Rev Ola

Fred Neil - The Sky Is Falling: The Complete Live Recordings 1965-1971 (2004) {Rev-Ola CR REV 78}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 293 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 117 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1965-71, 2004 Rev-Ola / Cherry Red Records | CR REV 78
Rock / Folk Rock / Psychedelic / Country Folk Rock

Folk-rock obscurity Fred Neil is regularly touted as one of the movement's pioneering geniuses, and The Sky Is Falling: The Complete Live Recordings 1963-1971 puts his work into perspective for any doubters. Collecting his live 1971 swan song album, The Other Side of This Life (which counts celebrity guests like David Crosby, Gram Parsons, and Stephen Stills), and appending four early rarities taped from a Bitter End performance in 1963, this set bookends Neil's folk-rock career insightfully.

Dana Gillespie - Box Of Surprises (1969) {Decca– Rev-Ola CRRev245 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 289 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 116 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2008 Decca / Rev-Ola | CR Rev 245
Blues / Folk-Blues / Blues-Rock / British Blues / Folk-Rock

Although Dana Gillespie is probably best known for her early-'70s spell among David Bowie's most visible cohorts, her own career dates back almost as far as Bowie's himself, with the pair even sharing a record label (Decca) and producer (Mike Vernon) during the late '60s. Whereas Bowie was more intent on aping Anthony Newley and the English music hall traditions, however, Gillespie was turning in an album that stands as the missing link between period Marianne Faithfull and future Elastica.

Link Davis - Gumbo Ya Ya: The Best Of 1948-1958 (2008) {Rev-Ola Bandstand CRREV252}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 358 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 26 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1948-58, 2008 Rev-Ola Bandstand / Cherry Red | CR REV 252
Rock and Roll / Country / Cajun / Rockabilly

With his cajun fiddle, raw, yelping voice, and visceral mix of country, R&B, proto-rockabilly, and New Orleans sounds, Link Davis was a precursor to the swamp-pop style of the 1950s and '60s. GUMBO YA YA brings together some of Davis's greatest tracks from his peak period of 1948-58, including such swampy gems as “Big Mamou,” “Lonely Heart,” and “Time Will Tell.” This is a fine opportunity to catch up on the legacy of this Louisiana pioneer.

The Others / Sands / Sun Dragon – Listen To The Sky: The Collected Recordings 1964-1973 (2006) {Rev-Ola ‎CRREV176}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks) +CUE+LOG -> 342 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 144 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964-73, 2006 Rev-Ola / Cherry Red | ‎CR REV 176
Rock / Psychedelic / Mod / Freakbeat / British Psychedelia

Rob Freeman and Ian McLintock never quite achieved rock stardom, but it wasn't for a lack of talent or effort, and their career together unwittingly serves as a superb example of the shifting tides of the British rock scene in the 1960s and early '70s. Freeman and McLintock's recordings get a thorough examination on Listen to the Sky, which follows the stylistic evolution of their bands over the course of a decade. Freeman (guitar and vocals) and McLintock (bass and vocals) first worked together in the Others, an R&B combo from Southwest London whose lone single, a cover of Bo Diddley's "Oh Yeah," was a well crafted rave-up in the manner of the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things.

While Bob Segarini is a hero to pop obsessives thanks to his bright, rollicking work with the Wackers and his superb solo album Gotta Have Pop, his recordings with his early group the Family Tree are a different and more sophisticated kettle of fish. The Family Tree's sole LP, 1968's Miss Butters, was a concept album at a time when that was still a very novel thing, and the LP boasted intelligent, beautifully crafted songs bolstered by polished, thoughtful production from Rick Jarrard and imaginative arrangements by George Tipton…

Octopus's sole long-player Restless Night is something of a treasure among '60s Brit-psych fans due to its mixture of proto-progressive riffs, accomplished pop tunes and sparkling Beatlesque flourishes. The band evolved out of the thriving Hertfordshire beat scene that also gave us The Zombies, The Gods and those other cult pop-psych heroes Forever Amber. Octopus' music was coloured by the use of keyboards and layered vocal harmonies in much the same way. As The Cortinas they enjoyed several years of local success which culminated in the 1968 CBS single "Phoebe's Flower Shop". The single was pure pop confectionery and betrayed little of the band's tight, melodic brand of rock. By the time they'd been signed to Larry Page's Penny Farthing label in 1969, their sound had expanded to encompass the burgenoning progressive scene, the dawn of the solo troubadour and the omnipresent influence of The Beatles…

Long before his 1990s re-emergence as a fright wig wearing blues star, Robert "H-Bomb" Ferguson had recorded a series of Wynonie Harris-styled jump blues singles in the '40s and '50s for a variety of labels and under various names, including several as the Cobra Kid. Although he was so close to Harris' delivery and repertoire on these sides that most critics dismissed him as an outright clone, Ferguson's booming, wink-and-a-smile voice was obviously something special. Ferguson first recorded under the moniker H-Bomb in 1951 when he signed with Savoy Records, and the name stuck. This generous 31-track collection from Rev-Ola Records includes Ferguson's Savoy tracks, as well as sides he cut for the Atlas, Prestige and Esquire labels between 1951 and 1954, and features such gems as "Rock H-Bomb Rock," "On My Way," "Preachin' the Blues"….