Portis Head

The most indispensable collection in Fulson's vast discography. He was hitting on all burners during the mid-'50s when he was with Chess, waxing the immortal "Reconsider Baby," and swinging gems like "Check Yourself," "Do Me Right," and "Trouble, Trouble," and the supremely doomy "Tollin' Bells," here in many truncated false takes before he and the band finally jell…

Alan Price's second album consolidated the change of direction he'd started in early 1967, when his cover of Randy Newman's "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear" became a big British hit. Moving away from the jazzy Animals-styled R&B-rock that he'd presented on his first album and singles, Price moved into a more original, if less powerful, brand of Newman-influenced vaudevillian pop…

Led Zeppelin's fourth album, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Deep Purple's Machine Head have stood the test of time as the Holy Trinity of English hard rock and heavy metal, serving as the fundamental blueprints followed by virtually every heavy rock & roll band since the early '70s…

Foreigner continued its platinum winning streak on Head Games, the band's third album. By the time Head Games was released, FM radio had fully embraced bands like Foreigner, Journey, and Boston, whose slick hard rock was tough enough to appeal to suburban teens, but smooth enough to be non-threatening to their parents…

Michael Head, former frontman of the Pale Fountains and current co-leader along with his brother John – who is also a Strand – of Brit pop outfit Shack, turns in a stellar chamber pop performance with Magical World of the Strands. Head, who is no stranger to either classy, baroque pop or neo-psychedelia, has composed an album of gorgeously illustrated songs that are lushly orchestrated by a standard rock quartet augmented by a flutist (Leslie Roberts) and a string quartet. The result is an album that, while little known, is a classic, a masterpiece of modern chamber pop.

Led Zeppelin's fourth album, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Deep Purple's Machine Head have stood the test of time as the Holy Trinity of English hard rock and heavy metal, serving as the fundamental blueprints followed by virtually every heavy rock & roll band since the early '70s. And, though it is probably the least celebrated of the three, Machine Head contains the "mother of all guitar riffs" – and one of the first learned by every beginning guitarist – in "Smoke on the Water." Inspired by real-life events in Montreux, Switzerland, where Deep Purple were recording the album when the Montreux Casino was burned to the ground during a Frank Zappa concert, neither the song, nor its timeless riff, should need any further description…

Led Zeppelin's fourth album, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Deep Purple's Machine Head have stood the test of time as the Holy Trinity of English hard rock and heavy metal, serving as the fundamental blueprints followed by virtually every heavy rock & roll band since the early '70s. And, though it is probably the least celebrated of the three, Machine Head contains the "mother of all guitar riffs" – and one of the first learned by every beginning guitarist – in "Smoke on the Water." Inspired by real-life events in Montreux, Switzerland, where Deep Purple were recording the album when the Montreux Casino was burned to the ground during a Frank Zappa concert, neither the song, nor its timeless riff, should need any further description…

Combination Head's leader/keyboardist Paul Birchall has collaborated with Cher, Geri Halliwell and M People among others,but surprisingly his influences come from 70's progressive rock keyboardists: Keith Emerson, Eddie Jobson, Peter Bardens, etc. For this project he is accompanied by guitarist/bassist Keith Ashcroft and drummer Paul Burgess,who has worked with 10CC, Jethro Tull and Camel. Their first album carried the name of the trio as a title, released on S.A.M. Records in 2006. This is 100% melodic instrumental progressive rock with symphonic and Fusion touches with influences coming from the afore-mentioned keyboardists as well as Camel, U.K., The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and Genesis, while adding some strong Niacin echoes here and there won't be far from reality.

Medicine Head - New Bottles Old Medicine (1970) {Dandelion–Cherry Red CDMRED314 rel 2007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 464 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 189 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 2007 Dandelion Records / Cherry Red Records | CD MRED 314
Rock / Blues Rock / British Blues

When, in early 1970, legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel ventured up to Wolverhampton’s Lafayette club to do a gig, he came upon two guys who called themselves Medicine Head, the uniquely configured duo of John Fiddler and Peter Hope-Evans. So impressed was Peel that he signed Medicine Head to his label, Dandelion Records and later that year released “New Bottles, Old Medicine” the 1st of three studio albums that Medicine Head would release on the revered label. The walrus-moustached Fiddler would simultaneously sing, play guitar and operate a bass drum and hi-hat cymbal with his foot, augmented by the equally hirsute Hope-Evans on harmonica, jaws harp, mouth bow and strange concoctions of percussion.