Wednesday, May 30, 2007

back behind the lamé curtain...

FUNK!
The most outspoken music in the Soviet Union




here's another surprise from the soviet era:

tracklist
1 Мгновенье, стой (For what it`s worth) – Оркестр «Диско», руководитель И.Петренко
2 Приглашение, вокальная импровизация (скэт) – И.Петренко и «Диско»
3 El condor pasa (If I cold) – Е.Дриацкая и В.Артюх
4 Путешественник – Ансамбль п/у А Тартаковского
5 Зелье приворотное – Н.Бродская
6 Час пик – Оркестр Ленинградского радио
7 Хороша была любовь – А.Иванова
8 Devil woman – ВИА «Здравствуй, песня»
9 Маугли – Ансамбль п/у А Тартаковского
10 Калина – ВИА «Оризонт»
11 Скорый поезд № 5 – ВИА «Эстрадные мелодии» п/у Ю.Тишкуса
12 Тогда летим – Е.Дриацкая и В.Артюх


ФАНК! [192kbps]

Monday, May 21, 2007

never enough by any name

Here's a rare promotional B-side from 1962:
Mark Robinson sings "I've made enough mistakes today"


Note the label credits:
Hazlewood & Lee Productions, plus arrangement by Jack Nitzsche (the man largely responsible for what we think of as the Hazlewood sound).
Sylvester was in fact one of Lee's labels...
And Mark Robinson?
Hint: he released his first single "Pretty Jane" in 1958 on Jamie [1103]
judge for yourself [96kbps mono]

PS: anyone seen the A-side "Can't Let Her See Me Cry"?

a few more drops of honey...



Here are a tantalising two tracks from the elusive Honey Ltd. album mentioned in my last post.
Brilliant music (i.e. intelligent and luminous), it just makes me want to hear the full album so much more!
The Warrior has a dark anti-war message wrapped in pure harmonic sunshine. Remarkable to think these babes toured Vietnam for the US troops whilst expressing these sentiments!

on stage in 'Nam, December 1968

These slightly murky examples are from the Boyd Rice compilation "Music for Pussycats" and were mastered from worn vinyl.
I've cleaned them just enough to get rid of the snap, crackle & pop.

The Warrior/Silk and Honey
two tracks [192+VBR LHI-12002]

Thursday, May 17, 2007

limited honeys



here’s a promotional single from Honey Ltd. an all-girl group that recorded on Lee’s label LHI. There’s an excellent and detailed article on this group's history at Perfect Sound Forever. You can find photos and more material here.

Note for completists!
Now included in the zip file are both sides of this single:-
with
Lee Hazlewood's spoken intro (A-side),
and without it (B-side):

Louie, Louie [96kbps mono LHI-1216]

A self-titled album was apparently recorded and pressed but remains frustratingly elusive — even to the group members themselves!
If anyone has access to this please feel free to make it available!

Thanks to Hunter, the album by subsequent band Eve: Take It and Smile is available in the comments, along with more goodies!

a stray track

For those that don’t read the comments, thanks to Cooper here’s another treat, Lee Hazlewood’s B-side from the single Greyhound Bus Depot, 1969:
Trouble Maker [320kbps LHI-20 B-side]
another classic of Hazlewood irony
This file has been carefully de-clicked from the original posted by Cooper,
hence the different link...

Friday, May 11, 2007

another USSR hidden classic...

La Musique Sovietique - From Palanga to Gurzufa - L’ete 69



Summer 1969
In the summer of 1969, in the USSR a collection of “beach music” was produced specifically for Intourist - the Soviet Tourism agency. Titled "From Palanga to Gurzoufa - Musique Sovietique. L'ete 69. " it was not intended for sale in the USSR, but to be the soundtrack of summer holidays for visitors from abroad. Whilst the word "beach" doesn’t appear on the cover, it is in the air in all respects : in the title, we see today the erotic subtext (69!), and in the selection of tracks, which was surprising.
As with all Inturist aesthetics with its restaurants, and hotels for foreign visitors, the main challenge "From Palanga to Gurzoufa" was to motivate and elicit a foreign audience, with sunny, open, half instrumental, half vocal music. But since this record was the first of its kind, there was guesswork involved. Hence the unusual colours musical material some of which are clearly outside the beach aesthetic.

Decree No. 319
The compilation never saw the light of day however (or should that be ‘the light of dusk‘?). May 20, 1969 the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic passed Resolution No. 319, declaring "The chief of Russian culture" should dissolve the entertainment community. In 1970, with huge celebrations of the anniversary of Lenin, the USSR would be entering a new era, whereas beach music conveyed a "message of bourgeois values" and were no longer desirable.

In 2004, at Melodia a team was set up to recover archival tapes of the rarest recordings that were in danger of complete disintegration - an undertaking of monumental proportions. The process was taking its course when in the winter of 2005 a tape box was found with the inscription "concert of Klezmer Festival Rural Folk performances. Third plate. " When the master tape inside was heard, there was confusion: Instead of rural folk it was vivid, original material. Melodia Editors Andrei Troshin and Dmitry Sanagursky investigated further and identified it as this record "From Palanga to Gurzoufa." It turned out that the editor entrusted to destroy the tape in 1969 decided not to follow the infamous decree. To steal the tape was tantamount to suicide, so what has been identified as an excellent compilation of music was hidden in the above box with a description unlikely to attract any negative attention. The finally-released collection is unchanged, all songs are in the order in which they were originally planned, uncompromised by the decrees of Soviet good taste or the whims of more recent fashion.

enjoy!

tracklist
01 Квартет «Электрон» – Мелодия из к/ф «Бум»
02 Капиталина Лазаренко – Офанона
03 Ансамбль И. Зевина – Хали-гали (Т. Руффо)
04 Анна Герман – Солнечный день
05 Юрий Мухин – Юмореска]
06 Ансамбль «Рококо» – Ленивый шейк
07 Джаз-ансамбль «Балалайка» – Дыхание юга
08 Анна Герман – Дай мне помечтать
09 Квартет «Электрон» – Вернись (М. Домингес)
10 Нина Пантелеева – Продавщица бананов
11 Гюли Чохели –Танцуем вместе (М.Суббота–Л.Дербенев)
12 Валерий Приказчиков – Вечное движение
13 Юрий Мухин – Клен ты мой опавший
14 Джаз-ансамбль «Балалайка» – Тульский самовар

CCCP’69 [192kbps]

Bossa Nova USSR #4

"Life is beautiful music in the USSR"



tracklist
01 Прогулка (Ю.Касаткин) ВИА «Кобза» п/р О.Зуева
02 Аэлита, из сюиты «Любимые сказки» (А.Быканов) Инструментальный ансамбль п/у А.Корнеева
03 Тайный знак (А.Быканов – А.Горюшкин) М.Магомаев, в сопровождении эстр.-симф. оркестра п/у Ю.Силантьева
04 Воспоминание (Б.Рычков) Ансамбль п/у А.Тартаковского
05 Цветы москвичам (И.Якушенко) Трио И.Якушенко: И.Якушенко (ф-но), И.Кантюков (к-бас), А.Симоновский (ударн.)
06 Синей Ночью (В.Рубашевский – Л.Дербенев) Мария Лукач в сопровождении ансамбля п/у В.Рубашевского
07 Chega de Saudade (No More Blues) (A.C.Jоbim, V. de Moraes) Ансамбль «Вариола»
08 Лирическая босса-нова (М.Семенов) Ансамбль п/у А.Тартаковского
09 Свидание с сентябрем (Ю.Мосеичев) Трио Ю.Мосеичева
10 Антенны (В.Купревич – Н.Турлай) В.Лыньковский в сопровождении ансамбля п/у В.Купревича
11 День рождения (А.Тартаковский) Трио А.Тартаковского: А.Тартаковский (ф-но), И.Виноградов (к-бас), В.Макеев (ударн.)


Босса Нова 4 [192kbps 1963-1976]

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Bossa Nova USSR #3

"More of the most beautiful music in the USSR"



tracklist
01 Дождливая осень - ансамбль п/у А.Тартаковского
02 Грустные дожди - Оркестр п/у В.Людвиковского
03 Только «да» - Валерий Ободзинский
04 Manha De Carnaval - Ансамбль «Мелодия»
05 Возможно - Ансамбль «Миниатюр»
06 А снег идёт - Инструментальный ансамбль
07 Когда идут дожди - Лев Барашков
08 Над кромкой леса - Инструментальный ансамбль
09 Пусть знает ещё кто-нибудь – «Голубой ансамбль» п/у Петара Сана
10 Zeme zeid - Женский вокальный октет и Рижский эстрадный оркестр
11 Голубая мечта - Оркестр п/у В.Игнатьева
12 Лето проходит - Инструментальный ансамбль п/у В.Клейнота
13 Insensatez – п/у А.Тартаковского
14 The shadow of you smile - Вокальный джаз п/у Г.Зарха

Босса Нова 3 [192kbps 1962-1973]

Monday, May 07, 2007

even more lee — realy!

We interrupt the Soviet broadcast to bring you three (3!) more precious pieces of the Hazlewood OOP puzzle, thanks to the selfless efforts of our good friend Henrik:
and I must say these have already become some of my favourite Hazlewood recordings.
There are a few familiar tracks here but they are different recordings, and to finally get to hear Lee live is a delicious treat — his dry irony glows forth.


I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
[1973 224kbps VIF 5004]
tracklist
01 - Lone Ranger Ain't My Friend Anymore
02 - She Comes Running
03 - Stone Lost Child
04 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (feat. Ann-Kristin Hedmark)
05 - Urge For Going
06 - Taxi
07 - Paris Song
08 - A Better Place To Be




The Stockholm Kid - Live At Berns
[1974 224kbps CBS 80534]
tracklist
01 - The Performer
02 - You Look Like A Lady
03 - It Was A Very Good Year
04 - Hello In There
05 - Medley: Jackson / Summer Wine / Sugar Town / Some Velvet Morning / Houston / These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
06 - Fire And Rain
07 - Come Spend The Morning
08 - She Comes Running
09 - A Better Place To Be




A House Safe For Tigers
(Må Vårt Hus Förskonas Från Tigrar)

[1975 224kbps CBS 80383]
tracklist
01 - Soul's Island
02 - A House Safe For Tigers
03 - Our Little Boy Blue
04 - Absent Friends (Instrumental)
05 - Sand Hill Anna And The Russian Mouse
06 - Lars-Gunnar And Me
07 - Soul's Island
08 - Las Vegas (Instrumental)
09 - The Nights
10 - A House Safe For Tigers (Choir)

All Hail Our Glorious Benefactor Henrik!

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Bossa Nova USSR #2

"Still the most beautiful music in the USSR"



tracklist
01 Босса-нова - Ансамбль А. Полякова
02 День рождения - Ансамбль А. Тартаковского
03 Босса-нова - Ансамбль Р. Грабштаса
04 Manha De Carnaval - Венера Майсурадзе
05 Босса-нова - Оркестр п/у В. Людвиковского
06 Совсем как на земле - Оркестр п/у В. Клейнота
07 Ave Maria - Анна Чернявская
08 Летний день - "Гайя", Оркестр п/у Р. Бабаева
09 Счастливого пути - Ансамбль "Граммафон"
10 Bossa Nova USA - Ансамбль В. Федорова
11 Девушка и кувшин - Ансамбль "Мелодия"
12 Босса-нова - Ансамбль Р. Грабштаса
13 Bossa Nova USA - Ансамбль "Камертон"
14 Осенний свет - Николай Никитский
15 Осень - Ансамбль А. Тартаковского
Босса нова 2 [192kbps]

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Bossa Nova USSR #1

"The most beautiful music in the USSR"



continuing on the soviet theme,
more easy-listening treasures from the vaults:


tracklist
01 Garota De Ipanema (A.C. Jobim) – Трио Александра Тартаковского
02 Manha De Carnaval (L.Bonfa, автор французского текста неизвестен) – Эдита Пьеха
03 Manha De Carnaval (тема из музыки к фильму «ORFEU NEGRU») (L.Bonfa) – Квартет Р. Бабаева
04 Samba De Uma Nota So (A.C. Jobim) – Ансамбль "Миниатюр" п/у В. Чижика
05 Бocca-Нова (В. Ганелин) – Эстрадно-симфонический оркестр п/у Ю. Силантьева
06 Песня в платочке (В. Купревич-В. Семернин) – Анатолий Горохов
07 На рассвете (А.Абрамов) – Ансамбль народных инструментов п/у М. Шейнкмана
08 Тихий вечер (В.Миронов)– Московское трио гитаристов
09 В осеннем лесу (А. Цфасман) – Александр Цфасман
10 Desafinado (A.C. Jobim , N.Mendonca) – Ленинградский вокальный джаз п/у Г. Зарха
11 Ноктюрн (Я.Дубравин) – Ансамбль п/у В. Игнатьева
12 Босса-Нова (В.Зильберт)– Эстрадный оркестр Литвы п/у Ю. Тишкуса
13 Desafinado (A.C. Jobim , N.Mendonca) – Аби Зейдер
14 Прости меня (А.Мажуков) – "ВИО-66"
15 Древние словa (мелодия из к/ф «УЛЫБНИСЬ СОСЕДУ») (Л. Гарин) – Зоя Харабадзе, Вадим Лыньковский
Босса Нова 1 [192kbps]