Though it's primarily known for its "eccentric soul" reissues, the founders of Chicago's Numero Group label also have a deep and abiding love for the wildly inventive and genre-blurring qualities of vintage psychedelic rock, and with their latest release, they've unearthed as brilliant a buried treasure as I've ever heard from the fertile period that followed "Sgt. Pepper's" and the much-vaunted Summer of Love.
Hardly a hippie haven, the psychedelic trip as interpreted in Rockford, Ill., circa 1969 was darker, grittier and on occasion more sinister and threatening than anything heard in sunny San Francisco--not for nothing does Numero describe the group of studio musicians who called themselves Pisces as aiming for "the Beatles and Jefferson Airplane, but somehow sounding more like the Velvet Underground's meth'd out Midwest cousin." As with the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, that hint of menace makes the group's journey toward the white light all the more powerful.
Previously heard only on three ultra-rare 45's issued back in the day--the group's one album remained unreleased until this collection--Pisces' other big asset is the warm, robust Earth Mother voice of sometimes vocalist Linda Bruner, who shines on tracks such as the enchanting "Dear One," the lovely "Say Goodbye to John" and the haunting "Sam." The band was not immune to the indulgences of the times--a song like "Mary" sinks under the weight of all that phasing and studio trickery, while the somber spoken-word bit in "Genesis II" would have been better left to the Moody Blues. But overall, the enduring melodies and unique ambience of "A Lovely Sight" sound as vibrant and relevant today as they did four decades ago.
The Numero Group may be more popularly defined by their various soul and funk compilations, such as the ongoing Eccentric Soul series, but for me, the most rewarding releases from the label have more often come via the excavation of decades-old fringe acts almost too obscure to even be considered undiscovered. Previous entries in the catalogue have spotlighted such musical footnotes as Antena, Catherine Howe, the original Yellow Pills compilation, Kansas Citys Titan pop label, and most illuminating for me, the Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies from the Canyon collection, which rescued over a dozen female folk singers from the early 70s post-hippie wash-out.
Numeros latest non-soul resurrection comes in the form of late-60s psych-pop group Pisces, who kicked around the Rockford, Illinois scene for a few years before bowing out without a whimper or even an album to their name.Adding to the romanticized back-story, the Pisces tapes which make up this compilation could still feasibly be rotting away in an Illinois basement somewhere if not for the luck of the Numero Group, who coincidentally ran across a handful of Pisces singles as they researched the bands fledgling label, Vincent Records, presumably for an upcoming selection of highlights from the short-lived imprint.
As is the case with nearly anything Numero unearths, the music itself must stand up to modern scrutiny, as it can become too easy to elevate the status of theseber-obscure acts, many of which could well be unknown for a reason. Thankfully, Pisces left behind a strong, trippy and frequently enchanting collection of psych-pop curiosities, and as always, Numero has painstakingly compiled these tracks into one revealing document, which here theyve dubbedA Lovely Sight, after the studio run by Pisces co-leaders Jim Krein and Paul DeVenti.
As I mentioned earlier, Pisces never got around to releasing an actual album, so whats interesting about A Lovely Sight is that Numero has taken the liberty of sequencing a selection of 13 Pisces tracks into a kind-of revisionist full-length. Theyve done a considerable job in my view, as A Lovely Sight plays out as seamlessly as anyone could have hoped, with two distinct sidesand even an Extended Play appendix, adding two additional tracks to this mock-album. And of course, the entire package is immaculate, with detailed liner notes and a handful of suitably psychedelic photos adding to the druggy nostalgia.
But back to the music, which is not only consistently strong, but also rendered in surprising clarity, as to accentuate every backwards guitar line and hand-manipulated tape experiment. The bands occasional forays with these hallucinatory tape editing techniques remind me most directly of their contemporaries in The United States of America. But whereas USA utilized the kaleidoscopic aspects of these experiments to stretch out into lengthier head-trip excursions, Pisces use them in service of stand-alone pop songs. And these pop songs are, through and through, equally reminiscent of post-Rubber Soul Beatles, Nico-fronted Velvet Underground ballads, and Jefferson Airplane-style psych-rock rave-ups.
Early album highlightMotley Mary Ann on its own could pass for a Revolver outtake and in all seriousness could actually make a convincing argument for that same level of pop perfectionism. These Krein and DeVenti-led tracks are all charmingly left-of-center pop oddities, but its when they hand the reigns over to a mysterious female vocalist by the name of Linda Bruner that Pisces really begins to add a unique dimension to their proto-typical garage psych sound. Bruner recorded vocals for four Krein/DeVenti originals, and her earth-mother sighs add an ominous atmosphere to opener Dear One, while hermore operatic flair comes to the fore on the thrilling combo of Say Goodbye to John and Sam.
Despite these considerable highlights, A Lovely Sight ends with arguably its two best tracks:Elephant Eyes is a steadily skipping garage-rock number of a fairly high order, and if Pisces werent so obscure Id swear the Black Lips had lifted its woozy nonchalance for blatant use on their latest album; and closer Circle of Time brings things full circle, both thematically andlyrically, doubling back on Dear One and quite easily standing out as the most energetic and rocking of the tracks in this set (complete with a dizzying drum solo). It truly does sound like some sort of alternate reality hit, where Jefferson Airplane never took off and Vincent Records had themeans to distribute the single outside the insulated Rockford community.
A Lovely Sight is certainly one of the stronger Numero pop/rock releases thus far, and one that will no doubt satisfy those clamoring for more from this seemingly endless well of Nuggets-style psychedelic pop. And Pisces can now stand apart from their equally obscure brethren in that their legacy wont have to amount to a single track as part of a gargantuan box set sans context, but rather as a fully told story, complete with 15 examples of their pop ingenuity. It really is a lovely sight, and one that the Numero Group has now made a whole lot easier to admire.
01. Dear One 02. Children Kiss Your Mother Goodnight 03. Motley Mary Ann 04. Say Goodbye To John 05. Mary 06. Genesis II 07. Sam 08. Music Box 09. Like a Hole In The Wall Where The Rat Lives 10. Are You Changing In Your Time 11. In the Dreams Of Paula 12. Elephant Eyes 13. Circle Of Time 14. Flower For All Seasons 15. In The Summer The Grape Grows
The very last Queen concert, also one of the most famous ones. After the encore John slammed his bass guitar as can be clearly seen on the video - perhaps he was unhappy with it? One funny moment came even before the Queen gig - one of the Status Quo roadies was "playing" air guitar on top of the giant screens above the stage. The audience appreciated that but Status Quo didn't - they have fired him.
01 - One Vision (6.17) 02 - Tie Your Mother Down (3.43) 03 - In The Lap Of The Gods... revisited (2.27) 04 - Seven Seas Of Rhye (1.17) 05 - Tear It Up (2.15) 06 - A Kind Of Magic (6.44) 07 - Vocal improvisation (1.42) 08 - Under Pressure (3.45) 09 - Another One Bites The Dust (5.52) 10 - Who Wants To Live Forever (3.57) 11 - I Want To Break Free (3.32) 12 - Impromptu (3.14) 13 - Brighton Rock solo (9.39) 14 - Now I'm Here (5.38) 15 - Love Of My Life (5.30) 16 - Is This The World We Created? (2.50) 17 - (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (1.31) 18 - Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart) (1.29) 19 - Tutti Frutti (3.43) 20 - Bohemian Rhapsody (5.30) 21 - Hammer To Fall (5.44) 22 - Crazy Little Thing Called Love (7.52) 23 - Radio Ga Ga (9.42) 24 - We Will Rock You (2.44) 25 - Friends Will Be Friends (2.05) 26 - We Are The Champions (3.45) 27 - God Save The Queen (1.31) 28 - Harvey Goldsmith's goodbye (0.20)
Yes, that's not a replication of the American Flag on the top left of this picture....it's a packet containing actual American Flag rolling papers, compliments of High Treason!! This 1970 self-titled LP was recorded in Philadelphia and actually featured several musicians that played with Perry Leopold. Featuring the beautiful and haunting female vocals of Marci Rauer, this music is spacey, bluesy, and psychedelic sounding, much like that of Jefferson Airplane and It's A Beautiful Day!
01. Leo 02. Maybe, Maybe 03. Subterranean Homesick Blues 04. Circadian Rhythm 05. The Witch 06. Fallin' Back
01. Breathe 02. No Line On The Horizon 03. Get On Your Boots 04. Magnificent 05. Beautiful Day / Here Comes The Sun (snippet) 06. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet) 07. Desire / Billie Jean (snippet) / Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (snippet) 08. Party Girl 09. Electrical Storm 10. Unknown Caller 11. The Unforgettable Fire 12. City Of Blinding Lights 13. Vertigo / She Loves You (snippet) 14. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 15. Sunday Bloody Sunday 16. Pride (In The Name Of Love) 17. MLK 18. Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet) 19. Where The Streets Have No Name 20. One
encore(s): 21. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) 22. With Or Without You 23. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 24. Moment of Surrender
Here's Some MORE STARZ, You should have! STARZ was one of the Best Damn Hard Rock Bands of the 70s. (Period) Witty, Dirty, Poignant Lyrics sung atop twin guitars with bass& drums thunderin' in the background - What more could you ask for? Here's an Article (CLICK TO READ!) about STARZ from CREEM January 1977... Notice what Michael Lee Smith has to say when asked what his Greatest Inspiration for Song Writing is... This was first Released on Metal Blade Records, and is now Out-Of-Print... It's a Mixture of Live in Louisville& The Cleveland Concerts... It's Damn Good! It's STARZ! NOTE:AND, IF you're in theSan Antonio, Texas Area= Go SeeSTARZLIVE! At TheSunken Garden Theater! Saturday August 22nd, 2009... Touring withSAXON! http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CAXUXPP1
This IS one of them Damn-Near-Perfect Bootlegs That ARE Oh-So-Hard-To-Find! It's That Good! Can't Recommend this One Enough... Whatever I Say - Would Probably NOT be Enough! It's That Good! From the Defenders Of The Faith (Which Honestly wasn't my Favorite... They picked up a little more Polish along the Way than I thought they Needed!) BUT, this Show Changed my Mind! What with The Priest Classics Weaved in with the "Then-New" Songs... It's Quite A Great Show! It's That Good! Look At The Setlist Below... There has to be some Art for this Wonderful a Show - BUT, I could only find some that wasn't very good and too small to use...SO, I made Some! I didn't Mind... It's That Good! Here's The LINKS: It's That Good! JP-LongBeach84-CD1 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LV0BXB3J JP-LongBeach84-CD2 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PYF8JMRH
ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE(1958) They don't make 'em like this any more. Black& Whitecheapoabout a deranged puppet maker who shrinks people down to a manageable size for grins. You gotta like the guy who proposes to his girl at a drive-in theater playingThe Amazing Colossal Man. To quote JohnnyDeppas Ed Wood, Jr.... "It'sperfect!"Huluhasaccidentallytagged this as R rated, so you may have to insert a date to view. Blows up to full screen nicely.New movies Fridays @ Midnight.
