Surprieze 1973

Alvin Lee headed in a more soulful musical direction on this 1973 album, with Mylon LeFevre taking lead vocals on some of the tracks and writing fresh material. This album has a different, more relaxed feel, that coaxed new sounds out of guitar hero Alvin. The recording features a stellar line up of guest musicians - including Stevie Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Tim Hinkley, Ron Wood and a special guest appearance by ex-Beatle George Harrison.

Ferguslie Park was recorded after a dizzying string of changes in Stealers Wheel - co-founder Gerry Rafferty's exit soon after finishing the group's first LP, his replacement by Luther Grosvenor and the delayed climb of "Stuck in the Middle with You," Rafferty's return, and the firing of all involved and the reduction of the group to its founding duo of Rafferty and Joe Egan. The resulting album, recorded with some nine support players (including ex-Herd members Gary Taylor and Andrew Steele, plus guitarists Joe Jammer and Bernie Holland), conductor/arranger Richard Hewson in support, and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller producing, is an upbeat if somewhat less focused work than its predecessor - the mix of hard rock ("What More Could You Want") and lean, melodic songs ("Good Businessman") highlighted by lush choruses, and augmented with occasional spacy digressions…

Madura was a 1970s rock/fusion band from Chicago, United States. After the break up of Bangor Flying Circus (1969), Alan DeCarlo and Hawk Wolinski formed Madura. Only one personal change was made: drummer Michael Tegza was replaced with one of the best renowned drummers in the world: Ross Salomone.
David "Hawk" Wolinski, previous Shadows of Knight member, Alan DeCarlo and Ross Salomone recorded two albums produced by the Chicago producer James William Guercio. Hawk Wolinski later became a member of Rufus and Chaka Khan, and a successful producer and songwriter. Alan DeCarlo and Ross Salomone both appeared on Chicago keyboard player Robert Lamm's 1975 solo album "Skinny Boy"…

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of a new clamshell boxed set featuring all four of Curved Air’s classic albums recorded between 1970 and 1973. “The Albums” features newly remastered versions of “Air Conditioning”, “Second Album”, “Phantasmagoria” and “Air Cut”, along with bonus tracks ‘It Happened Today’ (single version), ‘What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up’ and ‘Sarah’s Concern’, all originally issued as singles.
Originally issued on the Warner Bros. label in November 1970, “Air Conditioning” showcased the highly innovative talents of Sonja Kristina (vocals), ex-Royal College of Music student Darryl Way (violin), former Royal Academy of Music student Francis Monkman (electric guitar, piano, mellotron, VCS3 synthesiser), Rob Martin (bass) and Florian Pilkington-Miksa (drums)…

Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf (1973). This is the solo debut of Uriah Heep's resident keyboardist and top songwriter, but it isn't the heavy metal epic one might expect. In fact, Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf uses electric guitar sparingly and instead goes for a moody soundscape built on acoustic guitar and piano. Songs like "Black Hearted Lady" and "The Last Time" even evoke a bit of a country and western feel, thanks to their use of mellow-sounding slide guitar. This subtle sonic style puts Hensley's songwriting in the spotlight and that is a good thing because each of the songs is well-crafted and tuneful: a subtle combination of acoustic guitar and synthesizer brings out the haunting, delicately crafted melody of "From Time To Time" and "Black Hearted Lady" effectively evokes its mood of heartbreak with a descending acoustic guitar riff…

Emerson, Lake & Palmer's most successful and well-realized album (after their first), and their most ambitious as a group, as well as their loudest, Brain Salad Surgery was also the most steeped in electronic sounds of any of their records. The main focus, thanks to the three-part "Karn Evil 9," is sci-fi rock, approached with a volume and vengeance that stretched the art rock audience's tolerance to its outer limit, but also managed to appeal to the metal audience in ways that little of Trilogy did…

Fusion from Munich, some smoothly relaxed kind of music with Latin influences. After the first Sunbirds LP from 1971, with Philip Catherine on guitar, the album at hand is the band's second and last one, recorded in 1972 and released in 1973. It is the first CD version, drawn from the master tapes, including the bonus track "Mbira" which was then recorded during the same session. All of the musicians were masters of their trade. Drummer Klaus Weiss, keyboardist Fritz Pauer and bassists Jimmy Woode and Ron Carter were world-famous even back then, and the others were in no way inferior. The nine artists were so skilled that nearly all recordings were perfect at the first attempt. Unfortunately, the two studio albums should remain the band's only releases. There weren't any Sunbirds gigs for lack of time.

Extremely rare debut LP by this obscure Japanese heavy psych/hard rock group. Blazing acid guitar jamming, wailing vocals, the works! The second side in particular (recorded live in early 1973) will blow your mind, but the whole album is very strong and would be much better known if it wasn’t so hard to find. A must for fans of Flower Travellin’ Band, Blues Creation, etc.