BEATLES - Sgt Pepper & BEACH BOYS - Pet sounds: see LINK

CLICK HERE:  x

AMAZING BLONDEL - the first LP and a KONTRAGITARRE

AMAZING BLONDEL - "The Amazing Blondel and a few faces" (Bell, 1970)

This was AB's first LP, and same as it happened for the GILA's album "Bury my heart..." (see entry), the original master tapes of this album got lost, so the official CD reprint was made using the rip of a vinyl copy among the very few available - precisely the one that producer Steve Rowland owns. My copy is also in perfect condition and I guess it sounds even better than the CD one, so maybe I'll post it on this blog soon ;)

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John David Gladwyn, the leader of AB, often showed himself on the covers with a very old kind of harp guitar, in many cases named Theorboe, but actually there's a quite narrow Verwandschaft to an instrument named "Kontragitarre" and it's a kind of particular creation of the Austrian lutists, quite popular between 1800 and 1930, circa.  The one you see in this photo belongs to my stepbrother Franz, and it's practically equal to JDG's instrument, except that this one has a complete fingerboard range, while Gladwyn's is more limited, as it reaches only B or C.  In  both cases, there are six plus six strings.  The strings above the keyboards are tuned free, and they serve for open bass notes. I also remember having seen (ca. 40 years ago) a videoclip of "John Barleycorn", where WInwood was playin a Kontragitarre with 3 plus 6 strings.

An EXTRAORDINARY instrument, which unfortunately today the worldwide guitarist population has lost any memory and interest about its spirit and versatility. The Austrian  Kontragitarre proved to be an extremely innovative instrument, even C. F. Martin is demonstrated to having taken ideas and projects that originally belonged to the Kontragitarre construction style for his renowned Martin guitars.

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Your COUNTESS

FAMOUS JUG BAND - albums

The Famous Jug Band, two albums on Liberty: "Sunshine possibilities" (1969) and "Chameleon" (1970).

Clive Palmer (on the 1st LP only)

Peter Berryman
Jill Johnson
Henry Bartlett (alias Henry VIII)

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In 2002 the same 1969 line-up reunited for a brand new album on CD, "O for Summer"

COUNTESS V

GILA - Bury my heart at Wounded Knee (Warner Bros. 1973)

"Who is the gila? a serpent...?"

Yes, also a very dangerous desert reptile, very much used for the "meat" they fix you with in so many fastfood hamburgers, but in our case is a band who made three albums, their third is "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee", ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED !!!


The covers, the insert and the original label of "Bury my heart". The cover shows mistakes in the title sequence and as to the drummer's name.  This album came out as the second of the group in 1973, but in 1999 a live album of the band was posthumously released on CD, named "Night Works", it was recorded in 1972, therefore to this day "Bury my heart" turns to be the band's third LP.  It is commonly known that the original master tapes have been lost, so the CD edition is taken from a vinyl copy, same as it was for Amazing Blondel's first LP.  I have already explained in the past: following my blog rules I'll not post this album here, because it's already available in some other blogs around.  Just search a little bit with Cap'nkrawl and you'll find it without problems. But maybe I should consider making an exception this time, because my copy is in absolutely immaculate conditions... For those who already know this LP, please notice that the new CD edition adds one bonus track! For those who don't know this beauty, happy discovery!! :-))  Gila's albums are all worth having, so get them while you can!

YOUR COUNTESS

18 and 20 JUNE: HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO

PAUL McCARTNEY

born 18th June 1942
and to

BRIAN WILSON

born 20th June 1942

With thanks for "Sgt. Pepper" and "Pet sounds"

SGT PEPPER - The UK (Parlophone) and the USA (Capitol) editions

Both editions came out with an inner sleeve (above) with a painting by the Dutch artists "Fool".

 The original Mono UK label

The original Italian stereo label, with the eternal misspelling "Parlophon" where the final "E" lacked!!

 

 ...and this above is the original stereo Nigerian (!!) label  :)

the original USA Capitol label

On the USA vinyl, each song has its own separate band. And poor Mr. Kyte has no exclamation point!

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From Sgt Pepper, just one single was extracted, but it was a Juke-Box edition, not for regular market sale.  And moreover, the single was released only in Italy. See it here below:

Surprisingly enough, the song "A day in the life" is present in its entirety!

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Pet Sounds, the original USA cover and the rainbow label

the back cover

Brian Wilson on tour with "Pet sounds", an extraordinary performance, recorded in 2003. I found this in Australia, it's in NTSC format, protected against the PAL, but with a little help from "DVD Shrink".... ;)

the CD cover

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coming soon : SMILE (2004)

Your COUNTESS

AIRPORT AND NYMPHENBURG CASTLE

A few days ago, a splendid police woman, after spinning her web from afar, blocked me at the airport by the control gates, for reasons and misunderstandings which have been eventually cleared by me... so, while the whole situation came to a happy ending for both parts, we both felt like finding ourselves on the verge of a possible 'happy start', actually  ;-) ... 

Definitely not the easy going gurl you see in the photo, during the airport controversy "my" Marshallin showed a middle-temperatured kindness and a special aura, a combination that had the power to make me long for a mutual deeper knowledge, which is what we both seem to be planning for the next week....  We know that certain operators of public order have easier access to a wide range of datas, at almost any level of privacy, so I can only imagine that she's visiting this page now and, after recognizing herself as the protagonist of this script, she'll be sweetly smiling meanwhile  :-)))

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I'll be travelling to München in the next week, and every time I go there I need to cut myself a space for visitng the extraordinary Nymphenburg, with its Rococo Castle and endless gardens... I will be lost in airport dreams (banal expression, I know, but realistic enough) and no better definition could be used in this case than naming Frau BH my primadonna .....

Nell'attesa di averti sotto i miei artigli inguantati... corri, fuggi, se puoi, ma non servirà.

DEVIANTS - Ptooff! - first vinyl edition, 1968

I ran into some articles and reviews about the legendary "Ptooff!" album by the Deviants, and discovered that all these recent MP3-hunters have on their blogs the wrong front cover published  - LOL!

Apart from the fact that no one seems to know that the very first edition was released by the alternative label "Underground Impresarios", which managed to publish just one LP (this one!), and that the Decca edition was a much later reprint (I couldn't swear, but it must be around 73 or 74), looks like nobody of these "experts" ever saw the original cover, otherwise they would have realized (and mentioned on their blogs) that the CD issue doesn't show the real front cover.

The first edition of "Ptooff!"'s original cover was actually a huge single poster opening in six parts, same thing as the "Glastonbury" album and the Hawkwind's "Space ritual".  So, this (above) can be the only front cover, otherwise the back cover, with titles and liner notes, wouldn't be visible. Obvious, nicht?

(above: the complete outer cover)

In the early 80's, I remember having seen copies of a "Ptooff" bootleg in specialized shops, and I must admit that the gigantic poster sleeve was remade in a way that was no less than immaculate. 

(above: the complete inner cover)

The only exception was - of course - the label! That was the trial by fire that bootleggers couldn't win! It's a slightly textured label, see it here:

One more mistake, which seems to be stubbornly repeated everywhere, is the year: as stated on the sleeve, the album was released in 1968, not in 1967.

(above right: the picture used today for the CD reissue)

I am not posting the music, you can find it in many blogs around, just search a bit through Captain Crawl and you'll find material enough  :-)