VA - Jah Children Invasion - Dancehall Classics Volume 2 (Wackie´s, 1983)

Following hot on the heels of 1983′s Vol. 1, the Wackies unleashed "Jah Children Invasion: Dancehall Classics Vol. 2"  before the year was out. Like its predecessor, this compilation boasts two riddims and ten tracks.

Horace Andy introduces the first with his excellent cover of Derrick Harriott ’s rocksteady hit “Solomon.” Producer Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes gives the riddim further sparkle for Tristan Palmer’s strong cultural offering “Rebel.” Patrick Andy, too, delivers lessons in righteousness and survival, the lyrics stronger than his vocals, unlike Maxine Miller, whose smooth delivery should have gone down like a charm with lovers rock fans. And finally, the studio band showcases the “Solomon” riddim in all its glory. Tristan Palmer superbly kicks off the second half of the set with the comforting knowledge that “Jah Is in Charge.” Steve Harper, who delivered a strong cultural number on Vol. 1 , now showcases his romantic side with “Tender Love,” while Anthony Green, another returnee, sticks with culture, bemoaning the state of the world and offering righteous lessons before throwing in the towel, determined to “Leave out a Babylon.” DJ Sniper didn’t make much impact on the scene, but one can’t fault his devotion, and “Hear My Prayer” is one of the most impassioned singjay toasts from the time.

The Wackies Rhythm Force’s “Dub Version” completes the set, showcasing the superb riddim, a minimalist but still sparkling version of “Love Me Forever.” Although its Andy and Palmer who inevitably created this set’s cache at the time, it’s the forgotten talent that make the compilation so vital and exciting today.

Tracklist:

1 –Horace Andy - Solomon 3:48
2 –Treston Palma - Rebel 3:47
3 –Patrick Andy Can't Afford To Let 3:52
4 –Maxine Miller You've Changed 3:50
5 –Wackie's Rhythm Force Dub Slot 3:48
6 –Treston Palma Jah Is In Charge 3:35
7 –Steve Harper Tender Love 3:48
8 –Anthony Green Leave Out A Babylon 3:35
9 –Sniper Hear My Prayer 3:38
10 –Wackie's Rhythm Force* Dub Version 3:37

VA - Jah Children Invasion - Dancehall Classics Volume 2 (Wackie´s)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Kalakuta Show (1976)

By the time of 1976's "Kalakuta Show",
Fela Kuti's releases were becoming to seem not so much like records as ongoing installments in one long jam, documenting the state of mind of Nigeria's leading contemporary musician and ideological/political dissenter.

Thus, any one album works better on its own than it does when it has to bear comparison with the rest of his mountainous output. The track "Kalakuta Show" was unexceptional by his own standards, though it was a respectable lock-groove song that followed the usual graph of Kuti's song progressions. The lyrics, at any rate, go far outside the usual funk/pop spectrum, detailing his harassment at the hands of the Nigerian police.

"Don't Make Garan Garan" was musically more effective, particularly in its use of the artist's characteristically eerie, out-of-sync-sounding electric keyboards.

Tracklist:

A	Kalakuta Show	14:30
B	Don't Make Ganran Ganran	16:03

Fela Kut & Africa 70 - Kalakuta Show (1976)
(320 kbps, front cover included)

Paul Robeson - Ballads For Americans & Carnegie Hall Concert Vol. 2 (1965)

Paul Robeson  (1898–1976) was an influential African American singer, actor, and social activist.

In the late 1950s, Paul Robeson, like the Weavers - who also were persona non grata at the major labels due to their leftist political views - began recording for Vanguard Records, a New York-based independent label that wasn't afraid of controversial artists.

When Paul Robeson took the stage at Carnegie Hall in May of 1958, it had been 11 years since he had previously concertized freely in the United States. Blacklisted from the entertainment industry at home, and with the State Department unwilling to issue him a passport, he had fallen into eclipse as a singer and actor over the previous eight years. The concert recorded here, one of two at Carnegie Hall in May of 1958, marked his return.

The highlight of this album, however, is the title track, "Ballad for Americans," which Vanguard can justifiably be said to have rescued from oblivion in the RCA-Victor catalog. Clocking in at ten minutes, the 1939 recording is a fascinating, still somewhat compelling concept work authored by Earl Robinson and John LaTouche, in which Robeson represents the entire country, all of "the people," in this grand musical canvas, supported by a chorus and a full orchestra. His voice is richer on this cut than on any of the other material here, understandable since it was recorded nearly two decades earlier, and the only drawback is that this piece - by its nature as an overtly political, patriotic leftist work - is as much acted as sung. One needed a larger-than-life vocal presence such as Robeson to pull this off. One can only be grateful for Vanguard's foresight in acquiring the quarter-century-old recording for this compilation in its original double-LP format, and to RCA-Victor (who were likely only too happy to let it go for whatever money they could get, at the time) for permitting its use; the song, although somewhat arch and pretentious at times, is a vivid reminder of the era in which Robeson made his name, and great battles for the hearts and minds of audiences were being fought daily.

Paul Robeson - Ballads For Americans & Carnegie Hall Concert Vol. 2 (1965)
(128 kbps, front & back cover included)

Thanks a lot to Mick for sharing this album!

Caetano Veloso - Caetano Veloso (1968)

Caetano Veloso's first album as a solo artist marked the birth of the culturally revolutionary tropicalia movement, of which Veloso and Gilberto Gil were the leading figures. The concept of the movement was to modernize Brazilian popular culture and, through creative music and poetry, reflect the Brazilian society as it appeared at the time. Veloso and other tropicalistas mixed traditional Brazilian popular music primarily with international pop culture and psychedelic rock, but they would incorporate practically anything that crossed their minds. This kind of wild cultural and musical cannibalism was found to be very controversial by many elements of the Brazilian society, both to the left and to the right of the political spectrum, and would ultimately lead to the arrest and forced exile of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil in 1969.

After the hugely successful release of the psychedelic pop poem "Alegria, Alegria" as a single in 1967, Veloso aimed at releasing an album that would surpass the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's in terms of creativity, while at the same time reflecting the new, more international, Brazil. The result was this unique 12-track gem with classics such as the previously mentioned "Alegria, Alegria," the lovely and ironic "Superbacana," and the Latin-flavored "Soy Loco por Ti America." The title of the opening track "Tropicália" - a song that in a wonderful way summarizes what the movement was all about - was actually borrowed from an installation by visual artist Hélio Oiticica which Veloso found very inspiring.

Soon after the release of this album, the term "tropicália," to the mild irritation of Veloso himself, became the name used by the media to describe the entire Brazilian movement. In addition to the great and uniquely inventive music on the album, what strikes the listener is the excellent standard of the lyrics, written by such prominent poets as Capinam, Ferreira Gullar, and of course Veloso himself. More often than not, the lyrics could easily stand alone as poems.

For all its artistic quality, and its position as the first tropicalia album, as well as Caetano Veloso's first solo album, this is a classic and one of the most important albums of Brazilian popular music history.      

Tracklist:

1. Tropicália
2. Clarice
3. No Dia Que Eu Vim-Me Embora
4. Alegria, Alegria
5. Onde Andaras
6. Anunciação
7. Superbacana
8. Paisagem Útil
9. Clara
10. Soy Loco Por Ti, America
11. Ave-Maria
12. Eles

 
Caetano Veloso - Caetano Veloso (1968)     

VA - Ukrainian Folk Songs - The Golden Collection (2004)

Ukrainian folk music includes a number of varieties of traditional, folkloric, folk-inspired popular music, and folk-inspired European classical music traditions.

In the 20th century numerous ethnographic and folkloric musical ensembles were established in Ukraine and gained popularity.

During the Soviet era, music was a controlled commodity and was used as a tool for the indoctrination of the population. As a result, the repertoire of Ukrainian folk music performers and ensembles was controlled and restricted.

Ukrainian folk music has made a significant influence in the music of neighbouring peoples. Many Ukrainian melodies have become popular in Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Russia, Romania and Moldova. Through the interaction with the Eastern European Jewish community, Ukrainian folk songs such as "Oi ne khody Hrytsiu" composed by songstress Marusia Churai have been introduced into North American culture as "Yes my darling daughter" (sung by Dinah Shore).

The traditional music of the kobzari inspired the Dumky composed by various Slavic composers such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Dvořák.

The use of folk melodies is especially encouraged in ballet and opera. Among the Ukrainian composers who often included Ukrainian folk themes in their music were Lysenko, Lev Revutsky, Mykola Dremliuha, Yevhen Stankovych, Aleksandr Shymko, Myroslav Skoryk (who adapted e.g. the folk song Verbovaya Doschechka).

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Ukrainian folk songs and folk song elements began to be included in pop and rock music in the rock-oriented Kobza ensemble, Smerichka, Opryshky Medikus and many other ensembles. This was driven by the lack of Ukrainian pop songs of the time. In time the genre of folk inspired pop music became significant, particularly inspired by the popularity of the Belarusian group known as Piesnari.

Of the Ukrainian groups the longest surviving and most significant was the group known as Kobza.

Tracklist:
01 Jixav kozak.mp3
02 Nich jaka misjachna.mp3
03 Tuman jarom.mp3
04 Nese Halja vodu.mp3
05 Vechir nadvori.mp3
06 Oj na hori dva dubky.mp3
07 Handzja.mp3
08 Oj divchino shumyt' haj.mp3
09 Tam de Jatran'.mp3
10 Ishla divcha.mp3
11 Hrytsju.mp3
12 Ty do mene ne xody.mp3
13 Kazav meni bat'ko.mp3
14 Misjac na nebi.mp3
15 Oj u vishnevomu.mp3
16 Iz syrom pyrohy.mp3
17 Oj ja moloda.mp3
18 Oj chorna ja.mp3
19 Chorniji brovy.mp3
20 Oj haj maty.mp3
21 Byla mene maty.mp3
22 Mav ja raz divchinon'ku.mp3
23 Ty kazala pryjdy.mp3
24 Vzjav by ja banduru.mp3
25 Oj ne svity.mp3
26 Oj za hajem.mp3
27 Zore moja.mp3
28 Rozprjahajte, khloptsi, koni.mp3
29 Oj chyj to kin'.mp3
30 Hej, nalyvajte.mp3

VA - Ukrainian Folk Songs - The Golden Collection (2004)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Maria Muldaur - Sweet Harmony (1976)

The title track reveals just about everything a listener will need to know about Maria Muldaur's third time around on the big-label recording scene. The first few moments of instrumental interplay between guitarists Amos Garrett and David Wilcox and electric bassist Bill Dickinson will make old-timers nod in the delight of recalling an era when musicians actually jammed on pop records, and bass players were not just listening to click tracks. Once the song itself starts, it won't take long before the urge to take the album off will also begin, but it is a smarter move to simply move ahead. "Sweet Harmony" the song is overdone, and dated in its sanctimonious hippie white-gospel feel, but "Sweet Harmony" the album clicks at times with some of the finest productions ever created around a Maria Muldaur vocal. "Sad Eyes" would have been a better choice for an opener. The unbeatable rhythm team of bassist Willie Weeks and guitarist Waddy Wachtel -- who, a decade later, would get the nod to back Keith Richards up on solo projects -- really set up a delicious shuffle here, and once the superbly recorded band sound is established, it turns out to be a perfect spotlight for Muldaur's vocal talents.

A sort of encyclopedia of country, old-time, boogie, and Memphis jug band influences rolls out in her vocal like a barbecue chef in Kansas City spreading out the evening's offerings. For a musician of her intelligence and savvy, aspects of this session must have surely felt like arrival at some kind of professional nirvana. To be singing a Hoagy Carmichael tune -- "Rockin' Chair," an astute choice that the songstress pulls off with great comic flair -- with orchestral backup arranged and conducted by the great alto saxophonist Benny Carter, for example. Does it get any better than that? Not really, and the Carter tracks are some of the best in Muldaur's entire discography, especially "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye." The way Muldaur goes for a high note on the word "go" -- and gets it, practically yodelling -- is one of her most enjoyable vocal tricks. There are many influences involved in this project, however -- not just master musicians such as Carter, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, and guitarist Kenny Burrell.

Maria Muldauer - Sweet Harmony (1976)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Tracklist:

"Sweet Harmony" (Smokey Robinson) – 4:45
"Sad Eyes" (Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody) – 4:30
"Lying Song" (Kate McGarrigle) – 4:07
"Rockin' Chair" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 3:42
"I Can't Stand It" (Smokey McAllister) – 3:37
"We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye" (Harry Woods) – 3:35
"Back by Fall" (Wendy Waldman) – 3:55
"Jon the Generator" (John Herald) – 3:20
"Wild Bird" (Wendy Waldman) – 4:45
"As an Eagle Stirreth in Her Nest" (William Herbert Brewster) – 4:11

Tom Robinson - Living In A Boom Time (1992)

Tom Robinson (b.1950) is a UK songwriter & broadcaster first known in the 70s as an anti-racist and LGBT campaigner. He released 19 albums between 1975-2001 with various bands and has co-written songs with Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Dan Hartman and Manu Katché. He's an award-winning presenter at BBC Radio 6 Music, and released "Only The Now" (his first album in 19 years) in October 2015.

Tom Robinson seems to have been forgotten by the musical mainstream. The Tom Robinson Band were one of the great early punk bands, with an enormous following. The band split up after two albums and seem to have been forgotten, although Tom Robinson briefly returned to the charts in the early 80s with War Baby.

Tom Robinson continues touring and producing albums. "Living In A Boom Time"  - a solo acoustic album, recorded live at club gigs in Ireland - is one of his best albums and demonstrates the powerful mix of musical talent, wit and anger at the world's injustices that makes Tom one of my favourite artists. It captures the spirit of a Tom Robinson solo show around the beginning of the 1990s.

It starts with a brief intro, which comments ironically on Tom's transition from Punk Rocker to the more acoustic style of this album. Most of the album contains new material. "Living in a boom time" is an attack on the get rich quick culture of the early 90s and "Yuppy Scum" comments ironically on the transition from young rebel to middle aged pillar of the establishment that many people go through. My own favourite is "Rigging it up, Duncannon" inspired by the tragedy of the explosion on the Piper Alpha Oil Rig. "More Lives Than One" is better than the original, and "Castle Island" is unavailable on any other album. The album finishes with new versions of the classic tracks, "War Baby" and "Back in the Ould Country".

"Across eleven tracks, recorded live on tour in Ireland earlier this year, Tom Robinson reinvents himself as a solo folk singer. But where some faded rock stars may clutch desperately at the acoustic guitar, as a straw to save them from the harsh realities of life without chart positions, our Tom would appear to have made a sound and successful career move.

Shorn of the obligatory bass, drums and electric guitars', Robinson reveals a bite at the bottom of his voice-and a dozen more tonsiliary textures besides which will come as a considerable surprise to those who remember only the one-dimensional, weak and watery sound of his singing on the likes of '2-4-6-8 Motorway' and 'Glad To Be Gay'.

Standing alone and vulnerable like this, Robinson still manages to infuse his material with a strong sense of meaning, without having to resort to the blatant sloganeering which has often blighted his writing since the late '70s.

But then, with the possible exception of 'Yuppie Scum', Robinson's own translation of Jacques Brel's inflammatory 'Les Bourgeois', the songs here are uniformly less angry and embittered than they were back in his heyday as a pinko Punk.

Robinson's subject matter on 'Living In A Boom Time', 'My Own Sweet Way', 'Rigging It Up Duncannon' and 'The Brits Come Rolling Back' is still everyday social injustice in the post-AIDS, post-Thatcher era. But he now handles his themes with a weary resignation which, paradoxically, pushes the message home all the more effectively. And entertainingly.

Such a shift in emphasis may well prompt the agitprop fraternity to accuse him of going soft politically but, for the rest of us, Living In A Boom Time is Tom Robinson's most appealing album in years." - Chas de Whalley , VOX Magazine         

Tracklist:

1 Intro 1:00
2 Living In A Boom Time 3:55
3 Blood Brother 4:31
4 More Lives Than One 2:44
5 Yuppie Scum 3:05
6 My Own Sweet Way 4:10
7 Castle Island 4:24
8 Rigging It Up, Duncannon 3:26
9 The Brits Come Rolling Back 3:18
10 War Baby 4:31
11 Back In The Old Country 3:40

Tom Robinson - Living In A Boom Time (1992)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Shura Cherkassky - Frédéric Chopin / Franz Liszt (EP, Electrola)

Shura Cherkassky (7 October 1909 – 27 December 1995) was a Ukrainian-American concert pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone. For much of his later life, Cherkassky resided in London.

Alexander Isaakovich Cherkassky (Shura is a diminutive form of Alexander) was born in Odessa, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire) in 1909. Cherkassky's family fled to the United States to escape the Russian Revolution. His family was Jewish.

Cherkassky's first music lessons were from his mother, Lydia Cherkassky, who once played for Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg. She also taught the pianist Raymond Lewenthal. In the United States, Cherkassky continued his piano studies at the Curtis Institute of Music under Josef Hofmann. Before studying with Hofmann, however, Cherkassky auditioned for Sergei Rachmaninoff, who advised him to give up performing for at least two years and to change the position of his hands at the keyboard. Conversely, Hofmann suggested Cherkassky should continue giving concerts, and this long association with public performance meant that Cherkassky felt comfortable before an audience. Hofmann also recommended that he practice for four hours every day and Cherkassky did this religiously throughout his life, maintaining an extensive repertoire (baroque to Berio) to an exacting standard. His studies and advisory sessions with Hofmann continued until 1935. In the interim he began his lifelong obsession with world travel with trips to Australia, New Zealand, the Far East, Russia and Europe.

Cherkassky performed actively until the end of his life and many of his best recordings were made under live concert recital conditions.

Tracklist:

Side 1:
Chopin: Fantasie Impromptu, CIS-Moll, Op.66 (Posth.)

Side 2:  
Chopin: Etüde, C-Moll, Op.10, Nr.12, "Revolutionsetüde"
Liszt: Liebestraum (Nr.3)

Shura Cherkassky - Frédéric Chopin / Franz Liszt (EP, Electrola)  

(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Jah Children Invasion - Dancehall Classics Volume 1 (Wackies, 1983)

A follow-up to 1982's "Jah Son Invasion", "Jah Children Invasion: Dancehall Classics Vol. 1" rounded up another ten Wackies singles, this time concentrating on crowd-pleasing club numbers.

The two riddim 1983 set kicks off in style with Sugar Minott's "Original Lovers Rock," a romantic triumph over an inspired, minimalistic version of "Full Up." While Minott luxuriates in the glories of love, Chuck Turner isn't sure if his festivities are ending or just beginning on the emotive "She's out of My Life." Deeze Smood knows what he's feeling - passionate - and melts the disc with his smoldering "Jungle Love." Spragga Lexus, in contrast, has no time for romance, he's too busy just trying to survive on the hard-hitting "I Am Justa Youth." Producer Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes brings this section to an end with the hefty "Tickle Dub."

Steve Harper launches the second half of the set with his potent cover of the Wailers' "Jah Live" over a dread drenched militant version of the riddim, followed by Anthony Green's even more powerful "Victim," hitting virtually every cultural touchstone along the way. Minott returns on "Gi Mi a Reason," turning to the personal realm and his tortured state of his relationship. The growling Spragga Lexus is also back, now a "Conquering Lion" smacking down the ragamuffins, the wicked, and everyone else in his path, all in the name of Jah of course. After which, Barnes and his Wackies Rhythm Force let loose with "Unchain Dub" taking the riddim to its apotheosis.

Wackies released a steady stream of strong singles across the first half of the '80s, and although the vocalists didn't always do his riddims justice, this compilation from stars and barely remembered artists is proof of the label's and producer's power. 

Tracklist:

01. Sugar Minott - Original Lovers Rock
02. Chuck Turner - She's Out Of My Life
03. Deeze Smood - Jungle Love
04. Spragga Lexus - I Am Justa Youth
05. Wackie's Rhythm Force - Tickle Dub
06. Steve Harper - Jah Live
07. Anthony Green - Victim
08. Sugar Minott - Gi Mi A Reason
09. Spragga Lexus - Conquering Lion
10. Wackie's Rhythm Force - Unchain Dub 

VA - Jah Children Invasion - Dancehall Classics Volume 1 (Wackies, 1983)
(320 kbps, front cover included)      

VA - Music Of The Ukraine (Folkways, 1951)

Folk music in Ukraine retains great vitality to this day. Ritual songs, ballads, and historical songs (dumy) were sung a cappella or accompanied by folk instruments, of which the bandura (a multistringed lutelike instrument) is the most popular. Itinerant blind musicians known as kobzars or lirnyks (depending on their instrument of choice) were a common feature of the Ukrainian countryside until the 20th century. The hopak, an energetic folk dance composed of leaps and kicks, received renewed attention in the 21st century as martial arts practitioners integrated its movements into a self-defense technique based on ethnic Ukrainian traditions.

"Music of the Ukraine" includes traditional Ukrainian instruments such as the duda (bagpipe) and dances such as the Huculka - "a rapid dance played on mandolin-like instruments (balalaikas) and a home-made fiddle" (Henry Cowell). Often tracks demonstrate a confluence between Western and Eastern modalities, as on "Country Dances."


Tracklist:

A1 Gutsul Kolomyika Dance-Song
A2 Kozachok Dance-Song
A3 Hoculka Dance
A4 Country Dances

B1 Wedding Melodies
B2 Hutsulka And Kozachok Dances
B3 Folk Song - The Wind From Field
B4 Folk Song - One Half Of The Garden Blossoms

VA - Music Of The Ukraine (Folkways, 1951)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Gil Scott-Heron - 1971 – Pieces Of A Man

After decades of influencing everyone from jazz musicians to hip-hop stars, "Pieces of a Man" set a standard for vocal artistry and political awareness that few musicians will ever match.

Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists, and nowhere is his style more powerful than on the classic "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Even though the media - the very entity attacked in this song - has used, reused, and recontextualized the song and its title so many times, its message is so strong that it has become almost impossible to co-opt. Musically, the track created a formula that modern hip-hop would follow for years to come: bare-bones arrangements featuring pounding basslines and stripped-down drumbeats. Although the song features plenty of outdated references to everything from Spiro Agnew and Jim Webb to The Beverly Hillbillies, the force of Scott-Heron's well-directed anger makes the song timeless.

More than just a spoken word poet, Scott-Heron was also a uniquely gifted vocalist. On tracks like the reflective "I Think I'll Call It Morning" and the title track, Scott-Heron's voice is complemented perfectly by the soulful keyboards of Brian Jackson. On "Lady Day and John Coltrane," he not only celebrates jazz legends of the past in his words but in his vocal performance, one that is filled with enough soul and innovation to make Coltrane and Billie Holiday nod their heads in approval. Four decades after its release, "Pieces of a Man" is just as - if not more - powerful and influential today as it was the day it was released.

Tracklist:
01. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
02. Save The Children
03. Lady Day and John Coltrane
04. Home Is Where The Hatred Is
05. When You Are Who You Are
06. I Think I’ll Call It Morning
07. Pieces Of Man
08. A Sign Of The Ages
09. Or Down You’ll Fall
10. The Needles Eye
11. The Prisoner

Gil Scott-Heron - Peaces Of A Man (1971)
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Thanks a lot to http://rappamelo.com/ for the original upload!

VA - I´m So Proud - A Jamaican Tribute To Curtis Mayfield (Trojan)

No matter the official history, Jamaica's rocksteady movement of the late '60s wasn't just a response to the hectic rhythms of ska and a few summers of temperatures much sweatier than usual. No, the sweetly sung, down-tempo, rhythm lurch of rocksteady was greatly influenced by one of the biggest artists on Jamaican play lists between 1965 and 1969: Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.

Most of the classic rocksteady artists -- the Heptones, the Jamaicans, the Uniques, the Gaylads -- recorded Impressions covers during the late '60s or early '70s, and though they rarely added much to the versions other than a distinct reggae tilt, most were up to the level of all the covers done by American groups.

The Trojan compilation "I'm So Proud: A Jamaican Tribute to Curtis Mayfield" assembles 20 of the best covers (or inspired originals), and would serve well any fan of Mayfield or the Impressions; after all, it's simply not very far from the Impressions' "It's All Right" to Alton Ellis' "Rocksteady."               


Tracklist:

1 –Derrick Morgan - It's All Right
2 –Lloyd & Glen - Keep On Pushing
3 –The Techniques - Queen Majesty
4 –Dennis Alcapone - My Voice Is Insured For Half A Million Dollars (Queen Majesty Version)
5 –The Jamaicans - Dedicate My Song To You
6 –The Uniques - Gypsy Woman
7 –The Progressions - Rocksteady Time (The Monkey Time)
8 –Joe White  - I'm So Proud
9 –Pat Kelly  - Little Boy Blue
10 –Noel 'Bunny' Brown - Man's Temptation
11 –The Silvertones - He Will Break Your Heart
12 –The Uniques - My Woman's Love
13 –The Gaylads - That's What Love Will Do
14 –Bob Marley & The Wailers - Long Long Winter
15 –Pat Kelly - Soulful Love
16 –Slim Smith - Closer Together
17 –The Heptones - I've Been Trying
18 –Bob Marley & The Wailers - I Gotta Keep On Moving
19 –The Chosen Few - Queen Majesty
20 –Marcia Griffiths - Gypsy Man


VA - I´m So Proud - A Jamaican Tribute To Curtis Mayfield (Trojan)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Blind Gary Davis - Harlem Street Singer (1960)

Recorded during a three hour session at the Jersey Jazz Studio of the legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder on August 24, 1960, Gary Davis laid down 12 of his most impassioned spirituals for "Harlem Street Singer".

You get 44 minutes of soul survival stuff here, and any blues buff ought to own it. The more casual fan may have to listen a few times to really like Gary's vocals, but his guitar work is fun from the first chord. The recording quality is excellent.

Starting off the session with a version of Blind Willie Johnson's "If I Had My Way I'd Tear That Building Down," here renamed "Samson and Delilah," Davis is in fine form. His vocals are as expressive as Ray Charles' while similar in richness to Richie Havens' work.

"Harlem Street Singer" features his inspired country blues fingerpicking as well. Many moods color the selections, from the gentle "I Belong to the Band" to the mournful "Death Don't Have No Mercy," only to be followed by the joyous shouting of "Goin' to Sit Down on the Banks of the River." Overall, the collection should be considered essential listening for fans of country blues or gospel.

Tracklist:

1. Samson And Delilah (If I Had My Way)
2. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
3. I Belong To The Band
4. Pure Religion
5. Great Change Since I Been Born
6. Death Don't Have No Mercy
7. Twelve Gates To The City
8. Goin' To Sit Down On The Banks Of T
9. Tryin' To Get Home -traditional-
10. Lo, I Be With You Always
11. I Am The Light Of This World
12. Lord, I Feel Just Like Goin' On

Blind Gary Davis - Harlem Street Singer
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Richie Havens - Electric Havens (1968)

This was one of two albums (the other being "The Richie Havens Record") comprised of overdubbed solo demos, probably from sometime between 1963-1965, that Havens had done prior to recording for Verve and making his official recording debut.

In the late '60s, as Havens rose to stardom, producer Alan Douglas took the original solo demos and overdubbed them with electric instruments. The albums were pulled from circulation and are hard to find today. One would understand why Havens might have disapproved of their release, but "Electric Havens" really isn't bad.

The eight-song set is oriented toward the kind of traditional material that he was likely doing in clubs around that time, such as "Oxford Town," "C.C. Rider," and "900 Miles From Home," as well as an early Dylan cover, "Boots & Spanish Leather." Havens sings with his usual spontaneous conviction, and although the electric backing sounds a bit awkward - and, unsurprisingly considering the circumstances, wavering in time keeping - it's not overdone, or completed in such a fashion that it's difficult to enjoy the performances. Different years of release have appeared in discographies for both this and "The Richie Havens Record", incidentally; it's almost certain that both came out in the late '60s, with 1968 serving as the best-guess year in both cases.

Tracklis:

A1: Oxford Town
A2: 9000 Miles
A3: I´m A Stranger Here
A4: My Own Way

B1: Boots And Spanish Leather
B2: C. C. Rider
B3: 3´10 To Yuma
B4: Shadown Town

Richie Havens - Eectric Havens (1968)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Gil Scott-Heron - 1970 – Small Talk at 125th & Lenox Ave

One of the most important progenitors of rap music, Gil Scott-Heron's aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging songwriting skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career, backed by increasingly contemporary production courtesy of Malcolm Cecil and Nile Rodgers (of Chic).

Disregard the understated title, "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox" was a volcanic upheaval of intellectualism and social critique, recorded live in a New York nightclub with only bongos and conga to back the street poet. Here Scott-Heron introduced some of his most biting material, including the landmark "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" as well as his single most polemical moment: the angry race warning "Enough."

Still, he balances the tone and mood well, ranging from direct broadsides to clever satire. He introduces "Whitey on the Moon" with a bemused air ("wanting to give credit where credit is due"), then launches into a diatribe concerning living conditions for the neglected on earth while those racing to the moon receive millions of taxpayer dollars. On "Evolution (And Flashback)," Scott-Heron laments the setbacks of the civil rights movement and provides a capsule history of his race, ending sharply with these words: "In 1960, I was a negro, and then Malcolm came along/Yes, but some nigger shot Malcolm down, though the bitter truth lives on/Well, now I am a black man, and though I still go second class/Whereas once I wanted the white man's love, now he can kiss my ass." The only sour note comes on a brush with homophobia, "The Subject Was Faggots."

Tracklist:
01. Intro
02. The Revolution will not be televised
03. Omen
04. Brother
05. Comment #1
06. Small Talk At 125th And Lenox
07. The Subject Was Faggots
08. Evolution (And Flashback)
09. Plastic Pattern People
10. Whitey On The Moon
11. The Vulture
12. Enough
13. Paint It Black
14. Everyday

Gil Scott-Heron - Small Talk At 125th & Lenox Ave
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Dave Van Ronk - Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger (Prestige, 1962)

Many die-hard folkys consider Dave Van Ronk in a class apart from his contemporaries — such as Bob Dylan, Eric Von Schmidt, or Jean Ritchie.

Likewise, when asked to pick their favorite of his recordings, "Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger" is likely among the first mentioned. The original LP features a baker's dozen of Van Ronk's most memorable performances, presented in the intimate context of his own solo guitar accompaniment.
This unadorned musical approach seemingly raised the bar for many Washington Square folk devotees. His deceptively simplistic delivery acts as both a gateway to, as well as an archetypal interpreter of, a roots-based folk music that is steeped in the American experience. "Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger" is the first in a series of sides that Van Ronk would cut for Prestige and features a selection of traditional material, most of which hadn't been included on his earlier Folkways albums.

What is most immediately striking about Van Ronk's approach is the overwhelming solitude inherent within his delivery. The unadorned humanity is expressed practically by default. Examples can be found throughout the disc, be it in the soul-rendering visage of a junkie in "Cocaine Blues" or the lamentations of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me." As well as forging a unique style, Van Ronk also reflects the enormous inspiration of his varied influences. The rambunctious "Samson and Delilah" certainly takes a page from the talkin' blues delivery of Rev. Gary Davis. The mournful and despondent "He Was a Friend of Mine" comes from the same mold that forged Bob Dylan's original. Van Ronk was a vocal supporter of Dylan in that he was one of, if not the first artist to have covered one of his tunes. The version heard here can be likened to Dylan's paternal twin, as the song's essence remains true to form. However, not all of Van Ronk's material is so somber. John Henry's bawdy blues "You've Been a Good Old Wagon" and the traditional "Chicken Is Nice" are charming in their unaffected, almost accidental whimsy. As there is nothing new about the material, once again the impassive delivery and subtle intonations are at the core of making these readings so amusing. In the case of the former, Van Ronk's assertion to keep the narrative voice either feminine - or possibly gay - allows tremendous insight into the type of humor Van Ronk successfully asserts. This is a vital touchstone of Americana and likewise is highly recommended as a key component of any serious collection of 20th century folk music.

Tracklist:

A1 Samson & Delilah 3:35
A2 Cocaine Blues 4:13
A3 You've Been A Good Old Wagon 2:16
A4 Fixin' To Die 2:50
A5 Hang Me, Oh Hang Me 3:07
A6 Long John 2:10
A7 Chicken Is Nice 2:29
B1 He Was A Friend Of Mine 3:29
B2 Motherless Children 3:45
B3 Stackalee 3:32
B4 Mr. Noah 1:28
B5 Come Back Baby 3:48
B6 Poor Lazarus 5:06


Dave Van Ronk - Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger (Prestige, 1962)

(ca. 192 kbps, cover art included)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Studio Archives (1969)

This is a very nice little bootleg, which spans the period between the release of CSN's debut album together, and "Deja Vu", the first CSN&Y album. The songs are taken from a few sources, including Stephen Stills home studio and the Wally Heider's Studio. Many unreleased songs, a couple of cover versions (many takes of the Beatles one), and more vasic, stripped down versions of released tracks. Enjoy!

Highlights include beautiful alternate recordings of “Triad”, “The Lee Shore” and “Almost Cut My Hair”, four gorgeous in-studio takes of “Blackbird”, some hysterical in-studio dialogue, and a lovely renditionof the Fred Neil track “Everybody’s Talkin’” which Harry Nilsson made popular on the “Midnight Cowboy” soundtrack.



Tracklist:

1. Everybody's Talkin' (Fred Neil cover)
2. How Have You Been (John Sebastian cover)
3. Black Queen Riff / Dialogue
4. Triad (acoustic studio take)
5. Almost Cut My Hair (acoustic studio take)
6. Every Day We Live (Stephen Stills unreleased song)
7. Sea of Madness (Studio Take)
8. The Lee Shore (different vocal take)
9. Everybody I Love You (unedited basic track)
10. I'll Be There (Stephen Stills unreleased song)
11. Blackbird (Beatles cover, Takes 1-4)
12. Ivory Tower (Stills' unreleased song)
13. 30 Dollar Fine (Stills' unreleased song
14. Everybody's Been Burned (Nash version)
15. You're Wrong, Baby (Nash's unreleased song)
16. Everybody's Alone (Young's unreleased song)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Studio Archives (1969)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Brain Festival Essen (1977)

 "Brain" was the pioneer German label in electronic music and krautrock, established by A&R men Bruno Wendel and Günter Körber in late-1971 as a co-release label in partnership with Metronome. In 1974 Körber left to set up his own Sky Records.

This is a rip of a 2 record set, featuring artists on the Brain label, performing at a festival in Essen, Germany in 1977. The gigs were recorded by the great Conny Plank.

Thanks a lot for the original posting at http://toterallee.blogspot.de some nine years ago...

Tracklist:
 

LP 1:
1.	Gate - Friedrichstraße 18		7:05
2.	Novalis - Wer Schmetterlinge lachen hört		9:14
3.	Release Music Orchestra - Rico		6:50
4.	Jane - Expectation		5:40
5.	Jane - Out In The Rain		6:06
LP 2:
1.	Message - River Field		5:46
2.	Guru Guru - I'm Really Into Rock 'N' Roll, Man		5:58
3.	Guru Guru - All We Need		4:40
4.	Ruphus - Second Corner		6:34
5.	Ruphus - No Deal		7:45

VA - Brain Festival Essen (1977)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Prince Buster - The Message Dubwise (Melodisc, 1972)

On an island overflowing with exceptional talent on both sides of the mixing board, to suggest that just one man was the most influential is perhaps absurd, but if you took a poll, Prince Buster would inevitably win by a wide margin. He remains synonymous with ska, while being equally important to rocksteady. From Judge Dread to rude reggae, Prince Buster has left his imprint across Jamaica's musical landscape, both as a singer and a producer. 2-Tone wouldn't have existed without him, and by extension, neither would the third wave. And over 45 years after he first appeared on the music scene, Prince Buster was still making an impact.



If anything could be said to have assured the future of dub, it was the decision to release full-length albums dedicated exclusively to the nascent genre. The first began appearing in 1972, with Prince Buster's "Message Dubwise" among these originating sets.

Mixed down by Carlton Lee, the highly innovative ten-track strong album highlights Buster's strengths as a producer, as well as his distinctive style. And although some of the dubs are invariably bass led, including the title track and the bouncy "Jet Black," Buster was drum mad, and so the percussion is often pulled to the fore, notably on the crash, bang, wallop of "Why Am I Treated So Bad" and the nyahbinghi-fied "Sata a Miss Gana," one of the most evocative numbers on the set.

Surprisingly, Lee rarely employed any effects or reverb on the drums or bass, preferring to utilize them on the instruments, drawing out notes and chords instead. And most of the tracks featured plenty of instrumentation, from the melodica led "Java Plus" across the smooth organ passages of "Saladin," and even on the heavy, heavy dub of the moody proto-roots of "Swing Low." "Mississippi" is the exception, a fabulous version of the "Full Up" riddim that pulls the percussion, drum and bass to the front of the mix, than splatters slivers of instrumentation on top. The rather unimaginatively titled "Big Youth" closes the set, with the DJ plugging Prince Buster and preaching peace over a medley of recent Buster productions. The perfect closing for a groundbreaking set.


Tracklist:

01. Swing Low
02. Sata A Miss Gana
03. Java Plus
04. The Message
05. Mississipi
06. Saladin
07. Why Am I Treated So Bad
08. Jet Black
09. Black Harlem
10. Big Youth

Prince Buster - The Message Dubwise (1972)
(192 kbps, cover art incuded)

Derrick Morgan - People Decision

A member of the classic first wave of Jamaican ska artists, Derrick Morgan was among the genre's founding fathers, emerging alongside pioneers including the Skatalites, Laurel Aitken, Prince Buster, and Desmond Dekker. Born in March, 1940, Morgan was raised in the Kingston area, exposed to a variety of musical sources spanning from New Orleans R&B to the choral music of the nearby church where his father served as deacon. At the age of 17, he took top honors at the annual Vere John's Opportunity talent show, delivering blistering renditions of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" and "Jenny Jenny," and in 1959 teamed with producer Duke Reid to record his debut single "Lover Boy." Morgan's follow-up, "Fat Man," was a smash throughout Jamaica, and he later scored with recordings of "Leave Earth" and "Wigger Wee Shuffle," both cut with the legendary Clement "Coxsone" Dodd.

By 1960, Morgan was the unrivaled King of Ska — at the peak of his popularity, he was the first and only Jamaican artist to date to hold down the top seven slots on the national pop singles chart during the same week, generating a string of smashes including "Be Still," "In My Heart," "Don't Call Me Daddy," "Moon Hop," and "Meekly Wait and Murmur Not." In 1961, he recorded his biggest hit ever, "Housewives' Choice," and a year later — in celebration of Jamaica's emancipation — he recorded the first independence song, "Forward March." Morgan and Prince Buster, arguably the two biggest ska performers of the era, became embroiled in a fierce musical feud which quickly spilled over among their respective fans, and as of 1963, disputes between the two camps became so heated that leaders of the newly formed Jamaican government were forced to intervene, calling a cease-fire and bringing the two performers together for publicity photos to bury the hatchet.

In 1966, Morgan issued "Tougher Than Tough," widely credited as the first record in the rocksteady genre. He continued to innovate in the years to follow — among his most enduring contributions were "Went to the Hop" (the first Jamaican song with an electric bass guitar), "Blazing Fire" (the first song to employ an electric piano), "Love Not to Brag" (the first duet with a female artist, Millicent Patsy Todd) and "Seven Letters" (the first reggae song, produced in collaboration with brother-in-law Bunny Lee). Morgan also produced many of the era's most notable up-and-comers, among them Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, and Garnet Silk. Although he lived in Britain from 1963 onward, Morgan remained a towering figure in Jamaica throughout the remainder of the decade; even after his fame began to slip in the '70s, he continued recording regularly in the years to follow.

"People Decision" was released on Third World in 1977, produced by Bunny Lee, mixed by King Tubby. Apart from some sexual themes, this is also an album to promote socialism.

Tracks:
People's Decision
Racing At Ballistic Park
Let's Build A Better Jamaica
Judge Heavy Manners
Natty Dread Forward Out Of Babylon
Let Me Go Girl

My Dickie
Ride Mammy Fanny
Rough Grinder
Wreck A Fanny
Ital Man
In The Public's Interest

Derrick Morgan - People Decision (1977, Third World)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Art Bears - The World As It Is Today (1981)

Art Bears were a warm and wonderful avant-garde band consisting of Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, and vocalist extraordinaire Dagmar Krause. Frith and Cutler were longtime members of the seminal English radical political avant-garde art rock band Henry Cow, while Krause sang primarily with the fine German band Slapp Happy and in Henry Cow's latter years. The Art Bears were intended as a short-term project, but, even so, their three-year existence resulted in three excellent albums that relied more on shorter, more traditional, almost pop-oriented song forms than huge, complex musical and lyrical extrapolations. The political tinge of the Henry Cow years never went away, and it was unsurprising that Marxist rhetoric and anti-capitalist diatribes formed much of band's lyrical firmament.

If you thought Henry Cow was a pretty political band to start with, you may be even more taken aback by the Art Bears, which was put together following Henry Cow's demise by former Cows Chris Cutler (percussion), Fred Frith (guitar, violin), and Dagmar Krause (voice).

On "The World As It Is Today" and its predecessor, "Winter Songs", the Art Bears move away from the long-form art rock of Henry Cow and get much, much more politically explicit: song titles like "The Song of the Dignity of Labour Under Capital" and "The Song of Investment Capital Overseas" almost soundlike Monty Python gags today, but if any humor was intended it was clearly meant to be mordant.

Frankly, the lyrics are so overwrought and portentous that it's hard to take them seriously. But the music is something else again. Cutler and Frith are natural collaborators; Cutler's drumming always rides a very fine line between the scattershot and the funky, while Frith bounces his horror-show guitar noise and carnival piano off of Cutler's grooves with manic abandon and fearsome inventiveness. And Krause's singing is just as inventive; she whoops, croons and screams her way through the density of Cutler's lyrics without a hesitation or misstep. Easy listening it isn't, but it's sure worth hearing. Frith fans, in particular, should consider this album a must-own.

Tracklist

A1	The Song Of Investment Capital Overseas	2:37
A2	Truth	2:56
A3	Freedom	3:24
A4	(Armed) Peace	2:30
A5	Civilisation	4:39
B1	Democracy	2:22
B2	The Song Of The Martyrs	4:08
B3	Law	0:50
B4	The Song Of The Monopolists	1:48
B5	The Song Of The Dignity Of Labour Under Capital	2:27
B6	Albion, Awake!	4:02

Art Bears - The World As It Is Today (1981)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Atahualpa Yupanqui - Lo Mejor De

The roots of nueva canción trace to the late 1950s and early ’60s, a notably restive era in Latin American history. Many countries were saddled with ineffective or authoritarian governments, and the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished was widening. Moreover, European and North American cultural influence was becoming increasingly palpable, with musical tastes in particular molded to a significant degree by the commercial-music industry of North America. In that milieu two notable singer-songwriters in neighbouring countries embarked on crusades to reclaim what they perceived as the crumbling social and cultural integrity of their homelands: Violeta Parra in Chile and Atahualpa Yupanqui in Argentina.

Much of the work of Parra and Yupanqui involved collecting old songs from the countryside and reworking - or rejuvenating - them to become “new songs” in a more contemporary, broadly accessible format. Parra commonly cast her song in well-established local poetic forms, and, perhaps most significant, she introduced Andean instruments into the accompanying ensemble. Meanwhile, Yupanqui’s semisung lyrics, intoned atop expressive guitar playing, vividly evoked the hardships of life in the Andes. By developing and promoting a body of popular songs that were grounded in local traditions and that addressed the experiences and concerns of ordinary people, both Parra and Yupanqui helped democratize music in their countries; their songs spoke both to and for the populace.

Tracklist:

1	Los Ejes De Mi Carreta	3:00
2	La Copla	4:55
3	La Olvidada	2:10
4	La Tarde	4:00
5	El Poeta	3:00
6	Malambo	3:25
7	A La Noche La Hizo Dios	3:30
8	El Pampino	4:10
9	Paisaje Con Nieve	4:50
10	El Aromo	4:00
11	El Alazán	3:19
12	El Promesante	3:20
13	Le Tengo Rabia Al Silencio	3:02
14	Guitarra Dímelo Tú	2:54
15	Camino Del Indio	3:02
16	Trabajo, Quiero Trabajo	2:54

Atahualpa Yupanqui - Lo Mejor De
(256 kbps, cover art included)