Eric Burdon And The Animals - 1967 - See See Rider FLAC

  Inside Looking Out/ See See Rider/Don't Bring Me Down/Help Me Girl

 

   "See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 1924, at Paramount Records in New York. The song uses mostly traditional blues lyrics to tell the story of an unfaithful lover, commonly called an "easy rider": "See see rider, see what you have done", making a play on the word "see" and the sound of "easy".

In 1966, Eric Burdon & the Animals recorded "See See Rider" for their fourth American album, Animalization. It was also released as a single, which reached number 10 on the Hot 100.

"Help Me Girl" is a song performed by Eric Burdon in 1966. It was billed to Eric Burdon for his 1967 solo album, Eric Is Here which also featured drummer Barry Jenkins, the only group member to remain during the transition from the "first" Animals group to the "new" lineup.
"Help Me Girl" reached number 29 on the U.S. charts and number 14 on the UK charts.\

"Inside-Looking Out", often written "Inside Looking Out", is a 1966 single by the Animals, and their first for Decca Records. It was a substantial hit, reaching number 40 on the UK Singles Chart, number 21 in Canada, and number 34 in the United States on the U.S. pop singles chart. It was the group's final single with drummer John Steel, who left shortly after its release. He was replaced by Barry Jenkins, who would go on to play with Eric Burdon and the Animals.

"Don't Bring Me Down" is a song composed by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and recorded as a 1966 hit single by the Animals. It was the group's first release with drummer Barry Jenkins, who replaced founding member John Steel as he had left the band in February of that year. "Don't Bring Me Down" was one of a series of Animals renditions of Brill Building material, following the 1965 hits "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life". According to one account, all three came out of one call in 1965 that the Animals' then-producer Mickie Most made for songs.

Rosa Fang - 1966 - These Boots Are Made For Walking FLAC

  穿着鞋子走路 (These Boots Are Made For Walking)/夢裡會情郎 (Far Away)/情竇初開 (My Love)/海上良宵 (Hawaiian Song)

 

 Well, I am afraid this post is going to be quite short, sadly I wasn't able to discover any information about the elusive Rosa Fang, except that this was probably her only release. Could it be that Rosa Fang released other records under a different name? She has a mature voice and I doubt that these are her only recordings. Althought manufactured in India, this EP was released in Singapore on the Columbia label with catalogue number ECHK 555, sometimes in early/mid 1966. Side A begins with "穿着鞋子走路" a cover of "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", a hit song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by Nancy Sinatra in late 1965 track 2 is a bit of a mystery .On Side B we find "情竇初開", a nice version of Petula Clark's international hit "My Love", a song written by Tony Hatch in late 1965 once again track 2 have no I idea.

 

 

Rose Garden - 1967 - Next Plane To London FLAC

 Next Plane To London/Flower Town/If My World Falls Through/Here's Today

 

 "Next Plane to London" is the debut single by the American folk rock band, The Rose Garden. The single, released by Atco Records, became the band's only Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it peaked at number 17. It would later reappear on the group's 1968 studio album, The Rose Garden. "Next Plane to London" made The Rose Garden one of the most memorable one-hit wonders of the late sixties, yet the song has never been recorded by another prominent group, apart from an unreleased demo by the band They Might Be Giants.The band's first incarnation was as the Blokes, a Byrds-inspired band. The Blokes recorded their own material, but became known for promoting a single by professional musicians who went under the name, The Giant Sunflower. The single, "February Sunshine", became a Los Angeles hit, and the Blokes became known as The Giant Sunflower for a couple of weeks to perform the song in their live act. The Blokes recorded demos with Charlie Greene, and Brian Stone when it was announced they needed a new name. As guitarist John Noreen states, "Everything was 'flower power' at that time, so The Rose Garden made sense". Under the new band name, the group recorded numerous demos in search of the one song to become their debut single. At first, their efforts appeared in vain until their promoter, Pat Pipolo, put managers Greene and Stone in contact with songwriter Kenny Gist Jr.. Gist Jr.'s composition, "Next Plane to London", was chosen to be recorded as the A-side to the debut single.

 

Eric Burdon And The Animals - 1968 - Sky Pilot FLAC

 Sky Pilot/ Anything/Don't Bring Me Down

 

 "Sky Pilot" is a 1968 song by Eric Burdon & the Animals, released on the album The Twain Shall Meet. When released as a single the song was split across both sides, due to its length (7:27). As "Sky Pilot (Parts 1 & 2)" it reached number 14 on the U.S. pop charts and number 15 on the Canadian RPM chart.

"Anything" is a song performed by Eric Burdon & the Animals in 1967. It was featured on their psychedelic rock album Winds of Change. While the singles "San Franciscan Nights", "Good Times" and the album were released, "Anything" was also released as a single, peaking #80 on the United States pop singles chart. Allmusic critic Bruce Eder described it as a "relatively straightforward, brooding, moody rocker." Billboard described the single as an "intriguing rock ballad with an equally compelling lyric." Cash Box said it was "slow rock with a tasteful touch of soul" with "stunning string lines" and a "melancholy Burdon vocal.

"Don't Bring Me Down" is a song composed by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and recorded as a 1966 hit single by the Animals. It was the group's first release with drummer Barry Jenkins, who replaced founding member John Steel as he had left the band in February of that year."Don't Bring Me Down" was a solid hit, reaching the Top 10 (#6) in the UK pop singles chart, and falling just short of that on the U.S. pop singles chart, reaching number 12 during June and July 1966. It was also popular in Canada, reaching number 3 on the CHUM Chart. It was also one of their most popular singles in Germany, reaching number 17.

Nichelle Nichols - 1974 - Dark Side of the Moon FLAC

 Dark Side of the Moon/.It's Been On My Mind/ Starry-Eyed/Let's Trip

 

 Nichelle Nichols (/nɪˈʃɛl/ born Grace Dell Nichol,; December 28, 1932) is an American actress, singer and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was ground-breaking for African American female characters on American television. From 1977 until 2015, Nichols volunteered her time to promote NASA's programs, and to recruit diverse astronauts, including women and ethnic minorities. Nichols has released two music albums. Down to Earth is a collection of standards released in 1967, during the original run of Star Trek.[29] Out of This World, released in 1991, is more rock oriented and is themed around Star Trek and space exploration. She sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Lionel Hampton. As Uhura, she sang songs in Star Trek episodes "Charlie X" and "The Conscience of the King".

Side A opens with the title-track, a song written by Nichelle' second husband Duke Mondy, who is credited as "Duke Monday". With some Moog effects layered in for that spacey feeling, it is a pretty good example of the kind of Exotica-flavored Lounge Croon Soul that the EP contains. The lyrics poetically describe the coldness and aridity of the hidden side of our only satellite.
"It's Been On My Mind" was written again by Mondy along with Nichelle Nichols. The song starts with a spoken introduction before exploding in a rich Soul number with effective backing vocals appearing during the refrain and cool horns scattered here and there.
On Side B we find "Starry-Eyed", another spacey number written by producer Eddie Singleton along with one Dorothy Goodman who I wasn't able to trace back. The song offers more synthesizers than any other on the EP, along with elegant touches of jazzy guitars in the middle section and inspired vocals.
The frenetic "Let's Trip", once again written by Eddie Singleton, ends the record with an agitated vocal performace where Nichelle sighs, wheezes, hints, shouts, laughs and moans on the top - or better, over the top - of a repetitive walking bassline, chorus and complex full-instrumentation arrangement.

Four Pennies - 1966 - Trouble Is My Middle Name FLAC

 Trouble Is My Middle Name/Way Out Love/ Juliet/When Will I Be Loved

 

 The Four Pennies were founded in 1963, and initially consisted of Lionel Morton (vocals, rhythm guitar), Fritz Fryer (lead guitar), Mike Wilshaw (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Alan Buck (drums) The group's name was chosen as a more commercial alternative to "The Lionel Morton Four", and was decided upon after a meeting above a Blackburn music shop, Reidy's Home of Music, which was then situated on "Penny Street".

In their homeland, the group scored a number 47 placing with their first single, 1964's "Do You Want Me To". They then became famous for having a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart later in 1964 with "Juliet". It was written by group members Fritz Fryer, Mike Wilshaw and Lionel Morton. The ballad was originally intended for release as a b-side (b/w "Tell Me Girl"). "Juliet" was the only 1964 Number one by a UK group not to chart in America. The US division of Philips Records issued only two of the Four Pennies' singles stateside. Both these singles ("Juliet" and "Until It's Time for You to Go") were major European hits, but while "Juliet" did pick up some airplay on a number of US radio stations, "Until It's Time For You To Go" did not. In any event, neither single picked up enough US airplay or sales to chart.

Following the UK chart-topping success of "Juliet", the Four Pennies racked up subsequent 1964 UK hits with their original "I Found Out The Hard Way" and a cover version of Lead Belly's, "Black Girl". They also issued an album, Two Sides of Four Pennies, which, as was customary for British acts of the time, mostly ignored their hit singles.

After their first single of 1965 did not reach the UK chart, Fryer left the Four Pennies to found a folk trio called Fritz, Mike and Mo. (The single's b-side, "A Place Where No-One Goes", found success in Turkey later that year). Fryer was replaced on guitar by David Graham. The revamped quartet then hit the UK chart again with "Until It's Time for You to Go", written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. 1966 saw the final UK chart entry for the Four Pennies, with a cover version of Bobby Vinton's "Trouble Is My Middle Name". Fryer then returned to the fold, replacing Graham.

They finished 1966 – and their career – with a non-charting album (Mixed Bag), and two non-charting singles: UK songwriter Charles Bell's "Keep The Freeway Open", and Tom Springfield's "No More Sad Songs For Me". By the end of the year, the group had dissolved.

Pietro Attila and The Warlocks - 1969 - Pietro and The Warlocks FLAC

 Happy Birthday/This Guy Is In Love With You/Beggin' /Turn Around, Look at Me

Pietro D'Angelo was born in Sicily, Italy, sometime during the late '30s. He spent the first part of his life in his native island mastering the tenor saxophone; here he got married and also had a daughter. During the late '50s / early '60s he moved to Hong Kong and made his base there. Later he adopted the stage name Pietro Attila and his charactheristic 'bald dome and pony tail' look. He came to Singapore in 1968 with a foreign edition of The Warlocks and they did gigs in local clubs. At some point, the group went back home but Pietro stayed and formed a new edition of The Warlocks comprising mainly Asian musicians. They got signed by EMI and in 1969 they released an album, "Something In the Air", and an untitled EP of exclusive tracks, which is the subject of this post. A single with two cuts taken from the album ("Something In the Air" and "Dizzy") was also released the same year. Subsequently, the group changed again. In the early '70s, drummer Lim Wee Guan performed with Pietro and The Warlocks for six months at the New Latin Quarter nightspot in the Akasaka district in Tokyo after The Quests split.

Glen Campbell - 1969 - By The Time I Get To Phoenix FLAC

 By The Time I Get To Phoenix/Crying/Homeward Bound/Wichita Lineman/Catch The Wind/Gentle On My Mind

 

 Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from 1969 until 1972. He released 64 albums in a career that spanned five decades, selling over 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.

Born in Billstown, Arkansas, Campbell began his professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles, spending several years playing with the group of instrumentalists later known as "The Wrecking Crew". After becoming a solo artist, he placed a total of 80 different songs on either the Billboard Country Chart, Billboard Hot 100, or Adult Contemporary Chart, of which 29 made the top 10 and of which nine reached number one on at least one of those charts. Among Campbell's hits are "Universal Soldier", his first hit from 1965, along with "Gentle on My Mind" (1967), "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (1967), "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (1968), "Wichita Lineman" (1968), "Galveston" (1969), "Rhinestone Cowboy" (1975), and "Southern Nights" (1977).

In 1967, Campbell won four Grammys in the country and pop categories. For "Gentle on My Mind", he received two awards in country and western; "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" did the same in pop. Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards (2000, 2004, 2008), while Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He owned trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and took the CMA's top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year. Campbell played a supporting role in the film True Grit (1969), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. He also sang the title song, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Thanks  to RAM

 

Gene Pitney - 1965 - Gene Pitney's Greatest Hits FLAC

 (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance/ If I Didn't Have A Dime/True Love Never Runs Smooth/Half Heaven, Half Heartache

 

Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician.

Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, including 11 in the top ten. Among his most famous hits are "Town Without Pity", "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance", "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa", "I'm Gonna Be Strong", "It Hurts To Be In Love", and "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart". He also wrote the early-1960s hits "Rubber Ball" recorded by Bobby Vee, "Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson, and "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals. In 2002 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Thanks to RAM

 

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass - 1967 - Mexican Drummer Man FLAC

 Mexican Drummer Man/ La Virgen De La Macarena (The Great Manolete)/ Green Leaves Of Summer/More (Theme from Mondo Cane)

 

 Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss.

His career highlights as a musician include recording five No. 1 albums; charting 28 albums on the Billboard magazine album chart; achieving sales of 14 platinum albums and 15 gold albums; and earning nine Grammy Awards. He has sold 72 million records worldwide. Alpert is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart as both a vocalist ("This Guy's in Love with You", 1968) and an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979).  Thanks to RAM

Move - 1969 - Curly FLAC

  Curly/Yellow Rainbow/This Time Tomorrow/Weekend


 "Curly" was a song recorded in 1969 by English rock group The Move.
The song charted at number 12 in the UK, and was the last single by the band to feature Carl Wayne before his departure from the band, as well as the first with Rick Price replacing Trevor Burton on bass guitar. The instrumentation is mainly acoustic, and Roy Wood, who wrote the song, was featured on multi-tracked recorder as well as acoustic guitar. B-Side was "This Time Tomorrow".

Reportedly the song was disliked by the band's drummer Bev Bevan who thought it was too pop and sugary. Released as a single only it charted at #12 on the U.K. charts, it was later included on the remastered versions of Looking On in 1998 and Shazam in 2007.


"Something" b/w "Yellow Rainbow" released in 1968 only in the U.S. but did not chart.

Eden Kane - 1966 - Boys Cry FLAC

 Boys Cry/Magic Town/I Don't Know Why/Get Lost

 

 

 Richard Graham Sarstedt born 29 March 1940, known by the stage name Eden Kane, is an English pop/rock singer, record producer and actor best known as a teen idol in the 1960s. He has also recorded under his birth name and with backing group the Downbeats. Born in India, he is the elder brother of musicians Peter Sarstedt and Robin Sarstedt (aka. Clive Robin Sarstedt), with whom he has collaborated on numerous Sarstedt Brothers albums. He had success in the early 1960s as a pop star appealing to a teenage audience, with hits including "Well I Ask You" which was a UK No. 1 hit in 1961, then spent time in Australia before moving to the United States, where he began an acting career.

He entered a talent contest at the Classic Cinema in Kings Road, Chelsea, where he won a contract to sing an advertising jingle for Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate, which was played frequently on Radio Luxembourg. He was signed by management team Philip Waddilove and Michael Barclay, who changed Sarstedt's name to Eden Kane – "Eden" because of its biblical associations at a time when Adam Faith was a top pop star, and "Kane" because Citizen Kane was Barclay's favourite film – and the song was released as the B-side of a single, "You Make Love So Well", by Pye Records in August 1960.

He then won a recording contract with Decca Records. His first recording for the label, "Well I Ask You"—written by Les Vandyke, arranged by John Keating, and produced by Bunny Lewis—reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1961. It was followed by three more top ten hits in the UK over the next year, "Get Lost" (No. 10), "Forget Me Not" (No. 3) and "I Don't Know Why" (No.7).Together with a backing band, the Downbeats, which comprised Roger Retting, Ben Steed, Roger St. Clair and Bugs Waddell, he toured widely around the UK with such stars as Cliff Richard, Billy Fury and Helen Shapiro. His brother Peter was the band's road manager, later joining on bass, with brother Clive joining on guitar.

His fifth single for Decca, "House to Let", failed to chart, and later releases for the label were equally unsuccessful. He left Decca and joined Philips subsidiary Fontana in 1963. Like many of his teen idol peers, Kane sought to stave off chart oblivion by hitching a ride onto the beat boom bandwagon, but some momentum was lost when his next release, originally titled "Do You Love Me" (c/w "Comeback"), had to be reissued with a new title, "Like I Love You", to avoid confusion with the UK hit covers of the Contours' US hit of the same name by Brian Poole & the Tremeloes and the Dave Clark Five. His third single for Fontana, "Boys Cry" (No. 8), returned him to the charts in January 1964, but it was to be his last hit. He made several television appearances on shows with newly-successful groups such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and toured Australia with Roy Orbison, Del Shannon and the Searchers. Success in Australia led to him hosting a TV series in that country. At a stopover in Los Angeles he met American journalist Charlene Groman, sister of Stefanie Powers, and they married several years later. 

Kane has since recorded for Bell, Monarch, HMV and Festival (the last two being Australian releases). He has also occasionally joined "oldies" tours in the UK with Marty Wilde, John Leyton, Brian Hyland and others, notably as part of the "Solid Gold Rock and Roll" package. He was a contract actor on the Star Trek team, and made several appearances in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, under his real name Richard Sarstedt.

As of 2014, he has a CD, entitled Y2Kane, available on his website. He continues to live in Los Angeles with his wife, the journalist Charlene Groman, and their family. In 2017, Kane went on a UK tour with The Solid Gold Rock'n'Roll Show, which also featured Marty Wilde, Mark Wynter and Mike Berry.   Thanks To RAM

Donovan - 1968 - Atlantis FLAC

 Atlantis/There Is A Mountain/Hurdy Gurdy Man /Lalena

 

 Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock, and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and since at least 2008 in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.

Having signed with Pye Records in 1965, he recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein for Hickory Records (US company), after which he signed to CBS/Epic Records in the US – the first signing by the company's new vice-president Clive Davis – and became more successful internationally. He began a long and successful collaboration with leading British independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring multiple hit singles and albums in the UK, US, and other countries.

His most successful singles were the early UK hits "Catch the Wind", "Colours" and "Universal Soldier" in 1965, the last written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. In September 1966 "Sunshine Superman" topped America's Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and went to number two in Britain, followed by "Mellow Yellow" at US No. 2 in December 1966, then 1968's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in the Top 5 in both countries, then "Atlantis", which reached US No. 7 in May 1969.

He became a friend of pop musicians including Joan Baez, Brian Jones and the Beatles. He taught John Lennon a finger-picking guitar style in 1968 that Lennon employed in "Dear Prudence", "Julia", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and other songs. Donovan's commercial fortunes waned after parting with Most in 1969, and he left the industry for a time.

Donovan continued to perform and record sporadically in the 1970s and 1980s. His musical style and hippie image were scorned by critics, especially after punk rock. His performing and recording became sporadic until a revival in the 1990s with the emergence of Britain's rave scene. He recorded the 1996 album Sutras with producer Rick Rubin and in 2004 made a new album, Beat Cafe. Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014. 

 

"Atlantis" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer/songwriter Donovan. It was released as a single in 1968, and became a worldwide success; becoming a No. 1 hit in Switzerland in 1969, No.2 in Germany and South Africa, No. 12 in Canada, No.4 in Austria and No.15 in Australia. In the United States, where it served as the b-side to "To Susan on the West Coast, Waiting," it reached No. 7, whilst in the singer's native country the single managed only a modest No. 23 placing.

"Hurdy Gurdy Man" is a song by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was recorded in April 1968 and released the following month as a single. The song gave its name to the album The Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was released in October of that year in the United States. The single reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart  in Australia it peaked at No.5.

 "Laléna" (also spelled "Lalena") is the title of a composition by Donovan for whom it was a Top 40 single in the autumn of 1968, reaching #33 on the Hot 100 in Billboard and No.72 in Australia.

"There Is a Mountain" is a song and single written and performed by British singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1967. It charted in the UK at No.8 It charted in the USA at No. 11 on Billboard's Hot 100 and at No.9 on the Cashbox chart it also charted at No25 in Australia.

Beatles - 1968 - Magical Mystery Tour FLAC

 Magical Mystery Tour/Your Mother Should Know/I Am The Walrus/The Fool On The Hill/Flying/Blue Jay Way

 

 Magical Mystery Tour is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The EP was issued in the UK on 8 December 1967 on the Parlophone label, while the Capitol Records LP release in the US occurred on 27 November and featured an additional five songs that were originally released as singles that year. In 1976, Parlophone released the eleven-track LP in the UK.

When recording their new songs, the Beatles continued the studio experimentation that had typified Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and the psychedelic sound they had pursued since Revolver (1966). The project was instigated by Paul McCartney in April 1967, but after the band recorded the song "Magical Mystery Tour", it lay dormant until the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, in late August. Recording then took place alongside filming and editing, and as the Beatles furthered their public association with Transcendental Meditation under teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

The sessions have been characterised by some biographers as aimless and unfocused, with the band members overly indulging in sound experimentation and exerting greater control over production. McCartney contributed three of the soundtrack songs, including the widely covered "The Fool on the Hill", while John Lennon and George Harrison contributed "I Am the Walrus" and "Blue Jay Way", respectively. The sessions also produced "Hello, Goodbye", issued as a single accompanying the soundtrack record, and items of incidental music for the film. Further to the Beatles' desire to experiment with record formats and packaging, the EP and LP included a 24-page booklet containing song lyrics, colour photos from film production, and colour story illustrations by cartoonist Bob Gibson.

Despite widespread media criticism of the Magical Mystery Tour film, the soundtrack was a critical and commercial success. In the UK, it topped the EPs chart compiled by Record Retailer and peaked at number 2 on the magazine's singles chart (later the UK Singles Chart) behind "Hello, Goodbye". The album topped Billboard's Top LPs listings for eight weeks and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1969. With the international standardisation of the Beatles' catalogue in 1987, Magical Mystery Tour became the only Capitol-generated LP to supersede the band's intended format and form part of their core catalogue.

Harry Belafonte - 1958 - Matilda FLAC

 Matilda/Brown Skin Girl (Calypso)/Sylvie

 

 

 Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, songwriter, activist, and actor. One of the most successful Jamaican-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Trinidadian Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.Belafonte is known for his recording of "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". He has recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in several films, including Otto Preminger's hit musical Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), and Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s and was a confidant of Martin Luther King Jr.. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the Anti-Apartheid Movement and USA for Africa. Since 1987, he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush presidential administrations. Belafonte acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.

Belafonte has won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards.

"Matilda" (sometimes spelled Mathilda) is a calypso song. Some songwriting credits are given as Harry Thomas (rumoured to be a pseudonym combining Harry Belafonte and his guitarist, Millard Thomas, but ASCAP simply lists Harry Thomas alias Harry Belafonte, the writer of "Hold 'em Joe"), some credits are given as Norman Span.   

                                                                                                                                                                                               "Matilda" is a song lamenting a woman who took a man for all he was worth. The song dates back to at least the 1930s, when calypso pioneer King Radio (the stage name of Norman Span) recorded the song. Harry Belafonte first recorded it in 1953, which became a big hit.

Harry Belafonte's first recording of the song was on April 27, 1953 and was released as a single. He re-recorded "Matilda" for his second RCA Victor LP, Belafonte, released in 1955. The oft-repeated phrase in his rendition of the song is like the following, emphasizing the syllables of the subject's name as shown: Hey! Ma-til-da; Ma-til-da; Ma-til-da, she take me money and run a-Venezuela.Belafonte often performed the song in concert, and he would encourage the audience to sing that line. An exceptional example is heard on his 1959 live album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall where the total playing time for "Matilda" is nearly 12 minutes. Thanks To RAM

Len Barry - 1965 - Len Barry FLAC

  1-2-3/Like A Baby/ I Struck It Rich/It's That Time Of The Year

 

 Born on June 12, 1942 and raised in Philadelphia, Barry had little thought of a show business career while still in school. Instead, he aspired to become a professional basketball player upon his graduation. It was not until he entered military service and had occasion to sing with the US Coast Guard band at Cape May, New Jersey, and was so encouraged by the response of his military audiences, that he decided to make music a career.

Upon his discharge from military service, Barry returned home to Philadelphia and formed the Dovells. Barry was the lead singer, appearing on all of the group's best selling records, such as "Bristol Stomp", "Hully Gully Baby", and "You Can't Sit Down", among others. "Bristol Stomp" sold over one million copies and was awarded a RIAA gold disc. As a Dovell, he also toured with James Brown. Barry also made film appearances with the Dovells in films such as Don't Knock the Twist, toured the UK with the Motown Revue. Barry also had guest appearances on US television on Bandstand and later American Bandstand, Shindig, and Hullabaloo. Soon after leaving the group, Barry recorded his first solo single "Lip Sync".

 As someone who sang rhythm and blues, he recorded hits in 1965 and 1966 for Decca Records in the US and released by Brunswick Records: "1-2-3", "Like a Baby", and "I Struck It Rich", a song he wrote with Leon Huff of the Philadelphia International Records producers, Gamble and Huff.

His first two hits also made the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart. "1-2-3" reached number three. Those songs also peaked at number 2 and 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively. "1-2-3" sold over four million copies, and gave Barry his second RIAA gold disc and a Grammy Award nomination for Contemporary Rock & Roll Male Vocal Performance. Both "1-2-3" and "Like a Baby" were composed by Barry, John Madara, and David White.

He performed at the Apollo Theatre in New York, the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., The Regal Chicago, Chicago; Illinois, The Fox Theatre (Detroit) in Detroit, Michigan and The Uptown (Philadelphia), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also toured with Sam Cooke, The Motown Revue in the United Kingdom, and appeared on Top of the Pops.

He became a major singing star in The United Kingdom. Highlights of his European tour included featured performances at the London Palladium and Royal Albert Hall as well as numerous appearances throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Barry's respect for the Native American culture led him to write and produce the instrumental "Keem-O-Sabe" The song went to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 for The Electric Indian. He also did writing and production work with WMOT Productions. With Bobby Eli he helped write the hit singles "Zoom" for Fat Larry's Band and "Love Town" for Booker Newberry III.

In May 2008, Barry reinvented himself as an author with the publication of the novel, Black-Like-Me. The storyline involved a pair of Caucasian siblings growing up in a largely African-American neighborhood, accepted by some, rejected by others. In 2011, Barry was featured in the PBS Series My Music: Rock, Pop & Doo Wop.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Len Barry among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.Len Barry died on November 5, 2020, at Nazareth Hospital in Philadelphia. The cause was myelodysplasia, or cancer of the bone marrow.  Thanks To RAM

Caterina Valente - 1955 - Caterina Valente FLAC

 The Breeze And I/Jalousie/Siboney/Begin The Beguine

 

 Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931) is an Italian-French multilingual singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best-known as a European performer, Valente also spent part of her career in the United States, where she performed alongside Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

Valente was born in Paris, France. In 1953, she made her first recordings with Kurt Edelhagen. Soon afterwards she achieved success with songs such as "Malagueña", "The Breeze and I" (a global million-seller), and "Dreh dich nicht um" with the Werner Müller orchestra.

In 1955, she was featured on The Colgate Comedy Hour with Gordon MacRae. In 1958, she filmed the musical comedy Hier bin ich – hier bleib ich (Here I Am, Here I Stay) which featured a guest appearance by Bill Haley & His Comets. During Haley's segment, Valente sings a duet with Haley on a newly recorded version of his song "Vive la Rock and Roll".

 Caterina Valente also appeared at least once on the world famous weekly Ed Sullivan Show with her brother Silvio Francesco playing horn performing a special skillful song duet on the episode also featuring Leslie Uggams, Joan Rivers, Tony Holland, the Schaller Brothers, Eric Brenn, and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

In the mid 1960s, Valente worked with Claus Ogerman and recorded material in both Italian and English that he arranged/conducted and/or composed on the Decca  and London  labels. Valente was a favorite of singer Perry Como, making eight guest appearances on his NBC Kraft Music Hall television program from 1961-66. She was a frequent guest on The Dean Martin Show.

In Germany, she was a major performer of Schlager music. There, she recorded Cole Porter's I Love Paris under the German title Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe, which sold more than 900,000 copies in 1954.

 

 Over the years, she has recorded or performed with many international stars, including Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Claus Ogerman, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Sy Oliver, Buddy Rich and Edmundo Ros.

In 1959, she was nominated for a Grammy Award. Valente was a principal on the CBS variety series The Entertainers (1964–65). A briglia sciolta, the Italian jazz CD recorded in 1989 and re-released in later years under the titles Fantastica and Platinum deluxe, was her best-selling CD worldwide. In 2001, she released a new album, Girltalk, with harpist Catherine Michel. She retired in 2003. 

Thanks To RAM

Davy Jones - 1967 - Davy Jones FLAC

 Theme For A New Love (I Only Saw You Once)/The Girl From Chelsea/Dream Girl/Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner

 A singer, actor, and jockey who became a teen idol in the '60s and '70s, David "Davy" Jones' chief claim to fame was his career as a Monkee and his vocal rendition of "Daydream Believer." Jones was born in Manchester, England to a railway fitter and a homemaker. He was raised in a family with four children, three sisters and himself. Jones developed an interest in entertaining at a young age with his first play, Tom Sawyer. It was not until after his mother's death from emphysema in 1960 that Jones lost his interest in school and left home to become a horse-racing jockey.
 
Basil Foster, the jockey Jones apprenticed with, recognized Jones' acting and singing ability, and encouraged him to pursue his acting career. His persistence paid off, and Jones had television parts in Coronation Street and June Evening, and a part in the BBC radio play There Is a Happy Land. It was these appearances, a part in the London and American musical Oliver!, and an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that led Colpix Records/Columbia Pictures to sign a contract with Jones. At the age of 20, Jones had produced his first album, called simply David Jones.

In September of 1966, The Monkees first aired. Along with Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith, Jones came into the households of thousands each week. Nine albums were released and included songs such as "Daydream Believer," "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You," and "Valleri," which featured Jones singing. The Monkees, although popular with teenage girls, aired only until 1968.

 
After the Monkees disbanded, Jones pursued a solo career, signing with Bell Records. He released several singles with Bell and performed two Japanese tours before signing with MGM in 1973. He made cameo appearances on The Brady Bunch and Love American Style. In the mid-'70s, Jones teamed up with songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz to produce an album and perform on tour. Jones joined a group called Toast in the early '80s and toured Japan extensively. After the rejuvenation of the Monkees on MTV and Nickelodeon, three of the original Monkees (Jones, Dolenz, and Tork) got together to do the album Pool It! and a Christmas medley video. The group also did a 20th anniversary tour in 1986 and then regrouped to do another tour in 1989. The final Monkees reunion album (this time including Michael Nesmith in addition to the trio of Jones, Dolenz, and Tork), Justus, arrived in 1996.

During the '90s, aside from the last brief Monkees reunion, Jones pursued his solo music career and acted mainly in the theater, starring in Oliver! and Grease. His love for horse racing was still very much alive, and in 1996 in Lingfield, England, he won his first amateur race. A resident of Pennsylvania in the U.S., Jones wrote two autobiographies, They Made a Monkee Out of Me and They Made a Monkee Out of Me...Again!, which recount Jones' days as a Monkee, his family, his marriages, and his touring experiences. He also made appearances on several popular late-'90s television shows, including The Single Guy and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Jones compiled demos, outtakes, and other rare material for the four-volume Just for the Record CD series released in 1999, and after the turn of the millennium, he also issued two new independent solo albums, Just Me (the title a play on the aforementioned Justus) in 2001 and Just Me 2 in 2004. She, a collection of standards including "Fly Me to the Moon" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," followed in 2009. Just over two years later, he suffered a heart attack and died at his home on February 29, 2012.

Connie Francis - 1962 - Connie Francis Sings Italian Favourites FLAC

 There's No Tomorrow (O Sole Mio)/Anema E Core/Ciao, Ciao, Bambina/Arriverderci Roma

 

 Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (December 12, 1937), better known as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, former actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw.
The album consists of traditional Italian and Neapolitan songs (e. g. Santa Lucia) as well as then-current contemporary songs like Volare (Nel blu dipinto di blu) or Piove which both had risen to international fame after being Italy's entries to the Eurovision Song Contests of 1958 and 1959.

Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites was recorded following a suggestion from Francis' father, George Franconero, Sr., who played an active part in directing Francis' career. He had realized that Francis would have to make a timely transition from the youth-oriented Rock 'n' Roll music to adult contemporary music if she wanted to pursue a successful long-term career in music.

To make the album appealing to both Italian immigrants as well as listeners not familiar with Romanic languages, Francis sang most of the songs bilingual in either Italian/English or Neapolitan/English. Only Volare and Piove are sung entirely in Italian whilst Torna a Surriento is sung entirely in Neapolitan. Francis, who didn't learn to speak Italian and Neapolitan fluently until 1962, received assistance from a Berlitz teacher to achieve the correct pronunciation of the lyrics' Italian and Neapolitan lines.

The album was recorded between August 22 and 27, 1959, at EMI's famous Abbey Road Studios in London under the musical direction of Tony Osborne and was released in November 1959. Soon afterwards it entered the album charts where it remained for 81 weeks, peaking at # 4. It remains to this day as Francis' most successful album release.

Following the success of Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites, Francis recorded seven more albums of "Favorites" between 1960 and 1964, including Jewish, German and Irish Favorites, among others. The four tracks on the EP were lifted from the album. Thanks to RAM

Buddy Holly - 1961 - Blue Days ~ Black Nights FLAC

 Black Nights/Don't Come Back Knockin'/Midnight Shift/Girl On My Mind

 

 

 Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His style was influenced by gospel music, country music, and rhythm and blues acts, which he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school.

He made his first appearance on local television in 1952, and the following year he formed the group "Buddy and Bob" with his friend Bob Montgomery. In 1955, after opening for Elvis Presley, he decided to pursue a career in music. He opened for Presley three times that year; his band's style shifted from country and western to entirely rock and roll. In October that year, when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets, he was spotted by Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, who helped him get a contract with Decca Records.

Holly's recording sessions at Decca were produced by Owen Bradley, who had become famous for producing orchestrated country hits for stars like Patsy Cline. Unhappy with Bradley's musical style and control in the studio, Holly went to producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, and recorded a demo of "That'll Be the Day", among other songs. Petty became the band's manager and sent the demo to Brunswick Records, which released it as a single credited to "The Crickets", which became the name of Holly's band. In September 1957, as the band toured, "That'll Be the Day" topped the US and UK singles charts. Its success was followed in October by another major hit, "Peggy Sue".

The album The "Chirping" Crickets, released in November 1957, reached number five on the UK Albums Chart. Holly made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1958 and soon after toured Australia and then the UK. In early 1959, he assembled a new band, consisting of future country music star Waylon Jennings (bass), famed session musician Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums), and embarked on a tour of the midwestern U.S. After a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, he chartered an airplane to travel to his next show, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson in a tragedy later referred to by Don McLean as "The Day the Music Died" in his song "American Pie".

 During his short career, Holly wrote and recorded many songs. He is often regarded as the artist who defined the traditional rock-and-roll lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. He was a major influence on later popular music artists, including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Hollies (who named themselves in his honor), Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw (who later played Holly), and Elton John. He was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 in its list of "100 Greatest Artists".  Thanks to RAM