John Baldry - It Ain't Easy (1971) [Reissue 2005]
EAC Rip | FLAC (image+.cue+log) - 423 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps (LAME 3.93) - 163 MB | Covers - 33 MB
Genre: Blues Rock | RAR 3% Rec. | Label: Warner Bros./Stony Plain (SPCD1310)
It Ain't Easy features a British blues/rock lineup befitting the man behind the Long John Baldry moniker. This album returns Baldry to a decidedly edgier and hipper audience, with a literal cast of all-stars on some of the more adventurous material he had covered to date. This is no doubt due, at least in part, to the involvement of rock superstars Rod Stewart and Elton John. (In fact, John confesses to have taken the last name in his stage moniker from Baldry's first.) Among their contributions to the project, Stewart and Elton divided the production tasks - each taking a side of the original album. Immediately, Baldry sheds the MOR blue-eyed pop soul image. The backing band on Stewart's side include fellow Face and future Rolling Stone, Ron Wood, on electric guitar and acoustic guitarist Sam Mitchell, who appeared on many of Stewart's early-'70s solo albums…