 genre: acid psych
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 248 mb)
time: 38:34
oe: highly recommended, steeper than the great Captain Beefheart
Fuzz Acid & Flowers:
Produced by Michael Lloyd (WCPAEB, Smoke...), designed by Cal Schenkel (Zappa) and dedicated to Jack Kerouac, Simon Stokes' first album is an excellent psych blues album a la Captain Beefheart. Big City Blues, Voodoo Woman, Ride On Angel and Which Way are fast blues/rock numbers with the growling voice of Stokes and the inventive guitar of Butch Senneville (ex-Quatrain). Almost all of the songs were composed by Stokes and Randall Keith and five tracks also appeared on the soundtrack of "Outlaw Riders", a bikers movie.
In 1973 Stokes was back with Senneville for a new album The Incredible Simon Stokes And The Blackwhip Thrill Band produced by David Briggs. Its sleeve designed by Pacific Eye and Ear shows mad monks whipping girls and S&M scenes. Weird! The songs have strange lyrics too (The Boa Constrictor Ate My Wife Last Night, The Wolf Pack Rides The Night, The Devil Just Called My Name, She's Got The Voodoo) and there's a new version of Ride On Angel. John Locke of Spirit plays keyboards on this album.
The fourth LP contains a new version of Big City Blues but is not as interesting, being orientated more toward mainstream rock. This album is generally thought to be his last one, but, in 1996, Simon Stokes came back with no other than Timothy Leary to release as Leary and Stokes, Right To Fly (Psychorelic Records), a CD with twelve new songs co-written with Randall Keith. This year saw also the release on Baloney Shrapnel Records of Ride On by Conqueror Worm, a group formed by members of various US alternative groups (Rancid Vat, Poison Idea, Alcoholics Unanimous). They covered twelve of Stokes' songs, including Big City Blues, Hot Summer Nights, Wolfpack Rides The Night and Voodoo Woman.
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 genre: heavy prog
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 298 mb)
time: 41:40
oe: highly recommended, for those who love Atomic Rooster & etc
wikipedia:
Still Life was an English progressive rock band characterized by expert Hammond organ playing, intricate and original vocal harmonies, and an agile and precise rhythm section. They had one self-titled album that was originally released in 1971. The album credits kept an aura of mystery about their membership. Martin Cure, Graham Amos, Terry Howells and Alan Savage were actually involved.
Bassist Graham Amos and vocalist Martin Cure began their musical experience in 1963 in a Coventry based band called The Sabres. They later formed The Peeps in 1965. The other two members of the band were Roy Albrighton (guitar) and Paul Wilkinson (drums). The Peeps recorded five SPs for Philips Records (1966–68). In 1968, they recruited Terry Howells on organ (ex-Ray King Soul Band). Their drummer, P. Wilkinson, left the band in 1968 (he joined a band called Flying Machine). With a new drummer, Gordon Reed (ex-Vampires), the group's name was changed to Rainbows. They recorded two singles for CBS Records. The Rainbows also had some gigs in Hamburg, Germany, and when they were finished there their guitarist, R. Albrighton, decided to stay in Germany (later, he formed a band called Nektar). When Rainbows came back to England, Reed left the band. The three remaining musicians: Amos, Cure, and Howells, changed a band name to Still Life. Alan Savage was recruited at short notice prior to the new line-up recording their debut album. It was recorded at Nova Sound Recording Studios, near Marble Arch, London.
Savage was involved with the recording on the following dates: 1, 2, 5, 6 and 13 October 1970. The album was mixed on 26 October. Stephen Shane produced the album, which was released through Vertigo Records. The Allmusic journalist, Richie Unterberger, noted "The record was early organ-dominated progressive rock, its lyrical themes dwelling upon uneasy doubt and sadness, the melodies colored with the gothic classicism prevalent in much of the genre during the period". The band had a recording contract to produce six such albums, but they drifted apart.
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 genre: folk
state: uk
quality: lossless (wv, cue, log, covers, 183 mb)
time: 35:13
wikipedia:
Third album released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. After a meteoric start to his career, surprising even his original producer at Deram Records with the hit singles "I Love My Dog", "Matthew and Son", and "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun", Stevens' debut album, Matthew and Son began charting as well. However, after the pressure for a repeat album of the same calibre, Stevens, considered a young teen sensation, was overwhelmed by a new lifestyle, as well as the demands of writing, recording, performing, publicity appearances, and touring. In the fall of 1968, he collapsed, with the diagnosis of tuberculosis and a collapsed lung. For over a year, while recovering, Stevens virtually disappeared from the British pop scene. Mona Bone Jakon is notable not only for his return, but for the emergence of a very different artist. The album was certified gold for sales/shipments of more than 500,000 copies in the United States.
During his hospital-dictated year of bedrest, he began writing a catalogue of songs to fill far more than his next album. After his recovery, Stevens negotiated out of his contract with Deram Records and joined with former Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith with a stripped down sound, with songs played in spare arrangements on acoustic guitars and keyboards and accompanied by a sparse backing band, consisting only of three other performers: second guitarist Alun Davies, bassist John Ryan, and drummer Harvey Burns—and on one song, "Katmandu", Peter Gabriel on the flute. Smith also produced the album and brought Stevens a high fidelity sound that was not as present on his previous releases. Smith was one of the early producers in rock to push the lower bass frequencies more prominently into the mix in an attempt to keep up with the new audiophile generation which was embracing larger home speakers and high end phonographic cartridges. Stevens began to make the transition from pop star to a folk-rock performer, when the term "singer-songwriter" was just being coined.
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 genre: soft, folk
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 210 mb)
time: 34:26
Tapestry of Delights:
Stealer's Wheel was formed by two Scottish folk singers Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, who had previously sung harmonies on Rafferty's 1971 solo album Can I Have My Money Back? Rafferty incidentally, had earlier played in Humblebums. Brown, Noakes and Campbell all left the band before any recordings were made. Rafferty and Egan then put together line-up, which included Paul Pilnick (once of The Big Three and later Badger).
The band's debut album was full of strong harmonies and was well received. Three of the Rafferty/Egan compositions on the album were issued as 45s and gradually one of them Stuck In The Middle With You, wound its way into the Top Ten. It also got to No 6 in the US. Ironically by then, though, Rafferty had left the band and Williams had been given the push. Harper and Grosvenor (later Ariel Bender in Mott The Hoople) were brought in to replace them, but when the song achieved commercial success Rafferty rejoined the band and everyone else (except Egan) was ousted.
Rafferty and Egan recorded Ferguslie Park (which was named after a district of their home town in Scotland, Paisley) with assistance from various session musicians. Like their debut this album was also produced by Leiber and Stoller and again it was full of strong harmonies. Unlike its predecessor it didn't produce a major hit though there were a couple of minor ones - Everything Will Turn Out Fine (also No 49 in the US) and Star (No 29 in US). Favouring a change of approach Rafferty and Egan started working with a new producer, Mentor Williams. However, a series of problems with backing musicians meant the duo couldn't make live appearances for some months and by the time their next album, Right Or Wrong, was released they didn't have much of an audience to receive it and in any case interpersonal relationships between Rafferty and Egan had reached an all time low. When the band split Rafferty embarked on a successful solo career.
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 genre: hard
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 276 mb)
time: 38:44
wikipedia:
Eighth Status Quo studio album. It features Francis Rossi, Richard Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan. The album's cover art features band members in an Ames room, and on the original vinyl release, the inner gatefold sleeve consisted of informal photos members of the group had taken of each other.
In November 1974 the band released the only single from the album, an edited version of a Rossi/Young song entitled "Down Down". The single gave the band their only #1 hit to date. Its b-side was the Parfitt/Young album track "Nightride".
When the album was released in February 1975, the group were more or less at the peak of their career, record sales-wise. The album entered the chart at #1. All tracks were written or co-written by the group including unofficial fifth member, Robert Keith Young, apart from "Bye Bye Johnny", which was a Chuck Berry composition.
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 genre: heavy
state: us
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 265 mb)
time: 36:26
Another gem that fell through the floor boards of time is this Prog Psych monster of an album by the little known Starfire. On pouring over research information we have been able to confirm that this band hailed from sunny California and recorded this album (probably their one and only release ) in 1974. Originally released on the Crimson Records label as a private pressing of no more than 200 copies it is almost impossible to track down an original of this immensely collectable album. To demand the tag 'Prog Psych monster' we have a liberal dose of spooky swirling organ and fuzz guitars. Starfire sounds very much like Thunderpussy but a bit more rockin.
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 genre: prog, folk
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 318 mb)
time: 50:34
wikipedia:
Stackridge is the 1971 debut album by the English group Stackridge. It was one of the first releases on the MCA Records label in the U.K.
The Stackridge style is rather hard to categorize. According to the liner notes the group claimed a wide range of influences including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, Syd Barrett, Robin Williamson, The Marx Brothers, Flanders and Swan, Bing Crosby, Tom Lehrer, Gilbert & Sullivan, Frederick Delius, J.S. Bach and Igor Stravinsky.
The album contains the original version of "Slark" which was later re-recorded in a much shorter version for a single. "Slark" was the highlight of many concerts, combining folk and progressive rock elements to create the first Stackridge epic.
"Dora the Female Explorer" was the only single released from the album and sounds like it must have been the inspiration for the children's television show Dora the Explorer. The real reason for the similarity in title is not fully known. Lyricists Andy Cresswell-Davis and James Warren had hoped to adapt six of the album's songs into a cartoon-book for children but, unfortunately, the project was never completed.
The album was recorded on 16-track equipment at De Lane Lea Studios, London, between March and April 1971 with recording engineer Martin Birch. It was produced by Fritz Freyer. Deep Purple were in the studio next door working on their album Fireball.
On some versions of the album, such as the U.S. edition released by Decca Records (DL-75317), the title of the song "32 West Mall" was shortened to "West Mall." Decca had also changed the titles of songs by other British artists, such as The Who, for U.S. release.
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 genre: heavy, psych
state: us
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 241 mb)
time: 38:17
Fuzz Acid & Flowers:
A local Californian release and one of the rarest and probably the most significant American private press hard rock album of the era. Above All was 'discovered' by collectors in the mid-eighties and since then only a half-dozen original copies have turned up.
Stack were a figurehead group in a busy hard rock scene exploding out of the Los Angeles area in the late sixties. Formed out a surf band called The Vandells (which included Gould) and Wabash Spencer (with Ellis and Sheppard) in 1967, Stack enjoyed a prolific concert itinerary for over two years, playing with such notables as Buffalo Springfield, Fields, Hook, Things To Come, Rockin' Foo, Iron Butterfly, Illinois Speed Press, Three Dog Night, Frank Zappa and Alice Cooper. During 1968, they signed a long-term contract with Mike Curb's Sidewalk Productions and recorded an album in off-hours at local studios.
Above All is a brutal hard rock album with a distinct British influence in several of the better tracks. Cass and Only Forever are remarkably effective showcases for Ellis' propulsive drumming style, which sounds like a cross between Paul Whaley (of Blue Cheer) and Keith Moon. There are a couple of tracks on the album that sound merely typical by comparison; a lenghty blues, and a cover of Poison Ivy that was rather unfortunately chosen as the opening cut on Side One, but overall it's a killer and highly recommended to hard rock fans.
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 genre: psych
state: us
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 301 mb)
time: 42:49
wikipedia:
The SRC (short for The Scot Richard Case) was a Detroit-based rock band from the late 1960s. From 1966 to 1972, they were a staple at many Detroit rock venues, such as the Grande Ballroom.
The SRC was formed by Scott Richardson, the Chosen Few lead singer, with local band The Fugitives, which featured Glenn Quackenbush, Gary Quackenbush & E.G. Clawson, all based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Robin Dale, Bass & Vocals, the only British member of the group. Jeep Holland, manager of The Rationals, became their manager and suggested Richardson as lead singer. Bass player Robin Dale was added later.
Holland, also a record store manager, later served as Russ Gibb's booking agent and was associated with many of the top Detroit based artists of his time such as MC5, The Tymes, and others. The Quackenbush brothers went to see Richardson at one of the final Chosen Few gigs at the Ann Arbor Armory, run by Pete Andrews (later SRC's manager). They formed the Scot Richard Case, later known as SRC.
Upon the addition of Richardson, the original lineup included: Scott Richardson (vocals), Steve Lyman (rhythm guitar and vocals), Gary Quackenbush (lead guitar), Glenn Quackenbush (organ), Robin Dale (bass and vocals) and E.G. Clawson (drums). Richardson was influenced by the Pretty Things and based the SRC stage show on this. The band recorded its first single "Who's that Girl"/"I'm So Glad", the latter a cover of a Skip James song, and released it to moderate reviews. However, fan reaction was good enough for the band's members to choose to drop out of Eastern Michigan University to work on their music, a risk at the time as draft-eligible men were potentially subject to mandatory military duty in Vietnam.
Soon the band's sound became more psychedelic, influenced by the likes of Procol Harum, for whom the band would later open. Their self-titled debut album was released by Capitol Records, and the single "Black Sheep"/"Morning Mood" from this album drew fan and media praise. "Black Sheep", considered a psychedelic masterpiece, was released only in mono for the single, as an abridged version with different guitar sound and notation. The album version, recorded in well-blended as opposed to ping-pong stereo, then still in use by some of the more limited recording studios in 1968, featured a longer midsection with additional verses.
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 genre: folk
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 210 mb)
time: 40:33
wikipedia:
... self-financed tape recording Rowdy, Dowdy Day (1974) drew them to the attention of Steeleye Span's Tim Hart, who produced their first vinyl album Jack with a Feather (1975), contributing the song ‘Seamus the Showman’, beside traditional material such as the Child Ballads ‘Flodden Field’ and ‘The Twa Magicians’ (the last of which Steeleye Span had recorded the year before) and the Irish songs ‘Let no man steal your Thyme’ and ‘Curragh of Kildare’. The album, despite a very short run of pressings, together with Hart’s involvement, helped increase the band’s profile sufficiently to gain attention from a major label.
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 genre: heavy
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 370 mb)
time: 68:54 misc.: compilation of '69-'70 Eps
wikipedia:
It was the first Spooky Tooth album to be released without contributions from Mike Harrison. It also was their last album for nearly twenty five years, to be followed by Cross Purpose in 1999. The album was released in October, 1974, one month after group members had permanently disbanded. Members went on to form such bands as Foreigner and The Only Ones.
A review in the website Allmusic rates the album four stars out of five, with the reviewer stating "Elements of pop and gospel/R&B are all combined into a seamless rock delivery on The Mirror, giving the record a depth that is rare in the Spooky Tooth catalog.
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 genre: psych
state: us
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers, 370 mb)
time: 68:54 misc.: compilation of '69-'70 Eps
Fuzz Acid & Flowers:
Weird'n'wonderful sounds emanated from Urbana, Illinois in 1968 and 1969 thanks to this previously unheralded assemblage. The reissue contains a mixed bag of cerebral sounds - electronic collages interspersed or combined with jazzy vibes, acid rock, and dreamy folk rock. Some highlights:- Walk In, Walk Out opens with an electronic barrage before turning to more standard fuzz-psych with (for a change) good use of brass; the astounding E-Thing could be a soundtrack to 'Apocalypse Now' - a backdrop of whining, pulsing helicopter-like effects onto which is etched a heavy acid jam; Rit Yellow Of The Sun builds to a delicious Spanish-flavoured guitar freakout then degenerates into fuzz and electronic mayhem.
This should appeal especially to fans of experimental or electonic psych by the likes of Fifty Foot Hose and the United States Of America.
Roger Francisco was previously with The Prodigies. ~ (Max Waller/Clark Faville)
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 genre: rock, folk
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac tracks, log, cover, 197 mb)
time: 35:45
wikipedia:
Splinter was a two-man vocal group from South Shields, England, consisting of Bill Elliott (William Elliott) and Bobby Purvis (Robert J Purvis), who formed in the early 1970s.
They were connected with ex-Beatle George Harrison, and had groups of instrumentalists to back them on each album. Splinter was the first act signed to Harrison's Dark Horse Records label, when it was partnered with A&M Records. The band's sound has often been likened to that of The Beatles (particularly Harrison and John Lennon) and Badfinger. The duo's biggest success came with their debut album, the critically admired The Place I Love (1974), which contained the hit single "Costafine Town". ...
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