Surprieze 1973

Guitarist Mike Bloomfield, blues master John Hammond, and the timeless New Orleans funk of Dr. John blend well on this one-time-only outing.
The album’s most interesting aspects derive from the mix of Chicago- and New Orleans-styles - Dr. John’s presence sort of forces some funky, Orleans-ian piano rhythm&blues into the affair, adding a heavily syncopated base to the more conventional blues patterns.

German rock band formed in Hamm (north-east of Dortmund) in the late 1960's, originally known as Fashion. Adding English vocalist Chris Williams (from Grail), they became Abacus in 1971.Their debut LP was progressive rock with a classical edge mixing British and Krautrock elements. After that they got more jokey and eccentric, and released three further albums with a borderline pop sound (hints of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and The Move). Through to the mid 1970's the line-up changed completely, with only Klaus Kohlhase from the original line-up in a 1979 reformation. Jürgen Wimpelberg from that line-up kept the band going issuing a CD much later.

Long Hair is proudly to present for the first time as official reissues the legendary album 'All Bumm' by German supergroup 18 Karat Gold. Studio musician Keith Forsey on drums (Hallelujah/Amon Duul II), Bass genius Lothar Meid (Amon Duul II), Jorg Evers (guitar) from Embryo and American - German guitar talent Klaus Ebert on lead guitar born out of the prolific Munich music scene. Famous German music magazine Sounds praised the album as a landmark, a pioneering feat, and came to the euphoric conclusion that German popmusic has only just begun! The idea behind 18 Karat Gold seems to have been to present a Krautrock influenced musical direction of english icons like David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Roxy Music and perhaps T. Rex and Slade, who partly played a very mainstream, but at the same time sophisticated pop sound, also surnamed Glam Rock…

"We're the only band around that's playing rooted American music," Better Days vocalist and former folkie Geoff Muldaur told an interviewer when this album was first released in 1973, and with perhaps just a handful of exceptions he was right. The band's mix of various styles of blues, from rural (Robert Johnson), to cosmopolitan (Percy Mayfield), along with hints of New Orleans R&B, boogie woogie, and early rock and country, was tremendously out of step with the pop trends of its time.
These days, of course, there are many bands doing more or less the same thing (although rarely as well), but the fact that these guys couldn't have cared less about appearing trendy is one of the reasons why Better Days sounds timeless…

The Bill Evans Trio's 1973 concert in Tokyo was his first recording for Fantasy and it produced yet another Grammy-nomination for the presentation. With bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell, this LP mixes offbeat songs with overlooked gems, familiar standards, and surprisingly, only one Evans composition, the demanding "T.T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune Two)." Bobbie Gentry's "Mornin' Glory" was an unusual choice to open the performance and seems a bit conservative for Evans. The adrenaline picks up considerably with his midtempo waltzing take of Jerome Kern's "Up with the Lark" and a driving "My Romance." Evans also revisits the twisting Scott LaFaro tune "Gloria's Step," which showcases both Gomez and Morell. The closer, "On Green Dolphin Street," is given a slight bossa nova flavor and isn't nearly as aggressive as most of the pianist's live recordings of this popular standard…

Long Hair is proudly to present for the first time as official reissues the legendary album 'All Bumm' by German supergroup 18 Karat Gold. Studio musician Keith Forsey on drums (Hallelujah/Amon Duul II), Bass genius Lothar Meid (Amon Duul II), Jorg Evers (guitar) from Embryo and American - German guitar talent Klaus Ebert on lead guitar born out of the prolific Munich music scene. Famous German music magazine Sounds praised the album as a landmark, a pioneering feat, and came to the euphoric conclusion that German popmusic has only just begun! The idea behind 18 Karat Gold seems to have been to present a Krautrock influenced musical direction of english icons like David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Roxy Music and perhaps T. Rex and Slade, who partly played a very mainstream, but at the same time sophisticated pop sound, also surnamed Glam Rock…