MAGIC "s/t" - 1971

Here we go with the MAGIC second self-titled album (their debut has been sold for $700+ on Ebay...). Though they come from Miami, MAGIC sounds, in a way, like a west coast psychedelic band.

MAGIC feeds on Soul music, Folk, Country, Blues and Psych. Evident writing skills and soulful guitar work give the album a special feeling.
An efficient rhythm section, some brass here and there and the powerful lead vocals make this second LP a very tasty album with some refreshing tunes.
"Keep on Moving on" is the opening cut and the soft rocking soulful guitars, mellow bass section and smooth drum line make it a good introduction. There's no brass on this one...

ENJOY!

MAGIC "s/t" - 1971 - USA - Rare Earth R527L

The GROUNDHOGS "Who Will Save The World?" - 1972

For whatever reason, the GROUNDHOGS rarely appear on music blogs. What a waste!
Any of the 6 albums the GROUNDHOGS released between 1969 and 1972 (the rest is far less interesting) are absolutely undeniable.
With this one though, the GROUNDHOGS and their mastermind, Tony TS McPhee, add some progressive stuff into the recipe and put their blues roots aside.
"The Grey Maze", the last track on "Who Will Save The World" is a freaky guitar extended riff, that could drive someone crazy.
The comics cover (by Neal Adams) is particularly colorful and bright and would improve any collection.

ENJOY!

The GROUNDHOGS "Who Will Save The World?" - 1972 - UK - United Artists UA 29237)

NITZINGER "s/t" - 1972

The latest addition to my ever growing LP collection is the NITZINGER first album, released on Capitol in 1972.
This album is an absolute must-have for fans of hard-hitting guitar-driven 70's Hard Rock!
John Nitzinger also worked with BLOODROCK and wrote some great songs for the Texas-based outfit.

On this first album, the mighty guitarist offers kick-ass Rock'n'roll tracks, packed with a heavy load of screaming guitar leads, and even more guitar licks here and there. This is 70's Hard Rock at its best, with a special Texas feeling all the way.

The song I picked, "Hero of the War" (this song closes the album) makes me think of "No One Knows" by the awesome QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE.
It might not be the most hard rocking cut of this self-titled album, but it's a hell of a great track!

ENJOY!

NITZINGER "s/t" - 1972 - USA - Capitol SMAS-11091

Note: With this new song posted, we've just reach a 1-hour long playlist (available in the player). Hope you enjoy it!

NEU! "s/t" - 1972

The duo NEU! was formed in Düsseldorf, Germany, back in 1971. Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger freshly departed from KRAFTWERK gathered in the studio with CAN producer, and got those 6 tracks recorded in 4 days.

"Hallogallo" is the opening song, clocking in at 10+ minutes, this slice of Art/Prog Rock is a pure jewel. With this song, NEU! invented what we call "driving music". The guitar riffs and sliding notes crawl over the mechanical endless drumming to create an hypnotic almost robotic dance.

On other songs, the duo also gets into more experimental ways, adding electronics, jackhammer and other tone distortions into the mix.

Thanks to this unique blend of sounds, noises and aesthetics, this NEU! first self-titled album sets the band as a milestone in Krautrock but also on the then-new born electronica scene.

ENJOY!

NEU! "s/t" - 1972 - Germany - Brain 1004

FRANK ZAPPA & The MOTHERS OF INVENTION "Freak Out!" - 1966

As promised, here comes a new slice of The MOTHERS.
"Freak Out!" is the first album of this bunch of pioneers, and, at the same time, is the first double album in the music history. No less.
When it comes to the music, understand that "Freak Out!" is a two-sided project. On the A and B sides, you will find some Psych Pop tunes, very catchy and satirical. Frank shows the world his ability to come up with great melodies while focusing on experimentation and a different vision of how the music should sound like.
The C and D sides switch to non-conformist avant-garde compositions. I mean effects galore and deconstructed Rock & Pop structures.
The 8+-minute long "Help I'm A Rock" is the track I chose for the player. This suite in 3 movements is actually dedicated to Elvis Presley (as the liner notes have it).
If you look for buying an original copy of this one, check on the inside of the cover. First pressings have a box above the triangle-shaped photo in the lower right corner of the inside spread with an advertisement for the "Freak Map."

ENJOY!

The MOTHERS OF INVENTION "Freak Out!" - 1968 - USA - Verve V6-5005-2

INCREDIBLE HOG "Volume 1" - 1973

Folks!

Here comes another rarity : the sole album this british band ever released, and what a gem!
This LP almost never saw the light of day, the guys had to wait hours before they could be heard and, consequently, signed...

Hard-hitting Hard Rock, a pair of soft ballads (one on each side), scorching riffs, bits of blues here and there, a terrible uncompromising rhythm section, and, last but not least, a voice, and what a voice!
"Tadpole" is one of the numerous great cuts of this LP.

There are some different covers (the German and Spanish ones are completely different), but the genuine cover is the one you see above.

ENJOY!


INCREDIBLE HOG "Volume 1" - 1973 - UK - Dart ARTS 65372

FRANK ZAPPA & The MOTHERS OF INVENTION "We're Only In It For The Money" - 1968

It's been a while!
I was away for work, but found time to bring back some new additions to my record collection.
I bought this original ZAPPA & The MOTHERS' LP. "We're Only In It For The Money" is their 3rd album, released right after "Absolutely Free".
Expect some more ZAPPA pretty soon...

The song I picked up is "Flower Punk", the last "track" on side A. For those of you who don't know ZAPPA and are not familiar with his work, a great number of songs can't be called regular "tracks". Some are mostly spoken words and strange experimentation, bizarre noise and weird sound.
"We're Only In It..." is not the easiest record to get into ZAPPA's discography.
This record has been heavily censored, a lot of offensive bits have been cut out, and there's no uncensored original version.

Without being my favorite, I really like this album and the cover is absolutely awesome. The flashing yellow background color is stunning! And look at those faces!

ENJOY!

FUGGY and GROOVY - This is the first session

Ladies & gentlemen, I'm proud to announce my boys at Disque Primeur asked for another batch of smoking podcasts.

Here comes "Fuggy & Groovy".

Now it's 70's Rock oriented. And it's vinyl only, brothers.This first session is about US Vintage Rock, the next one will be about British Rock.


http://disqueprimeur.blogspot.com/2007/06/dp-podcast-28-fuggy-grooves.html

ARMAGEDDON "Buzzard" (from "s/t" - A&M)
GRANICUS "You're In America" (from s/t" - RCA)
YESTERDAY'S CHILDREN "She's Easy" (from "s/t" - Map City)
SIR LORD BALTIMORE "Master Headache" (from "Kingdom Come" - Mercury)
BLUE CHEER "Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger" (from "Outside/inside" - Mercury)
TIN HOUSE "Personal Gain" (from "s/t - Epic)
BANG "Come With Me" (from "s/t" - Capitol)
JAMUL "All You HAve Left Is Me" (from "s/t" - Lizard)

ENJOY!

HORSE "s/t" - 1970

Here we go with a rarity.

HORSE was a very short-lived band as they only released this LP, but what a great album!

"The Sacrifice", the first track, is one of the greatest songs I know from this era. The rest of the songs are not that creepy and controversial, but in a more traditional Rock vein.

That said, there's no weak song here! Guitars, vocals (this guy knows how to sing!), rhythm section (Rick Parnell will later play with ATOMIC ROOSTER) and arrangements, everything is beautifully combined.

"Step Out Of Line", "See The People Creeping Round, "To Greet The Sun", "Gyspy Queen"... all those tracks are brilliant, so don't miss this Lp (reissues are available).

ENJOY!

HORSE "s/t" - 1970 - UK - RCA SF 8109

LUCIFER'S FRIEND "s/t" - 1973

Hailing from Germany, here comes LUCIFER'S FRIEND, a german band fronted by an english singer : John Lawton, who later sung in URIAH HEEP, but this is another story.

LUCIFER'S FRIEND first Lp is a great rocker, from start to finish, good guitar work throughout, great vocals and catchy tunes.

It's impossible not to mention the DEEP PURPLE influence, those organ-led heavy rockers don't lie. LED ZEPPELIN also comes to mind with the first track of the Lp (a reminiscence of "Immigrant song").

This record is a great exemple of 70's Hard Rock, mixing prog parts to hard-hitting guitar parts, as you can see on the last track of the album, "Lucifer's Friend". Oh, and by the way, the textured original cover is neat!

ENJOY!

LUCIFER'S FRIEND "s/t" - 1973 - Germany - Philips 6305 068

AYNSLEY DUNBAR RETALIATION "To Mum From Aynsley & The Boys" - 1970

Aynsley Dunbar started his carreer as a session musician for Eddie Boyd, then joined John Mayall, stayed a while with the Mothers Of Invention, and even played with Jeff Beck.
When he created the AYSNLEY DUNBAR RETALIATION, he focused on blues, the one he learned, fed on and ultimately loves.
This, "To Mum From Aynsley & The Boys", is the third album with the very original line-up with the addition of an organ, which gives a jazz feeling to the album.
"Leaving Right Away" is the last track of this great piece of plastic and witnesses that new dimension the band decided to add to the music.

Produced by John Mayall, this album is a must-have for the British Blues Boom fans, as well as all the other albums Dunbar played on... No less.

ENJOY!

AYNSLEY DUNBAR RETALIATION "To Mum From Aysnley & The Boys" - 1970 - UK - Liberty LBS83223

BIRTHA "Can't Stop The Madness" - 1973

I was visiting Garden Of Sound and saw the cover of BIRTHA's first record, it made me think about posting a song of their second LP : "Can't Stop The Madness".
This album somehow shows that the all-female quartet has grown up.
The girls know how to cut great songs, they know about melodies, groove and good rockers.
A couple of soft songs here and there, and you have a great follow-up to their self-titled debut.
This time, all of the girls share the vocal parts, for a more varied, more colorful ensemble.

Too bad they decided to split after this one, they really had something special I think.

ENJOY!

BIRTHA "Can't Stop The Madness" - 1973 - USA - Dunhill DSX-50136

LUMBEE "Overdose" - 1970

This album appears to be dedicated to J. Hendrix and J. Joplin who had just passed away when the album was released.
Originally sold with a game (which goal is to earn money selling drugs), "Overdose" is about a tune. This tune, the one you hear in "Tone Deaf" (the opening track) will be the basis of most of the songs.

There's a rural feeling to this album, and the funky guitars sometimes go soft for quieter psych parts.

The two vocalists (a woman and a man) add a special dimension to the tracks, as if they were sort of leaders of a drug-addicted community, telling them it can be better and showing them the way.
Some great guitar works here and there, soulful singing throughout, comforting-sounding bass and an inventive drum section make this album a great addition to any 70's Rock record collection.

This one is highly recommended and one of my personal favorites.

ENJOY!

LUMBEE "Overdose" - 1970 - USA - Radnor R-2003

CHRIS MOON GROUP "s/t" - 1970

This is the most recent entry in my record collection : CHRIS MOON GROUP. This self-titled album was released in 1970 on Kinetic, a CBS in-house label.

Chose the song on the player and enjoy. "Give It To Me" is the last track of side A.

The album seems to be completely unknown to a lot of people into 70's Rock. It's absolutely impossible to find any info on this album or this band/guitar player. But it seems like this album is the sole LP they ever released.

There's a funky feeling throughout the album, but strong blues influences are also evident, especially on this track and also on "Get Together Jim", the last track of the album.

Guitars are soft with some good riffing and great gimmicks. Overall, the voice of Chris Moon is particularly interesting, from cool whispers to strident howlings. It makes me think about the singer of BLACK PEARL on some tracks.

I could only recommend this album as all of the 10 tracks are good, and some are particularly tasty.

If anyone of you have more info about CHRIS MOON GROUP or this LP, don't hesitate and post them in the comments section.

ENJOY!

CHRIS MOON GROUP "s/t" - 1970 - USA - Kinetic Z30228

"Secret VINYL Conspiracy"... It's supposed to be about vinyl, right !?!

People!

First day of june, first post of the month.

A friend asked me a crucial question : "This blog is called "Secret Vinyl Conspiracy", but you never talk about vinyl... ?! What the f**k, man?"

Sure, he's right...

From now on, every track I'll post will be from my personal collection, and I hope you'll like them.

Come back later today for the first post, you won't be disappointed, I promise.