Stonefield Tramp - Dreaming Again... (Privatepressed Folk UK 1974)

Size: 80.2 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Korean 24-Bit Remaster

**** In 1974, former member of the band Terry Friend & Rob Van Spyk met Brian Ballister. And as a trio, they released the album ''Follow The Sun'' for the studio label, Acorn. This was swiftly followed by "Dreaming Again", an album issued on their own Tramp label. For this album, the trio were enhanced by additional musicians Chris Sutoris (Bass) and Dave Lloyd (electric guitar). To reflect their new sound, the band adopted a new name and Stonefield Tramp were born. Some tracks show a strong Bob Dylan influence while others lean strongly towards the style we have now come to know as acid folk.

But long before then the real start of it all was a wooden floored school room in a British Army Primary school in Hohne, Germany in the early fifties. I couldn't have been more than seven years old, and during music lessons, we kids would group ourselves around the piano where our very attractive, and rather young lady music teacher, would lead us in Singing folk songs. I loved every minute of it and it was an early introduction for me to a form of song writing that I found fascinating! Songs like 'Clemantine' and 'Camptown Races' I can Recall.

Most of my childhood was spent in Germany, and when the family moved to England in 1961, I felt lost and didn't feel that I belonged. It left me with a burning ambition to leave home at the first available opportunity and go abroad. Being a rather simple fellow I went for the easiest option that I could think of...I joined the army.

And was it fate or fortune that directed me towards my first posting at Tonfanau in North Wales? I ended up in Alamein Platoon, C Company, The All Arms Junior Leaders Regiment. This was where I was to befriend a blonde haired, guitar playing kid called Rob Van Spyk. It was April 1964 and we were both 16 years old. We shared a room for about eighteen months, and then went our seperate ways to our own respective units for the next six years, but did manage to keep in touch by letter and also enjoyed a couple of shared leaves together. But not once did our Regiments ever serve in the same place together, and between us we went to Germany, Malta, Libya, Malaya, Singapore and Northern Ireland.

When I had just turned twenty, and very much to my shock and surprise, I began to write poems or, more accurately, song lyrics! It would be a major turning point in my life. I think Bob Dylan has to share some of the blame for this! For I had latched onto him in a very big way, and played his recordings over and over again at every chance that I could get. My finale two years in uniform were spent in the tropics, in Singapore and Malaya, with 3 Commando Brigade. It was during this period where the lyrics just simply poured out of me. I fully realised that on their own they would be nothing and that they were crying out for tunes! As I didn't play a guitar I contacted Rob, and the Van Spyk-Friend song writing partnership was born. At the end of 1970, and after a tour of active service in Ulster, I left the Army and joined Rob, who by now was also a civilian, in Letchworth and we began to plan our first recording session.

We recorded ten songs at Easter 1971 and pressed four acetates. (which have long since been bootlegged all around the world!) Three fruitless years of rejection by every record label we approached would follow, so we took the decision to record our own albums independantly of the system. In Easter 1974 we recorded our first commercial album 'Follow the Sun' by 'R.J.Van Spyk and Friends.' Joining us in the studio was, our good friend from Tewkesbury, Brian Balster. He and Rob did most of the work, but I did join them to record my first self penned composition 'Come the Day', for I was now teaching myself to play the guitar! This was the acoustic version, of what would in a mere matter of weeks, become the Folk band 'Stonefield Tramp.' Our first album was recorded in only four hours with 'straight takes' and at £4 an hour, cost us a mere £16. Unbelievable by today's standards!

Things developed at a hectic pace and the album sold so well we returned to the studio and recorded another one. This time our sound was enhanced by Dave Lloyd on electric guitar and Chris Sutoris on Bass. It was September 1974 and Stonefield Tramp were now an official band. We also chose this moment to launch our own label 'Tramp Records.' Once again Brian joined us, but this time I took no part in the recording. The album was 'Dreaming Again.'

**** Very rare Stonefield Tramp album with a beautiful dreamy quality. In 1974, member of the band Terry Friend & Rob Van Spyk met Brian Ballister. And as a trio, they released the album ''Follow The Sun'' for the studio label, Acorn. After they'd failed to interest any major record company in their recordings, the group issued one LP, 'Dreaming Again', on their own label. This was swiftly followed by "Dreaming Again", an album issued on their own Tramp label. For this album, the trio were enhanced by additional musicians Chris Sutoris (Bass) and Dave Lloyd (electric guitar). To reflect their new sound, the band adopted a new name and Stonefield Tramp were born. Some tracks show a strong Bob Dylan influence while others lean strongly towards the style we have now come to know as acid folk. The 1974 album “Dreaming Again” is very eagerly sought after by vinyl record collectors world wide. A must for British folk fans.

01. Dreaming Again
02. Bitter World
03. Oh Mothers Tell Your Children
04. Jaded Jane
05. Social State Blues
06. Factory
07. Theme From Follow The Sun
08. Doing Things Naturally

1. https://rapidshare.com/files/1005674001/Stonefield_Tramp.rar
or
2. http://uploadmirrors.com/download/LNKHKS46/Stonefield_Tramp.rar
.

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (Classic Album US 1970)

Size: 90.8 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Perfect for a sunny day :-)   Bridge over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by Simon & Garfunkel. Released on January 26, 1970, it reached No. 1 on Billboard Music Charts pop albums list. It won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as well as for Best Engineered Recording, while its title track won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in the Grammy Awards of 1971. It has since sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

The album attained a great success in the United Kingdom, enjoying several runs at number one, spending some years in the charts and eventually becoming the country's biggest-selling album of 1970 and 1971. In August 2006, the continued popularity of the album was proven when it charted 7th place in The BBC Radio 2 Music Club Top 100 Albums. In 2003, it was ranked at #51 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The album won Best International Album at the first Brit Awards in 1977.

Bridge Over Troubled Water was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and it hasn't fallen too far down on the list in years since. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, which took some evolution to get to what it finally became, however, much of Bridge Over Troubled Water also constitutes a stepping back from the music that Simon & Garfunkel had made on Bookends — this was mostly because the creative partnership that had formed the body and the motivation for the duo's four prior albums literally consumed itself in the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The overall effect was perhaps the most delicately textured album to close out the 1960s from any major rock act. Bridge Over Troubled Water, at its most ambitious and bold, on its title track, was a quietly reassuring album; at other times, it was personal yet soothing; and at other times, it was just plain fun.

The public in 1970 — a very unsettled time politically, socially, and culturally — embraced it; and whatever mood they captured, the songs matched the standard of craftsmanship that had been established on the duo's two prior albums. Between the record's overall quality and its four hits, the album held the number one position for two and a half months and spent years on the charts, racking up sales in excess of five million copies. The irony was that for all of the record's and the music's appeal, the duo's partnership ended in the course of creating and completing the album.

01."Bridge over Troubled Water" – 4:52
Recorded: November 9, 1969
02."El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" (Daniel Alomía Robles, English lyrics by Paul Simon, arranged by Jorge Milchberg) – 3:06
Recorded: November 2, 1969
03."Cecilia" – 2:55
Recorded: November 2, 1969
04."Keep the Customer Satisfied" – 2:33
Recorded: November 2, 1969
05."So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" – 3:41
Recorded: November 9, 1969
06."The Boxer" – 5:08
Recorded: November 8, 1969
07."Baby Driver" – 3:14
Recorded: November 2, 1969
08."The Only Living Boy in New York" – 3:58
Recorded: November 15, 1969
09."Why Don't You Write Me" – 2:45
Recorded: November 8, 1969
10."Bye Bye Love" (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) (live recording from Ames, Iowa) – 2:55
Recorded: November 14, 1969
11."Song for the Asking" – 1:49
Recorded: November 1, 1969

Bonus tracks
12."Feuilles-O" [Demo] (Traditional) – 1:45
Recorded: August 11, 1969
13."Bridge over Troubled Water" [Demo Take 6] – 4:46
Recorded: August 13, 1969

1. https://rapidshare.com/files/2098444376/Simon_Garfunkel.rar
or
2. http://uploadmirrors.com/download/19AGHLGI/Simon_Garfunkel.rar

I Califfi - Fiore Di Metallo (Superb Progressive Rock, Italy 1973)

Size: 84.2 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

**** "Fiore di Metallo" is a respectable rock album from the classic Italian scene. It is somewhat uneven and the band is not among the first tier bands of the genre. That said, there are some nice proggy moments mixed throughout that make it worth investigation for Italian fans. You will find decent vocals, hard rocking guitar, vintage keyboards, competent rhythm section, and some nice touches of acoustic guitar here and there. You will also find several songs that are just dated hard rock and not all that interesting.
The first two tracks would fall into that category of being rather plain bluesy riff-rock. Same with "A Piedi Scalzi" and "Col Vento Nei Capelli" with its annoying sound effect loop. "Felicita" is better, a folksy romantic little number that is nice but certainly not challenging prog. "Madre Domani" is OK too and reminds me of Yes's "A Venture."

Highlights include "Alleluia Gente" with its acoustic guitar and trippy keyboards. "Various" is an instrumental with organs, synths, and piano running rampant with tight percussion, quite good. "Campane" is a wonderful closer and if the whole album were like this song we'd have a real winner on our hands. Another instrumental track, we are treated to nicely layered synths in a somewhat dark sounding environment created by the brooding bass and very structured drumming. Only the lilting piano in the background breaks the tension.

Califfi is recommended to Italian fans who already have a deep collection, it is NOT the place to start for newbies to the genre. There are many many great Italian albums to check out before Califfi. It may also be of interest to fans of vintage keyboards and fans of 70s hard rock in the vein of Free, T Rex, or Deep Purple. There is a Japanese gatefold mini-LP sleeve reissue that features lyrics, three good band photos, and respectable sound quality.

**** This is almost like three different groups coming together to make a good RPI album. There's the awesome progressive style with keyboards galore and shifting rhythms; the pop style with nice, memorable vocal passages and prog flavoring; and the straightforward blues-rock style with its repetetive riffs and unimaginative solos.

Let me start with the three great tracks, the most progressive entries on the album. The opener "Nel Mio Passato" is the most successful song which blends the various styles that the band brings to bear. Nice vocals, nice keyboards, melodic tune, good guitar work. Strong opening! The fourth track, "Varius," is a keyboard driven masterwork that is captivating and exciting. The closing track, "Campane," is a great blend of the above two works, with strong keyboards and good variety. If the entire album were along the lines of these three songs, this album would be considered a classic.

The three pop style songs, with a typical singer/songwriter style, are also excellent. They are "Alleluia Gente," "Felicita, Sorriso e Pianto," and "Madre Domani." As is typical of the italian pop style, they are centered around vocals, usually accompanied by nice acoustic guitar, mellow organ, and fairly straightforward rhythm section. "Alleluia" and "Madre" have really nice prog-inflected sections as well, featuring some excellent melodic keyboard work.

The three straightforward blues-rock songs, "Fiore Finto, Fiore di Metallo," "A Piedi Scalzi," and "Col Vento nei Cappelli," are completely forgettable. I now skip them every time I listen to the album.

Overall, the album isn't very successful at blending their various styles. (That kind of success is frequently seen in the RPI classic works.) The album seems fragmented to me, almost a hodgepodge of different composers with contrasting styles trying to force their will onto the rest of the band (late Beatles, anyone?). The album is good enough for three stars, but it could have been so much more . . . [Progarchives.com]

01. Nel Mio Passato (5:10)
02. Fiore Finto, Fiore Di Metallo (3:35)
03. Alleluia Gente (4:45)
04. Varius (5:10)
05. Felicità, Sorriso E Pianto (4:05)
06. A Piedi Scalzi (3:13)
07. Madre, Domani ... (4:25)
08. Col Vento Nei Capelli (3:48)
09. Campane (5:10)

1. https://rapidshare.com/files/3413654096/I_Califfi.rar
or
2. http://uploadmirrors.com/download/QCGAIU3V/I_Califfi.rar
.