Melanie - 1972 - Brand New Key FLAC

Brand New Key/Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)/Alexander Beetle/Beautiful People



 No talent who came out of Woodstock and who continued actively performing more than a quarter century later remained as closely associated with the 1960s and "flower power" than Melanie. Born Melanie Safka in Astoria, Queens, in 1947, she made her first public appearance at age four on a radio show, later studying at the New York Academy of Fine Arts. After mounting a singing career while in college, she later sang in clubs in Greenwich Village, and was signed to a publishing contract in 1967. She recorded her first single, "Beautiful People," for Columbia Records that same year. Her relationship with the record company was short-lived, however, and after one more single she left the label.

   In 1969, she chanced to meet producer Peter Schekeryk, and after a hastily arranged audition, he took charge of her career. Her first album, Born to Be, was recorded and released by Buddah later that same year. On August 16, Melanie took the stage at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival in Bethel, New York; her song "Birthday of the Sun" was later released on the Woodstock 2 album, and 20 years later it was released on video as part of Woodstock: The Lost Performances, alongside the work of Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the Who.
Soon afterward, she cut her second album, Affectionately, which did slightly better than her first; however, her commercial breakthrough came 11 months after Woodstock, when she released the song "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," recorded with the Edwin Hawkins Singers. The song, written as a tribute to the audience at Woodstock and displaying the feel of a gospel hymn, rose to number six on the U.S. charts, while the accompanying LP, entitled Candles in the Rain, reached the Top 20.

   After 1970's Leftover Wine, a live album recorded at a Carnegie Hall concert, she issued a plaintive version of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday." In January of 1971, Melanie's own version of "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma," a recent smash for the New Seekers, got to number 39 in Britain, where she emerged as a major star. In March, however, her new release, The Good Book, peaked on the U.S. charts at just number 80, despite the presence of several impressive tracks, among them a hauntingly beautiful cover of Phil Ochs' prophetic, doom-laden self-eulogy, "Chords of Fame."

 At around this time, Melanie rebelled against her contract with Buddah, which required her to supply albums more or less on demand -- she'd had four LPs released in half as many years, and wanted more control over her work and career. With help from Schekeryk, whom she had married, she organized her own label, Neighborhood Records, during the summer of 1971. Her first subsequent single, "Brand New Key" hit number one on the U.S. charts while on its way to becoming a million seller; thanks to its not-so-subtle sexual undertones, the song became a kind of "in" dirty joke in some circles, and was even censored on some radio stations, but it also made Melanie one of the top-selling artists of the year 1971.
 The accompanying album, Gather Me, was the best produced long-player she had ever released, and reached a chart position of number 15, earning a gold record in the process. This huge success prompted Buddah to release Garden in the City, consisting of previously unreleased outtakes. At the same time that 1971's Gather Me spawned the single "Ring the Living Bell," Buddah decided to capitalize more directly on Melanie's catalog and released "The Nickel Song"; the presence of two singles in release simultaneously from two different labels and distributors -- each competing for radio play and listener dollars -- damaged both releases, and they effectively canceled each other out.

 Garden in the City rose to number 19, but her next new album on Neighborhood, Stoneground Words, only got to number 70 late in 1972. In June of 1973, her double-concert album, At Carnegie Hall, recorded the previous year, didn't even make the Top 100. By this time, Melanie had withdrawn from the stage, and was devoting her time to more personal and domestic concerns, having the first of three children in as many years. She re-emerged in 1974 for a short series of concerts, but her new album of that period, Madrugada, barely made it on to the charts, and her subsequent two LPs, As I See It Now and Sunset and Other Beginnings, released in 1975, barely sold. Neighborhood Records was later closed down.

A year later, Photograph was released to lackluster sales on Atlantic; the follow-up, Phonogenic, also failed to chart, and her last album for the next five years, Ballroom Streets, appeared on the Tomato label in 1977. In 1982, Melanie cut a comeback album, Arabesque, for RCA; a year later, her single "Every Breath of the Way" scraped the middle of the British charts and led to a series of concerts in England. Neighborhood was soon reactivated just long enough for Melanie to release one last album, Seventh Wave.

At the end of the 1980s, she re-emerged once again with her theme music for the popular television series Beauty and the Beast. By that time, Woodstock nostalgia was beginning to be stoked by the media and concert promoters, and Melanie appeared at one of the 20th anniversary events. She continued to periodically perform at clubs in the United States and larger festivals in Europe, where her association with the 1960s made her a major draw, and every so often released an album of new songs or re-recordings of her classic numbers.

Van Morrison - 1973 - This Is Van Morrison FLAC

Domino/ (Straight To Your Heart) Like A Cannonball/Come Running/Ballerina



 Sir George Ivan Morrison OBE (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. In 2016, he was knighted for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland.

Known as "Van the Man" he started his professional career when, as a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Van Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria". His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968). Though this album gradually garnered high praise, it was initially a poor seller.

 Moondance (1970) established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances. He continues to record and tour, producing albums and live performances that sell well and are generally warmly received, sometimes collaborating with other artists, such as Georgie Fame and The Chieftains.

Much of Morrison's music is structured around the conventions of soul music and R&B, such as the popular singles "Brown Eyed Girl", "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)", "Domino" and "Wild Night". An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, loosely connected, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz and stream-of-consciousness narrative, such as the album Astral Weeks and the lesser known Veedon Fleece and Common One. The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic soul". He has received two Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, the 2017 Americana Music Lifetimetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Dave Clark Five - 1964 - Bits And Pieces FLAC

Glad All Over/The Mulberry Bush/Chaquita/Bits And Pieces


The Dave Clark Five were an English pop rock band formed in Tottenham in 1957. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten single, "Glad All Over", which knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at number 6 in the United States in April 1964. Although this was their only UK #1, they topped the US chart in December 1965, with their cover of Bobby Day's "Over And Over". They were the second group of the British Invasion to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States (for two weeks in March 1964 following the Beatles' three weeks the previous month). The group disbanded in late 1970. On 10 March 2008, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

 The band started out as the Dave Clark Quintet in 1957, with Clark on drums, Dave Sanford on lead guitar, Chris Walls on bass, Don Vale on Piano. In 1958, Sanford was replaced by Rick Huxley and Vale was replaced by Roger Smedley. People were confused by the meaning of the word quintet, so the band renamed themselves the Dave Clark Five, with Stan Saxon on lead vocals, Huxley on rhythm guitar, Smedley on piano and Johnny Johnson on lead guitar. Mick Ryan replaced Johnson in 1958 and Jim Spencer joined on saxophone, while Smedley left. Walls left in 1959 and Huxley became the bass player. Mike Smith joined on piano in 1960, and Lenny Davidson replaced Ryan in 1961. In 1962, the band changed its name to the Dave Clark Five when Saxon left. The group was Clark on drums, Huxley on bass, Smith on organ and lead vocals, and Davidson on lead guitar, adding Denny Payton on tenor and baritone saxophone, harmonica and guitar.

Originating in north London, the band was promoted as the vanguard of a "Tottenham Sound" (a response to Liverpool's Mersey Beat sound). Dave Clark, who formed the group, struck business deals that allowed him to produce the band's recordings and gave him control of the master recordings. Songwriting credits went to Clark, Clark and Smith, Clark and Davidson and Clark and Payton.

The Dave Clark Five had 12 Top 40 hits in the UK between 1964 and 1967, and 17 records in the Top 40 of the US Billboard chart. Their song "Over and Over" went to number one in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 on Christmas Day 1965, despite less impressive sales in the UK (it peaked at number 45 on the UK Singles Chart). They made 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show more than any British Invasion group.The band released a film, Catch Us If You Can (directed by John Boorman) in 1965. It starred Barbara Ferris, and was released in the United States as Having a Wild Weekend. The short film Hits in Action highlighted a series of Dave Clark Five hits.

Other than the songs "Inside and Out", "Maze of Love" and "Live in the Sky", the band did not follow the psychedelic music trend. The DC5 disbanded in 1970, having placed three singles on the UK chart that year, two of which reached the Top Ten. In 1970, Davidson, Huxley and Payton left and Alan Parker and Eric Ford joined on lead guitar and bass. This line-up, renamed "Dave Clark & Friends", lasted until 1973.

 Between 1978 and 1993, none of their music was available to be purchased in any commercial format due to rights-holder Clark declining to license the band's recordings. In 1993, a single CD "Glad All Over Again" was produced by Dave himself and released by EMI in Britain. After a 1989 deal with the Disney Channel to rebroadcast the 1960s ITV show Ready Steady Go! (which Clark owned), he made a deal with Disney-owned Hollywood Records to issue in 1993 a double CD "History of the Dave Clark Five"] No DC5 material was then legally available until 2008, when the "Hits" compilation was released by Universal Music in the UK. In 2009 selections from the band's catalogue were released on iTunes, but their catalogue remains unavailable on Spotify.

Sonny And Cher - 1967 - The Beat Goes On

The Beat Goes On/Love Don't Come/We'll Sing In The Sunshine/Misty Roses



Sonny & Cher proved one of the magical musical combinations of the mid-'60s and one of the better rock-influenced MOR acts of the early '70s, their wisecracking repartee providing counterpoint to a series of adoring hit duets. Salvatore "Sonny" Bono (born February 16, 1935) started out at Los Angeles-based Specialty Records as a songwriter in the late '50s, responsible for "Koko Joe" by Don & Dewey and "She Said Yeah" for Larry Williams, which was later covered by the Rolling Stones and the Righteous Brothers. Bono became a protégé of Phil Spector, managing to write a handful of successful songs, most notably "Needles and Pins" in collaboration with his protégé Jack Nitzsche, which became a success for Jackie DeShannon and a huge international hit for the Searchers. In 1964, while working sessions with Phil Spector, he met an 18-year-old would-be singer named Cherilyn Lapierre (born May 20, 1946), and the two were later married. They formed a professional duet, initially as Caesar & Cleo for Vault Records and later Reprise, but it was only after they were signed to Atlantic Records as Sonny & Cher that success came their way. The couple embarked on parallel careers, with Cher later signed to Liberty/Imperial Records as a solo act.

They were a strange duet in the sense that neither had a great voice and, indeed, their voices were so similar that Atlantic's president Ahmet Ertegun was convinced that Sonny had come close to breaking a contract by turning up singing with her on her solo hit "All I Really Want to Do" and her other Imperial hits. The latter song, however, also demonstrated their ability to spot a hit, as well as good material for themselves: they'd heard the Byrds performing the Dylan song at a club in Los Angeles and got Cher's recording out before the Byrds' own was in stores, beating the folk-rock group at its own game of popularizing Dylan songs. She subsequently hit with "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" while Sonny charted with "Laugh at Me" on Atco, but their biggest success was as a duet on Atco, with "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On."

For a time, from 1965 until 1967, they were rock & roll's hottest couple, so much so that in some conservative communities, they were considered almost morally subversive; parents locked up their kids when Sonny & Cher were passing through for a concert appearance. They were popular enough, and sufficiently well-known that the Rolling Stones impersonated them on the British television music showcase Ready Steady Go, miming to "I Got You Babe" with Brian Jones subbing for Sonny.

 And then nothing. The hits stopped coming, and the couple made some daringly creative but unsuccessful commercial missteps, even a movie (Good Times, directed by William Friedkin in his debut) that was, like the Monkees' Head, too far ahead of its time for critics and all but the most advanced fans to appreciate. A further film effort, Chastity, a name shared by their daughter, also bombed, and the sudden confrontation of a $200,000 income tax debt forced the couple to continue working. Further, they were unable to record because of a dispute with Atlantic over Sonny's objections to the way that Cher's solo career was being handled.

They were playing supper clubs and Las Vegas nightclubs, opening for people like Pat Boone, when Johnny Musso, a friend of the couple's, was jumping from an executive position at Atlantic to run Decca Records' Kapp label subsidiary, and brought the duo with him. At around the same time, their stage act -- which had evolved into a kind of "with it" domestic comedy routine nearly as prominent as the music, with the tall, wry-witted Cher cutting up on the seemingly dim-witted Sonny -- was spotted by Fred Silverman, who was then the head of programming for CBS. They ended up with a summer replacement try-out show that did so well that Sonny & Cher were given a regular spot in the CBS lineup in January 1972 with a comedy-variety series.

 The couple's recording career was initially revived by a live album cut in one night at Las Vegas, featuring new versions of their early hits as well as parts of their then-current repertory; the album went gold. The first couple of singles by Cher and Sonny & Cher failed, but then producer Snuff Garrett, who had been at Liberty when Cher was there but had never worked with her, was brought in, and the result was "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," a career-reviving number one hit. After that, "The Way of Love," "All I Ever Need Is You" (which became the theme for their TV show), "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done," "Half Breed," and "Dark Lady" kept either Cher or the couple in the Top Ten at various times through 1974. By then, however, their marriage had fallen apart, and with it, the success of their TV show.
 

 By then, it didn't matter. They were pop culture icons, though Bono became the butt of many jokes when Cher eclipsed him with her acting career in movies like Silkwood and Mask. Bono was in the restaurant business when his outrage at the bureaucracy of the government in Palm Springs, California, caused him to declare his candidacy for mayor; he won the election, and was subsequently elected to Congress during the 1994 Republican sweep of the House of Representatives. He continued to represent his ex-wife's business interests, even as his subsequent remarriage (the name Sonny & Cher is trademarked), and was beginning to make a mark as a conservative Republican member of the California House delegation when he died in a skiing accident in 1998. Bono's second wife, Mary, succeeded him to the same House seat in a special election, and in the general election in 1998.

Thin Lizzy - 1971 - New Day FLAC

Dublin/Remembering Pt. 2/Old Moon Madness/Things Ain't Working Out Down at the Farm


Thin Lizzy is the debut studio album by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, released on 30 April 1971. The album was followed by the EP New Day, produced and recorded by Nick Tauber at Decca Studios on 14–17 June 1971 and released on 20 August 1971. The songs from the EP were included in later editions of the album. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic described the album as "surprisingly mellow" and wrote that a number of songs sound "confused and unfinished". However, he did describe "Look What the Wind Blew In" as a "hint of things to come", and that the bonus track "Dublin" from the "New Day" EP contained "Lynott's first great lyric

 Originally released on the 1971 'New Day' EP (which was intended as the band's goodbye to Ireland as they relocated to the UK in search of a commercial breakthrough), 'Old Moon Madness' was a taunt rocker, but sounded like an unfinished jam session that had been rightfully shelved. 

Another track of the 1971 "New Day" EP, 'Dublin' was a heartfelt goodbye to city as Lynott and company headed off to the UK.  Musically it was pretty enough, but I guess you had to be there to get the full impact of the song. 
Also from "New Day", 'Things Ain't Working Out Down At The Farm' was an up-tempo rocker with some nice Bell wah-wah guitar and a modestly entertaining lyric - doesn't sound like you want to get arrested in Ireland.    
'Remembering (Part 2)' didn't sound anything like 'Remembering'.  Built on a charming Bell jangle rock riff; an amazing solo  (maybe the best thing he ever recorded), and one of Lynott's tauntest vocals (he sounded like he'd been gargling with ground glass), most folks like 'Remembering;' better, but I'll tell you 'Part 2' was the better version.

Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders - 1964 - Road Runner FLAC

Young Blood/Roadrunner/Duke Of Earl/Talkin' About You



Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders first emerged out of apprentice telephone engineer Glyn Geoffrey Ellis' daydreams of becoming a successful pop performer. Rechristening himself Wayne Fontana after Elvis Presley's drummer, DJ Fontana, Fontana's first band was the Jets, a staple on the Manchester circuit through 1961-1962, but one which was doomed to failure.

According to legend, the original Jets broke up when Fontana and bassist Bob Lang alone turned up for the most important audition of their young career, at the famed Oasis club. Hurriedly, Fontana press-ganged a couple of other local musicians, bystanders in the bar, into service -- drummer Ric Rothwell and guitarist Eric Stewart. Stewart was already an old hand on the Manchester music scene, having played with local heroes Gerry Lee and the Stagger Lees and Johnny Peters and the Jets (unrelated to Fontana's combo). That was still his regular band that evening at the Oasis, a situation that changed immediately after this ad hoc combo left the stage and was offered a Fontana label contract.

Renaming the band after Dirk Bogard's then-recently released hit movie The Mindbenders (Fontana, of course, was allowed to keep his name!), the quartet's first release, in June 1963, was a cover of one of the aforementioned stage favorites, Fats Domino's "My Girl Josephine," retitled "Hello Josephine." It was not a major hit, peaking at number 46, and two further singles, "For You, For You" (October 1963) and a cover of the Diamonds' "Little Darling'" (February 1964), were even less successful.

But the label did not lose faith. After all, what sort of headlines would "Fontana drop Fontana" make? The band plugged on, and in May 1964, their version of Ben E. King's "Stop Look and Listen" made number 37. Again it was a tiny drop in the ocean, but this time the Mindbenders were able to capitalize upon it. By early fall, they were riding the Top Five with a spellbinding take on Major Lance's masterpiece of incoherence, "Um Um Um Um Um Um."

The Mindbenders' original recording of the song was produced by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham -- their label rejected it and insisted on a re-recording, cut with Fontana's own Jack Baverstock. The first recording remains unreleased; the remake soared to number five. An EP titled after the hit followed it to number seven, while the band's eponymous debut album reached number 18. As was standard at this time, the entire LP was recorded in one day, crammed in to a schedule which included their first major British tour, supporting Brenda Lee.
 

Meanwhile, back in the singles chart, the band was busy confirming their ascendancy with a skillful adaptation of Clint Ballard's "The Game of Love," featuring a moonlighting member of the Spinners folk group on backing vocals and a devastating Stewart guitar solo, played on a Les Paul borrowed from Jimmy Page. It reached number two in Britain and number one in America, despite being not only the Mindbenders' first Stateside release, but also one of the first releases on the American Fontana label.

The band set off for America almost immediately and ran straight into trouble. Visa difficulties had forced the band to cancel a couple of shows at the start of the tour -- immigration officials actually demanded statements from both Billboard and Cashbox to prove that the band's Stateside success actually justified their presence here. Then, the moment they stepped off the plane, the Mindbenders were served writs for one million each. They were being sued for not making two gigs in New Jersey.

Thankfully, the threat came to nothing and the remainder of the tour passed off happily. A new version of their debut album, featuring several cuts not on the U.K. album was released, making a respectable number 28; unfortunately, the moment the band's back was turned, their fortunes began to dip. Their next single, "Just a Little Bit Too Late," only reached number 45 in the U.S. (and number 20 in Britain) and when "She Needs Love" halted at number 32 in the U.K., at the same time as their second album, Eric, Rick, Wayne and Bob, stiffed, it appeared as though the Mindbenders' magic had dissipated already.

Certainly Wayne Fontana, the Fontana label, and the Kennedy Street Enterprises management label, thought so. The singer had always entertained visions of eventually graduating to a solo career and, in October 1965, everybody concerned realized the time had come; everybody, that is, aside from the band. They remained in the dark until, midway through a live show, Fontana simply walked off stage, turning to Stewart as he left and saying, "It's all yours."
 

 It was not the first time the band had played on without their frontman; back in March, nervous exhaustion had confined Fontana to bed, midway through a 21-date, twice-nightly British tour with Herman's Hermits. So, with Stewart taking lead vocals, the band finished the set themselves; the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and the decision was made to carry on as a three-piece, which was precisely what their label and management had been planning all along. And, overnight, one fading chart act became two promising newcomers, singer Wayne Fontana and band the Mindbenders.

Manfred Mann - 1967 - Manfred Mann FLAC

 Just Like Woman/ I Wanna Be Rich/Trouble And Tea/Let It Be Me



 Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg formed their own four-piece band - The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. In late 1962, this band hit the Marquee, the John Dankworth Club and other clubs on the jazz circuit. In order to fully crossover, this band needed a vocalist.

A December 1962 audition at the Carnaby Street club The Roaring 20's led the band to select Paul Jones as their vocalist. Jones' enthusiasm and style in playing and singing R&B took over the other members, and the band moved in a more R&B-slanted direction. This version of The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers had regular gigs at the Marquee, the Crawdaddy and Studio 51 in London. At The Hambrough Tavern in Southall (West London), the band was spotted by publicist Kenneth Pitt, who became their manager.

That same month, Pitt got the band record company auditions for Pye, Decca and EMI. The latter's HMV label proved to be the winner, assigning the band a producer, John Burgess. Burgess suggested that the band call itself Manfred Mann - not a popular choice, but Burgess won out in the end. From their EMI audition, their first single was released - "Why Should We Not" b/w "Brother Jack." This instrumental record did not sell, although its different nature obtained some press interest. The vocal follow-up "Cock-A-Hoop" was more upbeat, and their following began to grow. An invitation to write a "Ready Steady Go" TV theme led to the creation of the band's first hit "5-4-3-2-1." This commercial pop success did not make jazz bass player Dave Richmond happy, and he was replaced by former Roosters guitarist and bass trainee Tom McGuinness.

 "Hubble Bubble (Toil And Trouble)" rode on the coattails of "5-4-3-2-1," setting their fans up for Manfred Mann's complete pop crossover - "Do Wah Diddy Diddy." A number 1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic, "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" proved that the band had something to say musically and stylistically. This attitude was put into practice with their landmark LP "The Five Faces Of Manfred Mann." This collection became one of the classic R&B albums of '60s with its hard-hitting takes on "Smokestack Lightning", "Got My Mojo Working" and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" to name just three.

After a short trip to the US, Manfred Mann decided to concentrate on European territories for the future. "Sha La La," "Come Tomorrow" and "Oh No Not My Baby" were three more strong follow-ups to "Do Wah Diddy Diddy." This exposure led to inclusion of the song "My Little Red Book" on the soundtrack of the film "What's New Pussycat?"

Further notoriety came from their best-selling EP "The One In The Middle," one of the handful of EPs to actually make the NME singles chart at #6. With the title track and a powerful cover of Bob Dylan's "With God On Our Side," Manfred Mann reached another level of creativity and artistic success.

Another Dylan number, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now," was a massive hit in 1965, but Mike Vickers wanted to arrange, conduct and compose music. Vickers gave his notice, and Paul Jones put in his as well. Jones' notice was open-ended, and he allowed the band time to replace him. They took 11 months to do so! Meanwhile, the "Mann Made" LP and "No Living Without Loving" EP scored well in their respective charts in 1965. Jack Bruce took over on bass with Tom McGuinness switching back to guitar.

Manfred directed the band towards some stunning jazz material. The only problem was that jazz wasn't commercial in 1966.

Mann and Hugg had located former Band Of Angels vocalist Mike d'Abo and invited him to join the band. Unfortunately, near-sighted EMI thought the band without Jones had no future and dropped the band while signing Paul Jones as a solo act. Neither move proved to be successful.

 Now signed with Fontana, Manfred Mann now had Klaus Voorman on bass, as Jack Bruce left to form Cream with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. The first tentative single issued by the revised d'Abo lineup was a cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like A Woman." Just making the top 10, the single proved that the band could indeed carry on without Paul Jones.

"Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James" and the "As Is" LP carried on Manfred Mann's hitmaking ways in 1966. This led to the group's only hit in 1967, "Ha! Ha! Said The Clown." The single "So Long, Dad" broke the band's hit streak by flopping terribly. Their 1966 EP "Instrumental Assassination" and later "Sweet Pea" single also encountered sales difficulties. However, Manfred Mann rebounded strongly by hitting #1 with another Dylan song - "Mighty Quinn." A classic in every sense of the word, "Mighty Quinn" gave the band a reason to keep on going.

Mann and Hugg got into soundtrack work with the film "Up The Junction" and the title track of "The Charge Of The Light Brigade," two other projects with limited visibility. The song "My Name Is Jack" from another film that they weren't involved with ("You Are What You Eat") gave Manfred Mann another large hit in 1968. Despite the inclusion of two hit singles, the "Mighty Garvey!" LP was a poor seller. With their LP sales in steep decline, this was to be the band's last album.

 Concentrating on pop singles, the band, especially Manfred and Mike Hugg, were feeling very constrained. "Fox On The Run" took a long time to hit the charts, and the band called it a day as a song they hated, "Ragamuffin Man," was riding high in the singles listings. Manfred Mann was one of the few '60s bands that actually quit at the right time.

Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg started doing commercials in 1967, and soon formed Emanon. Emanon evolved into Manfred Mann Chapter Three , which released two albums and started a third before commercial and artistic disappointment set in.

Drummer Chris Slade had played on the sessions for the third Chapter Three LP, so Manfred had it in mind to use Slade for his next project, which became Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Chris Slade, in turn, recommended bass player Colin Pattenden. Manfred had also met British guitarist/ vocalist Mick Rogers from the songs Mike Hugg produced for the mainly Australian group Procession.
And so MMEB was formed. . .

Bobby Sherman - 1970 - Easy Come Easy Go

Easy Come, Easy Go/Love/Time/Sounds Along The Way


 Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. (born July 22, 1943) is an American singer, actor and occasional songwriter, who became a popular teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a series of successful singles, notably the million-seller "Little Woman" (1969). Sherman mostly retired from music in the 1970s for a career as a paramedic and later police officer, though he still performs and records occasionally.

Sherman graduated in 1961 from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California. He attended Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California. His interest in music began at age 11 when he learned to play the trumpet.
 He eventually progressed to playing 16 musical instruments. At Birmingham High School Bobby played football, joined a dance band, and discovered his love for singing.

In 1962, Sal Mineo took Sherman under his wing and wrote two songs for him as well as arranging for Sherman to record the songs, then in 1964 when Sherman was asked by Mineo to sing with his old band at a Hollywood party (where many actors and agents were in attendance) Sherman made such an impression at that party he was signed with an agent and eventually a part on the ABC television show Shindig! as a regular cast member/house singer. Shindig! ran for two years keeping Sherman busy from 1964-66.

During that time Bobby made several records with Decca and another smaller label, and landed in all the teen magazines, but it did not seem to catapult his career. Sherman's luck changed drastically early in 1968 when, out of hundreds of actors, he was selected for the role of the bashful, stammering logger, Jeremy Bolt, in the television series Here Come the Brides (1968-1970 ABC). 

Sherman as Jeremy Bolt

 Sherman appeared on an episode of Honey West (1964) entitled "The Princess and the Paupers" as a kidnapped band member and an episode of The Monkees entitled "Monkees at the Movies", playing a pompous surfer/singer named Frankie Catalina in the vein of Frankie Avalon, performing the song "The New Girl in School" (the flip of Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve", co-written by The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, songwriter Roger Christian and Bob Norberg, who was a roommate of Wilson at the time).

Sherman released 107 songs, 23 singles and 10 albums between 1962-76. In his recording career he earned seven gold singles, one platinum single, and five gold albums. He had a career total of seven top 40 hits. In 1969, he signed with Metromedia Records, the new recording arm of Metromedia. In May 1969 they released the single "Little Woman", which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (#2 in Canada) and spent nine weeks in the Top 20. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in October 1969.    
 
                                                                        Sherman as Frankie Catalina on the Monkees

 His other hits were "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" (US #5/AC #2) (Canada #3) (Australia #3) (written by Tom Bahler), "Easy Come, Easy Go" (US #9/AC #2) (Canada #6), "Jennifer" (US #60/AC #9) (Canada #32), "La La La (If I Had You)" (US #9/AC #14) (Canada #7), and "The Drum" (US #29/AC #2) (Canada #7) (written by Alan O'Day). Some of these songs were produced by Jackie Mills, a Hollywood record producer, who also produced the Brady Bunch Kids. In Canada "Hey, Mister Sun" reached #19, "Cried Like a Baby" reached #10, and "Waiting At The Bus Stop" reached #31. "La, La, La," "Easy Come, Easy Go," and "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" all sold in excess of a million copies and garnered further gold discs for Sherman. "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" was Sherman's sole excursion in the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at #28 in November 1970. The song competed there for chart space with White Plains' cover version, which eventually placed higher at #8.

Sherman toured extensively through the United States and the world in support of his many records and albums. He gave many concerts to sellout crowds of mostly screaming young women from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. The screaming by the young women was so loud that Sherman to this day has experienced hearing loss. 

 Sherman was a frequent guest on American Bandstand and Where the Action Is. He made local and regional TV performances. A March 1971 episode of The Partridge Family featured Sherman, serving as a back-door pilot for the ABC TV series Getting Together, which aired starting in September 1971. The show competed with All in the Family on Saturday nights and was canceled after 14 episodes.

Sherman was a guest star on television series such as The Mod Squad, Ellery Queen, Murder She Wrote and Frasier. He has also been a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, American Bandstand, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, KTLA Morning News, Visiting with Huell Howser on PBS, Good Day LA, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Good Morning America, and The Tonight Show with both Johnny Carson and later with Jay Leno. He was featured on 20/20, VH1, Entertainment Tonight, and Extra, among other television shows.

 

 

 In 1998, after a 25-year absence, eager fans flocked to see him in concert as part of "The Teen Idol Tour" with Peter Noone, and Davy Jones. Fellow Monkees member Micky Dolenz replaced Davy Jones on the tour in 1999. He did his last concert as a solo performer in Lincoln, Rhode Island on August 25, 2001. Bobby has retired from public life; however, he still does corporate events occasionally as well as his ongoing charities. He was ranked #8 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (January 23, 2005 issue).

"Easy Come, Easy Go" is a song written by Jack Keller and Diane Hildebrand that was a hit single for Bobby Sherman in 1970. The song was first released by Cass Elliot on July 5, 1969, on her album Bubblegum, Lemonade, and... Something for Mama. Bobby Sherman's version was released as a single in January 1970, and appeared on the album Here Comes Bobby, which was released in March of the same year. Sherman's version spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 9, while reaching No. 2 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. In Canada, the song reached No. 6 on the "RPM 100" No. 7 on RPM's adult contemporary chart, and No. 2 on Toronto's CHUM 30 chart. The song earned Sherman a gold record.

Dusty Springfield - 1963 - Dusty FLAC

Can I Get A Witness/All Cried Out/ I Wish I'd Never Loved You/Wishin' And Hopin'



 Hailed as Britain's "best ever pop singer" by Rolling Stone, the English-born Dusty Springfield charted several 1960s hits, including "Son of a Preacher Man."

Dusty Springfield made her way into the heart of 1960s swinging London with the British trio The Springfields. Her solo hits include "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (1966) and "Son of a Preacher Man" (1969). After a bout with drugs and alcohol, she saw her career resurrected with the 1987 Pet Shop Boys song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and the soundtrack to the 1988 film Scandal.

A British singer whose style and husky voice emulated the Motown sounds she adored, Dusty Springfield was born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien on April 16, 1939, in London, England. Her love of music came early. At a young age she teamed up with her older brother Dion, singing with him in their parents' garage. They liked to record their collaboration and by the late 1950s had started performing together in front of live audiences.


In the early 1960s, after briefly joining a cabaret act called the Lana Sisters, Mary reunited with her brother to form a new group, The Springfields. Dion had started working with another vocalist, Tim Field, and inspired by his last name, the trio took on the name, The Springfields. In addition, the siblings adopted stage names for themselves. Mary came to be known as Dusty Springfield, and her brother as Tom Springfield.

 The group's style, folksy with the kind of poppy sound that would later drive Beatlemania, hit at just the right time. The Springfields recorded several Top Five British hits, such as "Island of Dreams" (1962) and "Say I Won't Be There" (1963). They even enjoyed some American notice—something rare for British groups at that point—with the 1962 release of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles, " which reached No. 20 on the U.S. charts.

In late 1963, The Springfields disbanded, allowing Dusty to launch a successful solo career. Over the next half decade Springfield was a fixture on the pop charts. The run of success began just months after The Springfields ended, with the January 1964 hit "I Only Want to Be With You," which reached No. 4 in Britain and No. 12 in the U.S.

 Between 1965 and 1968 Springfield churned out a number of hits, including "Some of Your Lovin'," "Little by Little," and the highly successful "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."

The pinnacle of her success came in 1968 with her album Dusty in Memphis, on which the singer, who'd long adored singers like Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin, worked with legendary music producer Jerry Wexler, the man behind albums by Franklin and Ray Charles.

"I was deeply influenced by black singers from the early 1960s," she once said. "I liked everybody at Motown and most of the Stax artists. I really wanted to be Mavis Staples. What they shared in common was a kind of strength I didn't hear on English radio."

Dusty in Memphis was a tremendous success. Anchored by one of Springfield's biggest hits, "Son of a Preacher Man," it climbed to No. 10 on the U.S. charts. In 1994 that song received a second round of popularity when it became one of the featured songs in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction.

Springfield's career following Dusty in Memphis proved inconsistent. Long fascinated by the United States and a bit of a Civil War geek, she moved to America in 1970. But her life only took on more struggles in her new home. Beset by drug issues and other personal problems, Springfield failed to capture the run of stardom she'd once enjoyed.

She did continue to record, and there were some isolated moments of success. In 1987 a whole new generation of music fans got to know her when she teamed up with the Pet Shop Boys for the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Two years later, she again earned some radio airplay with the song "Nothing Has Been Prove" for the movie Scandal.

 Springfield, who returned to England in the early 1990s, released her final studio album, A Very Fine Love, in 1995. That same year, she was diagnosed with cancer. From there on out, health problems were a constant in her life.

Still, her final years introduced a renewed interest in her work and career. In 1997, Mercury Records issued a 3-CD set, The Dusty Springfield Anthology Collection. Two years later, Rhino Records released a special edition of Dusty in Memphis.

In 1998 Springfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She passed away the following year from cancer, on March 2, 1999

Aretha Franklin - 1969 - The House That Jack Built FLAC

The House That Jack Built/I Say A Little Prayer/See Saw/Night Time Is The Right Time



  Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer, she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records -- "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The House That Jack Built," and several others -- earned her the title "Lady Soul," which she has worn uncontested ever since. Yet as much of an international institution as she's become, much of her work -- outside of her recordings for Atlantic in the late '60s and early '70s -- is erratic and only fitfully inspired, making discretion a necessity when collecting her records.

Franklin's roots in gospel ran extremely deep. With her sisters Carolyn and Erma (both of whom would also have recording careers), she sang at the Detroit church of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, while growing up in the 1950s. In fact, she made her first recordings as a gospel artist at the age of 14. It has also been reported that Motown was interested in signing Aretha back in the days when it was a tiny start-up. Ultimately, however, Franklin ended up with Columbia, to which she was signed by the renowned talent scout John Hammond.

Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout the first half of the '60s, notching occasional R&B hits (and one Top 40 single, "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody") but never truly breaking out as a star. The Columbia period continues to generate considerable controversy among critics, many of whom feel that Aretha's true aspirations were being blunted by pop-oriented material and production. In fact, there's a reasonable amount of fine items to be found on the Columbia sides, including the occasional song ("Lee Cross," "Soulville") where she belts out soul with real gusto. It's undeniably true, though, that her work at Columbia was considerably tamer than what was to follow, and suffered in general from a lack of direction and an apparent emphasis on trying to develop her as an all-around entertainer, rather than as an R&B/soul singer.

When Franklin left Columbia for Atlantic, producer Jerry Wexler was determined to bring out her most soulful, fiery traits. As part of that plan, he had her record her first single, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," at Muscle Shoals in Alabama with esteemed Southern R&B musicians. In fact, that was to be her only session actually at Muscle Shoals, but much of the remainder of her '60s work would be recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, although the sessions would actually take place in New York City. The combination was one of those magic instances of musical alchemy in pop: the backup musicians provided a much grittier, soulful, and R&B-based accompaniment for Aretha's voice, which soared with a passion and intensity suggesting a spirit that had been allowed to fly loose for the first time.

 In the late '60s, Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop. Many also saw Franklin as a symbol of black America itself, reflecting the increased confidence and pride of African-Americans in the decade of the civil rights movement and other triumphs for the black community. The chart statistics are impressive in and of themselves: ten Top Ten hits in a roughly 18-month span between early 1967 and late 1968, for instance, and a steady stream of solid mid- to large-size hits for the next five years after that. Her Atlantic albums were also huge sellers, and far more consistent artistically than those of most soul stars of the era. Franklin was able to maintain creative momentum, in part, because of her eclectic choice of material, which encompassed first-class originals and gospel, blues, pop, and rock covers, from the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to Sam Cooke and the Drifters. She was also a fine, forceful, and somewhat underrated keyboardist.

  Franklin's commercial and artistic success was unabated in the early '70s, during which she landed more huge hits with "Spanish Harlem," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and "Day Dreaming." She also produced two of her most respected, and earthiest, album releases with Live at Fillmore West and Amazing Grace. The latter, a 1972 double LP, was a reinvestigation of her gospel roots, recorded with James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. Remarkably, it made the Top Ten, counting as one of the greatest gospel-pop crossover smashes of all time.
 Franklin had a few more hits over the next few years -- "Angel" and the Stevie Wonder cover "Until You Come Back to Me" being the most notable. Her Atlantic contract ended at the end of the 1970s. She signed with the Clive Davis-guided Arista and scored number one R&B hits with "Jump to It," "Get It Right," and "Freeway of Love." Many of her successes were duets, or crafted with the assistance of contemporaries such as Luther Vandross and Narada Michael Walden .

 In 1986 Franklin released her follow-up to Who's Zoomin' Who?, the self-titled Aretha, which saw the single "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me," a duet with George Michael, hit the top of the charts. There was also another return to gospel in 1987 with One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. Franklin shifted back to pop with 1989's Through the Storm, but it wasn't a commercial success, and neither was 1991's new jack swing-styled What You See Is What You Sweat.
  Now solidly an iconic figure and acknowledged as one of the best singers of her generation no matter what her record sales were, Franklin contributed songs to several movie soundtracks in the next few years before releasing the R&B-based A Rose Is Still a Rose in 1998. So Damn Happy followed five years later in 2003 and again saw disappointing sales, but it did generate the Grammy-winning song "Wonderful." Franklin left Arista that same year and started her own label, Aretha's Records, two years later. A duets compilation, Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, was issued in 2007, followed by her first holiday album, 2008's This Christmas. The first release on her own label, A Woman Falling Out of Love, appeared in 2011. She signed to RCA and realigned with Clive Davis, who connected her with the likes of Babyface and OutKast's André 3000 for Sings the Great Diva Classics, for which she covered Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand, and Adele, among others.

"The House That Jack Built" is a song written by Bobby Lance and Fran Robbins and performed by Aretha Franklin. The song reached #2 on the U.S. R&B chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. The song's B-side, "I Say a Little Prayer", reached #3 on the U.S. R&B chart, #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #4 in the U.K. in 1968. "See Saw" is a song written by Steve Cropper and Don Covay Aretha Franklin released a version of the song that reached #9 on the U.S. R&B chart and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. The song appeared on her 1968 album, Aretha Now.

Del Shannon - 1963 - Little Town Flirt FLAC

Hats Off To Larry/You Never Talked About Me/The Swiss Maid/Little Town Flirt


 One of the best and most original rockers of the early '60s, Del Shannon was also one of the least typical. Although classified at times as a teen idol, he favored brooding themes of abandonment, loss, and rejection. In some respects he looked forward to the British Invasion with his frequent use of minor chords and his ability to write most of his own material. In fact, Shannon was able to keep going strong for a year or two into the British Invasion, and never stopped trying to play original music, though his commercial prospects pretty much died after the mid-'60s.

Born Charles Westover, Shannon happened upon a gripping series of minor chords while playing with his band in Battle Creek, MI. The chords would form the basis for his 1961 debut single, "Runaway," one of the greatest hits of the early '60s, with its unforgettable riffs, Shannon's amazing vocal range (which often glided off into a powerful falsetto), and the creepy, futuristic organ solo in the middle. It made number one, and the similar follow-up, "Hats Off to Larry," also made the Top
Ten.

Shannon had intermittent minor hits over the next couple of years ("Little Town Flirt" was the biggest), but was even more successful in England, where he was huge. On one of his European tours in 1963, he played some shows with the Beatles, who had just scored their first big British hits. Shannon, impressed by what he heard, would become the first American artist to cover a Beatles song when he recorded "From Me to You" for a 1963 single (although it would give him only a very small hit). Shannon's melodic style had some similarities with the burgeoning pop/rock wing of the British Invasion, and in 1965, Peter & Gordon would cover a Shannon composition, "I Go to Pieces," for a Top Ten hit.

Del got into the Top Ten with a late-1964 single, "Keep Searchin'," that was one of his best and hardest-rocking outings. But after the similar "Stranger in Town" (number 30, 1965), he wouldn't enter the Top 40 again for nearly a couple of decades. A switch to a bigger label (Liberty) didn't bring the expected commercial results, although he was continuing to release quality singles. Part of the problem was that some of these were a bit too eager to recycle some of his stock minor-keyed riffs, as good as his prototype was. A brief association with producer Andrew Loog Oldham (also manager/producer of the Rolling Stones) found him continuing to evolve, developing a more Baroque, orchestrated pop/rock sound, and employing British session musicians such as Nicky Hopkins. Much to Shannon's frustration, Liberty decided not to release the album that resulted from the collaboration (some of the material appeared on singles, and much of the rest of the sessions would eventually be issued for the collector market).
 

 By the late '60s, Shannon was devoting much of his energy to producing other artists, most notably Smith and Brian Hyland. Shannon was a perennially popular artist on the oldies circuit (particularly in Europe, where he had an especially devoted audience), and was always up for a comeback attempt on record. Sessions with Jeff Lynne and Dave Edmunds in the '70s didn't amount to much, but an early-'80s album produced by Tom Petty (and featuring members of the Heartbreakers as backing musicians) got him into the Top 40 again with a cover of "Sea of Love." He was working on another comeback album with Jeff Lynne, and sometimes rumored as a replacement for Roy Orbison in the Traveling Wilburys, when he unexpectedly killed himself on February 8, 1990, while on anti-depressant drugs.

"Hats Off to Larry" is a song written and sung by Del Shannon, which he released as a single in 1961. The song spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 5, while reaching No. 1 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade, No. 2 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade", No. 2 in Australia, No. 6 on the UK's Record Retailer chart, and No. 8 in South Africa.
"The Swiss Maid" was a 1962 hit song for Del Shannon. The single only made #64 on the US Billboard charts, whereas on the UK charts it fared much better and made #2. It spent 3 weeks at the top of the Australian charts. The song was written by country singer/songwriter Roger Miller, who recorded it in 1961 under the title "Fair Swiss Maiden".
"Little Town Flirt" is a song by Del Shannon, which he released as a single in 1962 and on the album Little Town Flirt in 1963. The song spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 12, while reaching No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart, No. 1 in Australia, No. 4 on the UK's Record Retailer chart, No. 7 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade", and No. 9 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.
"You Never Talked About Me" a song written by Pomus and Shuman only just charted in Australia reaching No.96 the song was featured in the British Rock n Roll movie "It's Trad Dad"