Classic Rock Vinyl 161 Items

After Steve Winwood jumped ship from chart toppers The Spencer Davis Group and quit the bright lights in favour of the countryside and jam sessions with Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood, in wake of these events Traffic were formed, it was Birmingham, April ,1967. Traffic began as a psychedelic rock group and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards like the Mellotron and harpsichord, sitar, and various reed instruments, and by incorporating jazz and improvisational techniques in their music. Soon after in December 1967 Traffic would release Mr. Fantasy their debut Album on Island records. Rolling Stone called the album “one of the best from any contemporary group” and has become a staple on almost any best album poll from the 20th and 21st centuries!

Re-Issued individually from the phenomenal 2019 Traffic – The Studio Albums 1967-74 Boxset. Remastered from the original tapes, pressed on 180g heavy weight vinyl and artwork caringly overseen and interpreted, this album is a must for any newcomer or indeed, seasoned Traffic fan.

A vocal band that made it through, the Free Design have been more than an exception in the glittering world of the psychedelic circus. That was the Age of Aquarius in the end, but in the long run the 4-piece had an enormous impact on the younger generation. Released in 1969 “Heaven/earth” is a cornerstone on its own and 30 years later the band had a sort of epiphany, thanks to the spanning interest of artists such as Cornelius, Beck, Stereolab and crate digger master Madlib. By now the Free Design are considered in the same league of The Beach Boys and The Carpenters. Under the influence of the Hi-Lo’s and Peter, Paul and Mary, The Free Design rose through the folk scene of the Greenwich Village coffee houses, achieving national prominence with the enchanting ‘Kites Are Fun’. They would prove to be at least the artistic equals of such popular contemporaries as The Association, The Mamas and the Papas, The Fifth Dimension and Harper’s Bizarre, but without quite matching their commercial success. Rather than be dictated to and diluted by the majors, they chose to commit to the artistic freedom and potential to develop offered them by the producer Enoch Light through his independent set up Project 3 Total Sound.

A vocal band that made it through, the Free Design have been more than an exception in the glittering world of the psychedelic circus. That was the Age of Aquarius in the end, but in the long run the 4-piece had an enormous impact on the younger generation. Released in 1969 “Heaven/earth” is a cornerstone on its own and 30 years later the band had a sort of epiphany, thanks to the spanning interest of artists such as Cornelius, Beck, Stereolab and crate digger master Madlib. By now the Free Design are considered in the same league of The Beach Boys and The Carpenters. Under the influence of the Hi-Lo’s and Peter, Paul and Mary, The Free Design rose through the folk scene of the Greenwich Village coffee houses, achieving national prominence with the enchanting ‘Kites Are Fun’. They would prove to be at least the artistic equals of such popular contemporaries as The Association, The Mamas and the Papas, The Fifth Dimension and Harper’s Bizarre, but without quite matching their commercial success. Rather than be dictated to and diluted by the majors, they chose to commit to the artistic freedom and potential to develop offered them by the producer Enoch Light through his independent set up Project 3 Total Sound.

The Stormy Six debut album is, in some ways, the mirror of an era with simple atmospheres and an almost like ‘messa beat’ feel. The harmonies are kinda elementary and the general setting is strongly influenced by the Beat origins of the group. The "Stormy Six" formed as a sextet in Milan in 1965, right along that student environment that had already given birth to Maurizio Arcieri's "New Dada". The album is an eccentric mixture of Beat, Psychedelia and proto-prog in the vein of Moody Blues "In the search of the lost chord" or even early Genesis. The songs are almost written by the Rocchi-Fabbri duo even if, in retrospect, it was assumed that three of them belonged to Rocchi alone: ‘Ramo’, with a mystical indian flavor, ‘I Tuoi Occhi Sono Tristi’ – much in the vein of Brian Auger- and the poignant ‘Sotto I Portici Di Marmo’.

First ever reissue of this bona fide “buried treasure” produced by Richard Perry and featuring Ry Cooder and the Wrecking Crew. Includes 4 page insert with notes by music historian Stephen J McParland and Vini Poncia, and many rare pictures and ephemera. Like the other more familiar and phenomenally successful duos Goffin/King, Barry/Greenwich or Mann/Weil, Peter Anders and Vini Poncia also graduated from the Brill Building era school of songwriting. Friends since high school, Anders and Poncia debuted as members of the Providence, Rhode Island vocal group The Videls whose second single Mister Lonely (written by Anders-Poncia) proved to be a moderate national hit (#73 on Cash Box and Billboard) in early 1960. It would be five more years before the duo’s pièce de résistance, The Trade Winds’ New York’s A Lonely Town, would appear on the legendary Red Bird label (started by George Goldner and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1964). An East Coast (though California molded) surf music anthem, New York’s A Lonely Town had impressed both Phil Spector (with whom Anders and Poncia had enjoyed a brief working association, writing songs for The Ronettes, The Crystals or Darlene Love) and Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson. They also worked on an Elvis Presley film score – “Harum Scarum”. After releasing albums as The Trade Winds and The Innocence, as well writing and releasing a bunch of songs under various guises for Kama Sutra and Buddah Records, Anders & Poncia signed to Warner Bros in 1969. Produced by Richard Perry (Captain Beefheart, Fats Domino, Tiny Tim…), and featuring the Los Angeles A-Team of sessioneers (later known as “The Wrecking Crew”), their only album features ten original compositions and a version of Leiber & Stoller’s “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” (with some great bottleneck guitar by Ry Cooder). Reissued here for the first time these eleven brilliant and extraordinarily powerful tracks are ripe for rediscovery. As the liner notes state: “listen to Anders & Poncia … and you have found your poets.”

Following recent super-deluxe editions and multi-format releases of classic Who albums – ‘My Generation’, ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’, and the success of ‘Live at Fillmore’, we follow with The Who Sell Out – this set shaping up to be the most superlative of all…!! Released in December 1967 – the album reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalised as the moment when the counterculture and the ‘Love Generation’ went global, 1967 produced tremendous musical upheavals as “pop” metamorphosed to “rock”.

Originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band’s managers, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs styled as a Radio London broadcast – born out of necessity as the band’s managers wanted a new album and there weren’t enough songs.

The original plan was to sell advertising space on the album – Jaguar cars, Coca-Cola etc. The jingles pay tribute to the pirate radio stations and expose the myths of ‘pop-culture’ and mock consumer society – way ahead of their time…

The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertising jingles and the iconic sleeve design – created by David King (art director at the Sunday Times) and Roger Law (who invented Spitting Image) producing four giant images for each band member – Odorono deodorant, Medac spot cream, Charles Atlas and Heinz baked beans (Roger apparently caught pneumonia from sitting in the cold beans for too long).

Photography by renowned portrait photographer David Montgomery (rare out-takes included)

The album is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made – the tail-end of the ‘swinging-60s’ meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop craft. It’s glorious blend of classic powerful Who instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallised for what was only the group’s third album – the ambition and scope is unrivalled by the Who, or any others from that period.

Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs – I Can See for Miles (a Top Ten hit) is a Who classic, Rael, a Townshend ‘mini-opera’ with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy and the psychedelic blast of Armenia City in the Sky and Relax are among the very best material of the 1960s.

One of the most extraordinary albums of any era – it’s The Who’s last ‘pop’ album. Two years later came Tommy – a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid…

“We were hoping to get free Jaguars. We got fifty tins of free Baked Beans”

Pete Townshend

One album into their career in 1969, Mutantes showed few signs of musical burnout after turning in one of the oddest LPs released in the '60s. Similar to its predecessor, Mutantes relies on an atmosphere of experimentation and continual musical collisions, walking a fine line between innovation and pointless genre exercises. The lead track ("Dom Quixote") has the same focus on stylistic cut-and-paste as their debut LP's first track ("Panis et Circenses"). Among the band's musical contemporaries, Mutantes sounds similar only to songs like the Who's miniature suite "A Quick One While He's Away" -- though done in three minutes instead of nine, and much more confusing given the language barrier. The album highlights ("Nao Va Se Perder por Ai") and ("Dois Mil e Um") come with what sounds like a typically twisted take on roots music (both Brazilian and American), complete with banjo, accordion, and twangy vocals. Though there are several other enjoyable tracks, including "Magica" and a slap-happy stomp called "Rita Lee," there's a palpable sense that the experimentation here isn't serving much more than its own ends. If the first album's relentless eclecticism did in fact occasionally result in dry passages, it's especially true here

Limited to 2000 copies.

Before Uriah Heep there was Fat Toe, and before Fat Toe there was The Gods, who recorded this risqué hard prog album, Orgasm, as Head Machine. Singer/keyboardist/guitarist Ken Hensley takes centre stage under the alias Ken Leslie, his lyrics alluding to the undeniable allure of human coitus and aspects of its management, the climax eventually coming in audible groans, though the guitar really drives most of the songs forward, with stereo panning. Produced by David Paramour, who had worked with Garnett Mimms and The Nocturnes, it was recorded in late 1969 and released in small number by Major Minor; this reissue spins at 45 RPM for improved fidelity.

Once The Shain´s had disbanded a new project was born, St Thomas Pepper Smelter. Recorded in 1969, with practically the same band members as The Shain´s, the band explored darker and psychedelic sounds with covers from Vanilla Fudge, Cream, Hendrix and Music Machine, as well as various amazing songs of their own. This album was to be the transition towards their new projects more progressive and 70s style than before and lead to Gerardo Manuel y Humo!

Reissue for the 1969 live album for Quicksilver Messenger Service, recorded live in 1968 at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Originally released in 1966, Shakers For You was the second LP by Los Shakers, the legendary beat/pop band from Uruguay. An album clearly influenced by Help!, Rubber Soul and Revolver, but showing a band that were more than mere copycats, offering some revolutionary compositions and influences such as bossa-nova. The songs on Shakers For You take us through incredible musical mixtures that, while keeping a strong early/mid Beatles feel, give us clues of what would come later in pop music with psychedelia just around the corner. This is the first ever vinyl reissue of one of the greatest beat LPs from the 1960s.

In 1969, Locksley Hall, a psychedelic band from Washington, recorded a full album at Audio Recorders in Seattle produced by Sonics Engineer Kearney Barton and long time Northwest guitarist Ned Neltner (Mark Five, Gas Company…).
Never released at the time, this is a great example of West Coast styled psychedelia / acid-rock, featuring female vocals, prominent organ, hard guitar, excellent songs…

This seminal British blues album gave Clapton the chance to finally show his chops, not surprisingly, launching Clapton into stardom. Recorded in 1966 during Clapton's short stint with the Bluesbreakers, just after leaving the Yardbirds (the birth place of other legendary guitar players like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck) and before he joined Cream. Includes 4 bonus tracks. Light blue vinyl LP.

Hits like "Let You Down" started success for NF in the States for two years and internationally. With over 180 million YouTube views the 26-year-old rapper from Michigan is also the first address for many, because he describes real problems - torn families, various traumas, abuse, addiction, overdose of the mother. His language so eloquent plain text talks like no other representative of his guild.

The latest release in Now-Again’s Reserve Series is Hunger – Strictly From Hunger: the band’s preferred version of the album, unedited, fuzz-guitar heavy late 60s psych-rock, restored and remastered from a rare test press. Hunger arrived in L.A. from Portland in late 1967 as the Outcasts, a teenage cover band, but within a six months they had signed with a connected manager, played all over Los Angeles, embraced psychedelia and signed on to record an album of original music for the label their manager founded for them: Public! Records. They showed tremendous promise – and their producers invested heavily into a band that was going to be the next marquee act at the Whiskey A Go-Go, bringing in members of Strawberry Alarm Clock, including future Lynyrd Skynyrd star Ed King, to produce an album. But Hunger broke up before their album’s release and their entry in rock’s canon was shadowed for years. This is the definitive Reserve Edition reissue of a late ‘60s psych–rock classic, overseen by Hunger’s band members John Morton, Steve Hansen and Mike Lane: the band’s preferred, unedited, fuzz-guitar heavy version of the album, restored and remastered from a rare test press. This is the first time that band’s vision for the album has been issued in full on vinyl. Contains an extensive booklet by Jim Cherry, Eothen Alapatt and Clark Faville that corrects many factual inaccuracies told over the record’s celebrated past three decades as one of rock’s holy grails. The booklet is filled with never-published photos from lead guitarist John Morton’s archive. Here’s an example of what’s in store – the full version of “Open Your Eyes” featuring Ed King’s lead guitar lines – all but absent on the Public! Records issue – and nearly double the length of the issued version! Download card for WAV files and bonus tracks – including the full Public! Records version of the album and 7” single tracks – included.

The release comes on 180g Vinyl.

„Hot Rats“, originally released 1969, is Zappa’s second album. It‘s considered to be one of the first Jazzrock albums ever and mostly contains instrumental compositions except from one track.

The holy grail of turkisch surf-rock.

180 gram vinyl!

180 Gram MONO 45RPM Audiophile Vinyl, limited/numbered

Stereo version, freshly pressed on 180 gram vinyl!

All time classic album, including 'Hey Joe' & 'Purple Haze'!

This double-LP comes with a gatefold sleeve featuring the original artwork on the front and back, and new artwork plus interview and biography in the inside. The first LP is a reissue fo the original '67 acid-, folk- and blues-rock album, with distorted guitars, swirling organ and dirty vocals. The second platter offers previously uinissued recordings, with a raw sound and including an alternate take of 'House Of Glass'. A relevant release for fans of US '60s psychedelia.

Four Sail is the fourth album by the American Rock band Love, released in 1969. By mid-1968, Arthur Lee was the only remaining member of the Forever Changes line-up of Love. Three LPs worth of material were recorded in a makeshift studio in a Los Angeles warehouse, released as Four Sail and the Blue Thumb LP Out Here. This expanded edition of Four Sail includes three bonus tracks.

180g vinyl.

Remastered from the original tapes, 180g vinyl!

Freshly remastered for 2012!

180 gram vinyl!

limited edition analogue 180 gram vinyl reisue ... sampled by Run DMC, Public Enemy, ODB, ...

140 gram clear purple vinyl reissue!

180 gram gatefold cover vinyl reissue incl. various bonus tracks!

reissue on 180g vinyl with three bonus tracks

... one of the greatest albums of all time! ... 180 gram vinyl with bonus track 'chelsea girls'

180 gram high quality pressing vinyl!

incl. 'flute thing' sampled by Beastie Boys for 'flute loop'