Keef Hartley Band

Limited seven CD set. Features 67 tracks including the albums Halfbreed, The Battle Of North West Six, The Time Is Near, Overdog, Little Big Band, Seventy Second Brave and Lancashire Hustler plus 15 bonus tracks drawn from rare live recordings and singles. Includes an illustrated book with essay. Keef Hartley first came to prominence as a member of the British R&B group The Artwoods before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967 before leaving to form the first line-up of his own band.

Keef Hartley Band - Overdog
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 224 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deram # 820 974-2 | Country/Year: Europe 1994, 1971
Genre: Rock | Style: Blues Rock, Jazz Rock, Classic Rock

After the subtleties and suppleness of 1970's The Time Is Near…, the Keef Hartley Band's third full-length, the group returned the following year with Overdog, a set that kicks them into overdrive. Opening with a dramatic flourish of wah-wah guitar, the anthemic "You Can Choose" instantly wipes all memories of the intricate design of the preceding album off the board. Big and brash, "Choose" pounds rock into funk with savage delight. In contrast, "Plain Talkin'" is all grit and glory, strutting its Stax-y antecedents center-stage, and smugly smirking at their hard-rocking ex-Brit beat contemporaries, who lost the blues in their rush to rock…

Keef Hartley Band - The Battle Of North West Six
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 246 MB | LQ Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deram # 820 931-2 | Country/Year: Europe 1992, 1969
Genre: Rock | Style: Blues Rock, Jazz Rock, Classic Rock

…Keith Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire. His career began as the replacement for Ringo Starr as a drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpool-based band. Subsequently he played and recorded with The Artwoods, then achieved some notability as John Mayall's drummer. He then formed The Keef Hartley (Big) Band, mixing elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll; the group played at Woodstock in 1969. They released five albums, including Halfbreed and The Battle of North West Six (characterised by a reviewer for the Vancouver Sun as "an amazing display of virtuosity"). After that Hartley released a 'solo' album (Lancashire Hustler, 1973) and then he formed Dog Soldier with Miller Anderson (guitar), Paul Bliss (bass), Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Mel Simpson (keyboards)…

Keef Hartley Band - Seventy Second Brave
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 229 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Esoteric Recordings # ECLEC2100 | Country/Year: Europe 2009, 1972
Genre: Rock | Style: Blues Rock, Jazz Rock, Classic Rock

…Keith Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire. His career began as the replacement for Ringo Starr as a drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpool-based band. Subsequently he played and recorded with The Artwoods, then achieved some notability as John Mayall's drummer. He then formed The Keef Hartley (Big) Band, mixing elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll; the group played at Woodstock in 1969. They released five albums, including Halfbreed and The Battle of North West Six (characterised by a reviewer for the Vancouver Sun as "an amazing display of virtuosity"). After that Hartley released a 'solo' album (Lancashire Hustler, 1973) and then he formed Dog Soldier with Miller Anderson (guitar), Paul Bliss (bass), Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Mel Simpson (keyboards)…

Keef Hartley Band - Little Big Band
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 241 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: COE Records | Country/Year: UK 2005, 1971
Genre: Rock | Style: Blues Rock, Jazz Rock, Classic Rock

…Keith Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire. His career began as the replacement for Ringo Starr as a drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpool-based band. Subsequently he played and recorded with The Artwoods, then achieved some notability as John Mayall's drummer. He then formed The Keef Hartley (Big) Band, mixing elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll; the group played at Woodstock in 1969. They released five albums, including Halfbreed and The Battle of North West Six (characterised by a reviewer for the Vancouver Sun as "an amazing display of virtuosity"). After that Hartley released a 'solo' album (Lancashire Hustler, 1973) and then he formed Dog Soldier with Miller Anderson (guitar), Paul Bliss (bass), Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Mel Simpson (keyboards)…

This reissue of Overdog features the bonus single edits of Roundabout, one of their best loved and most powerful works. Along with a reissue of The Time is Near, this release sees the beginning of a reissue campaign by Esoteric Recordings of the classic Keef Hartley Band albums.
After the subtleties and suppleness of 1970's The Time Is Near…, the Keef Hartley Band's third full-length, the group returned the following year with Overdog, a set that kicks them into overdrive. Opening with a dramatic flourish of wah-wah guitar, the anthemic "You Can Choose" instantly wipes all memories of the intricate design of the preceding album off the board. Big and brash, "Choose" pounds rock into funk with savage delight…

Keef Hartley Band - Halfbreed (1969) {Esoteric Recordings ECLEC2050 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 300 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 122 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 40 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2008 Deram / Decca / Esoteric Recordings | ECLEC 2050
Rock / Blues Rock / Jazz Rock / British Blues

This album by the excellent Keef Hartley Band, one the best Blues / Rock / Jazz ensembles ever, founded by drummer Keef Hartley following his stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. The band featured a nucleus consisting of singer / guitarist Miller Anderson, guitarist Spit James, keyboardist Peter Dines, bassist Gary Thain and Hartley on drums. In addition a horn section was added to expand the band's sound, which on this album consisted of the best horn players in Britain: trumpeters Henry Lowther and Harry Becket and saxophonists Lynn Dobson and Chris Mercer. Together this nine-piece band had a tremendous power and considering the quality of its members it was simply the best "little Big Band" around at the time.

Keef Hartley came to prominence as a member of the british R&B group the artwoods before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967. He contributed to the album crusade before leaving in 1968 to form the first line-up of his own band. He recorded his first album, "Halfbreed" for Decca's Deram label in March 1969. Regarded as a classic of the fusion of rock, jazz and blues, Hartley went one better later in the year by changing the lineup of his band to include gifted guitarist, vocalist and writer Miller Anderson. This new band recorded the wonderful "The Battle Of North West Six" for decca later that year, around the same time they performed at the legendary Woodstock Festival. Unavailable for many years, Esoteric Recordings are pleased to reissue the album with liner notes by Keef Hartley.

At the time, the transformation from R&B into hard rock and prog rock seemed seamless, swept along a current of subtly shifting styles, a view today cemented by hindsight into inevitability. But all one has to do is listen to bands that fell by the wayside to see that the end result was in no way insured, and that other paths beckoned, only to quickly become cul-de-sacs. Drummer Keef Hartley established his reputation upon joining British blues legends John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967, performing on four of their albums before his departure the following year. That same year, Hartley formed his eponymous band around the axis of himself, bassist Gary Thain, and singer/guitarist/composer Miller Anderson, with their musical horizons widened by a kaleidoscope cast of brass, keyboardists, and flügelhorn players. The group released The Time Is Near…, its third album, in 1970, a set that found the group moving into ever more esoteric pastures.