Cilla Black - 1965 - One Little Voice FLAC

One Little Voice/Baby It's You/Dancing in the Street/You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'



 Who was the second biggest-selling music star to come out of Liverpool after the Beatles? It wasn't Gerry & the Pacemakers or Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, nor was it the Searchers. It was Cilla Black, a onetime coat-check girl from the Cavern Club who was still learning to sing with confidence, forget developing a technique, just about the time that the Beatles were cutting their first EMI record.

Cilla Black holds a unique position in the history of pop music, and the British Invasion. As Brian Epstein's discovery and protégée, she was the first and only important female performer to emerge from Liverpool in the heyday of the British beat boom. In conjunction with Epstein's management and George Martin's production skills, she became a formidable ballad singer, her hits lasting longer than any Epstein clients other than the Beatles. And she became one of the most beloved pop/rock performers in England during the late '60s and '70s, and one of the country's most popular television stars.  

She was the third Brian Epstein-managed performer to emerge from Liverpool in the wake of the Beatles' success. Her name was Priscilla White when she worked at the Cavern Club on lunch breaks from her job as a typist. She began singing as a nervous amateur on a Liverpool underground scene in which the Beatles, with Pete Best still on drums (and Brian Epstein a long way removed from knowing them), were considered one of the more promising bands. By the summer of 1961, she had gotten good enough to appear as a guest singer with such established local talent as the Big Three Trio and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes, and was a favorite of Bill Harry, the publisher of the music paper Mersey Beat.

Brian Epstein's discovery of the Beatles and the Cavern Club opened him up to a whole world of new music and performers. On Priscilla White, still a very gawky semi-professional, he lavished almost as much attention as he did on the Beatles, but for different reasons.The Beatles were a revelation to Epstein, with their youthful exuberance and uninhibited fun. Gerry & the Pacemakers were a talented band that helped prove his golden touch extended beyond Lennon, McCartney, et al.

 Cilla Black, as Epstein rechristened her, was none of these things. Rather, she was a non-distinct female persona -- virtually a tabula rasa, with a girl-next-door look -- onto whom the sexually ambiguous Epstein could project his ideas of style and beauty. Neither was she a natural singer, or performer. She did try hard, however, and, with the right look and presentation, and the right song and producer, had a chance for success. All of those things Epstein secured for her, either directly or in the guise of George Martin at Parlophone Records.

Martin initially had his doubts about Cilla Black, but he did his best and, with Epstein's help and some carefully orchestrated press that broke just at the point when any five milkmen from Liverpool could get a hearing, her career was launched successfully. Ironically, given his initial doubts, Martin became Black's producer for the next 11 years, and along with the Beatles, she was among the few EMI acts that he continued to produce after he left the company in 1966 to set up AIR Studios.
 

 Black was never going to be a rival to Dusty Springfield, lacking the latter's power or subtlety. On the other hand, she did have a fairly distinctive and identifiable -- and attractive -- delivery, and she got better as she gained experience. Her debut single, a Lennon-McCartney leftover called "Love of the Loved," was not one of the prime examples of even the second-rate Lennon-McCartney that ended up in the hands of Kramer, Peter & Gordon, et al. It peaked at number 35, the most disappointing debut of any post-Beatles Epstein act in 1963.

Black had much greater success with her next song, a ballad that showed her real strengths and potential as a singer, called "Anyone Who Had a Heart"-- the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song had previously been cut by Dionne Warwick, but Black quickly eclipsed Warwick's version. Issued on the final day of January 1964, it became the biggest-selling single by a female artist in the history of popular music in England, bringing her to number one on the British charts three weeks later. It sold over 800,000 copies in England, and another million internationally. Even greater success was in store for Black three months later with the release of "You're My World," an English version of a song originally written in Italian. What "I Only Want to Be with You" is to Dusty Springfield, "Shout" is to Lulu, and "Always Something There to Remind Me" is to Sandy Shaw, "You're My World" is to Cilla Black -- a signature song that stands astride her whole career.

 After "You're My World," Black's career was made. At her worst, as a pop singer of uncertain range and instincts, she was almost a throwback to Helen Shapiro, a major female pop star of the pre-Beatles era. At her best, as on "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," she had an intense soulful quality, akin to Tom Jones as a ballad singer -- indeed, she might've been Britain's answer to Dionne Warwick. She displayed a surprisingly adventurous nature, as with "It's for You," a waltz-like number that Paul McCartney personally selected for her from among his best non-Beatles-destined originals. She covered it in a jazz arrangement and the resulting single reached number seven in England. McCartney remained close to her for years, although Black's closest musical confidant was songwriter Bobby Willis, whom she later married. She also made her film debut in late 1964 with the release of Ferry Cross the Mersey, starring Gerry & the Pacemakers, in which Black sang "Is It Love."

 Black maintained a full schedule of concert, radio, and television appearances in 1964-1965. Like every other Epstein client, she was also busy in America as well, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and such non-rock & roll venues as The Tonight Show. She was also a featured performer on a late-1965 British television special, The Beatles: The Music of Lennon and McCartney. By that time, she was, along with the Beatles, one of only two acts still personally managed by Brian Epstein, who regarded her as one of his two most precious musical discoveries -- and, indeed, after the Beatles she was the most successful artist to come out of Liverpool.

Black had two additional major hits in 1966, "Alfie" and "Don't Answer Me," both of which made the British Top Ten. Up to that point, her career had been handled by Brian Epstein, in whose hands she'd become a star. She began having doubts about his management in 1966, however, and considered -- but initially abandoned -- plans to leave him in favor of Robert Stigwood. At the time of Epstein's death in the summer of 1967, she was one of his two remaining clients.

Her hits subsided in 1967, partly because of Epstein's death and her involvement in a feature film, Work Is a Four-Letter Word, in which she starred with David Warner. A science-fiction tale set in the future, and involving the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms (all based on a play by Henry Livings), the movie proved a misstep when it finally came out.

In 1968 she was back on form, reaching the Top Ten twice, with "Step Inside Love," a Lennon-McCartney song, and "I Couldn't Take My Eyes Off You," and the following year was back up there again with "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" and "Conversations." These successes were assisted by Black's British television variety series, Cilla, which featured some of the top pop/rock musical talent of the period. After 1969, Black's days of charting singles were over. That same year, she married songwriter Bobby Willis.

Black's recording career with EMI continued into the mid-'70s, but much of her career activity by that time was centered on television rather than the recording studio. She still released singles and albums, including a notable collection of songs from her past entitled In My Life. She subsequently worked in two popular and critically successful series, Blind Date and Surprise Surprise -- the former also earned her an award from BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts). In 1993, to commemorate her 30 years as a show-business professional, she cut an album, released a retrospective video, published a book, and presented an anniversary special, each of which was entitled Through the Years. She remained one of the most popular entertainers in England into the 21st century, with ITV honoring her 50 years in show business with a TV special titled The One & Only Cilla Black in October 2013. That same month, Parlophone Records released The Very Best of Cilla Black, a 26-track collection that included all 19 of her U.K. Top 40 singles. Cilla Black died on August 1, 2015 at her home in Estepona, Spain.

The Four Tops - 1967 - Bernadette FLAC

Bernadette/I Can't Help Myself/It's the Same Old Song/7 Rooms of Gloom



The Four Tops are a vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan, USA, who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel.

The Four Tops were among a number of groups, including the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, who established the Motown Sound heard around the world during the 1960s. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most male and mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by a tenor.
 

 The group was the main male vocal group for the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who crafted a stream of hit singles for Motown. These included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits for the Tops: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" in 1965 and "Reach Out I'll Be There" in 1966. After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967, the Four Tops were assigned to a number of producers, primarily Frank Wilson, but generally with less success.

When Motown left Detroit in 1972 to move to Los Angeles, California, the Tops stayed in Detroit but signed a new recording deal with ABC Records' Dunhill imprint. Recording mainly in Los Angeles, they continued to have chart singles into the late 1970s, including the million-seller "Ain't No Woman", their second release on Dunhill, produced by Steve Barri and the composers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

In the 1980s, the Four Tops recorded for Casablanca Records, Arista Records and Motown, returning to that label on two occasions for brief stays. Apart from their album Indestructible (owned by Sony Music Entertainment), Universal Music Group controls the rights to their entire post-1963 catalog (through various mergers and acquisitions) and also their 1956 single, "Could It Be You".

A change of lineup was forced on the group when Lawrence Payton died on June 20, 1997. The group initially continued as a three-piece under the name the Tops, before Theo Peoples (formerly of the Temptations) was recruited as the new fourth member. Peoples eventually took over the role of lead singer when Stubbs suffered a stroke in 2000, with Ronnie McNeir then joining the group. On July 1, 2005, Benson died of lung cancer. Payton's son Roquel Payton replaced him. Levi Stubbs died on October 17, 2008. Fakir, McNeir, Roquel Payton, and Harold "Spike" Bonhart, who replaced Peoples in 2011, are still performing together as the Four Tops. Fakir is the only surviving founding member of the group.

 "Bernadette" is a 1967 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. The song was written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland, Motown's main songwriting team, and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was The Four Tops's final Top 10 hit of the 1960s. On the soul chart, "Bernadette" went to number three. It also reached #8 in the UK on its first release and was a hit again in 1972, reaching #23.

"It's the Same Old Song" is a 1965 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is today one of The Tops' signature songs, and was reportedly created—from initial concept to commercial release—in 24 hours. It reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. It also reached number 34 in the UK.

 "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" is a 1965 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s. The song reached number one on the R&B charts and was also the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks, from June 12 to June 19 and from June 26 to July 3 in 1965. It replaced "Back in My Arms Again" by labelmates The Supremes, was first replaced by "Mr. Tambourine Man" by The Byrds, then regained the top spot before being replaced by "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 2 song of 1965. It was also the Four Tops first Top 40 single in the UK, reaching #23 on its original release, and a 1970 reissue peaked at #10 in the UK charts.

 "7-Rooms of Gloom" is a song recorded by the Motown Records vocal quartet The Four Tops. It was released as a single in 1967 on the Motown label and reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was a Top 10 R&B Hit, charting at #10. It was also a hit in the UK, their seventh, staying for nine weeks in the UK Singles Charts and reaching #12 and in the Netherlands where it made #23 in the Dutch Top 40.

Free - 1971 - All Right Now FLAC

All Right Now/ I'm A Mover/Wild Indian Woman/Mouthful Of Grass



Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums. Lead guitarist Paul Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler in 1975, but died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25 in 1976. Bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks.

The band became famed for their sensational live shows and nonstop touring. However, early studio albums did not sell very well until the release of Fire and Water, which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where they played to 600,000 people.
 

By the early 1970s, Free became one of the biggest-selling British blues rock groups; by the time the band retired in 1973, they had sold more than 20 million albums around the world and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a rock staple and has been entered in ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.

Rolling Stone has referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers". The magazine ranked Rodgers No. 55 in its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", while Kossoff was ranked No. 51 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".


"All Right Now" is a single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in 1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire and Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed by Chris Blackwell. In 1991, the song was remixed and re-released, reaching #8 on the UK singles chart.

 "All Right Now" was a #1 hit in over 20 territories and was recognised by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the U.S. by late 1989. In 2006, the BMI London awards included a Million Air award for 3 million air plays of "All Right Now" in the USA.

According to drummer Simon Kirke, "All Right Now" was written by bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers in the Durham Students' Union building, Dunelm House.

Move - 1968 - Flowers In The Rain FLAC

Flowers In The Rain/(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree/Mist On A Monday Morning/Kilroy Was Here


The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. Although bassist-vocalist Chris "Ace" Kefford was the original leader, for most of their career the Move was led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. He wrote all the group's UK singles and, from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs, although Carl Wayne was the main lead singer up to 1970. Initially, the band had 4 main vocalists (Wayne, Wood, Trevor Burton and Kefford) who split the lead vocals on a number of their earlier songs.

The Move evolved from several mid-1960s Birmingham based groups, including Carl Wayne & the Vikings, the Nightriders and the Mayfair Set. Their name referred to the move various members of these bands made to form the group. Besides Wood, the Move's original five-piece roster in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne and guitarist Trevor Burton. The final line-up of 1972 was the trio of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne; together, they rode the group's transition into the Electric Light Orchestra. Between 2007 and 2014, Burton and Bevan performed intermittently as "The Move featuring Bev Bevan and Trevor Burton."

 "Flowers in the Rain" backed with "(Here We Go Round) the Lemon Tree" is a song by English rock band The Move. The song was released as a single and reached number two in 1967 on the UK Singles Chart, and number four in Ireland. It achieved its own place in pop history by being the first record to be played on Radio 1 when the station was launched in 1967 (though technically Johnny Dankworth's "Beefeaters" was the first track to be heard, since Tony Blackburn chose it as the theme tune for his Daily Disc Delivery, and so it was heard before "Flowers in the Rain". "Flowers in the Rain" was also the last single by The Move to have Carl Wayne on lead vocals before Roy Wood took over as the band's lead vocalist for "Fire Brigade". The distinctive instrumental arrangement, including oboe, clarinet, cor anglais and French horn, was suggested by assistant producer Tony Visconti. "Mist On A Monday Morning" and "Kilroy Was Here" were album tracks of their first album "The Move"

B0b Dyl@n - 1967 - J0hn Wesley H@rd!ng

John Wesley Harding/The Wicked Messenger/Baby Tonight/All Along the Watchtower

"John Wesley Harding" is a song by Bob Dylan that appears on his 1967 album of the same name.Dylan told Jann Wenner in a 1969 Rolling Stone interview that the song "started out to be a long ballad. I was gonna write a ballad on ... like maybe one of those old cowboy ... you know, a real long ballad. But in the middle of the second verse, I got tired. I had a tune, and I didn't want to waste the tune; it was a nice little melody, so I just wrote a quick third verse, and I recorded that.

"The Wicked Messenger" is a song written and originally performed by Bob Dylan for his album John Wesley Harding. The song was recorded in Columbia's Studio A, Nashville, on November 29, 1967. The song's instrumentation is light, a characteristic shared with the rest of John Wesley Harding. It features a repetitive descending bass line that carries the song, and the most prominent instrument used is Bob Dylan's acoustic guitar.

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan backed with "Baby Tonight" both songs initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding it was the only single taken from the album and it was not successful, "All Along the Watchtower" has been included on most of Dylan's subsequent greatest hits compilations. Since the late 1970s, he has performed it in concert more than any of his other songs. Different versions appear on four of Dylan's live albums.

Covered by numerous artists in various genres, "All Along the Watchtower" is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded for Electric Ladyland with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original recording, became a Top 20 single in 1968 and was ranked 47th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Following a motorcycle accident in July 1966, Dylan spent the next 18 months recuperating at his home in Woodstock and writing songs. According to Clinton Heylin, all the songs for John Wesley Harding were written and recorded during a six-week period at the end of 1967. With one child born in early 1966 and another in mid-1967, Dylan had settled into family life.

Young Rascals - 1967 - Groovin' FLAC

Groovin'/Sueсo/Come On Up/Too Many Fish In The Sea


 "Groovin" is a single released in 1967 by the Young Rascals that became a number-one hit and one of the group's signature songs it's B-Side was "Sueno".

Written by group members Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and with a lead vocal from Cavaliere, it is a slow, relaxed groove, based on Cavaliere's newfound interest in Afro-Cuban music. Instrumentation included a conga, a Cuban-influenced bass guitar line from session musician Chuck Rainey, and a harmonica part, performed first for the single version by New York session musician Michael Weinstein, and later for the album version by Gene Cornish.

"Come On Up" / "What Is the Reason" was released in September 12, 1966 taken from the album Collections it reached #43 on the US charts while "Too Many Fish in the Sea" was a track from the same album.

Jeannie C. Riley - 1969 - Harper Valley P.T.A. @320

Harper Valley P.T.A/ Sippin' Shirley Thompson/Widow Jones/Mr. Harper


Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson was born in 1945 in Stamford, Texas. As a teenager, she married Mickey Riley and gave birth to a daughter, Kim Michelle Riley on January 11, 1966. Later, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee, after receiving a letter from Weldon Myrick, who heard a demo tape of Jeannie's and believed she could be successful.

In Nashville, Riley worked as a secretary for Passkey Music while recording demos on the side.

Riley's career was stagnant until former Mercury Records producer Shelby Singleton received a demo tape of Riley's voice. Singleton was starting and succeeding with his own label, Plantation Records, at the time. He worked with Riley in the recording of the Tom T. Hall demo song that Singleton saw potential in, "Harper Valley PTA." The record quickly became one of the best-known country music songs of all time. Riley became the very first female with the Number 1 in the Pop and Country charts at the same time. 

"Harper Valley PTA" was released in 1968. The song immediately became a hit for Riley and went to number one on both the Billboard Pop and Country charts, a feat not repeated by a woman until 1981 when Dolly Parton released "9 to 5". The song is about a widowed woman by the name of Mrs. Johnson, who confronts a group of members of the PTA after her daughter brings home a note from school that is critical of her (Mrs. Johnson's) habits of wearing miniskirts, going out with men, and other behavior of which they do not approve. The climax of the song comes when Mrs. Johnson turns the tables on the PTA and exposes their hypocrisy, one member at a time, noting that their private behavior is far worse than what their letter criticized her for.

Riley and the song became an overnight sensation, and the song earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Country Music Association 'Single of the Year' award. Riley also became one of the few country artists ever nominated in the major pop Grammy Award categories of "Best New Artist" and "Record of the Year". Globally it sold over five and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. just four weeks after the song's release. The album of the same name sold over one million units to gain a further gold disc for Riley.

 The song was a phenomenon which led to Riley making country music history in 1969 as the first female vocalist to have her own major network variety special, Harper Valley U.S.A., which she hosted along with Jerry Reed and featured performances by Mel Tillis and the song's writer, Tom T. Hall. The song spawned a 1978 film and a 1981-83 television series, both titled Harper Valley PTA and both starring Barbara Eden as the widow Mrs. Johnson.


During the late 1960s and into the very early 1970s, Riley ranked among the most popular female vocalists in the country music industry. She had five Grammy Award nominations and four Country Music Association nominations, and performed a duet with Loretta Lynn. She had success on the country charts again, but on a lesser scale. Other hits following "Harper Valley PTA" include "The Girl Most Likely," "There Never Was A Time," "The Rib," "The Back Side of Dallas," "Country Girl," "Oh Singer," and "Good Enough to Be Your Wife."

 Riley became known as much for her sex appeal and beauty as for her music, foreshadowing Shania Twain and other contemporary female vocalists by nearly three decades. At a time when many country queens were keeping a wholesome image by wearing gingham dresses, Riley kept in tune with typical late-1960s fashion by donning miniskirts and go-go boots for her stage outfits (somewhat in the character of the protagonist in "PTA"). Her mod persona opened many doors (and perhaps started a sexual revolution) in country music, as hemlines of other female country artists' stage outfits began rising in the years that followed. But Riley herself was not comfortable with her image, and she eventually abandoned it for a more conservative wardrobe (floor-length gowns and ankle-length dresses typically worn by conservative female country artists). In the 1993 CBS documentary The Woman of Country, she noted that during the "Harper Valley" period, it was largely her publicist and manager who were responsible for creating and playing up her sexy image (replicating somewhat the look of the protagonist in the song).

Cilla Black - 1969 - Step Inside Love FLAC

Step Inside Love/Words/Aquarius/Surround Yourself With Sorrow


"Step Inside Love" is a song written by Paul McCartney (credited as "Lennon–McCartney") for Cilla Black in 1967 as a theme for her TV series Cilla, which first aired on 30 January 1968.

In late 1967 McCartney was approached to write the theme by Black and her series producer Michael Hurll. He recorded the original demo version at his London home, accompanying himself on guitar, which consisted of just one verse and the chorus.

Black's recording of this song was used as the theme during the early weeks of the show, until it was decided that the song needed an additional verse, so McCartney came to the BBC Theatre and wrote it there. According to Hurll, the opening line of the second verse ("You look tired, love") came from McCartney's observation of Black looking tired from the long rehearsals for the TV show. McCartney then added a third verse and that version was recorded as a studio demo at Chappell Studios in London on 21 November 1967, with McCartney on guitar accompanying Black on vocals. That demo was the basis for the single, although whereas the McCartney demos were recorded in the key of D, the final arrangement of the single version was transposed up a fourth to G, to take advantage of Cilla's higher register.

The single version of the song (with Black singing live over the studio backing track) was premiered on 5 March 1968 edition of her show; the single was released on 8 March 1968, and reached number eight on the British charts in April 1968. The record also reached Number 15 in Ireland in the same month. The recording was also featured on Black's third solo studio album Sher-oo! Remixed club versions of Cilla's original 1960s vocal were released in 2009 on her album Cilla All Mixed Up.

Glen Campbell- 1970 - Try A Little Kindness FLAC

Honey Come Back/Both Sides Now/Oh Happy Day/Try A Little Kindness


Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, television host, and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting a music and comedy variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television, from January 1969 through June 1972. He released over 70 albums in a career that spanned five decades, accumulating over 45 million record sales worldwide, including 12 gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.

Raised in 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), "Wichita Lineman" (1968), "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (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.

 "Try a Little Kindness" is a song written by Curt Sapaugh and Bobby Austin, first recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. The song was hit on three different music charts,it peaked at number two for one week on the country charts. "Try a Little Kindness" went to number one for one week on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart as well as peaking at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was also a hit in Australia reaching numger 10.

"Honey Come Back" is a song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell. It was released in January 1970 as the second single from his album Try a Little Kindness. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada and number 6 on the Australian Go-Set chart.

"Oh Happy Day" is a gospel music arrangement of an 18th-century hymn. Originally recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers,Glen Campbell covered the song in 1970, reaching number 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and just making the top 100 in Australia at number 73.

"Honey Come Back" is a song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell. It was released in January 1970 as the second single from his album Try a Little Kindness. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada as well as number 6 here in Australia.

Ne!l Y0ung - 1977 - H@rvest

Old Man/The Needle and the Damage Done/Heart of Gold/Harvest/Alabama


 Neil Percival Young, OC OM (born November 12, 1945), is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director and screenwriter. After embarking on a music career in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two solo albums by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, in addition to three as a member of Buffalo Springfield. From his early solo albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums, sometimes warring with his recording company along the way.

Young's guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career. Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country and other musical styles. His often distorted electric guitar playing, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname "Godfather of Grunge" and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real.

Young directed (or co-directed) films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia (1993) and Dead Man (1995).

Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock 'n roll artist.

He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship. He was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14, 2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2009.

The Foundations - 1968 - It's All Right FLAC

Back On My Feet Again/I Can Take Or Leave Your Lovin'/It's All Right/Baby. Now That I've Found You




The Foundations were a surprisingly obscure late-'60s outfit, considering that they managed to reach the tops of the both the British and American charts more than once in the space of a year and had a solid three years of recordings. At the time of their debut in mid-1967, they were hailed as being among the most authentic makers of soul music ever to emerge from England -- the best practitioners of the Motown sound to be found on the far side of the Atlantic -- and were also accepted in jazz circles as well. "Baby Now That I've Found You," "Build Me Up Buttercup," and "In the Bad, Bad Old Days" were the biggest hits for this multi-racial octet, made up of Londoners and West Indians.

The Foundations were formed in January 1967 in the basement of a local coffee bar in Bayswater, gathered together through advertisements in Melody Maker. Lead singer Clem Curtis was a former boxer from Trinidad, while lead guitarist Alan Warner had been making his living in the printing trade in London while waiting for music to pay off. Flutist/saxman Pat Burke hailed from Jamaica, tenor saxman Mike Elliott had played with Colin Hicks (brother of Tommy Steele) in his band the Cabin Boys, as well as in several jazz bands, and trombonist Eric Allan Dale was another jazz veteran. Tony Gomez (keyboards), Peter Macbeth (bass), and Tim Harris (drums) rounded out the lineup. They selected the name Foundations based on their surroundings, a rehearsal space in the basement of a building.

The group made very little headway during their first few months together, although they did manage to get an audition at the Marquee Club. It was at their regular spot at a much smaller club called the Butterfly -- where they played one legendary gig on the last night of the Stax/Volt European tour -- that led to their breakthrough. They were spotted by record dealer Barry Class, who was impressed enough with what he heard to become their manager. He arranged a meeting with Pye Records producer/songwriter Tony Macaulay, who was working with Long John Baldry with some success, but also was desperately looking for a new act to break for the label. He'd written a song with his partner John Macleod called "Baby Now That I've Found You," which seemed to suit the Foundations.
 

 The resulting single, issued in the summer of 1967, got no reaction from the public or on the airwaves until it got picked up by the BBC's newly founded Radio 1, by a stroke of pure luck. The station wanted to avoid any records being played by the pirate radio broadcasters, and looked back at recent releases that the pirates had missed. "Baby Now That I've Found You" was the immediate beneficiary, along with the group -- by November, the single held the number one spot on the British charts. The group's timing was as perfect as the song -- there had been a soul boom in England since late 1965, and the subsequent Motown and Stax/Volt tours by American R&B stars only heightened the public's interest.

The Foundations were hailed for being the first British band to come up with an authentic soul sound, and the fact that they were first multiracial band to top the British charts only made their success that much more impressive (at a time when England was beginning to come to grips with its own racial attitudes). What's more, the group had the goods to back up the press' accolades. Their performances revealed a seasoned, well-rehearsed, exciting stage presence and a bold, hard soul sound that most British bands managed to imitate only in the palest manner, if at all.

Meanwhile, their debut single got to number 11 on the American charts in the hands of MCA's Uni label, and it was equally well received in the rest of the world, selling something more than three and a half million copies. Suddenly, the Foundations were a British phenomenon and had a worldwide following. 

An album, From the Foundations, was duly recorded and featured some superb material, embracing both current soul and the then-popular discotheque sounds. The covers included everything from Joe Tex ("Show Me") to Tony Hatch ("Call Me," in a version worthy of Motown), as well as some new Macaulay/Macleod numbers. The debut album never made the British charts, but it remained in print for years, a perennial seller that held up well over time.

Unfortunately, a follow-up single, "Back on My Feet Again," didn't crack the British Top Ten, despite very heavy airplay and promotion, and barely made the U.S. Top 50. In retrospect, it may have been too similar to "Baby Now That I've Found You," which had sold in enormous numbers. Its relative failure led to the beginnings of a split between the group and Macaulay, as both songwriter and producer, exacerbated by the latter's decision -- as their producer -- not to permit the group to record any of their own songs, even as B-sides. Additionally, they felt that Macaulay reined in their "real" sound, making them seem more pop-oriented than they were.

These disagreements occurred at just about the same time that the group itself began experiencing internal fractures. It seemed to Curtis, in particular, that some of the other members, having topped the charts and chalked up an international hit, weren't putting out the same effort they'd been giving to the group when they were still struggling.

Curtis was persuaded to pursue a solo career, ironically right after he'd recorded perhaps the best track he ever cut with the group, a killer rendition of "It's All Right," a number they'd been knocking crowds dead with on-stage all along. (They also released a live album, Rocking the Foundations.) Additionally, saxman Elliott quit as well, and was never replaced. Curtis was succeeded by Colin Young, a good singer in his own right who fit in perfectly with the group's sound, and the reconstituted group hit once more in early 1969 with "Build Me Up Buttercup," written by Macaulay with Mike D'Abo, which reached number two in England and number one in America. "In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)" was yet another hit, reaching the U.K. Top Ten and the U.S. Top 30.

The band's success finally faltered when Macaulay exited Pye Records. As he later revealed, he was still being paid solely as a producer and he received no royalties for his songs, despite millions of copies sold. With his departure, the group was cut off from the only composer who'd written all of their hits. Additionally, the sounds of soul were changing faster than the group could assimilate it all -- they tried for a funkier, James Brown-type sound on their last recordings together in 1970 but failed to attract any attention.


                                                                                 Clem Curtis

 The Foundations split in 1970, and by the middle of the decade that followed, Curtis revived the band -- but so had Young, and both outfits were called the Foundations. A lawsuit resulted in Curtis getting the rights to the original name, while Young was allowed to use the New Foundations. The group remains fondly remembered, if not often written about, in England, and it achieved some fresh international recognition in 1998 when "Build Me Up Buttercup" appeared prominently in the hit movie There's Something About Mary. Curtis continues to perform in a revived version of the group, and he and Warner have recorded new versions of the Foundations' classic numbers. Various versions of the Foundations continued to tour into the first decade of the 21st century, including Curtis as Clem Curtis & the Foundations and Warner as Alan Warner's Foundations.

Mourning Reign - 1966 - Mourning Reign (1996)

Satisfaction Guaranteed/Our Fate/Light Switch/Cut Back



Formed in San Jose, California, USA, the Mourning Reign were garage band peers of the Chocolate Watchband and the Harbinger Complex. Initially known as the English, they comprised Frank Beau Maggi (vocals), Johnnie Bell (lead guitar), Steve Canali (rhythm guitar), Charlie Garden (bass) and Craig Maggi (drums). They were highly popular in the suburbs of south and east San Francisco, playing punk-styled material derivative of the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds. The group recorded a cover version of ‘Evil Hearted You’ as their debut in 1966, before completing a compulsive original song, ‘Satisfaction’s Guaranteed’, as its follow-up. Thomas O’Bonsawin then replaced Bell, but although two further tracks were completed for a third single, it remained unissued as the Mourning Reign split up in 1968 when several members were drafted to Vietnam.

The Fortunes - 1972 - Four Hits From The Fortunes FLAC

Freedom Come Freedom Go/Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again/Storm In A Teacup/Eye For The Main Chance



The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US and UK Top 10s. Afterwards, they had a succession of hits including "Here It Comes Again" and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again"; continuing into the 1970s with more globally successful releases such as "Storm in a Teacup" and "Freedom Come, Freedom Go".

The Fortunes were formed as a vocal trio (Rod Allen, Glen Dale and Barry Pritchard) - all three had been the Merrie Men backing Robbie Hood (A.K.A Mike West, previously co-singer with Fred Heath in Johnny Kidd & The Pirates). The Fortunes were originally backed by an instrumental group known as the Cliftones, and the band placed an instrumental track on a compilation album, Brumbeat, issued by the local Dial record label. "Cygnet Twitch" was a working of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake", and they subsequently signed to British Decca in 1963. Their first single, "Summertime, Summertime", was credited to the Fortunes and the Cliftones. However, the vocalists picked up guitars, jettisoned the Cliftones, and added Andy Brown on drums, and Dave Carr on keyboards. The follow-up disc "Caroline", co-written by the singer-songwriter and future Ivy League member Perry Ford and songwriter Tony Hiller, was used as the signature tune for the pirate radio station, Radio Caroline. 

 The group's next two singles, Gordon Mills's co-composition "I Like the Look of You" and a revival of "Look Homeward Angel" — like the initial brace of releases overseen by the American record producer Shel Talmy — also failed to chart. Their fifth release, the Roger Greenaway/Roger Cook number, "You've Got Your Troubles" (1965), reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and was a worldwide hit, including reaching Number 1 in Canada and the American Top 10. Their next two singles were "Here It Comes Again", a UK Number 4, and "This Golden Ring" a UK Number 14. These sold well, but each less than the previous release. When Glen Dale left in 1966 he was replaced by Shel McCrae. Three more singles ("You Gave Me Somebody to Love", "Is It Really Worth Your While?" and "Our Love has Gone") all failed to chart.

At this point in 1967, the Fortunes left Decca for United Artists. They reunited with Talmy for their next release, "The Idol", a song they had written themselves, and although it did get some airplay in the UK, it did not become a hit.

 

 The Fortunes also recorded an advertisement for Coca-Cola in the United States. Their first recording in 1967 was a version of the theme tune, "Things Go Better with Coke", but they are most remembered for introducing the 1969 new slogan recording, used as the main theme for Coca-Cola on both radio and television commercials — "It's The Real Thing".

In 1968, they tried covering The Move's hit "Fire Brigade" for the US market, but with little airplay or sales. In 1970, they recorded an album for the US World Pacific record label, and then signed with Capitol in both the UK and US in 1971.

Then followed a steady succession of singles, some of which were hits outside of the UK and US, culminating in 1972 with the release of "Storm in a Teacup (The Fortunes song)". During this period, they had another worldwide hit, "Here Comes that Rainy Day Feeling" (1971).

P. J. Proby - 1968 - I'm Coming Home FLAC

I'm Comin' Home/Turn Her Away/Together/I Apologise



 PJ Proby was born James Marcus Smith on November 6, 1938, in Houston. His great-grandfather on his mother’s side was the outlaw gunfighter John Wesley Hardin and his father was a successful banker. He was educated at the strict San Marcos Military Academy, but even at school he was known as a bit of a hellraiser and was early on convinced that he was a genius and destined for greatness of some sort. His showbiz ambitions started early with local preteen appearances singing country music. He met Elvis Presley on that circuit when he was just 12 or 13 and Elvis at one point dated his step sister, Betty. But this was just the start of Proby’s improbable, Zelig or Forrest Gump-like ability to always be where the action was. Even at that age, he just was warming up, but already in the right places at the right time and always with the right crowd.

After moving to Hollywood in the mid-50s to become and actor and/or a singer, Smith took the name “Jett Powers” and recorded the single “Go, Girl Go!,” which is best known today as a song that the Cramps dug. (Jett’s backing band the Moondogs included Elliot Ingber/“Winged Eel Fingerling,” later of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, on lead guitar). Signed to a songwriting and performing contract with Liberty (along with the likes of Leon Russell and Glen Campbell), he recorded under the name Orville Woods so that the public would think he was black!

 Additionally Proby made a living working as a bodyguard for closeted gay entertainers like Rock Hudson, Liberace and Tab Hunter (by his own account, brutally dispensing anyone who dared hassle one of them in a “gay bashing” manner). Proby also recorded “vocal guides” for $10 a pop so that performers like Elvis could more efficiently make use of expensive recording studio time. (He did twenty such vocal guides for Presley, mimicking his singing style in a full-throated manner that was said to have amused the King.) In early 1964 Jackie DeShannon and songwriter Sharon Sheeley (who’d been his best friend, Eddie Cochran’s, fiancée) introduced Proby—then bearded and wearing his hair extremely long as he was hoping to play the part of Jesus in a musical—to Jack Good who was visiting from London. The meeting would change the course of his life.

Good, the prominent TV producer and manager who gave the world Shindig!, Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and others of Britain’s first wave of rock and roll stars (he’s also the guy who convinced Gene Vincent to don that Richard III garb) is alleged to have grabbed Proby’s ponytail to see if it was real. Soon afterward, Good’s secretary called from London and offered the complete unknown a spot on the Beatles’ upcoming television special “With the Beatles.”

 When the show aired, Proby immediately became extremely famous, the very definition of the overnight sensation, even if his fame was to be short-lived. A single, “Hold Me” was recorded and rushed out so quickly that a stray vocal was inadvertently pressed into the record’s fadeout on the initial run. The song became a smash, reaching #3 in the UK charts. He racked up more hits with utterly histrionic (and almost insane-sounding, yet mesmerizing) cover versions of West Side Story‘s “Somewhere” and “Maria,” as well as with a song the Beatles had tried unsuccessfully to record for the Help! soundtrack, but that none of them could adequately sing. They opted to gift the song, “That Means a Lot,” to someone with the pipes who could, their American pal (well at least Lennon liked him) Proby. Incredibly, George Martin even arranged the song for him!



What insane luck, right? Soon Beatles manager Brian Epstein set up Proby with a UK package tour, co-headlining with Cilla Black. That’s when things got a bit out of the egotistical young rocker’s control: At a date in Croydon, Proby clad in his trademark tight velvet jumpsuit and looking like an 18th century dandy, was doing his James Brown-inspired stage act (the likes of which still staid post war Britain had not yet seen) and slid across the stage, tearing his pants around the knees and upwards from there. The crowd of teenaged girls went utterly mad, but the incident caused a stir in the media getting Proby on the radar of Britain’s self-appointed moral censor, Mary Whitehouse. When Proby did the same thing two nights later it was widely reported that he’d done something lewd in Luton. The Daily Mirror wrote that he was a “morally insane degenerate” and urged parents to keep their children from attending one of his shows. Whitehouse called his “thrusting” obscene but Proby claimed otherwise and available photos seem to corroborate his side of the story. He was kicked off the tour anyway and banned from the ABC theater chain and BBC radio and television. This was a good decade before the Sex Pistols, of course. Proby had a few more semi hits, but without radio play his star quickly faded. 

Back in Hollywood, Proby had his sole Billboard Hot 100 Top 30 hit with the infectious cajun-spiced rocker “Niki Hoeky.” He bought a mansion in Beverly Hills and married one of Dean Martin’s daughters. When he found out that she’d been having an affair with his car mechanic and saw them walking together hand in hand, he discharged his gun in the air several times to intimidate them. He soon found himself surrounded at gunpoint by much of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department and did a three month stint in a holding cell before moving back to the UK. He recorded his Three Week Hero album in 1968 with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones, then of the New Yardbirds, but soon to be rechristened Led Zeppelin. It was the very first time all four of them would be inside of a recording studio together.

In 1971 Proby played Cassio on the West End in Catch My Soul, Jack Good’s rock musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. He made the cabaret and nightclub circuit for money and even recorded an album with the Dutch prog rockers Focus (it’s amazing!). In 1977, again with Good producing, he co-starred in Elvis – The Musical—Shakin’ Stevens played the young King of rock and roll while Proby played him in his later years—which won a Best Musical award the following year. Proby was fired when he began getting drunk before going onstage and started speaking directly to the audience.

 There are all kinds of crazy PJ Proby stories involving Jack Daniels, bankruptcies, guns, underage girls, more guns and more Jack Daniels. Every once in while during the 80s he’d turn up again in some completely insane or scandalous situation. He went through six wives. He worked as a shepherd on a farm before running off with the farmer’s daughter. He recorded some totally off the wall covers of songs like “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “Heroes” and “Tainted Love” for the Manchester-based Savoy label, there was at least one fairly lurid television news piece about him (see below) and several “where is he now?” type articles. He was able to keep the wolves from the door singing on the oldies circuit for many years and been sober for a long time, but still has a reputation for being a bit “difficult.” (He is said to have burned through five road managers on a 2015 Australian oldies tour.) Proby recorded the remarkable Legend album with Marc Almond and Neal X, with a duet with Almond—the soaring “Yesterday Has Gone”—reaching #58 on the UK pop charts in 1996. (It’s well worth seeking out if you are so inclined, I think it’s a super strong album.) He toured with the Who during their 1997 Quadrophenia US and Europe show playing the role of the Godfather.

 As late as 2011, Proby was still getting himself into trouble, being charged with nine charges of benefit fraud, specifically for signing on the dole while failing to declare savings and that he’d been working again. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and was cleared all of them in 2012. He celebrated by recording two loopy new songs “I’m PJ” and “We The Jury”. In 2015, he performed with Van Morrison on the album, Duets: Re-working the Catalogue, actually singing Morrison’s 2002 song “Whatever Happened to P.J. Proby” with him and simultaneously answering that question himself: PJ Proby was still improbably here.

PJ Proby’s wild life has been bizarre and outsized—and his talent so HUGE—that if this is your first exposure to him (and odds are that might be) you probably can’t believe you’ve never heard of him before. But he was always his own worst enemy which is why he remains the Zelig of rock, a fascinating footnote of celebrity in our time. PJ Proby is meant to be sitting on the manuscript of a 500 page autobiography. I hope it gets published. No one will believe it. A documentary film, long in production, titled PJ Proby: A God Amongst Men (how he has often described himself, apparently not completely without irony) remains unreleased.