JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - The Original Cast (Newly Remastered)

Original released on Double LP 

Decca DXSA 7206 (UK) / MCA MCX 501 (US)

(October 1970)

IRON BUTTERFLY: "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"

Original released on LP ATCO SD 33-250

(US 1968, June 14)

With its endless, droning minor-key riff and mumbled vocals, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is arguably the most notorious song of the acid rock era. According to legend, the group was so stoned when they recorded the track that they could neither pronounce the title "In the Garden of Eden" or end the track, so it rambles on for a full 17 minutes, which to some listeners sounds like eternity. But that's the essence of its appeal - it's the epitome of heavy psychedelic excess, encapsulating the most indulgent tendencies of the era. Iron Butterfly never matched the warped excesses of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," either on their debut album of the same name or the rest of their catalog, yet they occasionally made some enjoyable fuzz guitar-driven psychedelia that works as a period piece. The five tracks that share space with their magnum opus on "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" qualify as good artifacts, and the entire record still stands as the group's definitive album, especially since this is the only place the full-length title track is available. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

IRON BUTTERFLY: "Heavy" (Mono + Stereo)

Original released on LP ATCO 

33-227 (mono) / SD 33-227 (stereo)

(US 1968, January 22)

Iron Butterfly’s debut is patchy..some winners, mostly losers. Certainly not that "heavy" either. The band already had their unique style down from the start, really no modifications for their next few albums. Their music's obvious draw is Doug Ingle’s organ playing and the guitarist's unique Mosrite tone. On a side note, Danny Weis got that tone first and later showed it to Eric Brann. Highlights here include the creepy, organ-driven “Possession” and “Unconscious Power”. “You Can’t Win” is a basic 4/4 rocker. You can’t really go wrong with that. “Fields of Sun” would actually fit better on their third album, "Ball". The bridge reminds me of something from that album. I like the weird falsetto singing along with it. 4 good songs so far. Now for the bad tracks. “Get Out My Life Woman” has an organ intro straight from the toyshop, and then the song takes a sudden turn into unexciting, slow blues rock. “Gentle as it May Seem” is as straightforward as you could ask for. Those "come here woman!" bits are cringeworthy. “So-Lo” is rather odd. The main organ riff is a melody that feels kind of kiddie/saccharine, even more so during the bridges. The backing vocals aren't appropriate for the song, and Doug should’ve sang lead. “Stamped Ideas” is a pure slice of filler, no substance. The lyrics are moronic and the tune is cloying. What a relief the next track will be... The album’s crowning glory is the instrumental “Iron Butterfly Theme”, which supposedly conveys the birth, life, and death of a butterfly. It's made up of reverberating Mosrite guitar sound that IB is noted for and Doug’s ghost-like chanting. It ends with a repeating organ note that would seem to indicate a dying heartbeat, and then it flatlines. It’s Iron Butterfly’s most psychedelic song outside of "IAGDV". (in AllMusic)

SCOTT WALKER: "The Moviegoer"

Original released on LP Philips 6308 120

(UK, October 1972)

If you're looking for more Walker writing genius, this isn't the place. It's a selection of late 60s / early 70s film theme interpretations; some amazing (Ennio Morricone & Joan Baez' "Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti"); most are interesting. On an album that critics loudly declare as representative of his total decline and which Walker considered nothing more than a rent-paying exercise, his vocal genius is at its most dazzling. The baritone vibrato is deep, velvety and measured and on the mad jazz melodies of Michel Legrand ("A Face in the Crowd" / "The Summer Knows") and the sly beauty of Lalo Schifrin's "That Night" there is an inimitable, exquisite yearning. Like wistful slow-motion Super 8 film footage, the major seventh heaven of Dory Previn and Fred Karlin's "Come Saturday Morning" together with Walker's incredible timbre and interpretative command may just define the concept. His greatest vocal album. Your bohemian aunt has probably had it for years. 'Borrow' it. (in RateYourMusic)

SCOTT WALKER: "'til The Band Comes In"

Original released on LP Philips 6308 035

(UK, 1970)

Scott Walker's first four albums are marvelously creepy collections of dark, avant-pop tunes with touches of cabaret and jazz, but he took a right turn on the fifth, "'til The Band Comes In". In the main, it seems like Walker was trying to “go commercial,” at least enough to appeal to Tony Bennett fans (at one point, Walker even seems to affect a distinct Bennett impersonation). Walker never walks a completely straight line, though, so there are some anomalies, like the Lee Hazlewood-esque, country/folk-inflected “Cowbells Shakin'.” At the time, no one could have guessed that the experimental forays still ahead for Walker would make this album's predecessors sound like bubblegum pop. (Jim Allen in AllMusic)

«…Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland..?»

Original Released in 1968, October 16

 UK: TRACK 613008/9

US: REPRISE 2RS-6307

 Gravado durante um ano (entre Julho de 67 e Agosto de 68) nos Plant Studios, em New York, este duplo album de Hendrix (o terceiro da sua curta carreira) é um dos clássicos incontornáveis de toda a história da música pop, onde géneros tão diferenciados como o rock, blues, psychedelia, soul ou jazz se misturam, dando origem a um som único que nenhum outro grupo, antes ou depois dos Experience conseguiu produzir. Criativamente é usualmente conotado, e com toda a razão, como o expoente máximo de Hendrix que atinge aqui todo o brilhantismo do seu génio. Além dos outros dois componentes do trio (Noel Redding no baixo e Mitch Mitchell na bateria) Hendrix teve a colaboração de alguns dos músicos mais conhecidos da época: Dave Mason, Chris Wood, Steve Winwood, Buddy Miles, Jack Casady, Brian Jones e Al Kooper, entre outros. Este conjunto de estrelas só poderia originar um album tão excepcional como este, apesar dos conflitos ocorridos entre Jimi e os restantes membros do Experience, a maioria dos quais devidos ao seu obsessivo perfeccionismo em estúdio, que o levava a fazer incontáveis takes dos mesmos temas.

Seria, por isso mesmo, o derradeiro album do mítico trio e só dois anos depois é que Jimi conseguiu reunir uma nova banda para produzir outro disco, o “Band of Gypsys”, gravado ao vivo com Billy Cox e Buddy Miles, e editado em 1970 – foi o último album autorizado por Hendrix (“The Cry Of Love”, que encerrou a discografia oficial, já foi editado depois da morte do guitarrista, em 1971, faz hoje precisamente 44 anos). Entre outros temas inesquecíveis (por exemplo “Voodoo Chile” em duas versões diferentes, a mais longa das quais a durar uns bons 15 minutos) o album contém uma das covers mais célebres da história, o electrizante “All Along The Watchtower”, considerada mesmo superior à versão original pelo seu autor, mr. Bob Dylan himself! O single com esse tema chegaria a 5º lugar nas tabelas inglesas, ficando-se pelo 20ª posição na Billboard americana. Todos os restantes singles extraídos do album apenas seriam classificados em Inglaterra, com destaque para “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” que chegaria a nº 1 dois anos depois, a 28 de Novembro de 1970. O album, por sua vez, seria nº 1 nos EUA e nº 2 no Reino Unido.

A capa do disco gerou uma grande controvérsia na altura. A ideia de Hendrix era colocar uma fotografia colorida de Linda Eastman que mostrava o grupo rodeado de crianças junto à escultura de Alice in Wonderland em Central Park, tendo chegado inclusivé a manifestar esse desejo junto à editora, a Reprise Records. Como resposta teve uma fotografia (da autoria de Karl Ferris), da sua cabeça, em tons vermelho e amarelo, estampada na capa. Por outro lado, em Inglaterra, e devido a atrasos na remessa do album original, a Track Records produziu uma outra capa completamente diferente (da autoria de David King e Rob O’Connor), com 19 mulheres nuas fotografadas num fundo negro, algumas das quais segurando fotografias de albuns anteriores dos Experience. Alguns dos modelos eram na altura presença habitual nas páginas de revistas como a Mayfair ou a Parade, mas a maior parte delas foram contratadas por 5 libras/hora em bares e clubes de King's Road, Chelsea. A fotografia foi tirada pelo nova-iorquino David Montgomery no seu estúdio de Londres, em Edith Grove. Esta capa, que também desagradou pessoalmente a Jimi (chegou a comentar «it’s mostly bullshit»), constituiu no entanto uma imagem de marca de “Electric Ladyland”, preenchendo na altura todas as fantasias sexuais dos jovens fans e ajudando a criar toda uma aura sensual à volta de Hendrix, que na época era visto quase sempre rodeado por excitantes groupies. Algumas lojas de discos mais puritanas chegaram ao cúmulo de envolver o disco em sacos de papel, como se de uma revista pornográfica se tratasse. Seja como fôr, a capa original inglesa era muito mais apelativa, convenhamos, do que a fotografia desbotada da edição americana. No entanto foi esta última que, muitos anos após a morte de Hendrix foi adoptada (por imposição dos herdeiros) como a oficial em todo o mundo, o que, consequentemente, transformou as cópias da edição original inglesa (um dos meus tesouros mais preciosos) em items muito mais valiosos no mundo dos coleccionadores (a Record Collector atribui-lhe uma cotação base de 800 libras).

Jimi Hendrix's third and final album with the original Experience found him taking his funk and psychedelic sounds to the absolute limit. The result was not only one of the best rock albums of the era, but also Hendrix's original musical vision at its absolute apex. When revisionist rock critics refer to him as the maker of a generation's mightiest dope music, this is the album they're referring to. But "Electric Ladyland" is so much more than just background music for chemical intake. Kudos to engineer Eddie Kramer for taking Hendrix's visions of a soundscape behind his music and giving it all context, experimenting with odd mic techniques, echo, backward tape, flanging, and chorusing, all new techniques at the time, at least the way they're used here. As an album this influential (and as far as influencing a generation of players and beyond, this was his ultimate statement for many), the highlights speak for themselves: "Crosstown Traffic," his reinterpretation of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," the spacy "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)," and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," a landmark in Hendrix's playing. With this double set, Hendrix once again pushed the concept album to new horizons. (Cub Koda in AllMusic)

"Pennies From Heaven For You And Me"

Original released on double LP Warner Bros 2HW 3639
(US, 1981)

«I want to live in a world where the songs come true», says Arthur, the sheet music salesman in “Pennies From Heaven”. «There must be someplace where the songs are for real».

And here they are, the songs that lit up his life and made sweet melodies of his fondest dreams. Songs that still say, in their happy bounce and seductive rhythm, that the world needs to put on its dancing shoes.

We all have some such melody in our hearts. Music that brings back a special moment, an enchanted memory, or a minute or two of magic when workaday troubles fade into love and kisses. Where a silvery moon rides high in a velvet sky – forever.

It was Arthur’s misfortune to place too much trust in a world where the songs don’t always come true. We live our real lives well and truly on this side of the rainbow. But some part of us, like Arthur, refuses to be earthbound. We put on the music. Our feet tap. Our fingers click. The smiles come. Our hearts lift…

And for a while, the songs come true. Pennies turn once again from small change that buys next to nothing into glistening little dreams that freshen up our oldest and deepest yearnings. Listen to them tinkle and chink!

“PENNIES FROM HEAVEN”, in fact. Little coins which fill a pocketful of dreams. The one place where, as Arthur insists,
«The songs are for real».
Dennis Potter, author of “PENNIES FROM HEAVEN”

A long time ago
A million years BC
The best things in life
Were absolutely free
But no one appreciated
A sky that was always blue
And no one congratulated
A moon that was always new
So it was planned that
they would vanish now and then
And you must pay
before you get them back again
That's what storms were made for
And you shouldn't be afraid for
Every time it rains it rains
Pennies from heaven
Don't you know each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven
You'll find yor fortune falling
All over town
Be sure that your umbrella
is upside down
Trade them for a package
of sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love
You must have showers
So when you hear it thunder
Don't run under a tree
There'll be pennies from heaven
for you and me

"Fala Do Homem Nascido"

Edição original em LP Orfeu STAT 013

(PORTUGAL, Dezembro de 1972)