Sunday, September 30, 2012

Maxwells - Maxwell Street (Den 1969)



Maxwells - Maxwell Street [Bonus Tracks], [Remastered] (Den 1969)

Formed 1963,    Værløse, Denmark
Disbanded 1970 // 

Members:
* Lasse Lunderskov (electric & acoustic guitar, sitar),
* Even Pedersen (guitar, 1963-66),
* Lars Bisgaard (vocals, percussion),
* Kjell Helki Ipsen (trombone, basstrombone, 1966-70),
* Bent Hessellmann (flute, alto & soprano saxophones, 1966-70),
* Torben Enghoff (tenor saxophone, flute, 1966-70),
* Niels Harrit (piano, organ, flute, 1968-70),
* Jørgen Werner (bass),
* Børge Robert Mortensen (drums, 1966-70)

Producer: Joachim E. Berendt

Related Artists:
The Clan, Dr. Dopo Jam, Kashmir, Midnight Sun, Rainbow Band, Sensory System, Sidewalk
Also Known As: The Dragons

Tracks:
01. Esther (Lasse Lunderskov) - 4:55
02. Free To Be (Niels Harrit, Jørgen Werner) - 5:25
03. Make It Break It (Jørgen Werner/Mike Roy)/Beni Riamba (Bent Hesselmann) - 10:17
04. Maxwell Street (Bent Hesselmann/Lars Bisgaard) - 13:39
05. What's A Smock (Niels Harrit, Joerg M.Behn) - 5:58
Bonus:
06. What Did She Do? (single A-side,1967) (Torgen Enghoff/Lars Bisgaard) - 2:30
07. Flower Powder (single B-side,1967) (Lasse Lunderskov/Lars Bisgaard) - 2:48
08. Memories Of Lorca (single A-side,1968) (Niels Viggo Bentzon) - 3:42
09. Biafra (single B-side,1968) (Niels Viggo Bentzon) - 2:21

Following the release of BLAST FURNACE (LHC 10) and RAINBOW BAND (LHC 18) this is the third CD in the LONG HAIR-series with Danish Progressive music. Bent Hesselmann (Rainbow Band, Midnight Sun)
tells the history of the band:
Maxwells started in 1963 as "The Dragons". The group was formed by Lasse Lunderskov (guitar), Jørgen Werner (electric bass), Børge Mortensen (drums), Even Mark Pedersen (rhythm guitar) and Lars Bisgaard (vocal). They were all, apart from Even, attending the Danish Church School, where they were trained in choral singing and obliged to sing in the Marble Church choir, the church of the royal castle Amalienborg.
The band had a repertoire consisting of cover versions of hits by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc. Their skilful singing earned them a reputation as a pop rock band and as such they played a lot of gigs. In 1965 they changed the group's name to Maxwells and the band turned their direction more and more towards a Motown style adding three horns in 1966: Kjeld Ipsen (trombone), Torben Enghoff (tenor saxophone/flute) and Bent Hesselmann (alto saxophone/flute).Bisgaard and Lunderskov appeared in "The Beggars Opera" at Gladsaxe Theatre and in "Superman" at the "Studenterscenen" late 1966. In 1967 Maxwells performed the first psychedelic show in Denmark: "WE", a collage of scenes and songs at the "Studenterscenen". Svend Εge Mortensen, elder brother of Bψrge the drummer, constructed a whole set of light devices from gramophone motors, old glass prisms and slide projectors for this performance. It was a sensation and from then on the band worked with psychedelic lighting.
The intelligentsia took an interest in the band and contemporary composer Per Nψrgaard used the band members in his opera "The Labyrinth" at The Royal Theatre of Copenhagen. He also composed an original song for the group called "ABCDarian" which was performed in May 1967 when Maxwells had their first TV appearance in a show recorded at the museum of contemporary art, "Louisiana". This was a real breakthrough and was followed by radio coverage and interviews in all the pop magazines. Late in the summer of 1967 their first record, a single including "Flower Powder" by Lasse Lunderskov and Bisgaard and "What Did She Do?" by Torben Enghoff (Sonet 7250), was recorded at the "Rosenberg Studios".
From then on the band started to add compositions by band members to their repertoire. In the following years, between concerts and theatre engagements, the band toured Denmark.
In October 1967 Maxwells supported Frank Zappa's "Mothers of Invention". For these concerts the band had composed a "collage style" set. The set the band put together for these concerts started with a recital of a Dada poem in a sort of acapella unisono singing, slowly developing into a wild climax 40 minutes later. The unique psychedelic lighting, which developed together with the music from a red triangle kept still during the recital to a crescendo of rotating lights turning the crowd into a frenzy! It was an instant success and the audience as well as the critics favoured Maxwells as the best band of the concert, which was a bit unfair to The Mothers, who had played the concert using Maxwells instruments as their equipment was sent to Lapland by mistake.
In December 1967 Niels Harrit (tenor saxophone/ flute/ Wurlitzer piano) joined the band. The band could now change its set-up during performances.
Niels usually played the Wurlitzer, but when playing soul standards like "Pots 'n' Pans", "I Feel Good" etc., he would play tenor sax, while Enghoff would switch to baritone sax, and Hesselmann would either play alto or soprano sax on top of the horn section with Ipsen's trombone on the base line.
In January 1968 Maxwells were hired by the "Montmartre" jazz club to play Monday nights, which they did for longer periods the following year. In August Lasse and Bent wrote and recorded the music for "le Chat Bottι" at "The Little Theatre", the first theatre for children in Denmark.
In September the entire orchestra played as musicians and actors in the first performance of the musical "Hair" at Gladsaxe Theatre adding to the original score with a strip theme by Hesselmann, original music to the song "The Bed" by Lunderskov and a collective "Trip Music".
In October the band started rehearsals with the Danish contemporary composer Niels Viggo Bentzon, followed by concerts and a recording session in November which produced the single "Memories of Lorca/Biafra", both by Bentzon (Additional musicians:Erik Moseholm (contrabass) and Ingolf Olsen (Spanish guitar). Philips PF 355350).
In January 1969 the German jazz critic, Joachim Ernst Behrendt, heard the band in a concert at the Danish Film Academy. He was so enthusiastic about the band, that he signed them to record a session for MPS Saba in Villingen, Germany. This session took place over 4 days in June, with Behrendt as producer. The LP Maxwell Street was released in September same year on MPS15242.
At the end of 1969 two things happened that would later trigger the beginning of the end of Maxwells:
All the band members were attending university. Lasse and Jørgen studying Law, Børge and Svend Εge Medicine, Lars Biology, Torben Literature and French, Kjeld Music at the Royal Conservatory and Niels Nuclear Physics at the Ørsted Institute, while Bent, 10 years older than the others, had finished his studies in English and History.
Everything had been going smoothly as they were able to adapt their studies to suit the band's activities but then Niels had to move to the Max Planck Institute for Radiology in Mόlheim and stay there for more than a year. Furthermore Kjeld was told to stop his professional work immediately or he would be expelled from the conservatory and miss his degree as a first class solo trombonist.
The band never recovered from the loss of these two versatile members and although they Reactions to the band ranged from raving, delirious enthusiasm to wrath and anger over psychedelic art, twice resulting in smashed furniture and the band getting beaten up. Being a forerunner always has its price - just think of Stravinsky, who had to escape through a window to flee the threatening mob at the first performance of "Le Sacre de Printemps" in Paris in 1911! But it was worth it!
Tried with different additional personnel it never really worked as well as it had done before!
In 1970 the rest of Maxwells played a final concert at the Music and Light Festival in Skovlunde, North-West of Copenhagen, joined by Dan Nedergaard (trumpet) and Frankie Jackman (congas).
In these 7 years Maxwells changed from being a very popular pop rock band with all the trappings to a band that experimented with all the new things that appeared in these years. The long cascades of dada poetry mixed with absurd snippets taken out from conversations in daily life were never recorded. Neither were the long collective improvisations of up to 45 minutes as played at the "Montmartre" Mondays.
Today, Jørgen Werner works as a chartered accountant/counsellor of law, Børge Mortensen is a parish clerk at the Royal Church of Holmen, his brother, Svend Εge, is the chief anaesthetist of the heart transplantation centre at Rigshospitalet, Lars Bisgaard is a school teacher, Niels Harit is a professor of Nuclear Physics at the Ørsted institute and still plays in big-bands and occasionally as a soloist on records. Torben Enghoff is a composer and leader of a quartet playing classical and contemporary repertoire. Kjeld Ipsen has been touring the world with various artists such as Gloria Gaynor and still works in big-bands.
Since 1970 Lasse Lunderskov has been working as an actor with growing success. He played a strong character as Onkel Leif in the Danish dogma film "The Celebration" and has appeared in many TV programmes. Lunderskov still plays guitar in his own band "Rootbeat" and works as a theatre and film composer and as a songwriter. Bent Hesselmann has toured Europe with Rainbow Band and Midnight Sun and Denmark with various groups and theatres as a band leader and occasionally as an actor. He mainly works as a theatre and film music composer. Together with Lunderskov he has written two books on the electric guitar and electric band equipment:
"Beat Guitar" and "The Book on Electric Instruments". Lunderskov and Hesselmann are also both board members of the "Danish Songwriters Guild".
(http://www.longhairmusic.de/uebersichtenglish.htm)

Download Link:
https://rapidshare.com/files/1197763323/Maxwells - Maxwell Street (Den 1969).rar

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Hi-Revving Tongues - Tropic Of Capricorn (New Zealand 1967)

Hi-Revving Tongues - Tropic of Capricorn (New Zealand 1967)

Formed:   North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand

Members:
* Mike Balcombe (lead guitar),
* John Walmsley (bass),
* Chris Parfitt (vocals),
* Rob Noad (drums),
* Bruce Coleman (organ).

Related Artists: The Apparition, The Caboose, The Cossacks

Tracklist:
01. Elevator
02. Love Is A Hurting Thing
03. You'll Find Me Anywhere
04. Mike's Tune
05. Baby I Need Your Lovin'
06. Spooky
07. Conquistador Esses
08. Forgive Me My Love
09. Tropic Of Capricorn
[Bonus tracks]
10. Each And Every Day
11. Nobody Knows It
12. To My Love
13. Kaleidoscope
14. Make Yourself At Home
15. Baby Come Back To Me
16. Little Red Rooster
17. Rain And Tears
18. Watermelon Man

Companies etc.:
– Manufactured By: Philips Records N.Z. Ltd.
– Distributed By: Philips Records N.Z. Ltd.
– Record Company: Zodiac Records Ltd.

Credits:
– Design [Cover]: Roger Bradley
– Photography By: Steve Rumsey Photo Associates Ltd.

Notes:
Recorded and released by Zodiac Records Ltd.
– Manufactured and Distributed by Philips Records N.Z. Ltd.

Discographie:
Albums:
1. Tropic Of Capricorn (Zodiac BZLP 104) 1967
2. The Tongues (Zodiac ZLP 1041) 1969
45's:
 1. (The Psychedelic) Illusion/Hate To Go
   (Allied Int. JAR 560) 1967
 2. Not Some Of The Time/You'll Find Me Anywhere
   (Allied Int. JAR 565) 1968
 3. Come Back And Love Me/I've Been Lonely Too Long
   (Allied Int. JAR 571) 1968
 4. Tropic Of Capricorn/Baby I Need Your Loving
   (Philips BF 338 098) 1968
 5. Elevator/You'll Find Me Anywhere (Philips 338101) 1968
 6. Make Yourself At Home/To My Love
   (Philips BF 338 100) 1969
 7. Baby Come Back To Me/Little Red Rooster
   (Philips BF 338 102) 1969
 8. Rain And Tears/Watermelon Man (Zodiac Z45 1350) 1969
 9. Take Me To The Pilot/Highway (Zodiac Z45 1358) 1970
10. Aspen, Colorado/Goodbye Holly (Zodiac Z45 1359) 1970
[5. as Chris Parfitt & The Hi-Revving Tongues]

It is said that their debut 45 "The Psychedelic Illusion" was the first psychedelic record in New Zealand. Their album contains their magnum opus "Tropic Of Capricorn", their cover of "Elevator" with heavy phasing effects, and the quasi-psychedelic "You'll Find Me Anywhere" and "Conquistador Esses". What's left are some fillers, mostly in the pop vein, and two covers of "Kaleidoscope" and "Daytime, Nighttime" (here retitled as "Each & Every Day"). Their bonus tracks are totally forgettable. The band was from Auckland and also recorded under the name "Chris Parfitt & The Hi-Revving Tongues" or simply "The Tongues".
 ~ by Buffalo Billycan.
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A group from the North Shore of Auckland, called Species Nine, provided most of the line-up for the Hi-Revving Tongues. Parfitt, Coleman and Walmsley all came from that group. Balcombe came from a group called the Sierras. Parfitt had first played with the Cossacks.
Their first single on Allied International was "Illusion"/"Hate To Go". It wasn't greatly successful, but became known as the first psychedelic sound disc made by a New Zealand group.
The band entered into the "National Battle of the Sounds" competition in 1967, where they placed second. The winners were the Fourmyula. They were more successful in the following year, this time winning.
There were two more singles on Allied International in 1967, "Not Some Of The Time"/"You'll Find Me Anywhere" and "Come Back And Love Me"/"I've Been Lonely Too Long". After these there was a change of record label, to Phillips, and a new single saw the group receiving national success.
The single was the classic "Tropic Of Capricorn"/"Baby I Need Your Loving". The amazing thing about this single is that it featured prominently on the local charts, but never made it anywhere near the national charts. Riding on the success of this single, they entered the recording studios to produce an album. The result was "Tropic Of Capricorn" released in 1967.
After this they went on the Johnny Farnham tour, along with Larry's Rebels.
Two more singles were released during 1968, "Make Yourself At Home"/"To My Love" and "Elevator"/"You'll Find Me Anywhere".
In 1969 they ventured to Australia and during that time a single, "Baby Come Back To Me"/"Little Red Rooster" was released, now on Zodiac. A second single "Rain and Tears"/"Watermelon Man", a cover of the Aphrodites Child song, whose lead singer was Demis Roussos was also released and on their return to Auckland, "Rain and Tears" was climbing the national charts, making it all the way to number one.
John Walmsley decided to leave the band at this point, heading back to Australia. He did not go to America, as reported in numerous publications and even the liner notes of the CD compilation "How Was The Air Up There" on which "Tropic Of Capricorn" appears, to join the American bubblegum group, the Lemon Pipers, who scored well with songs like "Green Tambourine", "Rice is Nice" and "Jelly Jungle". He stayed in Australia. It was in fact another New Zealander by the name of Steve Walmsley who was playing bass for the Lemon Pipers at the time.
John Walmsley was replaced by Graeme Thompson, and Rob Noad also left to be replaced by Richard Sinclair, also from the original Species Nine. Their last performance was at the festival "Redwood 70" in West Auckland, after which Chris Parfitt decided to go solo. He released two singles in 1970 on the Ventura label called "I Wish I Were A Child"/"Jenny Didn't Wait" and "Promised Land"/"Old Familiar Face". The remaining  members renamed themselves to The Tongues, but faded away into obscurity. Parfitt also later appeared in Medicine Show.
Their second and final album was just called "The Tongues" and released in late 1969. Their last two singles were taken from the album. They were "Take Me To The Pilot"/"Highway" and "Aspen Colorado"/"Goodbye Holly".
In 1972 members of the Tongues moved to Australia and reformed as the Caboose. This group included Mike Balcombe on guitar, Bruce Coleman on keyboards, Ken Deakin on vocals, Rob Noad on drums and Graeme Thompson on bass.
They released one single called "Ballad Of Frank A Lane"/"Casey's Hat".
In 2001 Ascension Records released a CD that contains the entire original "Tropic Of Capricorn" LP plus other Zodiac singles.
 ~ www.sergent.com.au/music/hireving.html.

Download Link:
https://rapidshare.com/files/519329537/Hi-Revving Tongues - Tropic Of Capricorn (New Zealand 1967).rar

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