The Action - Rolled Gold 1968

The Action - Rolled Gold  Reaction Recordings  1968

   The Action were one of the best long lost bands of all time !   May be best to describe The Actionn's music as perhaps a combination of the classic Who with The Small Faces and the happening 60's MOD scene.  Hard to believe that this band didnt make it considering how good every song is on this album.

The History Of Vancouver Rock & Roll Volume 4

The History Of Vancouver Rock & Roll   Volume 4 

   I am always on the hunt for long lost garage-psych treasures, but it was this rare Canadian compilation that had my ear in 2010.  This highly sought after collection was assembled by the Vancouver record collectors association has was released on both long playing vinyl and CD (sorry Simon no 8-Track!).   Too many high points to capture them all here but this 16 track collection will keep your toes tapping and your spirits HIGH.   Lots of pre-famous musicians and bands presented here for you to discover which makes this an ever trippier album.  Unlike many of the garage-psych era recordings a good chunk of these songs were remastered from the original tapes.   A wonderful collection!

Bob Carpenter - Silent Passage, Stony Plain Records, 1975

Bob Carpenter - Silent Passage, Stony Plain Records, 1975
 
According to the sketchy bits of info I can find on Bob Carpenter this was sadly his only album recorded .  Silent Passage was written and was recorded over a 4 year period and is a true magical Canadian-folk masterpiece IMHO.   The music on Silent Passage plays is highly emotional and memorable and I played this album a lot in 2010 and fell in love with this one BIG time !   Guest appearances from a young Anne Murray,  Emmylou Harris and Canadian Prog Rocker Ben Mink.  A few interesting side notes is that Bob used to open for the Perth County Conspiracy and he was born in North Bay !. 

Judy Garland - Live At Carnegie Hall, Capitol Records, 1961

Judy Garland - Live At Carnegie Hall, Capitol Records, 1961

    As you know I grew up with a musical mom who adored Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.  "Judy Live" was an album that I grew up living to and had not heard this album in over 20 years (since the last time my mom played it and sang along...any maybe cried along the way).   Judy could tear your heart out and bring you as a listener to places few others could.  In 2001 Capitol Records released the 40th anniversary edition of this huge album.   Along the way Bob Norberg (Capitol Mastering) managed to find a missing track originally left off the album and unbelievably found the orignal had been overdubbed with crowd noise and fake applause and so Bob totally reconstructed this album in the proper sequence and included missing monologues and segments between songs.  The end result is simply breathtaking and I recently satr and re-listened to this album with my mom who said it "totally sounds like a new album". 

R.L. Burnside - Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down, Fat Possum Records (2000)

R.L. Burnside - Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down, Fat Possum Records (2000)
 
 Along with Mississippi Fred McDowell, R.L. Burnside was an old time blues musician that as far as I knew was long ago gone from Chicago Blues Scene .  Then to my surprise I heard a few news songs from him and was so intrigued that I started to track down his later albums.  "Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down" takes the Blues into totally new territory and has managed to break new boundaries here on this album.  I think Bob will absolutely love this album with it's wild mix of scratch , guitar, harmonica and deep blues vocals of a master.  Tracks like "got messed up" completely won me over and this album is an absolute gem.   a bit of a cliche i suppose but i highly recommended album to you and you need to hear this one before YOU die !

Porcupine Tree - Moonloop Transmission IV (2001)

Porcupine Tree - Moonloop Transmission IV , Delerium Records (2001)

    Most of Porcupine Tree's music is excellent and I really could have posted any of their recordings from their past, but for this blog I thought I'd add a lovely 40 minute and 7 Second continuous space rock piece of improvisation genius titled "Moonloop Transmission IV".   This was a single released by Delerium Records (back when PT were on Delerium!) and showcases some of my personal favourite PT musical moments.   Steve Wilson,  Colin Edwin, Chris Maitland and Richard Barbieri  (x- Japan) transporting the listener into the outer reaches of the solar system.  I likely should point out the fact that there is a much shorter version of this song (Moonloop) on PT's album "Sky Moves Sideways" .    

Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming Of The True (2000)

Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming Of The True, KG Music, 2000

   Kevin Gilbert has been of great interest to me over the years with his creative musical versitility and his many musical influences.  "The Shaming Of The True" was remastered and re-released in 2010 by the Kevin Gilbert estate and now we really get a high quality production of this grand finale.  "Certifiable # 1 Smash" never sounded so good with Gilbert's tongue- in- cheek acapella-ode to the music industry.  Musically this album is of course rich in texture and variation pretty much in the prog-rock vein.  Assisting Kevin Gilberts is Genesis / Spock's Beard drummer Nick D'Virgilio.  Kevin Gilbert was a musical genius and this album is a testament to this fact.