The Merseybeats - Selftitled (Classic Album UK Beat 1964)

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The Merseybeats were one of the better quartets to come out of the British Invasion without ever making a dent on the charts in the United States -- along with the Roulettes, the Chants, and the Undertakers, they represent an undeservedly lost chapter in early-'60s British rock & roll. Although they enjoyed a little less than a year of serious chart success, the Merseybeats were unable to pull together the various facets of their sound into a cohesive, coherent whole in the manner of the Beatles or the Hollies, and into something lasting, in part because of a lack of original songwriting ability in their ranks. The group's roots go back to the early '60s in Liverpool, and a band originally known as "the Mavericks," comprised of Tony Crane (lead guitar, vocals), Billy Kinsley (bass, vocals), David Elias (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Frank Sloane (drums). They were doing well but soon found the name to be a drag on their success, making people think that they were a country & western band. They briefly used the name "the Pacifics," and then became the Merseybeats -- evidently their timing was such that they grabbed the name, previously a local music reference, ahead of anyone else in a city boiling over with musical activity.

By the end of 1962, the Merseybeats lineup had solidified around Crane and Kinsley, with Aaron Williams joining on rhythm guitar in place of Elias and John Banks succeeding Sloane. The group made their recording debut around this time as part of the Oriole label's Liverpool showcase, This Is Merseybeat. With the help of the manager of the Cavern Club, they were formally signed to Fontana Records in mid-1963, and made their debut in August of that year with a single of "It's Love That Really Counts" b/w "Fortune Teller" -- the A-side, a Bacharach/David tune, was a solid piece of British Invasion pop/rock in the best Beatles/Hollies/Searchers mode, with memorable guitar hooks and a memorable chorus, and it reached number 24 on the U.K. charts. They were later signed up by the Beatles' legendary manager, Brian Epstein, but the fit was an awkward one, owing to differences in musical sensibility -- the group was a fairly hard rock & roll outfit, but their singles tended much more to the pop side of rock & roll, and the A-sides never represented their real sound very well. In early 1964, the Merseybeats released a second single, "I Think of You" backed with the pop/rock standard "Mister Moonlight," which reached number five in England. In both of these instances, the B-side was closer to the band's sound than the A-side and, in both instances, the band had latched onto the material first -- but was eclipsed by rival versions by the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

Though it had come along a little late, "It's Love That Really Counts" turned the group into a major pop/rock act, and the future looked good for them. But there were problems on the horizon, starting with the fact that neither of those singles had made even the slightest impact in the United States, which was where the real fortunes were to be made; and, much more seriously, the decision by Billy Kinsley to leave the band in 1964 in order to form his own group, the Kinsleys. In his place, they got John Gustafson on bass and vocals. formerly of Liverpool's Big Three trio, who also contributed some songwriting. In April of 1963, they released "Don't Turn Around" b/w "Really Mystified," which -- despite a beautifully catchy, harmony-and-hook-laden A-side that was heavily influenced by the work of Roy Orbison, and an original B-side co-authored by Crane and Gustafson -- didn't do quite as well, peaking at number 13. A third single in July, "Wishin' and Hopin'" b/w "Milkman" (the latter another Crane/Gustafson original), also reached number 13. The band released a pair of extended-play singles, including "I Think of You" and "Merseybeats on Stage," the latter capturing their real sound in concert and included "Long Tall Sally" and "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" in early 1964. They also worked their way into two rock & roll featurettes, Swinging UK and UK Swings Again -- one of their clips, "Don't Turn Around," was nicely staged, the band miming to the single on a platform that, on the chorus of the title, starts to rotate.

The Merseybeats were successful enough to get an LP release, and the resulting self-titled album showcased their limitations as well as their virtues. Amid a few inspired moments, mostly on the single-sides (such as "Milkman") picked up for the LP, there were some "originals" that were highly derivative of Bo Diddley and Little Richard, interspersed with some decent Liverpool-style adaptations of American R&B ("Bring It on Home to Me," "He Will Break Your Heart,") and a strange choice of show tunes, one ("Hello Young Lovers") partly successful and the other not. Apart from a lack of originality in their sound, the album pointed to the group's very thin in-house songwriting -- they were almost wholly dependent on Peter Lee Stirling, who had written their three biggest, single A-sides, for success. And to judge from the weak diversity on their album, one couldn't tell if the Merseybeats wanted to sound like the Beatles, the Fortunes, or the Pretty Things, and as a consequence gained very few fans from the release.

Their fall 1964 single "Last Night I Made a Little Girl Cry" b/w "Send Me Back," barely made the British Top 40, peaking at number 40, and it wasn't long after this that Gustafson left the band and was replaced by Kinsley, whose return to the lineup coincided with their last round of success as the Merseybeats. By 1965, the Liverpool sound synonymous with the term "Merseybeat" was considered old-hat, and the name that had helped gain the group some vital recognition was now weighing them down. Following "I Love You, Yes I Do" b/w "Good, Good Lovin'," and "I Stand Accused" (later covered by Elvis Costello) backed with "All My Life," which peaked at numbers 22 and 38, respectively, the group seemed to have run its course for commercial success by early 1966. They were rescued by the interest of the members of the Who, whose members knew Crane and Kinsley, and got them under the management of Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert.

In mid-1966, Crane and Kinsley became the Merseys and scored a huge hit with "Sorrow" later that year, reaching number four in England. They'd still never charted a record in America, however, and their next single, a fine rendition of the Who song "So Sad About Us," never charted. The duo called it quits after the release of their single "Lovely" b/w "Loretta Drifting." Kinsley went on to form Rockin' Horse, while Crane later re-fomed the old band -- after a fashion -- as Tony Crane & the Merseybeats during the '70s and '80s, with Bob Packham on bass and vocals, Alan Cosgrove on drums and vocals, and Colin Drummond on keyboards and vocals. The original group was fondly remembered and the band did well embracing its own past; in the meantime, David Bowie covered "Sorrow" on Pin Ups in 1973, an acknowledgment of the lingering appeal of their best work. By the '90s, Kinsley was working with them again as the Merseybeats, built around that same core lineup except for Dave Goldberg on keyboards. In 2000, Crane's son Adrian joined on keyboards and guitar, and Lou Rosenthal took over on drums.

01. MILKMAN
02. HELLO,YOUNG LOVERS
03. HE WILL BREAK YOUR HEART
04. FUNNY FACE
05. REALLY MYSTIFIED
06. GIRL THAT I MARRY,THE
07. FOOLS LIKE ME
08. MY HEART AND I
09. BRING IT ON HOME TO ME
10. LAVENDER BLUE
11. JUMPING JONAH
12. DON'T TURN AROUND
13. IT'S LOVE THAT REALLY COUNTS
14. FORTUNE TELLER
15. I THINK OF YOU
16. MISTER MOONLIGHT
17. WISHIN' AND HOPIN'
18. LAST NIGHT(I MADE A LITTLE GIRL CRY)
19. SEND ME BACK
20. DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO US
21. IT WOULD TAKE A LONG. LONG TIME
22. I LOVE YOU YES I DO
23. GOOD GOOD LOVIN'
24. I STAND ACCUSED
25. ALL MY LIFE
26. LONG TALL SALLY
27. I'M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND CRY
28. SHAME
29. YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER
30. NUR UNSERE LIEBE ZAHLT
31. NUR DU ALLEIN

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The Pretty Things - Get the Picture (2nd Album UK 1965)

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The band's second album (released Dec. 1965) has not only been remastered from original session tapes, so the group sound like their amps are practically right in your lap, but it's also been expanded to 18 songs with the addition of tracks cut for singles and EP releases from the same sessions. That's enough to recommend it even to casual fans -- this is now a record that's just a few notches short of Rolling Stones level in the charisma department and pretty tough any way you want to look at it. On "Rainin' in My Heart," they sound exactly like the Stones from the same era, missing only the little harmonica flourish that might have been added on the break. The notes go into the history of the group during this period in delightful detail, and the histories of various songs, most particularly "L.S.D.," which, amazingly, was cut as a demo and never re-done for release, just put out that way. In their good moments here, the Pretty Things approach Rolling Stones territory, and even in their off moments they're flying at the same level as the Kinks' album tracks. The real enhancement, alas, only concerns those fans with CD-ROM drives (PC Windows 3.1 or later, minimum 486 66Mhz or Mac 68040 or better, running system 7.1 or later) -- they get to see the Pretty Things playing the 100 Club in London from 1965, looking wilder and scruffier than the Stones or almost any other benchmark band.

01. You Don't Believe Me
02. Buzz the Jerk
03. Get the Picture?
04. Can't Stand the Pain
05. Rainin' in My Heart
06. We'll Play House
07. You'll Never Do It Baby
08. I Had a Dream
09. I Want Your Love
10. London Town
11. Cry to Me
12. Gonna Find a Substitute
13. Get a Buzz [Bonus]
14. Sittin' All Alone [Bonus]
15. Midnight to Six Man [Bonus]
16. Me Needing You [Bonus]
17. Come See Me [Bonus]
18. £.S.D. [Bonus]

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The Byrds - Farther Along (Great Album US 1971)

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Farther Along is the eleventh album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in November, 1971 on Columbia Records, catalogue item KC 30150. The album only managed to reach #152 on the Billboard 200 album chart, during a chart stay of seven weeks, and failed to break into the UK Albums Chart altogether. A single taken from the album, "America's Great National Pastime" b/w "Farther Along", was released on November 29, 1971 but failed to chart in the United States or in the United Kingdom. The single's failure in the UK was due to its being withdrawn by CBS Records shortly after its release in January 1972. Farther Along was, for the most part, recorded and produced by The Byrds themselves, over the course of four work-intensive days in July 1971. The album was recorded as a reaction to Terry Melcher's inappropriate production work on the band's previous album, Byrdmaniax, and in an attempt to stem the criticism that album was receiving from the music press. Unfortunately, the rapidity with which The Byrds planned and recorded Farther Along resulted in yet another uneven record that the band themselves were unhappy with and which failed to undo the damage to their reputation inflicted by Byrdmaniax. Farther Along has the dubious honor of tying with Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde as The Byrds' album to have spent the least amount of time on the Billboard album chart. In addition, it was almost the lowest charting album of The Byrds' career, being beaten only by Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde, which charted at #153, one place lower than Farther Along.

Farther Along was released on November 17, 1971 in the United States and January 21, 1972 in the United Kingdom,a mere six months after Byrdmaniax. Although the album was issued commercially in stereo in America and Europe, there is some evidence to suggest that mono copies of the album (possibly radio station promos) were distributed in the UK. Upon its release, Farther Along received reasonable reviews in the British music press, with many commentators expressing pleasure that the band had reverted to a more simplistic style of production. The LP certainly had a less cluttered sound than its predecessor, prompting McGuinn to comment "It was as live as you can get in the studio. We didn't do a lot of overdubs, mostly just the vocals."

Reaction to the album in the the U.S. was more enthusiastic than it had been for Byrdmaniax but still wasn't wholly positive. In the March 1972 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Ben Gerson, described the album's contents by saying "There is a programmatic certainty to their music at this point which at first glance happily signifies that a first-generation band has successfully remade itself, but, after repeated exposure disappoints one with its inflexibility." Gerson concluded his review of the album by saying "This is not an outstanding album, either by Byrds or contemporary standards, though, for at least a Byrds fan, it contains several seductive tunes and some exemplary musicianship. But beneath the old Byrds sound, and this new, quartered approach, there is a more fundamental commitment, and that is to survival."

The question of The Byrds' continued existence was echoed in a contemporary review by Bud Scoppa, in which he opined "The Byrds recognized their failure on Byrdmaniax, but placed the blame on the lavish production job rather than their own disunity. So what we have with Farther Along, evidently rushed out to rectify the problems caused by the last LP, is more disunity, but this time in a basic unadorned state." Despite Farther Along being an attempt to counter the over-production present on Byrdmaniax, the band themselves weren't particularly satisfied with the finished product. Skip Battin described his feelings toward the album by saying "When we finished it, I didn't think we had anything, I thought the stuff was rotten - it didn't sound good, it was scattered and there was no unification." Gene Parsons concurred with Battin's assessment of the album, stating "I felt that Farther Along was a good album, but it was under produced. It was done really rapidly and it suffered in under production as a reaction to Byrdmaniax."

01."Tiffany Queen" (Roger McGuinn) – 2:40
02."Get Down Your Line" (Gene Parsons) – 3:26
03."Farther Along" (traditional, arranged Clarence White) – 2:57
04."B.B. Class Road" (Gene Parsons, Stewart Dawson) – 2:16
05."Bugler" (Larry Murray) – 3:06
06."America's Great National Pastime" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:57
07."Antique Sandy" (Roger McGuinn, Skip Battin, Gene Parsons, Clarence White, Jimmi Seiter) – 2:13
08."Precious Kate" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:59
09."So Fine" (Johnny Otis) – 2:36
10.."Lazy Waters" (Bob Rafkin) – 3:32
11."Bristol Steam Convention Blues" (Gene Parsons, Clarence White) – 2:30

Bonus Tracks:
12."Lost My Drivin' Wheel" (David Wiffen) – 4:56
13."Born to Rock and Roll" (Roger McGuinn) - 2:59
14."Bag Full of Money" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) - 5:58
NOTE: this song ends at 3:18; at 3:29 begins "Bristol Steam Convention Blues" [Alternate Version] (Gene Parsons, Clarence White)

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The Byrds - Untitled (Great Album Live + Studio US 1970)

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(Untitled) is the ninth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in September, 1970 (see 1970 in music) on Columbia Records, catalogue item G 30127. The album peaked at #40 on the Billboard 200 album chart, during a chart stay of twenty-one weeks and reached #11 in the United Kingdom. (Untitled) is a double album, with the first LP featuring live concert material from two early 1970 gigs in New York City, and with the second LP consisting of new studio recordings. A single taken from the album, "Chestnut Mare" b/w "Just a Season", was released on October 23, 1970 and reached #121 on the Billboard chart. The single was released in the UK on January 1, 1971, where it did considerably better, reaching #19 on the UK Singles Chart, during a chart stay of eight weeks. The (Untitled) album is notable for being the first official release of any live recordings by The Byrds and also for being the first album by the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons and Skip Battin line-up of the band.

Background
Following the firing of The Byrds' bass player, John York, in September 1969, Skip Battin was asked to join the band as York's replacement, at the suggestion of drummer, Gene Parsons, and guitarist, Clarence White. Battin was, at 35, the oldest member of the band and the one with the longest musical history.Battin's professional music career had begun as one half of the pop music duo, Skip & Flip, with Gary Paxton in 1959. The duo had notched up a string of hits between 1959 and 1961, including "It Was I", "Fancy Nancy" and "Cherry Pie". After the break-up of Skip & Flip, Battin moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a freelance session musician and formed the band Evergreen Blueshoes. Following the disbandment of that group, Battin returned to session work in the late 1960s and it was during this period that he met Gene Parsons and became reacquainted with Clarence White, whom he had known from a few years earlier. York's dismissal and Battin's recruitment marked the last change to the band's line-up until the five original members of The Byrds reunited in 1972.

For most of 1969, The Byrds' leader and guitarist, Roger McGuinn, had been developing a country-rock stage production of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt with former psychologist and Broadway impresario, Jacques Levy. The musical was to be titled Gene Tryp, an anagram of the title of Ibsen's play, and would loosely follow the storyline of Peer Gynt with some modifications to transpose it from Norway, as in Ibsen's original, to 19th century south-west America. The musical was intended as a prelude to even loftier plans of McGuinn's to produce a science-fiction film named Ecology 70, starring former Byrd Gram Parsons (no relation to Gene) and ex-member of The Mamas & the Papas, Michelle Phillips, as a pair of intergalactic flower children.[2] Ultimately, Gene Tryp was abandoned and a handful of the songs that McGuinn and Levy had written for the project would instead see release on (Untitled) and its follow-up, Byrdmaniax.

Of the twenty-six songs that were written for the musical, "Chestnut Mare", "Lover of the Bayou", "All the Things" and "Just a Season" were included on (Untitled), while "Kathleen's Song" and "I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician" were held over for The Byrds' next album. "Lover of the Bayou" would later be re-recorded by Roger McGuinn in 1975 and appear on his album, Roger McGuinn & Band. Despite not being staged at the time, Gene Tryp was eventually performed in a revised configuration by the drama students of Colgate University between November 18 and November 21, 1992, under the new title of Just a Season: A Romance of the Old West.

The Byrds, having toured extensively throughout 1969[16] and early 1970, decided that the time was right to issue a live album. At the same time, it was felt that the band had a sufficient backlog of new compositions to warrant the recording of a new studio album. The dilemma was resolved when it was suggested by producer Terry Melcher that the band should release a double album, featuring an LP of concert recordings and an LP of new studio recordings, which would retail for the same price as a regular single album. At around this time, Jim Dickson, The Byrds' original manager, who had been fired by the group in June 1967, returned to The Byrds camp to help Melcher with the editing of the live recordings, affording him a co-producers credit on the double album.

Live recordings
The latter-day line-up of The Byrds, featuring McGuinn, White, Parsons and new recruit Skip Battin, was regarded by critics and audiences as being much more accomplished in concert than previous configurations of The Byrds had been. This being the case, it made perfect sense to capture the band's sound in a live environment and so, in February and March of 1970, two consecutive New York concert appearances were recorded. The first of these was the band's performance at Queens College on February 28, 1970, with the second being their performance at the Felt Forum on March 1, 1970. (Untitled) featured recordings from both of these concerts, spliced together to give the impression of a single, continuous performance. Of the seven live tracks featured on the album, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Mr. Tambourine Man", "Mr. Spaceman" and "Eight Miles High" were drawn from the Queens College performance, with "Lover of the Bayou", "Positively 4th Street", and "Nashville West" originating from the Felt Forum show.

The opening track of the live LP is "Lover of the Bayou", a new song written by Roger McGuinn and Jacques Levy for their aborted Gene Tryp stage show. The song is set during the American Civil War and portrays the eponymous hero of the musical as a smuggler, bootlegger and gun runner for both the Confederacy and the Unionists. McGuinn explained in a 1970 interview with journalist Vincent Flanders that the song wasn't actually intended to be sung by Gene Tryp but by another character, a witch-doctor named Big Cat. The second song on the live album is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street", which would be the last Dylan song that The Byrds would cover on an album until "Paths of Victory", which was recorded during the 1990 reunion sessions featured on The Byrds box set. The rest of side one is made up of live versions of album tracks and earlier hit singles.

Side two of the live album was taken up in its entirety by a sixteen minute, extended version of "Eight Miles High", which proved to be popular on progressive rock radio during the early 1970s. The track is highlighted by the dramatic guitar interplay of Roger McGuinn and Clarence White as well as the bass and drum playing of Skip Battin and Gene Parsons. The song begins with improvisational jamming, which lasts for over 12 minutes, before the band finally sings the first verse of the song. The revamping of "Eight Miles High" featured on (Untitled), represented the ultimate fusion of the original Byrds with the newer line-up. At the end of The Byrds live performance of "Eight Miles High", the band break into a rendition of their signature stage tune, "Hold It", which had first been heard on record at the close of the "My Back Pages/B.J. Blues/Baby What You Want Me to Do" medley included on Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde.

Additional material from The Byrds' early 1970 appearances at Queen's College and the Felt Forum has been officially released over the years, beginning with "Lover of the Bayou", "Black Mountain Rag (Soldier's Joy)" and a cover of Lowell George's "Willin'" from the Queens College concert, which appeared on the Byrds box set in 1990. Additionally, performances of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", "Old Blue", "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", "Ballad of Easy Rider", "My Back Pages", and "This Wheel's on Fire" from the Felt Forum show were included on the (Untitled)/(Unissued) release in 2000. A further two songs, "You All Look Alike" and "Nashville West", taken from the Queen's College concert were included on the 2006 box set, There Is a Season.

Studio recordings
The studio recording sessions for (Untitled) began on May 26, 1970, at Columbia Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, and were produced by Terry Melcher, who had also been the producer of The Byrds' first two albums, Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn!, as well as producer of their previous album, Ballad of Easy Rider.

Among the songs recorded for the album were Gene Parsons and Skip Battin's "Yesterday's Train", a gentle meditation on the theme of reincarnation, a cover of Lowell George and Bill Payne's "Truck Stop Girl", sung by Clarence White, and a light-hearted reading of Lead Belly's "Take a Whiff on Me". The album also included the Skip Battin penned, "Well Come Back Home", a heartfelt comment on the Vietnam War. Battin explained the song's genesis in interview, stating "I was personally touched by the Vietnam situation, and my feelings about it came out in that song. I had a high school friend who died out there and I guess my thoughts were on him at the time."[2] Battin also revealed that he couldn't decide whether to name the song "Well Come Back Home" or "Welcome Back Home" but finally settled on the former. Curiously, although the song was listed on the original album and the original CD issue of (Untitled) as "Well Come Back Home", it was listed as "Welcome Back Home" on the (Untitled)/(Unissued) re-release in 2000, possibly in error. The song continues the tradition of ending The Byrds' albums on an unusual note with the inclusion of the Buddhist mantra, "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo", which is chanted towards the end of the song.

"Chestnut Mare" had originally been written for the abandoned Gene Tryp stage production. The song was intended to be used in a scene where Gene Tryp attempts to catch and tame a wild horse, a scene that had originally featured a deer in Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt. Although the majority of "Chestnut Mare" had been written specifically for Gene Tryp, the lilting Bach-like middle section had actually been written by McGuinn back in the early 1960s, while on tour in South America with the Chad Mitchell Trio. Two other songs originally intended for Gene Tryp were included on the studio half of (Untitled); "All the Things", which included an uncredited appearance by former Byrd, Gram Parsons, on backing vocals, and "Just a Season", which was written for a scene in which Gene Tryp circumnavigates the globe. Lyrically, "Just a Season" touches on a variety of different subjects, including reincarnation, life's journey, fleeting romantic encounters and stardom, as touchingly illustrated by the line "It really wasn't hard to be a star."

Six songs that were attempted during the (Untitled) recording sessions were not present in the album's final running order. Of these, "Kathleen's Song" would be held over until Byrdmaniax, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" would not be issued until the release of The Byrds box set in 1990, and "Willin'" would be issued as a bonus track on the (Untitled)/(Unissued) re-release in 2000. Additionally, two different excerpts from an unnamed jam recorded during the (Untitled) sessions were issued on The Byrds box set and (Untitled)/(Unissued), where they were given the retronym of "White's Lightning". Two other songs attempted in the studio but not included on the album were John Newton's Christian hymn, Amazing Grace, and a cover of Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", neither of which has been officially released, although live recordings of the songs are included on (Untitled)/(Unissued), with the former appearing as a hidden track. "Lover of the Bayou" was also recorded during studio sessions for (Untitled) but ultimately, a live recording of the song would be included on the album instead, with the studio recording appearing for the first time on (Untitled)/(Unissued).

The album's title actually came about by accident. According to Jim Bickhart's liner notes on the original double album, the group's intention was to name the release something more grandiose, such as Phoenix or The Byrds' First Album, to signify the band's commercial and artistic rebirth. Another proposed title for the album was McGuinn, White, Parsons and Battin but McGuinn felt that this title might be misinterpreted by the public. The band still hadn't made up their minds when producer Terry Melcher, while filling out record company documentation specifying artist, producer, writers, publishers and track listing for the album, wrote the placeholder "(Untitled)" in the album title box. A misunderstanding ensued and before anyone associated with the band had realized, Columbia Records had pressed up the album and printed the cover with that title, including the parentheses.

Disc 1:
01."Lover of the Bayou" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 3:39
02."Positively 4th Street" (Bob Dylan) – 3:03
03."Nashville West" (Gene Parsons, Clarence White) – 2:07
04."So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" (Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman) – 2:38
05."Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan) – 2:14
06."Mr. Spaceman" (Roger McGuinn) – 3:07
07."Eight Miles High" (Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby) – 16:03
08."Chestnut Mare" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 5:08
09."Truck Stop Girl" (Lowell George, Bill Payne) – 3:20
10."All the Things" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 3:03
11."Yesterday's Train" (Gene Parsons, Skip Battin) – 3:31
12."Hungry Planet" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley, Roger McGuinn) – 4:50
13."Just a Season" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 3:50
14."Take a Whiff on Me" (Huddie Ledbetter, John Lomax, Alan Lomax) – 3:24
15."You All Look Alike" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 3:03
16."Well Come Back Home" (Skip Battin) – 7:40

Disc 2: (Bonus Tracks)
01."All the Things" [Alternate Version] (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 4:56
02."Yesterday's Train" [Alternate Version] (Gene Parsons, Skip Battin) – 4:10
03."Lover of the Bayou" [Studio Recording](Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 5:13
04."Kathleen's Song" [Alternate Version](Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) - 2:34
05."White's Lightning Pt.2" (Roger McGuinn, Clarence White) – 2:21
06."Willin'" [Studio Recording] (Lowell George) – 3:28
07."You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" [Live Recording] (Bob Dylan) – 2:56
08."Old Blue" [Live Recording] (traditional, arranged Roger McGuinn) – 3:30
09."It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" [Live Recording] (Bob Dylan) – 2:49
10."Ballad of Easy Rider" [Live Recording] (Roger McGuinn) – 2:22
11."My Back Pages" [Live Recording] (Bob Dylan) – 2:41
12."Take a Whiff on Me" [Live Recording] (Huddie Ledbetter, John Lomax, Alan Lomax) – 2:45
13."Jesus Is Just Alright" [Live Recording] (Arthur Reynolds) – 3:09
14."This Wheel's on Fire" [Live Recording] (Bob Dylan, Rick Danko) - 6:16

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Prelude - How Long Is Forever (Rare Folk UK 1973)

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Prelude are an English based folk trio, who in their most famous line-up consisted of Brian Hume (vocals, guitar), his wife Irene Hume (vocals) and Ian Vardy (guitars, vocals). They formed in their native Gateshead in 1970.

They began to write their own material and built a following on the folk circuit and in 1973 they recorded their first album, How Long Is Forever?, on Dawn Records at Rockfield recording studios in Wales. From it came their best known recording, an a cappella version of the Neil Young song "After The Goldrush", on Pye. In the UK, it entered the Top 50 on 26 January 1974, had a 9 week stay, peaking at Number 21. In America, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 11 February 1974, and had a five week stay, peaking at #22.

Hume explained (in 1974) how the song came about: “We were standing at a bus stop in Stocksfield and we just started singing it. There was no particular reason, it was just a nice song. The way we do it now is really no different from the way we did it at the bus stop. We included it in our act and it went down really well – even the rowdier clubs listened to it. We certainly never thought of it as a possible single. In any case we always thought of ourselves as an album group rather than making singles and included the song on the album How Long Is Forever as an afterthought”.

The group subsequently toured the U.S., but "After the Goldrush" proved their only U.S. chart success. They then toured the UK, supporting Ralph McTell and Joan Armatrading. In 1981 they toured the UK with Don McLean. Also in 1974, they recorded backing vocals for the Ralph McTell's hit single, "Streets of London".

The group signed with EMI, and in 1980 scored their second UK hit with "Platinum Blonde". The group appeared on Top Of The Pops to promote the single. The follow-up "Trick Of The Light" failed to chart, but was noted in one review[who?] of its similarity to Fleetwood Mac. Further success was achieved in 1982 when a re-recorded version of "After The Goldrush" made the UK Top 30. The group released three further singles in the same year, namely, "Only The Lonely" (a cover of the Roy Orbison song), "City Tonight" and "Silent Night". However, no album was released around this time.

Vardy left the band in 1985. Irene and Brian Hume continued as a duo until 1987, when they were joined by Jim Hornsby (guitar/dobro). By 1993, Hornsby had left and Prelude continued as a duo once more. They still write and perform on the folk circuit, along with Chris Ringer (bass/vocals).

As a three piece band (Hume/Hume/Ringer) they performed as a trio but in 2008 they were rejoined by original member Ian Vardy and performed as a four piece. Rediscovering much of their back catalogue with Ian Vardy back on board the group are going from strength to strength and have added a percusionist to the line up where stage space alows. Plans for a new album are underway.

Prelude were originally formed by Brian Hume and fellow guitarist/vocalist Ian Vardy in 1970 in their native Gateshead in the North East of England. The pair had worked together since they’d left school and had actually made their recording debut under the name of Carnival as far back as 1967 when they issued a version of Paul Simon’s ‘Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine’. They persuaded Irene Hume to join them in 1971 and under the name of Trilogy, started to play local folk clubs in the Newcastle area.

After building a reputation on the regional circuit, Trilogy were invited by the local Abreaction label to contribute to a various artists showcase EP entitled ‘Hart Rock ‘71’. The Hume/Vardy composition ‘I Know You Well’ gave early indication of the group’s classy harmonies and accomplished songwriting, and it was this track, together with an appearance on the Rubber Records anthology of Northern folk acts, ‘Take Off Your Head And Listen’, which led to a one-off singles deal with the Decca label.

Ditching the name Trilogy in favour of the more evocative Prelude, the trio released ‘Edge Of The Sea’ b/w ‘Looking For Indians’ in March 1972. However this proved something of a false start, and it was only when they moved to the more adventurous Dawn label in the summer of 1973 that Prelude’s career began to take off.

Their first single ‘Out There’ was released in September 1973, but was issued primarily as a trailer for the debut Prelude album, which appeared on Dawn the following month. ‘How Long Is Forever’. Prelude were heavily influenced on both a musical and lyrical level by American harmony-based soft rock acts like Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell and, most of all, Crosby Stills Nash and Young. However the stand out track of the album was an inspired adaptation of ‘After The Goldrush’, on which Irene’s lead vocal emphasised the latent hymnal qualities of Neil Young’s back-to-the-land lament.

“We were standing at a bus stop in Stocksfield and we just started singing it. There was no particular reason, it was just a nice song. The way we do it now is really no different from the way we did it at the bus stop. We included it in our act and it went down really well – even the rowdier clubs listened to it”. So said Brian Hume in January 1974 as he tried to explain the unexpected chart success of his band Prelude’s cappella version of the Neil Young composed ‘After The Goldrush’. “We certainly never thought of it as a possible single”, he said, “in any case we always thought of ourselves as an album group rather than making singles and included the song on the album ‘How Long Is Forever’ as an afterthought”.

‘After The Goldrush’ was duly issued as a single in November 1973. Following live Prelude performances on both Capital Radio and Radio One, it quickly became a worldwide success, reaching the top 20 in the UK, No 12 in the USA and No1 in both Canada and Australia.

The group were committed to live work, notably a support slot on a nationwide Ralph McTell tour, followed by a headlining European jaunt that took in Holland, Belgium and Germany, and were unable to find time to record an immediate follow up. The next release, an adaptation of the Beatles ‘Here Comes The Sun’ wasn’t released until July 1974.

The second Prelude album ‘Dutch Courage’ was issued in December 1974, the same month Ralph McTell’s ‘Streets Of London’ on which the group guested as backing vocalists, entered the charts. Two of the stronger tracks ‘Dear Jesus’ and ‘Fly’ were issued as A-sides. For sound commercial reasons, the American issue of the album was retitled ‘After The Goldrush’, adding the title track to the running order.

During this period the group toured the college and university circuit, their grass roots popularity proving a significant factor in Dawn’s decision to commission a third Prelude album. Issued in October 1975, ‘Owlcreek Incident’ some claim to being considered Prelude’s finest album, and included the single ‘A Love Song’– delicate harmonies, electric/acoustic rhythms and sympathetic string arrangements, supported by a clean production sound and tastefully unobtrusive backing from session men like Isaac Guillary and future Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers all combined on the album to create the classic Prelude sound.

Following the collapse of the Dawn label in 1976, Prelude were transferred to the parent company, Pye, for future releases. Their first single for the label was a reworking of the old Ricky Nelson hit ‘Never Be Anyone Else But You’, followed by the album ‘Back Into the Light’, spawning further singles, ‘Oh My Soul’ and ‘Feel Like Loving You’. Prelude parted company with Pye shortly afterwards.

More tours followed including a US tour in 1976. However, it wasn’t until April 1980 that Prelude again graced the singles chart, Brian’s ‘Platinum Blonde’ giving the band a UK No. 45 placing. A re-released version of ‘After The Goldrush’ then hit No. 21 and was followed by a top 75 hit with their unique interpretation of the old Roy Orbison classic ‘Only The Lonely’ in the summer of 1982

They continued to tour and delight audiences throughout the 80’s, touring with Don McClean and Joan Armatrading and after Ian left in 1985, Brian and Irene played successfully as a duo, then joined forces with Jim Hornsby, one of the North's top guitarists. In 1998 they were joined by Tony Davis on keyboards and Chris Ringer on bass and in 1999 released the acclaimed ‘Good For You’ album that was awarded the Best Album by the North America Country Music Association International. In 2001, Prelude then returned to the trio format with Brian, Irene & Chris, however as of 2009 Ian Vardy has returned to the band enabling them to cover even more of their back catalogue, performing as a 4-piece and continuing to entertain audiences throughout the UK. [Source: Wikipedia]

01.Carry Me
02.Paris Morning
03.Signs Of The Times
04.God
05.She Only Knows Why
06.After the Goldrush
07.Johnson Boy
08.Beauty Of The World
09.T.L.T. Blues
10.Or Maybe The Autumn
11.Glass Angel
12.Out There
13.How Long Is Forever

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Martin Carthy - Shearwater (Great Folk UK 1972)

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Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival.

He was born in Hatfield on 21 May 1941 and grew up in Hampstead, North London. After leaving school, he worked behind the scenes at the open air theatre at Regent's Park as a prompter, then an assistant stage manager (ASM) on a tour of The Merry Widow, and then at Theatre in the Round in Scarborough. He then sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at The Troubadour folk club in Earls Court in the early 1960s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternative tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes. Carthy's arrangement of the traditional ballad Scarborough Fair was adapted, without acknowledgment, by Paul Simon on the Simon and Garfunkel album recording Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme in 1966.

He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was twice a member of the UK electric folk group Steeleye Span, was a member of the Albion Country Band 1973 line-up, with members from the Fairport Convention family and John Kirkpatrick, that recorded the 'Battle of the Field' album, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.

For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick and, more recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful musical partnership with wife Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.

In June 1998 he was appointed an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'. In the 2007 Folk Awards Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick won "Best duo".

Martin Carthy cut this solo album in 1971, immediately after he exited Steeleye Span following two albums with them, Please to See the King and Ten Man Map. The material is very spare, featuring Carthy and his guitar alone (except on "Betsy Bell and Mary Gray," and where Steeleye Span alumnus Maddy Prior appears on vocals), or his voice alone, and his approach is very studied and deliberative here, as though reveling in the fact of singing and playing alone for the first time in several years. Some of the material is rather dark-hued in terms of story, most notably "The Banks of Green Willow" (a song best known in its classical adaptations by various composers), "Lord Randall," and "He Called for a Candle," and "Famous Flower of Serving Men," all very grim stories — even "Outlandish Knight," in which the would-be female victim of the title character turns the tables, is pretty dark.

Only "John Blunt" features any pronounced humor, and it might normally be hard to recommend a record like this as a potential first choice, except that "Famous Flower" is a high point of Carthy's career, one of the most powerful performances he's ever given on record; "Lord Randall" might be the best version ever recorded of that song; and Carthy's voice is astonishingly powerful, flexible, and rich-hued throughout. The lack of accompaniment is scarcely to be noticed on "Handsome Polly-O," in which Carthy's a cappella vocal seems to have undertones of its own accompaniment (one can almost hear the resonances of pipes and a fiddle). Surprisingly, his guitar is very restrained here, placed somewhat further down in the mix than is usual on his albums. Overall, the album is a good companion to the decidedly more upbeat Crown of Horn, recorded soon after.

01."I Was a Young Man" – 2:46
02."Banks of Green Willow" – 4:31
03."Handsome Polly-O" – 2:31
04."Outlandish Knight" – 5:25
05."He Called for a Candle" – 2:49
06."John Blunt" – 3:25
07."Lord Randall" – 4:34
08."William Taylor" – 3:42
09."Famous Flower of Serving Men" – 9:23
10."Betsy Bell and Mary Gray" – 1:33

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Pink Fairies - Never Neverland (Underground Rock UK 1971)

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The excessive, drug-fueled Pink Fairies grew out of the Deviants, a loose-knit band formed in 1967 by members of the West London hippie commune Ladbroke Grove. Initially dubbed the Social Deviants and consisting primarily of vocalist Mick Farren, guitarist Paul Rudolph, bassist Duncan Sanderson and drummer Russell Hunter, the group also featured satellite members Marc Bolan, Steve Peregrine Took and players from the band Group X, later rechristened Hawkwind. After three noisy, psychedelic albums and a U.S. tour, Farren exited to become a music journalist; the remaining Deviants returned to London, where they recruited vocalist and former Pretty Things drummer Twink (born John Alder), who suggested the name Pink Fairies. Despite gaining a reputation for mythic debauchery, the group remained largely an underground sensation before signing to Polydor and issuing their 1971 debut Never Never Land, a manic, decadent album featuring the live staples "Do It" and "Uncle Harry's Last Freak Out."

Shortly after the record's release Twink departed, and the Pink Fairies continued on as a trio for 1972's What a Bunch of Sweeties; recorded with assistance from the Move's Trevor Burton, the album reached the Top 50 on the U.K. charts, and was the group's most commercially successful effort. Soon, Rudolph exited to become a full-time member of Hawkwind, and was replaced by UFO's Larry Wallis for 1973's hard-rock excursion Kings of Oblivion. Twink rejoined the Pink Fairies' ranks a short time later, but the group nonetheless disbanded before the end of the year.

In 1975, the Kings of Oblivion-era line-up reunited for a one-off London gig; an enthusiastic response led to the official reformation of the nucleus of Rudolph, Sanderson and Hunter, who added former Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers vocalist Martin Stone before again disbanding in 1977. A decade later, the original line-up -- minus Rudolph, but including Wallis -- reunited for the album Kill 'Em and Eat 'Em before calling it quits yet one more time.

NEVER NEVERLAND 1971:
Kicking off the most exhaustive exhumation yet of the Pink Fairies' early-'70s catalog, the remastered Neverneverland readily takes its place among the era's most crucial debuts, a hard-rocking, free-flowing and, above all, anarchic monster that opens with the definitive statement of Yippie intent, "Do It," and doesn't look back. Titled for radical Jerry Rubin's book of the same name, "Do It" remains a manifesto for the revolution that never quite got off the ground, a gutsy affirmation that the Pink Fairies were never to eclipse. Originally released as a January 1971 single, "Do It" also appears among the bonus tracks in its edited (three-minute) 45 rpm format, together with its turbulent B-side, the similarly barnstorming "The Snake." And it must be admitted that anybody entering the realm of the Fairies from those points of view is in for at least a few surprises. While "Say You Love Me" and "Teenage Rebel" certainly adhere to the band's rockiest tendencies, the ballad "Heavenly Man" sounds like nothing so much as that other pink thing, Floyd, circa Obscured By Clouds, while "War Girl" has a distinct American R&B tinge to it. Other moods float in and out of focus before Neverneverland returns to Free Festival Central for the live crowd-pleaser "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout" -- present in both its 11-minute LP form and, among the bonus tracks, the 12-minute instrumental prototype that was one of the band's first studio attempts at the piece. Needless to say, both are as relentless as the title insists -- and as fiery as the Fairies' own reputation demands they should be.

01. Do It
02. Heavenly Man
03. Say You Love Me
04. War Girl
05. Never Never Land
06. Track One, Side Two
07. Thor
08. Teenage Rebel
09. Uncle Harry's Last Freak-Out
10. The Dream Is Just Beginning
11. The Snake ( Single Version )
12. Do It ( Single Edit )
13. Teenage Rebel ( Alt. Mix - Previously Unreleased )
14. War Girl ( First Version - Previously Unreleased )

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Motorhead - Bomber (Classic 3rd Album UK 1979)

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Bomber was the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was recorded in 1979, the same year as Overkill. The album reached number 12 on the UK charts and brought some of Motörhead's most popular songs, like "Bomber", "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Stone Dead Forever".

During the recording of this album, the producer Jimmy Miller was increasingly under the influence of heroin, at one point disappearing entirely from the studio, later being found asleep at the wheel of his car. Ironically the album features the band's first anti-heroin song - "Dead Men Tell No Tales".

This album caught Lemmy at his most ferocious, hitting hard at the police in "Lawman", marriage and how his father left him and his mother in "Poison", television in "Talking Head" and show business in "All the Aces". The title track was inspired by Len Deighton's novel Bomber. On one track, "Step Down", "Fast" Eddie Clarke is featured on vocals.

The single "Bomber" was released on November 23, 1979, one month ahead of the album, the single's initial pressing of 20,000 blue vinyls were soon sold out and was replaced by black vinyl.The 'Bomber Tour' followed, for which a forty foot aluminium tube replica of a Heinkel He 111 bomber was made. This lighting rig could fly backwards and forwards, and side to side - the first to be able to do so. The album was released on October 27, 1979 and like the single was pressed in blue vinyl.

One critic suggests that the album is well regarded by the fans, and packed full of essential Motörhead tracks, with "Dead Men Tell No Tales", "Stone Dead Forever" and the album's title track itself being phenomenally good metal songs. Going on to say that with the exception of the bluesy "Step Down", the tracks are full of the characteristic sound of the classic line-up of Lemmy, Clarke and Taylor, with Clarke’s solo in "All the Aces" described as "blistering" and Lemmy spitting out intentions to ‘poison his wife’ in the life-reflecting "Poison" making it a sound of metal-dripping brilliance. Another critic reviewing the two-disc expanded edition of the album stated "Bomber is an often forgotten but is an absolute classic" and it featuring "a slew of classic Motor-boogie tracks".

01."Dead Men Tell No Tales" – 3:07
02."Lawman" – 3:56
03."Sweet Revenge" – 4:10
04."Sharpshooter" – 3:19
05."Poison" – 2:54
06."Stone Dead Forever" – 4:54
07."All the Aces" – 3:24
08."Step Down" – 3:41
09."Talking Head" – 3:40
10."Bomber" – 3:43

Bonus Tracks:
11."Over the Top" - 3:20
12."Stone Dead Forever [Alternative Version]" - 4:34
13."Sharpshooter" [Alternative Version]" - 3:16
14."Bomber [Alternative Version]" - 3:35
15."Step Down [Alternative Version]" - 3:29
16."Leaving Here [Live]" (Dozier, Holland, Holland) - 3:02
17."Stone Dead Forever [Live]" - 5:31
18."Dead Men Tell No Tales [Live]" - 2:44
19."Too Late Too Late [Live]" - 3:20
20."Step Down [Live]" - 3:49

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Jade Warrior - Last Autumn´s Dream (Progressive Rock UK 1972)

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Their self-titled first album Jade Warrior was released in 1971 on the Vertigo label and establishes their trademark sound of soft/loud contrasts, and Fields multi-layered flutes and percussion vying with Duhig's cutting guitar. This was followed in the same year by Released and then in 1972 by Last Autumn's Dream, both with appearances from Dave Duhig (solo Guitar) and Allan Price (Drums). (Price is not to be confused with Alan Price of The Animals.)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>About Progressive Rock:
Progressive rock, sometimes shortened to "prog" or "prog rock", is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s, principally from psychedelic rock, blues rock, folk rock, hard rock, classical music, and jazz fusion, but also from a wide-ranging tendency in rock music at the time to experiment with drawing inspiration from ever more diverse influences.

Progressive rock compositions are often more elaborate than the standard rock or popular verse-chorus based song structures, and the arrangements often incorporate elements drawn from classical, jazz and avant-garde music. Songs with lyrics are sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy.

Progressive rock reached the peak of its popularity in the 1970s, but has continued as a form of popular music to this day.

The term was applied to the music of bands such as King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant and Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), and came into most widespread use around the mid 1970s, some years after its generally held inception. The term might also take in the music of artists such as The Moody Blues, The Nice, Frank Zappa, or other diversely influenced bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s that fit some of the musical characteristics described below.

Musical characteristics:
Like jazz and classical compositions, Progressive rock is a composed form of music, yet it usually has a spontaneous and improvised feeling, which means that it lends itself as much to intellectual analysis as it does to emotional enjoyment. Some common characteristics may include:

Form: Progressive rock songs either avoid common popular music song structures of verse-chorus-bridge, or blur the formal distinctions by extending sections or inserting musical interludes. Contrasts are often made between these sections in terms of dynamics, such that soft passages would build to louder passages and so on. This approach is common in rock music, but more pronounced in some more theatrical progressive rock groups. As the genre developed, the quantity of these sections increased, as some progressive rock acts continued their allusions towards classical music and composed entire suites, building on the traditional medleys of earlier rock bands. Another common structural feature lies in extended instrumental passages that are reminiscent of classical music, but less frequent in rock and popular music. This can often lead to pieces in excess of 20 minutes.

Timbre (instrumentation and dynamic):
Early progressive rock groups added additional instrumentation to the typical rock group lineup of a guitarist, bassist and drummer, often adding keyboards or synthesisers. These and other instruments, particularly those common to classical and jazz music, such as the flute, saxophone or violin, are frequently used as part of the overall texture of the group's musical output. Some progressive rock acts also incorporated orchestras and choirs (although this is not exclusively a feature of progressive rock, as it is a feature of 1940s swing, Motown and other orchestra-backed popular music). Dynamically, progressive rock acts often tend toward the extremes.

Rhythm:
Use of time signatures and rhythms that are rarely used in rock music. Progressive rock music is designed mainly for listening, rather than for dancing, which meant that prog rock bands are able to use unusual, changing time signatures and even layering polyrhythms. Repetitive riffs are used much less than in hard rock.

Harmony:
The I - IV - V chord progressions of the blues, was usually avoided in favour of less predictable progressions. A simple triad is frequently extended with 6ths, 7ths, 9ths and compound intervals, as in jazz harmony. The harmony of progressive rock, like jazz, is often linked with the use of modes in the melodies. Some progressive rock bands use classical harmonic progressions or quotations from well-known classical pieces in order to allude to classical music. Some pieces of progressive rock explore atonal or dissonant harmonies, and a few bands even included rudimentary serialism in their music.

Melody:
While the major and minor modes are still prevalent even in progressive rock, the blues-associated pentatonic scale is rarely emphasized. In progressive rock, melodies tend to be long and meandering, especially in instrumental solo passages, often with little or no clear indication of cadence. The use of Classical techniques such as leitmotif by some bands lends a theatrical edge to their music.

Other characteristics:
*Sometimes poetic, conceptually-themed or fantasy-based lyrics.
The advancement of technology was always a prime element in progressive rock, especially in electronics. In keyboards, the Mellotron was generally a signature sound in many progressive acts like the Moody Blues, King Crimson and Genesis, while others incorporated synthesizers. In the late 1970s, King Crimson's Robert Fripp, along with Brian Eno, developed his own patented version of electronic gadgetry called Frippertronics using analog tape loops which he still uses today in a digital format. In the 1980s, Frank Zappa would use the synclavier extensively for composing and recording.

*In the case of some strands of progressive rock, concept albums, or albums with an overarching theme: These concepts became very lengthy and elaborate in the mid 1970s era of progressive rock, sometimes in rock opera form, resulting in packages that extended to 2 or even 3 vinyl discs' worth of music (approx 45 minutes per disc). Concepts from such albums would range from historical through fantastical to metaphysical, and even, in the case of Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick, poking fun at concept albums.

*The music is often used theatrically to provide devices or ambient soundscapes that aurally describe scenes, events or other aspects of the concept; for example, the use of leitmotif to represent the various characters in Genesis' "Harold the Barrel", and the use of clocks and cash registers to represent time and money in Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.

*The packaging of the album as a part of the overall artistic concept: This trend began with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and played a major part in the marketing of progressive rock. Some bands became as well-known for the art direction of their albums as for their sound, with the "look" integrated into the band's overall musical identity. This led to fame for particular artists and design studios, most notably Roger Dean for his work with Yes and Storm Thorgerson and his studio Hipgnosis for their work with Pink Floyd.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

01. Winter's Tale
02. Snake
03. Dark River
04. Joanne
05. Obedience
06. Morning Hymn
07. May Queen
08. Demon Trucker
09. Lady of the Lake
10. Borne on to the Solar Wind

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