John Mayall

John Mayall and Friends - Along for the Ride - 2001 - Eagle Records

By the time this was released in 2001, John Mayall was more known for the people who played in his seminal British band, the Bluesbreakers rather than his own accomplishments. The success of 1999's Padlock on the Blues afforded Mayall the opportunity to fulfill his dreams and gather an all-star lineup of blues and rock luminaries. "A World of Hurt" and "That's Why I Love You So" both typify the good but not great groove that permeates Along for the Ride. Better tracks "Yo Yo Man" and "Early in the Morning" are easygoing blues that feature the great rhythm section of John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. Fellow Fleetwood Mac and Bluesbreaker alum, the reclusive Peter Green plays acoustic slide guitar on "Yo-Yo Man." "So Many Roads" has Mayall dueting with Otis Rush, and it soon becomes a contest on who sounds more disgruntled. The playful "Testify" features vocals and subtle guitar lines from blues phenom Shannon Curfman. This ends on the strong note. The powerful and wry "She Don't Play By the Rules" has Mayall with arguably the strongest and most subtle band with Mick Taylor on lead guitar and Andy Fairweather Low on acoustic guitar. Along for the Ride is produced, engineered, and mixed by David Z. Despite the camaraderie, a lot of the hooks here don't stick, and fans of Mayall and superstar sessions will get the most from this effort. © Jason Elias © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/along-for-the-ride-mw0000520850

A highly enjoyable album, if you are a fan of really excellent blues rock then you may enjoy this terrific collection of tracks by the legendary John Mayall and a star studded cast of musicians. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 140 Mbs]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. A World of Hurt - Glen Clark, Jeff Silbar
2. Along for the Ride - Cook, Fuller
3. Put it Right Back - Walter Trout
4. That's Why I Love You So - Jerry Williams
5. Yo Yo Man - Tony Joe White
6. If I Don't Get Home - The Delgado Bros
7. Testify - Stark, Bowe
8. Early in the Morning - Bartley, Hickman, Jordan
9. Something 'bout My Baby - The Delgado Bros
10. So Many Roads - Paul
11. World War Blues - Eric Bibb
12. California - Mayall, Thompson
13. She Don't Play by the Rules - Buddy Flett, David Egan, Earl Cate, Ernie Cate

MUSICIANS

John Mayall - Guitar, Slide Guitar, Keyboards, Organ (Hammond), Piano, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, Harmonica, Vocals
Billy Gibbons, Steve Miller, Davy Graham, Jonny Lang, Gary Moore, Joe Delgado, Mick Taylor, Jeff Kribbit - Guitar
Jeff Healey - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Peter Green - Acoustic Slide Guitar
Buddy Whittington - Acoustic & Rhythm Guitar
Steve Cropper, David Z. - Guitar (Rhythm)
Shannon Curfman, Chris Rea - Guitar, Vocal
Andy Fairweather Low - Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Jack Bruce, David Smith, Greg Rzab, John McVie, Bob Delgado - Bass Guitar
Mick Fleetwood, Hughie Flint, Joe Yuele - Drums
Lenny Castro - Percussion
Tom Canning - Organ (Hammond), Piano, Wurlitzer
Reese Wynans - Organ (Hammond)
Billy Preston - Melodica, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, Vocals
Dick Heckstall-Smith, Red Holloway - Sax
Otis Rush, Crystal Taliefero, Wendy Moten - Vocals

BIO

As the elder statesman of British blues, it is John Mayall's lot to be more renowned as a bandleader and mentor than as a performer in his own right. Throughout the '60s, his band, the Bluesbreakers, acted as a finishing school for the leading British blues-rock musicians of the era. Guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor joined his band in a remarkable succession in the mid-'60s, honing their chops with Mayall before going on to join Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones, respectively. John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser (of Free), John Almond, and Jon Mark also played and recorded with Mayall for varying lengths of times in the '60s. Mayall's personnel has tended to overshadow his own considerable abilities. Only an adequate singer, the multi-instrumentalist was adept in bringing out the best in his younger charges (Mayall himself was in his thirties by the time the Bluesbreakers began to make a name for themselves). Doing his best to provide a context in which they could play Chicago-style electric blues, Mayall was never complacent, writing most of his own material (which ranged from good to humdrum), revamping his lineup with unnerving regularity, and constantly experimenting within his basic blues format. Some of these experiments (with jazz-rock and an album on which he played all the instruments except drums) were forgettable; others, like his foray into acoustic music in the late '60s, were quite successful. Mayall's output has caught some flak from critics for paling next to the real African-American deal, but much of his vintage work -- if weeded out selectively -- is quite strong; especially his legendary 1966 LP with Eric Clapton, which both launched Clapton into stardom and kick-started the blues boom into full gear in England. When Clapton joined the Bluesbreakers in 1965, Mayall had already been recording for a year, and been performing professionally long before that. Originally based in Manchester, Mayall moved to London in 1963 on the advice of British blues godfather Alexis Korner, who thought a living could be made playing the blues in the bigger city. Tracing a path through his various lineups of the '60s is a daunting task. At least 15 different editions of the Bluesbreakers were in existence from January 1963 through mid-1970. Some notable musicians (like guitarist Davy Graham, Mick Fleetwood, and Jack Bruce) passed through for little more than a cup of coffee; Mayall's longest-running employee, bassist John McVie, lasted about four years. The Bluesbreakers, like Fairport Convention or the Fall, were more a concept than an ongoing core. Mayall, too, had the reputation of being a difficult and demanding employer, willing to give musicians their walking papers as his music evolved, although he also imparted invaluable schooling to them while the associations lasted. Mayall recorded his debut single in early 1964; he made his first album, a live affair, near the end of the year. At this point the Bluesbreakers had a more pronounced R&B influence than would be exhibited on their most famous recordings, somewhat in the mold of younger combos like the Animals and Rolling Stones, but the Bluesbreakers would take a turn for the purer with the recruitment of Eric Clapton in the spring of 1965. Clapton had left the Yardbirds in order to play straight blues, and the Bluesbreakers allowed him that freedom (or stuck to well-defined restrictions, depending upon your viewpoint). Clapton began to inspire reverent acclaim as one of Britain's top virtuosos, as reflected in the famous "Clapton is God" graffiti that appeared in London in the mid-'60s. In professional terms, though, 1965 wasn't the best of times for the group, which had been dropped by Decca. Clapton even left the group for a few months for an odd trip to Greece, leaving Mayall to straggle on with various fill-ins, including Peter Green. Clapton did return in late 1965, around the time an excellent blues-rock single, "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (with searing sustain-laden guitar riffs), was issued on Immediate. By early 1966, the band was back on Decca, and recorded its landmark Bluesbreakers LP. This was the album that, with its clean, loud, authoritative licks, firmly established Clapton as a guitar hero, on both reverent covers of tunes by the likes of Otis Rush and Freddie King and decent originals by Mayall himself. The record was also an unexpected commercial success, making the Top Ten in Britain. From that point on, in fact, Mayall became one of the first rock musicians to depend primarily upon the LP market; he recorded plenty of singles throughout the '60s, but none of them came close to becoming a hit. Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in mid-1966 to form Cream with Jack Bruce, who had played with Mayall briefly in late 1965. Mayall turned quickly to Peter Green, who managed the difficult feat of stepping into Clapton's shoes and gaining respect as a player of roughly equal imagination and virtuosity, although his style was quite distinctly his own. Green recorded one LP with Mayall, A Hard Road, and several singles, sometimes writing material and taking some respectable lead vocals. Green's talents, like those of Clapton, were too large to be confined by sideman status, and in mid-1967 he left to form a successful band of his own, Fleetwood Mac. Mayall then enlisted 19-year-old Mick Taylor; remarkably, despite the consecutive departures of two star guitarists, Mayall maintained a high level of popularity. The late '60s were also a time of considerable experimentation for the Bluesbreakers, which moved into a form of blues-jazz-rock fusion with the addition of a horn section, and then a retreat into mellower, acoustic-oriented music. Mick Taylor, the last of the famous triumvirate of Mayall-bred guitar heroes, left in mid-1969 to join the Rolling Stones. Yet in a way Mayall was thriving more than ever, as the U.S. market, which had been barely aware of him in the Clapton era, was beginning to open up for his music. In fact, at the end of the 1960s, Mayall moved to Los Angeles. Released in 1969, The Turning Point, a live, all-acoustic affair, was a commercial and artistic high point. In America at least, Mayall continued to be pretty popular in the early '70s. His band was no more stable than ever; at various points some American musicians flitted in and out of the Bluesbreakers, including Harvey Mandel, Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor, and Don "Sugarcane" Harris. Although he's released numerous albums since and remained a prodigiously busy and reasonably popular live act, his post-1970 output generally hasn't matched the quality of his '60s work. Following collaborations with an unholy number of guest celebrities, in the early '80s he re-teamed with a couple of his more renowned vets, John McVie and Mick Taylor, for a tour, which was chronicled by Great American Music's Blues Express, released in 2010. It's the '60s albums that you want, though there's little doubt that Mayall has over the past decades done a great deal to popularize the blues all over the globe, whether or not the music has meant much on record. Continuing to record and tour into his eighties, Mayall released A Special Life, recorded at Entourage Studios in North Hollywood and featuring a guest spot by singer and accordion player C.J. Chenier, in 2014. © Richie Unterberger © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-mayall-mn0000238495/biography

Jerry Harrison: Casual Gods

Jerry Harrison: Casual Gods - Walk On Water - 1990 - Sire
"Walk on Water" is the third solo album by Talking Heads keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison. If you like Talking Heads and/or The Modern Lovers, you will not surprisingly find many similarities in style from the very underrated Jerry Harrison and his band [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 360 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Flying Under Radar (Harrison/Hartman/Brooks) 3:49
2. Kick Start (Harrison/Weir/Worrell/Brooks) 3:50
3. I Don't Mind (Harrison/Bailey/Currie/Brooks) 3:30
4. Confess (Harrison/Bailey/Currie/Brooks) 3:40
5. Sleep Angel (Harrison/Brooks/Bowden) 6:07
6. I Cry For Iran (Harrison/Weir/Worrell/Brooks/Bowden) 6:12
7. Never Let It Slip (Harrison/Weir/Worrell/Sieger) 3:19
8. Cowboy's Got To Go (Harrison/Sieger/Brooks) 4:52
9. If The Rains Return (Harrison/Weir/Worrell/Brooks) 4:25
10. Remain Calm (Harrison) 2:40
11. Big Mouth (Harrison/Weir/Worrell/Bailey) 3:32
12. Facing The Fire (Harrison/Weir/Worrell/Brooks/Russell) 4:37
13. The Doctors Lie (Harrison/Brooks/Weir/Russell) 5:43

MUSICIANS

Jerry Harrison - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Adrian Belew, Jason Klagstad, Chris Spedding, Alex Weir - guitar
Ernie Brooks, Etienne Mboppe, Arthur Weir - bass
Tom Bailey, Bernie Worrell - keyboards
Dan Hartman - keyboards, background vocals
Rick Jaeger, Brice Wassy - drums
Abdou M'Boup - percussion
Jim Liban - harmonica
Tawatha Agee, Sherrell Harmon, Samuel Llanas, Arlene Newson, Loveless Redmond, Vaneese Thomas, Michael Webb - background vocals
Joyce Bowden - background vocals, vocal arrangements

BIO

Though he's hardly a cult persona, Jerry Harrison has failed to be recognized as a crucial figure in the history of punk rock, a portion of the music which influenced it, and the styles which had grown out of punk more than 15 years later. Best known as the keyboard player and occasional guitarist of Talking Heads during the 1980s, Harrison had begun his career ten years before, playing with Jonathan Richman's seminal Modern Lovers during the early '70s. He recorded several solo albums while on occasional hiatus from Talking Heads in the '80s, but when the band disintegrated in the late '80s, Harrison resumed his busy production schedule, working with some hot alternative acts. Born in 1949 in Milwaukee, Jerry Harrison began playing with bands while in high school, and continued his work after graduation, while he studied at Harvard during the late '60s. By the beginning of the decade, Harrison and bandmate Ernie Brooks were encouraged to form a band by local Boston friend Jonathan Richman. Named the Modern Lovers, the group moved quickly and recorded demos in 1972 with John Cale. Finally released in 1976, the songs proved to be a major influence on underground bands in New York; the Modern Lovers had broken up by that time, though, with Harrison going back to Harvard to teach. In April of 1976, however, he attended a Talking Heads show in Boston and convinced them to let him join. The band signed to Sire just one year later, and became one of the most intelligent alternative bands of the '80s, recording an astounding variety of material and even earning several pop hits. During an extended Talking Heads vacation during 1981, Harrison recorded his first solo album, The Red and the Black. The album was recorded with Bernie Worrell, Nona Hendryx, and Adrian Belew — all of whom had appeared on Talking Heads' Remain in Light. Three years later, he released a hip-hop single on Sleeping Bag, recorded as Bonzo Goes to Washington. His second full solo album, however, appeared three years later. Casual Gods had a similar feel to his debut, with loose funk-rock grooves and an open-ended song structure (which suited Harrison's vocals well) but boasted more tuneful songs. Talking Heads was effectively disbanded by that time, and Harrison had already begun producing in 1986, with the Bodeans and Violent Femmes. During the '90s and early 2000s, Harrison became an important and respected producer, working on popular albums by Live, Crash Test Dummies, the Verve Pipe, No Doubt, and the Von Bondies. He also helped launch garageband.com, an Internet resource for independent musicians. His playing was limited during these years, though he and fellow Talking Heads alumni Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz recorded as the Heads (No Talking Just Head, 1996). In 2002, Talking Heads played together again, if only for one night, to celebrate the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. © John Bush © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifrxqe5ld0e~T1

BIO (WIKI)

Jerry Harrison (born Jeremiah Griffin Harrison, 21 February 1949, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American songwriter, musician and producer. He was the keyboardist and guitarist for the influential New Wave group Talking Heads and an original member of The Modern Lovers. Harrison played with Jonathan Richman in The Modern Lovers when he was an architectural student at Harvard University. Harrison was introduced to Richman by mutual friend and journalist Danny Fields, and the pair bonded over their shared love of the Velvet Underground. He joined the Modern Lovers in early 1971, playing on their debut album in 1972 (not released until 1976), and leaving in February 1974 when Richman wished to perform his songs more quietly. Subsequent to his work with The Modern Lovers, Harrison joined Talking Heads; the latter band already had a single out when Harrison left the Modern Lovers to join them. Harrison's solo albums include The Red and the Black, Casual Gods, and Walk on Water. After the 1991 break-up of Talking Heads, Harrison turned to producing and worked on successful albums by such bands as Violent Femmes, The Von Bondies, General Public, Live, Crash Test Dummies, The Verve Pipe, Rusted Root, The Bogmen, Black 47, Of A Revolution, No Doubt, Josh Joplin and most recently The Black and White Years, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Bamboo Shoots. He was recently confirmed as the producer of the forthcoming debut album by The Gracious Few. Harrison also had a small part in the 2006 film The Darwin Awards as "Guy in Bar #1" alongside John Doe of the band X.

MORE ABOUT JERRY HARRISON

Born in Milwaukee, (21-Feb-1949), Jeremiah Harrison initiated his musical training in the fourth grade, intermittently pursuing piano lessons while also briefly studying clarinet and saxophone. Throughout high school he kept active with a variety of bands, and this activity carried over into his three years at Harvard, where he formed the outfit Albatross with roommate Ernie Brooks. Albatross disbanded in mid-1969, but Harrison continued his partnership with Brooks in Catfish Black and briefly in The Eagles. Harrison's career as a professional musician was finally launched in 1971 as a result of his association with Jonathan Richman -- although it was prevented from getting properly underway until several years later for this same reason. Shortly after their first meeting at a party in Cambridge, Richman invited both Harrison and Brooks to join The Modern Lovers, but -- despite support from John Cale and interest from both Warner Brothers and A&M Records -- the singer's difficult behavior prevented any releases from materializing during the band's three year lifespan. This lack of recorded output did not prevent The Modern Lovers from establishing a dedicated following through their live performances, and a posthumous 1976 album culled from sessions produced by both Cale and Alan Mason (seperately) proved to be a significant influence on the emerging punk/new-wave scene.Upon the dissolution of The Modern Lovers, Harrison joined up with songwriter Elliott Murphy for the album Night Lights (1976) and its associated tour; brief tenures with a handful of other bands followed, but ultimately he chose to resume his study of architecture at Harvard. His schooling was soon interrupted a second time by an invitation to join Talking Heads, and after completing one more semester Harrison was lured, once and for all, into the life of a professional musician. By the time of his membership, the trio configuration of Talking Heads had already established themselves on the New York City club circuit and released the single Love Goes to a Building on Fire on Sire Records; but it was as a four-piece that the band's popularity expanded to an international scale, particularly with the release of their debut full-length Talking Heads: 77 and the single Psycho Killer. Three more albums were released by the onset of the next decade (More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978), Fear of Music (1979) and Remain in Light (1980)), each of which served to increase the band's reputation amongst both critics and fans. During a break from band activity in 1981, Harrison recorded his first solo effort The Red and the Black, an album which featured contributions from guitarist Adrian Belew, former P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell and vocalist Nona Hendryx (all participants in the expanded Heads line-up that had recorded Remain in Light). The release was not given as much attention as his bandmate's extra-curricular projects (David Byrne's Catherine Wheel score and his Brian Eno collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth's album as Tom Tom Club), and it would be six years before the appearance of his second solo album Casual Gods (1987). The interim between the two was primarily filled by his work on three further studio albums and two film projects with Talking Heads, although 5 Minutes -- a one-off recording with Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins working under the name Bonzo Goes to Washington -- was issued in 1984. During this period Harrison also launched a parallel career as a record producer, helming sessions for The Blind Leading the Naked by The Violent Femmes, Milwaukee by Elliott Murphy, and producing several tracks for the Jonathan Demme film Something Wild (all three of which took place between 1985 and 1986). After the release of the Talking Heads' final album Naked in 1988, the focus of Jerry Harrison's activities shifted to his production work (although a third solo album Walking on Water and its associated tour were realized in 1990). In the 90s his credits (and industry standing) as a producer grew to considerable proportions through involvement with platinum-selling releases by acts such as Live, Crash Test Dummies, The Verve Pipe, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. His extensive resume also included albums by Poi Dog Pondering (Volo Volo, 1991), Black 47 (Home of the Brave, 1994), Fatima Mansions (Lost in the Former West, 1995), Rusted Root (Remember, 1996) and Bijou Phillips (I'd Rather Eat Glass, 1999). A short-lived musicial reunion with Frantz and Weymouth came about in 1996 when the three formed The Heads, a project originally intended as a Talking Heads reunion and then altered when Byrne refused to participate; consequently, the group's sole album No Talking, Just Head made use of several replacement vocalists ranging from Debbie Harry to Andy Partridge. A proper reunion of the full band did eventually take place (although only for a single evening) on the occasion of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Harrision has since continued to concentrate on his career as a producer for other artists, in addition to maintaining his role as Chairman of the Board for Garageband.com (an internet music resource he co-founded in 1999). © 2010 Soylent Communications

Good God

Good God - Good God - 1972 - Atlantic

"Perhaps the greatest of all "one-shot" progressive / fusion bands in the US (the Dallas-based Master Cylinder might give them a run for their money), Good God recorded a tremendous major label (Atlantic) album and then sunk without a trace. As far as I know, none of these guys (Zeno Sparkles, guitar & vocals; Cotton Kent, keys, sax & vocals; Greg Scott, saxes; John Ransome, bass; Hank Ransome, drums & vocals; plus various guests on additional horns and percussion) subsequently appeared on any later prog or fusion recordings, though Kent pops up as a session man on numerous local R&B dates. Given their instrumental virtuosity and imaginative approach to fusion and progressive rock this is hard to believe, but stranger things have happened. Stylistically, they are more a jazz-rock band (a bit like If or Zzebra, but with some Mahavishnu influence as well) rather than a Progressive rock band. The album contains 4 fine originals, and two covers: Zappa's "King Kong" and McLaughlin's "Dragon Song". One minor quibble: the rather weak vocals on 2 or 3 tracks" © Dave Wayne, GEPR © http://prognotfrog.blogspot.ie/2007/08/good-god-good-god-usa-1972-jazz-fusion.html

A short-lived Philly-based jazz-rock outfit, Good God featured the talents of lead guitarist Larry Cardarelli (billed as 'Zeno Sparkles'), singer/keyboardist Cotton Kent, former Elizabeth drummer Hank Ransome, bassist John Ransome, and sax player Greg Scott. (If you believe the story, they got their name courtesy of Captain Beefheart. Enormous Beefheart fans, the band supposedly called him up out of the blue, ask what they should call themselves. Beefheart's spontaneous response provided the name.) Signed by Atlantic, the band's self-titled 1972 debut teamed them with the production team of Skip Drinkwater, Jay Mark, and Dennis Wilen. Featuring a mixture of band originals and covers, "Good God" was quite different than your standard Philadelphia-based band. Exemplified by instrumental-heavy tracks like '' and ''. these guys were clearly influenced by early 1970s jazz-rock/progressive outfits like Beefheart, Miles Davis (okay jazz-rock may not be an apt description for Davis), King Crimson, John McLaughlin, and Frank Zappa (the album included covers of the latter two acts), set of jazz-rock. I'm not a big fan of the genre, so that clearly colors my appreciation for the collection..The early 1970's was a fertile period for the fusion of jazz and rock. Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea along with "The Prince of Darkness" Miles Davis himself were making ground breaking albums. Good God certainly fits that description even though it did not get much attention at the time. Featuring the keyboards of Cotton Kent along with Zeno Sparkles, guitar and vocals, Greg Scott, saxophones, John Ransome, bass and Hank Ransome drums, this album really cooks with a selection of tracks that still sound fresh almost forty years later. Mainly instrumental with some vocal accents and one actual song the tight arrangements are inventive and hold your interest after repeated listening. Good God has a sound all their own. Standout tracks include "Glaorna Gavorna", featuring the British tenor man from John Mayall's band Johnny Almond, "King Kong", the Frank Zappa Classic, and a killer version of John McLaughlin's "Dragon Song" - Highly recommended......FULL ALBUM IN dailymotion...........http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x33anb_John_Dug_good-god/1#video=x1fgv77 © 2015 Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Good-God-Good-God/release/2110516

Obscure but outstanding album from Good God, an early 70's Philadelphia based jazz rock band with Canterbury Rock and instrumental Zappa influences. Essential listening if you like jazzy prog-rock bands like Soft Machine, King Crimson, Frank Zappa and many more. Progbear on rateyourmusic.com called this album "Superb fusion with a full brass section, like a more progressive-minded Blood, Sweat & Tears. Cover versions of Frank Zappa’s “King Kong” and John McLaughlin’s “Dragon Song” give you an idea where these guys’ heads were at, their originals are in a similar style. Johnny Almond of Mark-Almond makes a guest appearance on tenor sax." Superb musiciansip, great compositional skills, and tight arrangements make this an album HR by A.O.O.F.C [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 101 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 A Murder Of Crows - Larry Cardarelli 6:24
A2 Galorna Gavorna - Cotton Kent 5:11
A3 King Kong - Frank Zappa 8:53

B1 Dragon Song - John McLaughlin 4:20
B2 Zaragoza - Cotton Kent 6:31
B3 Fish Eye - Larry Cardarelli 8:37

MUSICIANS

Guitar, Vocals – Zeno Sparkles
Bass – John Ransome
Piano, Electric Piano, Clavinet, Soprano Saxophone, Marimba, Vocals – Cotton Kent
Drums, Vocals – Hank Ransome
Congas – Larry Washington
Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Greg Scott
Trumpet – Bob Shemenek
Tenor Saxophone – Johnny Almond on "Galorna Gavorna"
Trombone – Bruce Solomon on "Fish Eye"
French Horn – Bob Martin

Tetsuo Sakurai Featuring Greg Howe & Dennis Chambers

Tetsuo Sakurai Featuring Greg Howe & Dennis Chambers - Vital World - 2010 - King Records

In 2001, Japanese bass legend Tetsuo Sakurai (Casiopea, Jimsaku, solo artist) released Gentle Hearts (Victor Entertainment) - a critically acclaimed instrumental rock fusion album that featured the stellar combo of Greg Howe on guitar, and Dennis Chambers on drums. This energetic disc was loaded with heavy riffs, and killer guitar work from Howe. The band also took their act on the road, and subsequently released Gentle Hearts Tour 2004 (2005 - Victor Entertainment) on CD and DVD. Now for his latest album, Vital World (King Records), Sakurai has joined forces with Howe and Chambers once again, and the results are even heavier and more guitar-driven than the group’s previous outings. What’s striking about Vital World is its sheer heaviness. While it does include shades of jazz harmony here and there, the music is largely driven by heavy guitar riffs - Sakurai is definitely shooting for a rock vibe with this album (Some tunes could even be described as prog metal). From a guitar perspective, Greg Howe’s style makes him a great fit for the material on this disc. Unlike many other players who make the attempt, he sounds authentic when utilizing a jazz influenced vocabulary with a rock approach and tone.The album’s in-your-face opener “Critical Planet” sounds like a throwback to “Brain Storm” from the Gentle Hearts album. It’s a relentless, slap-bass tour de force that gives Sakurai a chance to show off his considerable chops. Up next is “Alien’s Feast” - an uber-heavy tune that would not sound out of place on a Planet X record. It also features Howe shredding over a harmonic minor tonality - something he rares does on his own albums. “A Tear Of The Clown” is a heavy tune as well, but in more of melodic “arena rock” vein. Howe’s solo near the end of this piece may be his best on the album. The V chord at the end of the progression gives him a chance to peel off some nice altered scale runs. Sakurai’s amazing bass work is showcased once again on “Are You Ready” - a fun, uptempo tune that may best be described as instrumental pop rock (if there is such a thing anymore). Following a killer Chambers drum break in the middle of the tune, Sakurai takes a wild solo chock-full of crazy slapping and fast runs. The following piece, “Another Kingdom,” is one of the only songs I’ve ever heard that successfully fuses the styles of neo-classical and jazz. The Yngwie-esque A section features long 32nd-note lines doubled between the guitar and bass (reminiscent of “Flight Of The Bumblebee”), while the double-time B section reminded me of a jazz orchestra on a film score session. This would seem to be a strange combination, but the two sides to this tune flow together nicely. Two more heavy riff-based tunes follow - “Triangle Square” which features some Eastern-influenced melodies and an off-the-rails drum solo courtesy of Chambers, and “Monster Parade,” one of the hardest-rocking tunes on the disc. This song also has Howe playing some amazing outside lines. In a total gear shift, the album closes with “Father” - a flowing melodic ballad that serves as a nice palette-cleanser after the onslaught you’ve just experienced for the previous 7 tunes. Vital World is certainly one of the best heavy fusion albums of the year. Sakurai obviously went into this project with the intention of laying down some aggressive music, and he delivered in a big way. He explores a wide-array of rock styles here, yet still leaves room for his jazz and improvisational side. And with Howe and Chambers, he has the perfect bandmates for this endeavor - Both are well-versed in the styles presented on Vital World, and have an obvious rapport with Sakurai from the trio’s previous projects. Highly recommended. © Rich Murray October 03, 2010 © 2004 - 2012 Rich Murray. All Rights Reserved. http://www.guitar-channel.com/rich_murray/2010/10/review-tetsuo-sakurai-vital-world.html

Another remarkable high energy, dynamic fusion album from the great Japanese bassist, Tetsuo Sakurai. Amazing musicianship throughout with plenty of soloing from Tetsuo, Greg Howe, Dennis Chambers, and Taiki Imaizumi on keyboards. Read more about Tetsuo @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuo_Sakurai [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 112 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Critical Planet 2:28
2. Alien's Feast 6:11
3. A Tear Of The Clown 7:10
4. Are You Ready 6:15
5. Another Kingdom 5:12
6. Triangle Square 6:35
7. Monster Parade 6:51
8. Father 5:47

All tracks composed by Tetsuo Sakurai except "Are You Ready" composed by Mark Farner

MUSICIANS

Greg Howe: Guitars
Tetsuo Sakurai: Bass, Programming
Taiki Imaizumi: Keyboards
Dennis Chambers: Drums

Innes Sibun

Innes Sibun - Can't Slow Down (Live at the Estrado) - 2012 - Peppercake

"One of the top three blues guitarists in the UK" - Paul Jones (The blues band/BBC radio 2)

"He's toured the USA in Robert Plant's band, topped major festivals across Europe with his own band, and is one of the finest electric blues guitarists in the UK. So why isn't Innes Sibun famous? Answers on a postcard ....." - Venue magazine

"Powerhouse guitarist who plays electric blues. Hugely popular on the continent, Innes is one of the many unsung heroes that populate a British music scene dominated by TV-promoted nonentities" - Venue magazine

A live recording from 12.03.2011 from the Estrado in Harderwijk, Netherlands. If you like blues rock in the style of guitarists like Joe Bonamassa, you may like this album. This is Grade A blues rock by a great unheralded British guitarist, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out Innes' "Superstitious" album on this blog, and buy Innes' "After Dark Live" or "East Monroe" album and support great modern blues rock. Read more @ http://www.innessibun.org.uk/media.html [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 114 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Sandy 6:24
2 Mean Disposition 11:29
3 Obsession 5:33
4 It's Too Late 8:01
5 I Found Your Letter 7:58
6 My My My 6:26
7 East Monroe 3:53

All tracks composed by Innes Sibun

MUSICIANS

Innes Sibun (Vocals, Guitar)
Steve Hall (Bass Guitar, Background Vocals)
Jon Buckett (Keyboards, Background Vocals)
Rob Brian (Drums)

BIO

Blues guitarist Innes Sibun began playing guitar at the age of 12 after hearing B.B King. As a teenager he played in many bands playing punk, reggae, rock, folk & jazz learning from different musicians along the way. His first band the "Blues explosion" recorded the album "Thats what the blues can do" with legendary producer Mike Vernon (Eric Clapton,Peter Green's Fleetwood mac) in the producers seat. The album gained critical acclaim & was voted best blues album in Ireland that year. The band toured throughout the UK & Europe on their own & also toured with "Wild child" Butler, Jay Owens, Jesse "guitar" Taylor & Johnny Adams as well as opening up for Joe Louis Walker, Ronnie Earl, the Fabulous thunderbirds, Walter Trout,the Blues band, Boy George, nine below zero & Moody Marsden band & playing all the major blues festivals throughout the UK. In 1993 Innes was asked to join Robert Plant's band for his "Fate of nations" tour. The tour took in America, Europe & South America where they played the Rock in Rio festivals in Sao Paulo & Rio as well as playing in Argentina, Chile, Venezuela & Mexico. During the U.S dates Innes was able to meet & play with many of his blues heroes like Buddy Guy & James Cotton in Chicago, he also jammed at Antones blues club in Austin Texas with Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton, Chris Duarte & many other legends of the Austin blues scene. His guitar playing can be heard on Robert's "66 to Timbuktu" & "Nine lives" albums. Following the tour with Robert Plant Innes made several albums for Viceroy records, "Superstitious" & "Honeypot" with his new band, they toured throughout Europe & opened up for Peter Green in New York as well as touring Europe with Roger Chapman & Chris Farlowe. Two albums followed for Provogue records & the critically acclaimed "East Monroe" came out on Ulftone records in 2001. After many years of touring the band decided to rest & went their own ways. In 2004 Innes put together a new band who were asked to play at the Gloucester blues festival & Trowbridge village pump festival. The band soon found themselves in the studio & recorded "Farmhouse blues" which was released on ZYX records. Several tours of Germany followed with appearances at Colne, Gloucester, Cambridge & Bristol blues festivals in the UK as well as Mostar blues festival in Bosnia & others in Belgium, Austria, Germany & Slovenia. 2007 saw the release of "Tail dragger" on ZYX records to much critical acclaim (reaching number 6 in the German blues charts) as well as playing shows in Africa, U.S.A, Germany, Holland & the UK. 2008 started with more European shows & support slots with Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal, Steve Cropper & Al Kooper as well as appearances at the London blues festival & the Windsor blues festival in Ontario Canada. Recently the band has played tours of Germany, France, the UK & the Netherlands as well as festivals in France, Spain & the UK & in April 2009 embarked on a tour of the U.S.A as headliners. Innes also released a solo acoustic album on mp3 called "Snake wine". In 2010 the band released a live album on ZYX records entitled "The box set", they also played at the Rory Gallagher festival in Ballyshannon Ireland by special request of Rory's brother Donal Gallagher. 2011 saw the band record "Cant slow down" for 2012 release on ZYX records in 2012 as well as playing dates throughout Europe. Innes was invited to play in New york city for the Rory Gallagher show at the Iridium club to celebrate the release of the "Notes from San Fransisco" album. 2012 has seen shows in Latvia & the UK with dates coming up in Lithuania, Germany, Belgium & the Netherlands in the summer. © 2013 innes sibun (innessibun.org.uk) http://www.innessibun.org.uk/bio.html

7 For 4

7 For 4 - Diffusion - 2008 - MGI

The instrumental band 7for4 was founded in 1999 by guitarist Wolfgang Zenk. Since then 4 albums have been released. The 4 musicians stop for nothing: Whether Funk, Jazz, Metal or Country, they pack the best elements from most different styles into extraordinary but coherent compositions and perform their music with impressive virtuosity. Catchy melodies and spherical tunes alternate with full power passages, surprising the listener again and again with complex rhythms and virtuosic playing and soloing. © 2001-2014 | 7for4 http://www.7for4.de/about.html

Many of you may be familiar with Wolfgang Zenk’s work with the progressive metal band Sieges Even. While drawing a few similarities, 7for4 can best be described as fusion that borrows heavily from many other genres. As the booklet best describes it: "Whether Rock, Funk, Jazz or even Country and Latin 7for4 pack the best elements from different styles into extraordinary and progressive compositions." With a majority of the influences coming from the metal, jazz and even shred. The first thing that becomes apparent is that almost this entire album is driven solely by the Wolfgang’s guitar work. A few songs such as Emoctify and Cyclotron sound a lot like Premonition era Tony Macalpine with many harmonized guitar parts and even similar melodies. The amount of influences on this album was what really kept me coming back for more. Silent Flow is a slower, blues based song with excellent melody and very tasteful guitar playing. Spiral Dance has an initial flamenco vibe to it which then progresses nicely into a heavier section that retains the same feel. My favourite track by far is Mystic Mouse. There is a slow, syncopated, ominous feeling at first which then leads into a few Liquid Tension Experiment inspired riffs that wouldn’t really be out of place on Biaxident or When The Water Breaks. A good thing to keep in mind about Diffusion is that, as opposed to a lot of other fusion type bands that have many bass and keyboard based sections as well as guitar, this is almost all based around Wolfgang Zenk. Even as a guitarist I have some reservations about music strictly based around guitar because I enjoy what the other musicians can bring to the table when given adequate room to play. This is one of the few cases where an album such as this made a huge impression on me. Not only does the style of music shift from song to song, it does so seamlessly within songs while remaining largely coherent. As with all music such as this, it does require some time to begin to hear to subtleties in compositions as opposed to a jumbled mess that it first sounded like to me. Highly recommended for fans of fusion, world and metal based instrumental music.
Conclusion: 8.5 out of 10 © CHRIS JACKSON © DPRP

What a treat, when every few years guitarist Wolfgang Zenk, and his quartet of fusion explorers consisting of: Klaus Engl on drums, Marlkus Grutzner on bass and Markus Froschmeier on keyboards, take on a new challenge to deepen the 7 for 4 discography. 2008 sees the release of the band's newest addition, with their third recording with the aptly named Diffusion, which in physics means, an intermingling of molecules, and yet another definition:To become widely dispersed; spread out. Which in regards to musical genres is very fitting of the bands' overall sound. Start with the vibe that is 7 for 4, they are all musicians that have spent a lifetime of dedication to their instruments, each player shares in the musical direction by injecting their personal touch to these elegantly written compositions. Granted, Wolfgang Zenk's guitar is at times the voice of the band so to speak, but each players is important to what the band achieves compositionally. Unlike many fusion bands that set up grooves or progressions for the sake of showcasing individuals' solo skills, these songs are much more intricate and cinematic in style. What they are creating are graceful songs that set a perfect backing for imaginary scenarios and would be cinema soundtracks. It's that rare marriage of talent and writing where progressive music meets fusion's high standard of musicianship, no ideas or styles are excluded, as this music can be soft or heavy, calm or stormy, contemplative or extravagant. It is the music of extremes, yet never dull or dispassionate. What I hear with 7 for 4 is the same feelings I had when hearing Return to Forever's - Romantic Warrior for the first time, not that the bands sound at all alike, but having four greatly skilled musicians creating composed music that mixes rock, jazz, metal, latin, etc, yet with such a natural chemistry that it all comes out sounding like only something 7 for 4 would do. That is what I love about the band so much. They have a personality, no cloning, no derivative comparisons really, but a band that has a gift that exists between them that allows the magic to sort of manifest without pretensions or formulas. My understanding is that this cd was over two years in the making, and as intricate as this music is, that is very understandable, as any great production should be, taking the time to perfect one's craft typically produces a desired result. 7 for 4 have yet to produce anything short of excellent, each of their cds is an adventure into the future of instrumental progressive fusion, this being the latest cd, I can hear some familiar sounds, and some new ideas, yet as always, launching the band boldly forward from where they were in 2004 with the release of Time. In this day and age of what seems like an endless array of musical clones, we have a band that has taken on an identity all of their own, the power of metal, the elegance of jazz, the sophistication of progressive music, and the flavor of various ethno rhythms, and a great presentation of these themes, paired with a fantastic production quality, and what you have is what is proving to be a frontrunner for my favorite cd of 2008, it will certainly be a hard one to beat. © MJBrady © ProGGnosis 2000 - 2015 where appropriate - All rights reserved. http://www.proggnosis.com/RELEASE_Detail.aspx?RID=25394

Wonderful instrumental prog metal and jazz fusion from this great German group. This band play a terrific blend of fusion with jazz rock, Canterbury, classical, and even Latin touches. The individual musicians are all virtuosos. The album is not a masterpiece by any means but the fabulous musicianship carries this album over the line. HR by A.O.O.F.C Check out the band's amazing "Contact" and "Time" albums on this blog and consider buying the band's "Splash" album released in 2014. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 121 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Diffusion 5:54
2 Indigo Dunes 5:55
3 Emoctify 4:50
4 The Winding Path 6:45
5 Silent Flow 7:43
6 Cyclotron 4:24
7 Spiral Dance 6:24
8 Hidden Depths 5:32
9 Mystic Mouse 5:11

All songs composed by Wolfgang Zenk

MUSICIANS

Wolfgang Zenk - Guitar
Markus Grutzner - Bass
Markus Froschmeier - Keyboards
Thomas Streck - Additional Keyboards
Klaus Engl - Drums

BIO

7FOR4 are four very talented guys from Munich/Germany. Maybe talented is not the right term here because all four dispose of experience and know-how. Wolfgang Zenk who impresses with his virtuos guitar playing was a member of the German prog metal band SIEGES EVEN (which can also be found in the Prog Archives) as well as leader and lecturer of MGI München (Munich), Germany's best known institute for professional guitar education. Markus Grützner played bass for several Jazz/Fusion bands and did so on several European tours of the well known Broadway musical "Hair". Klaus Engl also is a lecturer, he works for the drum-institute "Drummer's Focus" and played together with Markus Grützner in a Heavy-Rock band. The keyboard player Markus Froschmeier has his roots in the classical genre and adds some of his influences to the general sound of the band. Speaking about general sound I have to mention that it is quite difficult to find a term describing the style applicatively. Besides the fact that the music is all instrumental, you can say that it is a mixture of Prog Metal and Jazz Rock/Fusion, sounding as if LTE and the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA get together. But nearly every song seems to have different influences so you can find tunes with a country, "gypsy music" or Brazilian samba flavour, most of it played incredibly fast. The band released two albums so far. The first one called "Contact" was released in 2001. Their current album is called "Time" and was released in 2004. Both albums are incredible and feature the quite unique sound I described above as well as awesome cover artwork. You can't say which of them is the better one. My suggestion is that you purchase both. With that said I can end with mentioning that I really recommend checking out this terrific band. If you have the chance to get one of their albums, don't wait and grape it. If you even have the chance to see them live, don't falter, I can tell you that it's really worth the effort, I've seen them and they really blew me away. © Martin Dietrich, GERMANY © Prog Archives, All rights reserved http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1279

The Magic Elf

The Magic Elf - Elf Tales - 1998 - Big Shoe

This is undeniable Dregs-style rock with brief flashes of Holdsworthian/Ray Gomez/Beck jazz rock fusion slant. This is a tasty riff fest by the accomplished Carl Roa that guitarheads are gonna enjoy. This Elf Tales reminds me of Morse's The Introduction. The bass work by Magic Elf's George Panos and Saul Zonana is strong. Roa is Steve Morse all over this release. He is very close to the Morse-emulations that Ben Sherman or Dream Theater's Petrucci lay down. Consistently, you find percussive chops and fretboard gymnastics that scream Dregs. Even that Deep Purple w/ Morse's gritty punch comes through on "Hobgoblins." What a note blitz. And as Morse loved the classic guitar and that dreamy, ascent-to-heaven progressions, it is all there on Elf Tales "Greensleep," "Tree Talk," and the 7:02 finale, "Cobbler's Quest." Throughout the album it is all held together and relentlessly driven to perfection with rock steady drums by Dave Miranda. © John W. Patterson © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/elf-tales-mw0001075915

The Magic Elf is the prayer answer to all those Dixie Dregs fans who have just given up hope that the Dregs will ever release an album that doesn't sound identical to the previous one (including Morse solos). Playing a blistering brand of instrumental fusion and progressive rock this trio also strays slightly into metal, classical, and even a dash of country. Guitarist Carl Roa studied at the Berkley College of Music and graduated from the University Of Miami with a degree in Jazz Performance and Composition. Drummer Dave Miranda studied jazz fusion and also plays in the hardcore outfit The Six & Violence. Bass duties are handled on various tracks by George Panos and Saul Zonana. Much of what gives the Magic Elf their identity (apart from the obvious influences) is rather than being a showcase for guitarist Roa, Magic Elf is a power trio that seems to give equal prominence to the guitar and drums. Roa is very much a "vocalist" in that his guitar creates each song's melody, but Miranda's drumming right out there with him helping to create the feel of the songs. There's plenty of heavy rockin' here that display the musicians' proficiency and ability to handle both flash and good melodies. Songs like "Mr Destructo", "Hobgoblins", and the metallic "Limbonic State" will put you in the seat of the guy in the Maxell tape commercials where the chair is blown across the room by the rush of the music blasting from the stereo. Magic Elf do allow some breathers as well. "Greensleep" is an ambient-acoustic piece that briefly slows the pace and "Tree Talk" is a solo classical acoustic guitar number. It's interesting that despite the heavy Dregs sound, the opening track, "The Big Shoe", forecasts that this will be more along the lines of Allan Holdsworth. I don't hear the Rush influences that several reviewers have cited, but I haven't heard a lot of Rush in recent years. In summary, The Magic Elf will blow you away if you like technical progressive fusion that has chops galore, but is also creatively composed. A note to the band: Heed the first line of this review and don't fall into the same rut Morse and company did. Reviewed by & © Jerry Kranitz From Aural Innovations #6 (April 1999) http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue6/magelf01.html

Magic Elf is an instrumental rock, progressive, fusion trio formed in East Setauket, NY, in 1985. The band's style is often compared to The Dregs, Rush, King Crimson, Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dream Theater and the like. "Elf Tales" is a brilliantly constructed album of technical progressive fusion. Carl Roa is the guitarist of this highly acclaimed band. Whether ripping through a supercharged rock solo or gliding through a maze of soulful chord progressions, Carl's ability to balance musicality and technique has delighted music fans worldwide. Receiving accolades from Guitar World, Progression and Billboard magazines, Carl's unique and diverse playing style has put him in the forefront of today's progressive rock / fusion movement. Check out Magic Elf's "Heavy Meddle" album and Carl Roa's "Lord of the Strings" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 125 Mb]

TRACKS

1 The Big Shoe 3:39
2 Elf Rock 3:51
3 Mr. Destructo 4:26
4 Limbonic State 4:32
5 Greensleep 1:48
6 Troll Toll 4:04
7 Hobglobins 4:57
8 Tree Talk 1:27
9 Cobbler's Quest 6:57

All tracks composed by Carl Roa

MUSICIANS

Carl Roa - Guitars
George Panos - Bass
Saul Zonana - Bass on Tracks 2,4,6,9
Dave Miranda - Drums

The Kinsey Report

The Kinsey Report - Smoke And Steel - 1998 - Alligator

CMJ (11/09/98, p.25) - "...Smoke and Steel is a powerful blues album from this group of contemporary masters..."

Living Blues (1-2/99, p.50) - "...the effort is largely successful....a welcome improvement..."

With a strong, rock-drenched approach to their brand of blues, the Kinsey Report comes roaring back with their third full length album for the Alligator imprint. The band has matured and, if nothing else, acquits themselves in a thoroughly professional manner like the old-school gospel/blues/R&B veterans they truly are. While the whole thing pulsates and rocks with an almost bludgeoning intensity at times, Donald's blistering guitar is equal parts roadhouse funk and rock volume blues infused with lots of Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix with the Kinsey family twist put to it. Brothers Kenny and Ralph hold the bass-drums groove down tight, tight, tight, while guest guitars, keyboards and Lester Davenport on harmonica show up along the way to spice things up. Highlights include the minor-key reggae groove of "This Old City," and the funk flavors on "When the Church Burned Down" and "Can't See the Hook," the soul ballad "Loved Ones," the lowdown mean country romp of John Fogerty's "Rattlesnake Highway" and "Down In the Dungeon," and the slow blues workout on "Code of the Streets." Strong, strong songwriting (Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top co-wrote one of the tunes here) and a varied approach throughout makes this a modern blues album that holds up to repeated listenings. © Cub Koda © 1996 - 2015 CD Universe http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1011988&style=music&fulldesc=T

A very enjoyable funk, blues and rock album. Bassist Kenneth Kinsey and drummer Ralph Kinsey do a great job on John Fogerty's "Rattlesnake Highway" and on "When the Church Burned Down" the band expertly blends country rock and funk. A well above average album worth hearing. Check out the band's great "Midnight Drive" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 137 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Time Is Running Out - Bruce Iglauer / Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey
2. Dead In Your Tracks - Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey
3. This Old City - Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey / J. White
4. Can't See The Hook - Leslie Doyle / Mike Lawley / Ross Roberts
5. Loved Ones - Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey
6. Must Be Love - Jerry Lynn Williams
7. When The Church Burned Down - Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey
8. Rattlesnake Highway - John Fogerty
9. Down In The Dungeon - Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey / M. Robinson
10. Fire Down Below - Bob Seger
11. Code Of The Streets - Donald Kinsey / Kenneth Kinsey / Ralph Kinsey / Kinsey Report
12. One Step Back - Billy Gibbons / Jerry Williams

MUSICIANS

Donald Kinsey - guitar, vocals
Dave Miller - rhythm guitar (1,7,8)
Will Crosby - rhythm guitar (4,5,7,9,10)
Kenneth Kinsey - bass
Roosevelt Purifoy - keyboards (2,3,6,9)
Anthony Space - keyboards (4,5,7,10,11)
Ralph Kinsey - drums, percussion and 2nd lead vocals (2)
"Mad Dog" Lester Davenport - harmonica (9)
The Kinsey Report, Nancy Shaffer, Lasandra Maloney - backing vocals

SHORT BIO

This family band consists of Donald Kinsey (vocal, guitar), Ralph "Woody" Kinsey (drums), Kenneth Kinsey (bass), and Ronald Prince (guitar). Solidly based in the blues as a result of lifelong training in the Big Daddy Kinsey household, the Kinsey scions are also versed in a broad range of music. Older brothers Donald and Ralph had an early blues-rock trio (White Lightnin') in the mid-'70s, long before they regrouped as The Kinsey Report in 1984 and began to launch new excursions into rock. Donald also recorded and toured with Albert King and with Bob Marley, and the influence of those giants (as well as that of Big Daddy Kinsey, naturally) show through in the music of The Kinsey Report. The band expertly covers all the bases from Chicago blues through reggae, rock, funk, and soul, and their recordings are also distinguished by the songwriting talents and self-contained production approach of The Kinseys. © Jim O'Neal © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kinsey-report-mn0000100455/biography

Keith Richards

Keith Richards - Main Offender - 1992 - Virgin (Japan)

Main Offender is Keith Richards’ second solo studio album and his third overall. Released in 1992 in between The Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels and Voodoo Lounge projects, Main Offender remains to date Richards’ most recent offering as a solo artist. Regrouping with his group of musician friends — known publicly as “The X-Pensive Winos” — Richards teamed up with Talk is Cheap collaborator, Steve Jordan, adding Waddy Watchel to the mix both in composing and producing Main Offender.Sessions took place in California and New York City from March to September 1992, with another round of touring scheduled that fall in Europe and early 1993 in North America. When Richards would reunite with Mick Jagger (who was recording Wandering Spirit while Richards was making Main Offender) in mid-1993 to start work on Voodoo Lounge, Jagger would compliment Richards on Main Offender, even using lead single “Wicked As It Seems” as inspiration for The Rolling Stones’ next single, “Love Is Strong”. Released in October 1992, Main Offender received another round of positive reviews, but failed to match the commercial success of Talk is Cheap, reaching #45 in the UK and #99 in the US where it has sold over 200,000 copies. Following the touring commitments in support of Main Offender, Richards would return to recording exclusively with The Rolling Stones and put his solo career on an indefinite hold. - Wiki

Primarily a rock album and second solo album from the great Rolling Stone legend but with some great catchy tunes, smooth grooves and very good riffs. A terrific cast of great musicians help out. HR by A.O.O.F.C. The album arguably rocks better and harder than some of the Stones' more recent albums. Highlights include "Wicked as It Seems," "Eileen," and the searing "999." Listen to Keith's "Talk Is Cheap" album. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 156 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS / CREDITS

1 999 - K. Richards, S. Jordan, W. Wachtel 5:51
Backing Vocals – Sarah Dash
Backing Vocals, Guitar – Waddy Wachtel
Bass – Charley Drayton
Drums, Backing Vocals – Steve Jordan
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar – Keith Richards
Organ, Clavinet – Ivan Neville

2 Wicked As It Seems - C. Drayton, K. Richards, S. Jordan 4:45
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Bernard Fowler
Bass – Charley Drayton
Clavinet – Ivan Neville
Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Other [Rattlesnake] – Keith Richards

3 Eileen - K. Richards, S. Jordan 4:29
Backing Vocals – Charley Drayton
Drums, Backing Vocals, Castanets – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals, Piano – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Keith Richards
Piano – Ivan Neville

4 Words Of Wonder - K. Richards, S. Jordan, W. Wachtel 6:35
Backing Vocals – Bernard Fowler
Backing Vocals, Instruments [Lip Bone] – Babi Floyd
Drums – Charley Drayton
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Waddy Wachtel
Guitar, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Keith Richards
Piano, Organ, Clavinet – Ivan Neville

5 Yap Yap - K. Richards, S. Jordan, W. Wachtel 4:43
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Bernard Fowler
Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Guitar – Waddy Wachtel
Guitar [Baritone] – Charley Drayton
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Percussion – Keith Richards
Vibraphone [Vibes] – Ivan Neville

6 Bodytalks - C. Drayton, K. Richards, S. Dash, S. Jordan 5:20
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Bernard Fowler, Sarah Dash
Bass – Charley Drayton
Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar – Keith Richards
Voice [Oh, Lord] – Ivan Neville

7 Hate It When You Leave - K. Richards, S. Jordan, W. Wachtel 4:59
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Bernard Fowler
Bass – Ivan Neville
Drums, Backing Vocals, Congas, Keyboards [Farfisa] – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals, Celesta – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards – Keith Richards
Piano, Organ [Hammond B-3], Backing Vocals – Charley Drayton
Woodwind – Arno Hecht, Crispin Cioe, Jack Bashkow

8 Runnin' Too Deep - K. Richards, S. Jordan 3:20
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Bernard Fowler
Bass – Charley Drayton
Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Piano – Keith Richards
Piano, Harpsichord – Ivan Neville

9 Will But You Won't - K. Richards, S. Jordan 5:05
Backing Vocals – Bernard Fowler
Bass – Charley Drayton
Clavinet – Ivan Neville
Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Percussion – Keith Richards
Vocals – Babi Floyd

10 Demon - K. Richards, S. Jordan 4:46
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Bernard Fowler
Bass – Charley Drayton
Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion – Steve Jordan
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Waddy Wachtel
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar – Keith Richards
Piano – Ivan Neville

11 Key To The Highway - McKinley Morganfield 3:21
Backing Vocals – Bernard Fowler
Bass, Backing Vocals – Joey Spampinato
Drums, Backing Vocals – Steve Jordan
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Bernie Worrell
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar – Keith Richards
Piano – Johnnie Johnson

BIO

He's acknowledged as perhaps the greatest rhythm guitarist in rock & roll, but Keith Richards is even more legendary for his near-miraculous ability to survive the most debauched excesses of the rock & roll lifestyle. His prodigious consumption of drugs and alcohol has been well documented, and would likely have destroyed anyone with a less amazing endurance level. On-stage with the Rolling Stones, he epitomized guitar-hero cool as the quiet, stoic alter ego to Mick Jagger's extroverted frontman, a widely imitated image made all the more fascinating by his tightrope-walking hedonism. Yet that part of Richards' mystique often overshadows his considerable musical legacy. Arguably the finest blues-based rhythm guitarist to hit rock & roll since his idol Chuck Berry, Richards knocked out some of the most indelible guitar riffs in rock history, and he did it so often and with such apparent effortlessness that it was easy to take his songwriting skills for granted. His lean, punchy, muscular sound was the result of his unerring sense of groove and intuitive use of space within songs, all of which played a major part in laying the groundwork for hard rock. Never intensely interested in soloing, Richards preferred to work the groove using open-chord tunings drawn from Delta blues, and his guitars were often strung with only five strings for cleaner fingering, which made it difficult for cover bands to duplicate his distinctive sound precisely. For all his rock-star notoriety, Richards was perfectly happy in the confines of a group, and thus was the last Rolling Stone to release a side-project solo album; his 1988 solo debut appeared more than a quarter century after he co- founded the band that earned him the nickname "Mr. Rock and Roll." Richards was born December 18, 1943, in Dartford, Kent, on the southern outskirts of London. When he was just an infant, his family had to be temporarily evacuated from their home during the Nazi bombing campaign of 1944. In 1951, while attending primary school, Richards first met and befriended Jagger, although they would be split up three years later when they moved on to different schools. By this age, Richards had already become interested in music, and was an especially big fan of Roy Rogers; in his very early adolescence, he sang in a choir that performed for the Queen herself, although he was forced to quit when his voice changed. Around that time, he became interested in American rock & roll and began playing guitar, with initial guidance from his grandfather. Behavior problems at school led to Richards' expulsion in 1959, but the headmaster thought he might find a niche as an artist, and Richards was sent to Sidcup Art School. There he met future Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor, who at the time was playing in a blues band with Jagger. Discovering their new mutual interest, Richards and Jagger struck up their friendship all over again, and Richards joined their band not long after. Over the next couple of years, that band evolved into the Rolling Stones, who officially debuted on-stage in the summer of 1962 (by which time Richards had left school). The rest was history -- initially a blues and R&B cover band, the Stones branched out into original material penned by Jagger and Richards. The duo took some time and practice to develop into professional-quality songwriters, but by 1965 they'd hit their stride. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" made them superstars in the States as well as the U.K., boasting one of rock's all-time great guitar riffs, which Richards played into a tape recorder in the middle of the night and didn't recall writing when he heard the tape the next morning. With their menacing, aggressively sexual image, the Stones became targets for British police bent on quelling this new threat to public decency, and Richards suffered his first drug bust in 1967 when police raided his residence and found amphetamines in the coat pocket of Jagger's girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull. Richards was convicted of allowing the activity on his premises and sentenced to a year in prison, but public furor over the trumped-up nature of the charges and the purely circumstantial evidence prompted a hasty reversal of the decision. The same year, Richards hooked up with bandmate Brian Jones' former girlfriend, model/actress Anita Pallenberg; although the two never officially married, they remained together (more or less) for the next 12 years, and had two children (Marlon, in 1968, and Angela, in 1972). After the death of Brian Jones in 1969, the Stones became a more straightforward, hard-rocking outfit, and Richards' guitar took center stage more than ever before. By this era, he'd taken to calling himself Keith Richard, simply because he thought it sounded better without the s. Privately, the band was sinking further into decadence, clearly audible on its early-'70s masterpieces Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. However, Richards' burgeoning heroin addiction began to affect the consistency of the band's recordings for the next few years. Additionally, he ran into more legal troubles; his French villa was the subject of a drug raid in 1972, as was his British residence the following year. (Rumors dating from this era that Richards had all of his blood replaced in a cleanup effort, while entertaining, were not true.) Over 1976-1977, Richards entered the studio for a few solo sessions, but the only result to see the light of day was the Christmas single "Run Rudolph Run" (issued in 1978). Perhaps the lack of productivity was due to the fact that Richards was in the middle of the most difficult period of his life. In 1976, Richards' infant son Tara, his third child by Pallenberg, died suddenly; the official cause was SIDS, although unsubstantiated rumors about the couple's drug abuse playing a factor circulated as well. In early 1977, Richards was busted for coke, and faced the most serious charges of his life when, in Toronto, he was caught in possession of heroin. He narrowly escaped serving jail time, agreeing to perform a charity concert for the blind and enter drug rehabilitation in the United States. The scare convinced him to clean up, and when the Stones returned in 1978 with Some Girls, it was acclaimed as their strongest, most focused work in years, and helped rejuvenate their popularity as an arena rock attraction. Things went sailing along smoothly for the next few years, and Richards even officially married for the first time in 1983, wedding Patti Hansen, who would bear him two more daughters, Theodora and Alexandra (he and Pallenberg had finally split in 1979). However, around the same time, Jagger decided the Stones should take a new direction more in line with contemporary pop; Richards refused, and Jagger embarked on a solo career that began to take priority over the Stones. It ignited a very public feud between the two, and rumors of the Stones' imminent demise swirled over the next few years. When Jagger refused to tour behind 1986's Dirty Work in order to record his second solo album, Richards retaliated by going out on his own, forming a backing band he dubbed the Xpensive Winos. Richards released his first solo album, Talk Is Cheap, in 1988. Both critically and commercially, it was a far greater success than Jagger's Primitive Cool. Reviews were generally quite complimentary, calling it a solid rock & roll record; plus, buoyed by the minor hit single and MTV favorite "Take It So Hard," Talk Is Cheap went gold. Richards embarked on a supporting tour which produced the concert album Live at the Hollywood Palladium, released three years later, and his success convinced Jagger to return to the fold (of course, the relative failure of his own solo venture helped). Their future thus seemingly assured, the Stones had their biggest success in some time with the 1989 album Steel Wheels and its blockbuster supporting tour. In the early '90s, Richards and Jagger once again began working on solo projects, but this time with the understanding that nothing took precedence over the Stones; Richards' second studio album, Main Offender, was issued in 1992, and again received fairly solid notices, although it didn't get quite the same commercial exposure. Since then, Richards has concentrated on recording and touring with the Stones. © Steve Huey © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/keith-richards-mn0000767068/biography

Talking Heads

Talking Heads - The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (Live 2 CD Set Remastered) - 2004 - Rhino

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a double live album by Talking Heads, originally released in 1982. The first album featured the original quartet in recordings from 1977 and 1979, and the second album the expanded ten-piece lineup that toured in 1980 and 1981. The album contains live versions of songs that appear on Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light. The cassette edition of the album included "Cities" as a bonus track not included on the vinyl edition – this track has been included on the subsequent CD release. The title of the album is a reference both to the group's preference for having no expressed definite article within the band name (as opposed to "The Talking Heads") and to David Byrne's minimalist introductions to songs. The album opens with one such introduction: "The name of this song is New Feeling. That's what it's about." An expanded version of the record, on CD in the United States for the first time, was released in 2004 by Sire/Warner Bros./Rhino. It duplicated the pattern of the original with the first disc featuring the quartet alone, and the second disc a ten-member band. Additional tracks from 1978 are among the eight extra songs on the first disc, and correct running order for the set from the larger band on the second disc. The introduction to the song "Crosseyed And Painless" was edited out on the CD version, however.The remastered & expanded edition of the album currently sits at number fifteen on the Metacritic list of all time best-reviewed albums. – Wiki

Although most people probably think the only Talking Heads live release is Stop Making Sense, the fact is that there's an earlier, better live album called The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads. Originally released in 1982 on LP and cassette, the album chronicles the growth of the band, both stylistically and personnel-wise. The first LP is the original quartet version of the band, recorded between 1977 and 1979, performing excellent versions of tunes (mostly) off 77 and More Songs About Buildings and Food. Also included were the previously unavailable "A Clean Break" and "Love Goes to a Building on Fire," as well as early versions of "Memories Can't Wait" and "Air." The second LP comes from the Remain in Light tour, recorded in 1980 and 1981. In order to present something close to the music on that album, the original quartet lineup was greatly expanded. Added were two percussionists (Steven Stanley, Jose Rossy), two backup singers (Nona Hendryx, Dollette McDonald), Busta Cherry Jones on bass, Bernie Worrell (!) on keys, and a young Adrian Belew on lead guitar. The excitement of this material is palpable, and the muscular band rips into these tunes with more power than the originals in most cases. "Drugs" gets revamped for live performance, and "Houses in Motion kicks into high gear with a great art-funk coda. Belew is absolutely on fire throughout, especially on "The Great Curve" and "Crosseyed and Painless," where his deranged feedback soloing has never sounded better. At this point in their career, Talking Headswere still basically an underground band; it was "Burning Down the House" that really thrust them into the mainstream, and Stop Making Sense documents their arrival as a more or less mainstream act. The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads captures a hungry band on its way up, performing with a fire that was never matched on later tours. Unfortunately, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads remained unavailable on compact disc for years, which is a shame since it's arguably one of their finest releases. © Sean Westergaard © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-name-of-this-band-is-talking-heads-mw0000199932

This two-disc set marked the CD debut of Talking Head’s 1982 live double album. While the original tracks are retained (and the discs follow the original's breakdown of 1977-1979 and 1980-1981), an extra 16 tracks are added to the set, including 13 that were never before released in any format. “The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads” is arguably one of the best live albums of all time and is an important, groundbreaking album by a unique band on their way up. Read more about this album @ http://www.discogs.com/Talking-Heads-The-Name-Of-This-Band-Is-Talking-Heads/release/438300 VHR by A.O.O.F.C [1 Rar file containg two CD’s: File size = 331 Mb: All tracks @ 320 Kbps]

TRACKS

CD ONE

"New Feeling" – 3:09 for WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard MA, November 17, 1977
"A Clean Break (Let's Work)" – 5:05
"Don't Worry About The Government" – 3:03
"Pulled Up" – 4:04
"Psycho Killer" (Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz) – 5:31
"Who Is It?" – 1:44
"The Book I Read" – 4:22
"The Big Country" – 5:09 for WXRT broadcast, The Park West, Chicago, August 23, 1978
"I'm Not in Love" – 4:57 for KSAN broadcast, The Boarding House, San Francisco, September 16, 1978
"The Girls Want to Be with the Girls" – 3:44 at The Agora, Cleveland, December 18, 1978
"Electricity (Drugs)" – 3:28
"Found a Job" – 5:35
"Mind" – 4:56 for WBCN broadcast, Berklee Performance Center, Boston, August 24, 1979
"Artists Only" (Byrne, Wayne Zieve) – 3:49 at The Capitol Theater, Passaic NJ, November 17, 1979
"Stay Hungry" (Byrne, Frantz) – 4:05
"Air" – 4:01
"Love → Building on Fire" – 3:47
"Memories (Can't Wait)" (Byrne, Jerry Harrison) – 3:44
"Heaven" (Byrne, Harrison) – 4:31

CD TWO

"Psycho Killer" (Byrne, Weymouth, Frantz) – 5:33 at Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February 27, 1981
"Warning Sign" (Byrne, Frantz) – 5:40
"Stay Hungry" (Byrne, Frantz) – 3:56
"Cities" – 5:00 at Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ, November 8, 1980-November 9, 1980
"I Zimbra" (Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball) – 3:30
"Drugs (Electricity)" (Byrne, Eno) – 4:41
"Once in a Lifetime" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 5:57 at Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February 27, 1981
"Animals" – 4:05
"Houses in Motion" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 6:54 at Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ, November 8, 1980-November 9, 1980
"Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 8:24 at Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February 27, 1981
"Crosseyed and Painless" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 5:58 at Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ, November 8, 1980-November 9, 1980; truncated version from original release
"Life During Wartime" (Byrne, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 4:54 at Central Park, New York City, August 27, 1980
"Take Me to the River" (Al Green, Mabon Hodges) – 6:33
"The Great Curve" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 6:42

All songs written by David Byrne except as noted

MUSICIANS

David Byrne – guitar, vocals
Adrian Belew – guitar, backing vocals
Jerry Harrison – guitar, piano, keyboards, backing vocals
Tina Weymouth – bass, percussion, backing vocals
Busta "Cherry" Jones – bass, guitar
Bernie Worrell – keyboards, backing vocals
Chris Frantz – drums
Dolette McDonald – percussion, backing vocals
Jose Rossy – percussion
Steve Scales – conga
Nona Hendryx – backing vocals

BIO

At the start of their career, Talking Heads were all nervous energy, detached emotion, and subdued minimalism. When they released their last album about 12 years later, the band had recorded everything from art-funk to polyrhythmic worldbeat explorations and simple, melodic guitar pop. Between their first album in 1977 and their last in 1988, Talking Heads became one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the '80s, while managing to earn several pop hits. While some of their music can seem too self-consciously experimental, clever, and intellectual for its own good, at their best Talking Heads represent everything good about art-school punks. And they were literally art-school punks. Guitarist/vocalistDavid Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz, and bassist Tina Weymouth met at the Rhode Island School of Design in the early '70s; they decided to move to New York in 1974 to concentrate on making music. The next year, the band won a spot opening for the Ramones at the seminal New York punk club CBGB. In 1976, keyboardist Jerry Harrison, a former member of Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers, was added to the lineup. By 1977, the band had signed to Sire Records and released its first album, Talking Heads: 77. It received a considerable amount of acclaim for its stripped-down rock & roll, particularly Byrne's geeky, overly intellectual lyrics and uncomfortable, jerky vocals. For their next album, 1978's More Songs About Buildings and Food, the band worked with producer Brian Eno, recording a set of carefully constructed, arty pop songs, distinguished by extensive experimenting with combined acoustic and electronic instruments, as well as touches of surprisingly credible funk. On their next album, the Eno-produced Fear of Music, Talking Heads began to rely heavily on their rhythm section, adding flourishes of African-styled polyrhythms. This approach came to a full fruition with 1980's Remain in Light, which was again produced by Eno. Talking Heads added several sidemen, including a horn section, leaving them free to explore their dense amalgam of African percussion, funk bass and keyboards, pop songs, and electronics. After a long tour, the band concentrated on solo projects for a couple of years. By the time of 1983's Speaking in Tongues, the band had severed its ties with Eno; the result was an album that still relied on the rhythmic innovations of Remain in Light, except within a more rigid pop-song structure. After its release,Talking Heads embarked on another extensive tour, which was captured on the Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Stop Making Sense. After releasing the straightforward pop albumLittle Creatures in 1985, Byrne directed his first movie, True Stories, the following year; the band's next album featured songs from the film. Two years later, Talking Heads releasedNaked, which marked a return to their worldbeat explorations, although it sometimes suffered from Byrne's lyrical pretensions. After its release, Talking Heads were put on "hiatus"; Byrnepursued some solo projects, as did Harrison, and Frantz andWeymouth continued with their side project, Tom Tom Club. In 1991, the band issued an announcement that they had broken up. Shortly thereafter, Harrison's production took off with successful albums by Live and Crash Test Dummies. In 1996, the original lineup minus Byrne reunited for the album No Talking Just Head; Byrne sued Frantz, Weymouth, andHarrison for attempting to record and perform as Talking Heads, so the trio went by the Heads. In 1999, all four worked together to promote a 15th-anniversary edition of Stop Making Sense, and they also performed at the 2002 induction ceremony for their entrance into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Through the 2010s, Byrne released a number of solo and collaborative projects. Tom Tom Club continued to tour, while Harrison produced albums for the likes of No Doubt, the Von Bondies, and Hockey. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine © 2015 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/talking-heads-mn0000131650/biography

Aynsley Lister

Aynsley Lister - Home - 2013 - Straight Talkin' Records

Aynsley Lister has been at it for a long time. He’s been playing the guitar for 28 years and performing live for 23. Throughout, he’s released many albums, bridging from his early years to the present day and cataloging his growth as an artist. His repertoire culminates in the release of July’s Home, a worthy blues album and his own personal best. Home begins with its title track, which fittingly sets the stage for the tone of the album, an expansive, driven exploration of Lister’s greatest strengths. As the track fades, it gives rise to several other large-scale (in both sound and length) examples of the bluesman’s ability. Lister most often comes out of the gate with guitar-heavy instrumentation and pointedly punchy vocals, although he peppers the record with enough tracks of contrasting style to keep things interesting. Home is a lengthy album, weighing in at a little under an hour long. There seems to be little filler, though. For the most part, Lister manages to capture both his potential and his reputation and combine them with enough evidence of the power of his live performance style to make the album well worth the listen. At times, his direction seems somewhat ambiguous, without a clear overarching theme to the album, and not all the tracks are particularly memorable. The ones that are, though, are certainly worth coming back to as Lister’s passion as frontman of a down-to-Earth blues band definitely ground him in an established tradition of familiar blues style. His mastery of the style places Lister squarely in position to be a truly big name in blues rock. He’s reached a high point in his career, and has a lot to be proud of in Home. The album shows deep musical and emotional maturity and provides a bevy of blues rock for fans and newcomers alike to sink their teeth into. The proportion of Home is pretty good, and Lister can be thanked for not leaving listeners with a trite, underdeveloped experience. Instead, he leaves them with something that truly satisfies. The Review: 8/10 Review by & © Tyler Quiring © Blues Rock Review http://bluesrockreview.com/2013/07/aynsley-lister-home-review.html

"This is Aynsley Lister, this is awesome, the two things are synonymous. This is his most awesome record yet!" - Ian McHugh

In a live review in Classic Rock, Pete Makowski wrote “Aynsley Lister is a precocious talent who looks like one of McFly and plays like Robert Johnson at volume 11”. In another feature in “Classic Rock” magazine, they recommended 10 blues/rock artists capable of taking this genre of music to the highest level. Among those suggested were The White Stripes, John Meyer, Jonny Lang & Joe Bonasmasa. The only British or European act in their top ten was Aynsley Lister. Like many of today's aspiring blues rock guitarists who simply reheat yesteryear's blues , Aynsley puts a different slant on the blues. There are no simple 12 bar numbers here. Aynsley's songs have a contemporary feel and sound, mixing influences from 1960’s blues with a more current melodic and lyrical approach. He is one of today's rare bluesmen who plays rocking blues with a modern edge that is tangible, passionate, soul searching, and full of energy. His songwriting is first class, and his guitar work is simply stunning. Some critics have compared Aynsley Lister with the young Eric Clapton. This statement may carry some weight, and this album may be the one to divert young rock music fans to good original blues rock. "Home" is an outstanding album of blues rock with a touch of country, soul and jazz. Superb guitar playing, great vocals, and 10 original Aynsley Lister compositions. The album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. This UK guitarist has still not got the credit he deserves. Buy his great "Upside Down" album, and listen to his "Live" album. Promote this guy ! [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 132 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Home 6:32
2. Broke 3:36
3. Insatiable 4:21
4. Inside Out 4:55
5. Free 5:37
6. Sugar 4:05
7. You Make It Real 4:30
8. Feeling Good 4:53
9. Possession 5:21
10. Hyde 2612 3:57
11. Impossible 3:14
12. Straight Talkin' Woman 4:14

All songs composed by Aynsley Lister except Track 7 composed by Paul Barry/James Morrison, and Track 8 composed by Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse

MUSICIANS

Aynsley Lister - Guitars, Vocals
Steve Amadeo - Bass
Andre Bassing - Keyboards
Wayne Proctor - Drums, Percussion

BIO

When explosive natural ability collides with fiery, emotionally charged compositions, the result is Aynsley Lister; an incredible guitarist whose brand of blues-based rock delivers contemporary song writing fueled with the kind of heart and soul that’s missing from so much modern music. Whether passionately writing and recording his own material or mesmerising audiences at his live shows one thing is abundantly clear: music is hard-wired to his DNA and flows from his fingertips like sonic bolts of lightning. With over 86,000 albums sold, lashings of critical acclaim and years of high profile touring, Lister’s resumé speaks for itself and firmly secures his position as a leading light in the resurgence of British blues-infused music. In hindsight, it's clear Aynsley was born to be a musician. As a child he was hypnotised by his dad's old guitar and at the age of eight was finally gifted his very own. The moment he held that first six-string the outcome was inevitable; he was going to be a guitarist. Blessed with the coolest dad in town, regularly spinning Hendrix, Cream, Fleetwood Mac and a whole host of bewitching blues for his spellbound son, Aynsley taught himself to play with relentless dedication and a precociously attuned ear, spending hours copying his favourite records note for note. Peter Green, Albert King, Clapton and Kossoff weren't just his heroes; they became his teachers. Blazing a trail in a bar band from the age of 13 honed his skills. By 18 he'd started singing and had also formed his first group, during which time he landed a dream support slot with Buddy Guy and released two low key CD's featuring his earliest original material. In 1998 those self-penned titles caught the attention of Ruf Records owner Thomas Ruf, who immediately signed Aynsley and hooked him up with Stevie Ray Vaughan's producer Jim Gaines. With a maturity that belied his years, the self titled debut announced Aynsley Lister as a major new talent and kicked off a successful relationship with Ruf Records, releasing 7 albums and 2 DVD's in ten years. Their influence, coupled with his dynamite live shows and intense touring schedule, earned high profile support slots with established artists like Walter Trout, John Mayall and Robert Cray, whilst rousing festival appearances alongside artists like the Fun Lovin' Criminals cemented his standing as an artist whose work, although rooted in blues, transcended the genre with a fiery modern sound that was eagerly embraced by fans of rock, pop, soul and acoustic music alike. In 2007 Aynsley was the only British artist to be named in Classic Rock magazine's "Top 10 Contemporary Blues Artists", alongside John Mayer, Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa. In 2008 Aynsley's huge crossover potential saw him sign to Manhaton Records, where he released the best two albums of his career to date. Produced by Steve Darrel Smith and featuring Paul McCartney guitarist Robbie Macintosh, 2009's 'Equilibrium' exposed Lister in his best ever form, throwing all his musical influences into a delicious melting pot that delivered sultry melodies, full throttle hard rock riffage and introspective ballads. 'Equilibrium' received fantastic reviews and stormed into Classic Rock’s Top 50 Albums of 2009. The subsequent tour saw Aynsley playing to sold out shows to over 16,000 people whilst opening for the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd, after which he and his band relocated to the Tower Arts Centre and with the tape rolling, nailed a cracking rendition of their high-octane live set to produce the storming 'Tower Sessions' record, which was consequently voted ‘Best Live Album’ in the 2011 Blues Matters Writers Poll. With his stock firmly in the ascendancy Aynsley is currently hard at work on his next record, intent on creating the finest album of his career. He's wisely chosen to refine the material the best way he knows how; by playing it live. “When you record songs in the studio and then go out and tour, they evolve and take on a life of their own. I want to capture that on the new record and want a whole album of songs that translate to the live setting as well as being well written enough to engage the listener of an album”. The eagerly anticipated new material, slated for release in early 2013, will be distributed on his manager's label as he's sagely decided to take control of his career by bringing everything in-house, following other successful artists who've cut out the record companies with astonishing results. Needless to say, a tour in support of that album will surely follow, and that promises to be something special, not just for the fans, but for the main man himself: “Music is a release for me. When I play I get lost in it and it's a very happy place to be” - Aynsley Lister © Aynsley Lister © 2013 AYNSLEY LISTER http://www.aynsleylister.co.uk/index.php/about/biography