Rock & Indie Vinyl 481 Items

A lecture in 60's psych pop (almost power pop with flashes of hard rock) with consistently solid melodical, up-tempo, organ driven songs, soaring vocal harmonies, anthemic choruses. Psyched, poppy & fun. Not an album that you would listen to regularly, but more like an old friend to go back when you are in that 60s mood.

The second offering from Traffic, October 1968 would be their self titled Album, achieving a strong balance between Dave Mason’s simple and straightforward folk-rock songs and Steve Winwood’s complex and often haunting rock jams would see the album peak in the UK charts at No’9 and No’16 in the US Billboard Chart. 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.

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.

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

American Rhythm 'n' Blues singer Nathaniel Mayer (1944-2008) is mostly remembered for his raw vocal timbre and for his particularly wild live act. Originally released in 1963 on Detroit based label Fortune Records, "Going Back To The Village Of Love" still sounds like an incredibly explosive hyper-energetic irreverent piece of pure Detroit sound.

There is little doubt that John Lee Hooker was one of the most commercially successful blues artists that ever lived. He rose above his contemporaries with worldwide hit records and a particularly long series of albums, and a career that lasted for over sixty years. He was always prolific and attracted other artists to collaborate with him without ever losing his own highly distinctive style. One of the real and lasting strengths of "That's My Story" as an album is in its immediacy. Orrin Keepnews knew just how to use studio microphone placement to make the listener feel right in the middle of the session. Nothing extraneous is used to move John Lee away from you, making it evident that the producer's original intention with the album has certainly been fulfilled. No wonder that this laid-back work, so quickly recorded, has stood the test of time as one of John Lee Hooker's most revered records.

Wah Wah is proud to release the first ever legit vinyl reissue from master tape of New Zealand's legendary Underdogs' first LP from 1968. Lovers of John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers (note the Eric Clapton tribute paid on the sleeve of this album) will love this album. The Underdogs formed in 1964 and shared the scene with other greats from the country like The La De Da's, The Action (NZ band, not to be confused with the UK mod godfathers) and The Pleazers. They spread the rhythm and blues word from their native Auckland through several 45s on the Zodiac label and went through a series of line-up changes prior to the release of their fabulous first long player. The Underdogs Blues Band LP was recorded by Murray Grindlay on vocals, Lou Rawnsley on guitars, Neil Edwards on bass and Tony Walton on drums, and shows the group’s appreciation for Mayall's combo - just like The Bluesbreakers' Crusade LP the Underdogs open their album with a cover of Albert King's "Oh, Pretty Woman," one of three "Bluesbreakers" songs covered on the LP. On this first long player the band storm into a world of guitar led rave-ups a la Yardbirds, organ blues grinders and even give a sight to what's to come next with some incipient heavier sounds a la Cream.

This is a 500 copies only reissue, housed in its original artwork in a vintage styled backflaps sleeve and insert

Del Shannon did not fit the typical teen-idol mould other pop singers of the early Sixties were shoehorned into. Although he certainly had the required good looks, his songs had a brooding intensity to them, with recurring themes of loss and rejection that didn't sit well with the typical pop-star image of the time. In many respects he was similar to the UK's John Leyton and did a lot to pave the way for the British Invasion and the huge expansion to the boundaries of what could be considered pop music.

Originally released in late 1968, La Conferencia Secreta del Toto’s Bar was Los Shaker’s psychedelic masterpiece. Inspired by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - a milestone that would change the face of pop music forever back in 1967 – Los Shakers created a fundamental album in the history of South American rock music, a seminal record for many artists to come, full of pleasant surprises, magic sounds and sense of humour. It offers a complex fusion of styles, with elements from both rock and jazz, plus the use of exotic instruments like the bandoneon–widely used in tango music but unprecedented until then in pop/rock adventures. It all makes the last album by Los Shakers an essential, innovative record for any collector and aficionado. Sounding as fresh and original today as it did back in the late sixties, here’s the first ever vinyl reissue.

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.

Motor City legends Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels set unsurpassed standards for balls-out American white-boy R&B. Under the aegis of crack producer Bob Crewe, the Wheels shot to fame, propelled by Ryder\'s sweat-soaked soulful vocals, the piercing, mile-a-minute guitar sting of Jim McCarty, and the piledriver drum attack of Johnny Bee. Attacking rock and R&B with a startling, head-on frenzy, the group created a rock-n-soul dynasty still without equal.

The story of Japanese psychedelic band Apryl Fool and their eponymous debut album is simply extraordinary. It was the vehicle by which bassist Haroumi Hosono first came to prominence, years before he became known as the “Godfather of Japanese electronica” as the founding member and leader of Yellow Magic Orchestra, though this musical titan had work released prior to the group’s 1968 founding, such as the song “The Sea Of Summer Day,” recorded with Yuko Okuyama and released by King Records the year before. Drummer Takashi “Rei” Matsumoto was a Beatles maniac that had covered songs by Them and Sam & Dave in his earlier group, Burns, while pioneering prog-rock keyboardist Hiroyoshi Yanagida and guitarists Chu Kosaka and Eiji Kikuchi had all been part of a group called The Floral, formed in 1967 through the Japanese wing of the official fan club of The Monkees (whom they supported during a Japanese tour enacted in October 1968). In September 1969, Apryl Fool played behind musical theatre group Tokyo Kid Brothers, the recording issued in minute quantity as the Love & Banana EP, issued on Columbia Japan’s Musicolor subsidiary; Apryl Fool’s own LP, also issued on Musicolor that year, had extended spacey psychedelic freak jams in the form of “Tanger” and “Pledging My Time,” marathon blues-rock tracks such as “April Blues” and “Honky Tonk Jam,” with the employed English sounding fairly credible, though both parts of epic opus “The Last Mother Land” feature Japanese lyrics. Of course, the day that the LP was actually released is reportedly the day that Apryl Fool announced their termination, giving this scarce release another level of legend for connoisseurs.

This reissue comes on 180g. Right Track is a specialized music label based in Beirut - Lebanon. As an IFPI certified member they are the exclusive Licensee and distributor of multiple international and regional labels in addition to a range of Lebanese Artists. From Omar Khorshid’s arabian-funk to Fairuz’s eerie songs, from Ziad Rabani’s proto-disco to lebanese traditional Wadih Al Safi compositions, Right Track is committed to re-releasing the Immortal Arabic music repertoire on 180 g vinyls, delivering the highest possible quality from remastered audio to satisfy the demanding audiophile connoisseurs.

Pink Floyd's second studio album, remastered from the original mono analogue tapes. Remastered by James Guthrie, Joel Plante and Bernie Grundman. Limited edition 180 g heavyweight vinyl. Tracklisting: Side 1: 1. Let There Be More Light, 2. Remember A Day, 3. Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun, 4. Corporal Clegg. Side 2: 1. A Saucerful Of Secrets, 2. See-Saw, 3. Jugband Blues.

Jackson C. Frank’s eponymous album is the embodiment of folk legend. Issued in late 1965 on the UK Columbia label, it was for many years more famous for its producer (Paul Simon) and the musicians who would go on to cover its songs (Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Sandy Denny) than for the hauntingly beautiful music contained inside.

Frank’s backstory certainly adds to the legacy: born in Buffalo, New York, he used the settlement from a childhood accident to sail to London where he quickly became a fixture of the bustling folk scene. Performing a mix of blues standards and originals, he met fellow ex-pat Paul Simon who would put up the money to record Frank’s only LP.

For such a sparsely recorded work, Jackson C. Frank covers a lot of ground. From the rugged, world-weary opener “Blues Run The Game” to the stunning melancholy of “Milk And Honey,” Frank’s nimble acoustic guitar and passionate howls are all that is needed to power such authentic songwriting. Captured in a single-day session, these ten tracks are stark, gritty and seemingly out-of-place with time. There may be no ‘60s folk record that is simultaneously as rare and influential as Jackson C. Frank’s self-titled debut.

Donovan Philips Leitch is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist who in the 1960s developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. He emerged from the British folk scene and reached fame in the UK in early 1965 before replicating this in the US the following year, baring the fruits of the blossoming, successful, and eventually long collaboration with record producer Mickie Most.