relevant today. Besides Franz Josef Degenhardt (r.i.p.!), Wader is one of the most relevant political singer-songwriter in Germany.

In the 1970s, Hannes Wader became one of the stars of the political left through his provocative songs. He was a member of the German Communist Party from 1977 to 1991. The publication of the song "Der Tankerkönig" stirred up controversy, as it covered the kidnapping of the son of the tycoon Rudolf August Oetker. Wader even came under suspicions of terrorism.

In 1973 he moved to Struckum, in Nordfriesland, where he published some of his later albums. In 1998, he and his family moved to Kreis Steinburg, Schleswig-Holstein.

He has published numerous albums and still tours throughout Germany. He appears in open-air concerts and also in clubs.
By the way, if you have the chance to watch the wonderful documentary film "Wader Wecker Vater Land" about Konstantin Wecker and Hannes Wader, please don´t miss it!

Thanks a lot for all the wonderful songs, Hannes!

Tracklist:
01 Charly
02 Eine die du nicht kennst
03 Steh doch auf du armer Hund
04 Hör auf Mädchen
05 Aufgewachsen auf dem Lande
06 Monika
07 Arschkriecherballade
08 Ich hatte mir noch soviel vorgenommen

(192 kbps, cover art)