"Giannis Logothetis-Elladex-Γιάννης Λογοθέτης-Ελλαδέξ-1975 Greece":
This album is a request.The highligts here are the three songs "Poly Oreo Styl","Sta Genethlia Mou" and "I Kasseta Ke I Leta", sung by Dimitris Poulikakos. More info here.
(I think this is only for the Greek fans of this blog because all the lyrics are in Greek).
-by dj fanis: here

"Spooky Tooth with Pierre Henry-Ceremony-1969 UK":
"Ceremony" was a 1969 album by prog legends Spooky Tooth with avant-garde French composer Pierre Henry. Subtitled "An Electronic Mass" the record was composed by Spooky Tooth’s Gary Wright and Henry. A fusion of electronic music & blues rock, remains a true curio of the progressive rock age. The highlights here are "Have Mercy", "Hosanna" and the beautiful "Prayer".
Prog- rock, with electronics and Christian content.
Members:
Pierre Henry – synthesizer, electronics
Gary Wright – vocals, organ, keyboards
Luther Grosvenor – guitars
Mike Harrison – vocals, keyboards
Mike Kellie – drums and percussion
Andy Leigh – bass, guitar
-by dj fanis: here

"Mongo Santamaria - El Pussy Cat-1965 US":
"El Pussy Cat" is a rare 60's latin soul LP by killer percussionist Mongo Santamaria with incredibly hard-hitting numbers, featuring strong piano lines from Rodger Grand, trumpet from Marty Sheller, flute and tenor sax from Hubert Laws. A really pivotal album in the career of Mongo Santamaria, one that has Mongo stripping down the groove, kicking up some jazz, and mixing together soulful styles that brought him to the top of the Latin crowd of the 1960s.
This combo is a hard-grooving Latin jazz at its best!
Members:
Mongo Santamaria-Leader and bongo drums
Marty Sheller-trumpet
Hubert Laws-flute and tenor sax
Bobby Capers-alto and baritone sax and flute
Carmello Garcia- timbales and drums
Rodger Grant-piano
Victor Venagas-bass
-by dj fanis: here

"The Soulful Strings-Paint It Black -1966 US":
The Chicago-based Soulful Strings could be lumped into the many mainstream opportunists who adapted popular hits songs of the 1960s and early 1970s to orchestral and string arrangements.
Cadet producer Esmond Edmunds and arranger-conductor Richard Evans were interested in exploring the intersection of a soulful Chicago jazz band and a full string section.
At the time of The Soulful Strings' creation, Evans was already an experienced bassist and arranger, having worked with Ramsey Lewis, Kenny Burrell and others. The Soulful Strings albums were populated by the cream of Chicago's jazz and soul scene, including Charles Stepney, Lenard Druss, Bunky Green, Phil Upchurch, and many others.
Their debut album "Paint it Black" is one of the better albums by this great Chicago soul studio group. The great Richard Evans is still at the head of The Strings, and the album features solo work by Charles Stepney and Lennie Druss, in a cool breezy Chess/Cadet soul jazz kind of mode. The group runs through jazz standards like "Take Five" and "Sidewinder", plus some rock and soul tracks like "Sunny", "Eight Miles High", "Lover's Concerto"," California Dreamin'" and "Paint It Black".
A bit funky, a bit groovy, and some nice instrumental tracks from the legendary Cadet studios.
-by dj fanis: here

"George Benson -Fed Up-1976 US":
This is a German reissue of the "Harlem Underground" LP (originally released in 1976 by The Harlem Underground Band ), titled here "Fed Up".
The Harlem Underground Band were the studio group for Winley Records featuring George Benson on guitar, Ann Winley on vocals and Sterling Magee on bass, and released two albums: "Harlem Underground" and "Erotic Moods" (credited as George Benson with the Harlem Underground Band).The song "Cheeba Cheeba" was later sampled by Tone Lōc.
Members:
George Benson (guitar)
Dave "Baby" Cortez (organ)
Willis Jackson (tenor saxophone)
Sterling Magee (bass)
Ann Winley (vocals)
-hippy-djkit: here

"James Mason-Rhythm Of Life-1977 US":
This is a great funk album from the Roy Ayers' guitarist released in 1977. James Mason proved a tough groover, adept at electric keyboards, funky guitar comping, and a "lead guitar" style very much in the 70's jazz/fusion mode. A crack band, featuring the impeccable drums of Narada Michael Walden, and the etherial vocals of Clarice Taylor, with some guest spots by Philip Woo (piano) and Justo Almario's (saxwork).
-by dj fanis: here

"The Last Poets-The Prime Time Rhyme Of The Last Poets-Best Of Volume 1":
The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread. The original Last Poets were formed on May 19, 1968 (Malcolm X's birthday), at Marcus Garvey Park (formerly Mount Morris Park) in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York. The original members were Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson.
The Last Poets have been cited as one of the earliest influences on what would become hip-hop music. This 14 track collection comprises highlights from the five albums the group made between 1970 and 1977.
-by dj fanis: here

"Titus Oates - Jungle Lady- 1974 US":
Titus Oates from Dallas, TX,was a progressive hard rock five-piece that was never well known. Named after the fun-loving 17th Century serial perjurer and Catholic-bater Titus Oates, the rock combo released this lone psychedelic album "Jungle Lady" in 1974.
The album, which is extremely well recorded, has, despite the band's Texan origins, a decidedly West Coast feel. Although their Southern roots do occasionally come to the surface in the form of some excellent Allman Brothers-style dual-guitar interludes, progressive rock keyboards and a couple of heavy bass riff-focused power tunes.
Members:
Lou Tielli-Guitars
Steve Todd-Guitars
Rick Jackson-Bass
Chris Eigenmann-Percussion
Bill Beaudet-Keyboards
-by dj fanis: here

"Mighty Baby -Egyptian Tomb- 1969 UK":

This has to be one of the best examples of British acid rock. This is what Buffalo Springfield would have sounded like if they had been more progressive. You can also throw in a little Kaleidoscope to add to the pop trippiness, and perhaps a smidgen of Grateful Dead to account for the occasional jam passage.
"Mighty Baby" definitely has some of late-60s psych sound, but it's rooted in strong song compositions, not free-form acid guitar and organ excursions (not that I have anything against those!). The songs run in the 4-6 minute range, which provides a nice midway point between too simple and too complex accessible yet full of turns and diversions.
The opener "Egyptian Tomb" shows the band in a nutshell: fluid guitar work, tight sax comp, cool interplay. A classic! And almost all of the songs are long stoned acid jams. They are simply so good at this, especially the guitar plays like an acid dream. And the singer has a high and nasal voice. The band plays tight, incredible improvisations. If you like the late 60's acid rock sound, this is your album. Like the late Quicksilver Messenger Service or the Grateful Dead but perhaps more "stoned" in sound.
-hippy-djkit: here

"The Shadows of Knight -Gloria -1966 US":
The Shadows of Knight was an American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, formed in the 1960s, who play a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city. At the time they first started recording, the band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and Yardbirds took the Chicago Blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch".
Founding members included Warren Rogers (lead guitar), Roger Spielmann (rhythm and lead guitar/vocals) Norm Gotsch (rhythm guitar), Wayne Pursell (bass guitar), Tom Schiffour (drums) and Jim Sohns (vocals). Sohns was sixteen years old at the time. During 1965, Joe Kelley was recruited to play bass, replacing Pursell. Kelley would swap bass and lead duties with Rogers in late 1965 at the time of the "Gloria" recordings.
Released in December 1965, "Gloria" received massive regional airplay. The band had slightly altered the song's lyrics, replacing Morrison's original "she comes to my room, just about midnight " with "she comes around here, just about midnight" after influential Chicago station WLS had banned Them's original version. The single reached the #1 position on the radio station's countdown, as well as on local rival WCFL. On the Billboard national charts, "Gloria" rose to #10.
The Shadows of Knight soon released the "Gloria" album in the summer of 1966.With their debut album bastardized the blues into a new form. They invented supersonic-tempo'd blues-punk. Including the chart-stomping smash "Gloria" plus "I Got My Mojo Working" and "I Just Want to Make Love to You," then take it one extreme step further with totally tough originals like "Light Bulb Blues."
-by dj fanis: here

"Zappatta Schmidt-It's Gonna Get You-1971 UK":
"It`s Gonna Get You" by Zappatta Schmidt is a very rare U.K. only Lp of 1971. Fantastic R&B Prog Funk Afro mixture with Organ, Brass and Fuzz Guitar, comparable with Demon Fuzz or Assagai.
The tracks contain some excellent lead/fuzz psych guitar and hammond organ, great pumping bass guitar and also a few very nice jazzy brass arrangements, the vocals are also excellent possibly by Eddy Grant. This brilliant album by Zappatta Schmidt blends many musical styles together effortlessly.
This excellent rare album will definitely not disappoint the fan of proggy-psych-funk music. Eddy Grant (who also produced the lp) wrote all the songs on the album. Eddy was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the multiracial group The Equals.
The album is a mystery, except Eddy Grant's involvement there is no information about the other members. You can tell by looking at the cover that this is not pop music and it's a statement from the underground culture. All the songs are good but the highlight is "Sweet Jam".
-hippy-djkit: here

"Mandrill - Mandrill Is-1972 US":
Hailing from the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, New York by way of Panama, Mandrill has been heralded as “one of the world’s greatest musical treasures.” Their first three albums,
"Mandrill","Mandrill Is" and " Composite Truth" were recorded at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Formed by the Wilson Brothers Lou, Ric “Doc” and Carlos they were later joined by brother Wilfredo and the sons of Lou and Carlos, The One Sun Lion Ra and Jadiem, respectively.
A family of multi-instrumentalists, whose background is a melting pot of Caribbean culture blended with the sound and heart of urban America, Mandrill were pioneers of the unique musical combination of Funk, Rock, Latin, R&B and the Jazz fusion movement of the time.
Their songs have been sampled by many hip-hop acts such as Johnny D, Public Enemy, Shawty Lo, Big L, Kanye West, Jin, Eminem, and 9th Wonder.
-by dj fanis: here

"Mongo Santamaria - Feelin' Alright -1970 US":
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría (April 7, 1917 in Havana, Cuba – February 1, 2003) was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All Stars, etc. He was an integral figure in the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with R&B and soul, paving the way for the boogaloo era of the late 1960s.
Mongo Santamaria's "Feelin' Alright" does offer a more than decent program of covers ranging from Motown to "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." Santamaria and his band spike the even-keeled, groove-heavy parade of horns, latin percussion, and rolling basslines with tasty trumpet and saxophone solos and manage to recast most of these rock and soul hits as engaging and infectious Latin-A-Go-Go jams.
-by dj fanis: here

"Lt.Garcia’s Magic Music Box -Cross The Border-1968 US":
Another Kasenetz-Katz production, for fans of bubblegum pop psych.Composed of guitarist H.J. Boyle. drummer Ralph De Palma, rhythm guitarist Tom Morrissey and bassist Jimmy Tragas, Lt. Garcia's Magic Music Box were actually a bit different than most Kasenetz-Katz acts. In their album "'Cross The Border" most of the songs was self-penned.
The album also contains a version of the 1953 Greek song "Opou Giorgos kai Malama"(Giorgos Mitsakis), titled here "O 'Sagapo (Oh How I Love You)".I think the bass player Jimmy Tragas was responsible for that. (more info here)
Members:
Tom Morrisey -rhythm guitar,organ,vocals
H.J. Boyle -lead guitar,vocals
Jimmy Tragas -bass,vocals
Ralph De Palma -drums,vocals
-by dj fanis: here

"Harumi-S/T- 1968 US":
One of the trippiest albums recorded for Verve in the 60s, a unique set by Japanese psyche artist Harumi and a record that stands proudly next to the best by Zappa or the Velvets at the time. Recorded by Tom Wilson for Verve in 1967 and 1968 in New York, this set originally appeared on a double LP .When Tom Wilson, noted producer of Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Simon and Garfunkel, pitched Harumi to Verve in 1967, he envisioned the album as an artistic, not a commercial, venture. His idea was to take the tunes of Harumi, a mysterious Japanese songwriter, and douse them in Gary Usher-like orchestration, David Axelrod-inspired grooves, and phaser-heavy psychedelic flourishes.
Harumi starts out sweet, then gets a bit wilder, and increases the sense of experimentation as the set rolls on, so that the final tracks is a side-long psychedelic jam that's topped with spoken passages by Harumi's parents and sister. The two long tracks (12 and 13 which total about 40') are pretty ahead of their time in a stoner/rock/psych kinda way. He also sounds like he did a lot of acid.
With contents ranging from Eastern-tinged pop to introverted epics, all featuring a range of Japanese instruments, it's stuffed with possible samples and is sure to delight all fans of mystic psychedelia.
His song "I Took A Ride (Caravan)" was covered by Rotary Connection's album "Aladdin" posted below.
-by dj fanis: here

"Rotary Connection-Aladdin-1968 US":
Rotary Connection was a psychedelic soul band formed in Chicago in 1966.This inter-racial four-man two-woman group specialized in slow-motion and strung-out covers, especially of the Rolling Stones and Dylan. The result sounds a bit like Vanilla Fudge, with organ and sound effects.Their black singer, Minnie Ripperton, later went solo and recorded some well-received soul albums. She died of cancer in 1979.
The highly experimental band was the idea of Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. Marshall was the director behind a start-up label, Cadet Concept Records, and wanted to focus on music outside of the blues and rock genres, which had made the Chess label popular. This led Marshall to turn his attention to the burgeoning psychedelic movement.
The band released their self-titled debut album in late 1967. It plays like a melange of styles, borrowing heavily from pop, rock, and soul.
In 1968 with their second album "Aladdin", Minnie Riperton assuming a more prominent vocal role than the "background instrument" status she had on the debut. "Aladdin" is a wonderful album with great songs like "I Took A Ride (Caravan)"composed and performed by Harumi,"Magical World" and "I Feel Sorry".
-by dj fanis: here

"Percy Faith - For Those In Love-1968 US":
Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-born bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. Beginning with defunct stations CKNC and CKCL, Faith was a staple of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's live-music broadcasting from 1933 to 1940, when he resettled in Chicago. In 1945, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He made many recordings for Voice of America.
He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s.
The album "For Those In Love" features two Hal David & Burt Bacharach tunes "The Look of Love" and "I Say a Little Prayer", there wasn't any two bigger hits during those years and the Percy Faith touch sprinkles it's magic over the orchestration . "Goin' Out of My Head", is truly a Faith gem.
(by request)
-by dj fanis: here

"Freed-S/T-1970 Denmark":
A great psychedelic album with fuzzy quitar and heavy Hammond is presented here!!! As i commented back in 2007 it is wild and trippy with strong and dreamy vocals!!!
Some of my comments were:
SOMETHING REALLY UNIQUE FOR NOW!!! FREED, A GROUP FROM DENMARK THAT DESERVES THE LOVE FROM ALL THE PSYCH-HEADS OF THE BLOGSPHEAR. AN ALBUM OF EXCELLENCE THAT NEVER GAINED ANY CREDIT BECAUSE IT WAS NEVER ISSUED AT THE TIME BACK IN 1970!!!
By popular demand FREED is back
by hippy-djkit: here

"Mint Tattoo-S/T-1969 US":
The Mint Tattoo was born as an offshoot of the legendary 60's proto punk acid band Blue Cheer. Bruce Stevens and Ralph (Burns) Kellogg had played together in Blue Cheer on band's self titled album in 1969, but after that one album, Stevens left the band to pursue other interests. Kellogg stayed on with Blue Cheer until the demise of the band in 1971, but during his tenure with Blue Cheer he reunited with Stevens along with drummer Gregg Thomas to form the band Mint Tattoo.
The Mint Tattoo only release it's a blues - influenced offering with occasionally good guitar work. The album was produced by James William Guercio and recorded at A&R Studios, New York. The two 45 cuts are taken from the album.
Members:
Bruce Stevens-lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals, kazoo
Ralph (Burns) Kellogg-bass, keyboards
Gregg Thomas-drums
-by dj fanis: here

"Spirit-The Family That Plays Together-1968 US":
"The Family That Plays Together", the second of four albums released by the original Spirit lineup, was marketed by Ode Records in 1968. Unlike its predecessor, Spirit, their self-titled and surreal debut, "The Family That Plays Together" evinces more greatly the band's ability for playing beyond the genre of psychedelic rock than within it.
Tracks "It Shall Be" and "Silky Sam" demonstrate the ease with which the ensemble can incorporate jazz into their idiosyncratic form of rock, while "Jewish" and "Aren't You Glad" evidenced the band's competence in exploiting, to their advantage, both world music and jam rock respectively. "Poor Richard" and " All the Same" feature glorious double track lead breaks from guitarist California. The inspiration behind entitling "The Family" is alleged to have derived from the stepson-stepfather relationship guitarist Randy California and percussionist Ed Cassidy shared.
Members:
Mark Andes - Bass, Vocals
Randy California - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Ed Cassidy - Percussion, Drums
Jay Ferguson - Percussion, Keyboards, Vocals
John Locke - Keyboards

-by dj fanis: here

"Billy Preston-Wildest Organ In Town! -1966 US":

"Wildest Organ In Town!" is the second album released by Billy Preston in 1966. The album was arranged by Sly Stone.
Billy Preston's roaring Hammond B-3 proves in less than 3 minutes, why the Beatles and the Stones were so eager to hire him for their studio sessions. This is super funky soul jazz from his earlier days and probably one of the best Hammond-albums ever made.
For anyone collecting music of Hammond Organ work, I would recommend this album!!!
-by dj fanis: here

"Eugene McDaniels- Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse-1971 US":
"Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" has been a lost vinyl classic. When this album was first released in 1971, so the legend goes, Nixon's vice-president Spiro Agnew himself called Atlantic Records to complain about the album's incendiary lyrics.
Promotional efforts dried up, and since then, the album has become one of the great rare gems of the funk era.
In an unthreatening manner that hardly warranted a call from the White House, McDaniels warns that man's struggles against each other are pointless, as some dark sinister force controls us all "Headless Heroes", and that protest without action is futile ("no amount of dancing is going to make us free," he sings in "Freedom Death Dance". With a dry wit he recounts an episode of everyday racist brutality in "Supermarket Blues," and finds simple carnal pleasures in the acoustic folk-flavored "Susan Jane".
The record is an eclectic mix of soul, funk, and even folk, with a crack jazz band backing McDaniels, a jazz singer himself in the 60s and a hit songwriter and producer in the 70s.
Members:
Eugene McDaniels (vocals, guitar)
Carla Cargill, Welfare City Choir (vocals)
Richie Resnikoff (guitar)
Harry Whitaker (piano)
Miroslav Vitous (acoustic bass)
Gary King (electric bass)
Alphonse Mouzon (drums)
-by dj fanis: here

"War - Youngblood -1978 US OST":

War was a funk group that started his life in the early 1970s in Southern California. They formed out of the ashes of an earlier R&B covers group, The Creators (who also recorded as The Romeos and Senor Soul), initially naming themselves Nightshift before producer Jerry Goldstein discovered them and gave them a more distinctive name.

Their first album was not a big success but their popularity was growing and later albums were very successful. They peaked commercially in the mid-70s with their Number 1 hit "Low Rider".

War did the music for this funky soundtrack to an early Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs film, and although most of the stuff on here is just typical War stuff, there's one track called "Flying Machine" that's a long funky chase scene-type track. Other tracks include "The Kingsmen Sign", "Junk Yard", "Superdude", and "Youngblood".
-by dj fanis: here

"The Poppy Family - Which Way You Goin' Billy?- 1969 Canada":

"Which Way You Goin' Billy?", was the first album from Vancouver based band The Poppy Family. They scored their biggest hit with title track "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" (No. 1 in Canada and No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts). A great pop/psych album.
(repost by request)
Members:
Susan Jacks : vocals, & Petersen's bean pod.
Terry Jacks : guitar, vocals
Craig McCaw : guitar, sitar
Satwant Singh : tablas, bongos, percussion
-by dj fanis: here

"Don Sebesky- The Rape Of El Morro-1975 US":
Don Sebesky is one of the most talented and respected composer-arrangers in music today. His sensitivity and versatility have enabled him to produce an enormous body of work. As a recording artist, and through his collaborations with other artists, Sebesky has received 30 GRAMMY nominations (three time winner), three Tony nominations (2000 winner), he has won two Drama Desk Awards, been nominated for three Emmy Awards, and has won four Clio Awards.
As a recording artist, Sebesky's work includes nine recordings under his own name, all of which were GRAMMY nominated. Included are "Giant Box", "Rape Of El Morro", "Full Cycle", "Moving Lines", "Symphonic Sondheim", "I Remember Bill" (1999 GRAMMY Award), and "Joyful Noise"(winner of two GRAMMY Awards in 2000).
His work as an arranger includes multiple albums by George Benson, Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery, Astrud Gilberto and many others.
-by dj fanis: here

"Emil Richards - The Spirit Of 1976-1969 US":
This blog likes the sound of the vibraphone. So, here is a live album by the great percussionist Emil Richards & the Microtonal Blues Band (Live at Donte's) in the San Fernando Valley, one of the few strongholds of live jazz in L.A.
Born Emilio Joseph Radocchia on September 2, 1932 in Hartford, Connecticut, is a percussionist who plays a variety of different percussion instruments. Excellent groovy jazz with Dave Makay on piano and percussion, as well as a bunch of other LA hipsters. It's a record full of infectious music with an incredible groove.
A version of Miles Davis' "All Blues" also shows remarkable atmospheric density.
Emil Richards recorded with Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Marvin Gaye, George Harrison and many others and owns a collection of more than 770 percussion instruments.
-by hippy-djkit: here