Jayson Lindh - Cous Cous (1972)

Cous Cous is the Second Album by Swedish Jazz Flautist Jayson Lindh.
Released by CTI Records, a Jazz Subsidiary to A&M Records that went Independent in 1970, Cous Cous was recorded in July-October 1972 in Stockholm and released the same year. This one was his most well received Album by critics. There ain't much more information about him on the internet unfortunately and i don't have much more to tell you about him. The songs are vey Jazzy and Funk influenced and the Flute work is superb. For a Jethro Tull fan like I, this Album is a must and a very interesting listen to anyone who is picking up the Flute as his instrument. I remind that this Album is fully instrumental apart from the last song which is by far the longest and the most interesting.
Best Tracks - "My Machine", "Bobo", "El Henna", "Kiki" and "Abdo". The cover is quite normal, but somehow the Photo turns out to be very inviting. Just a photo of Jayson playing his Flute and smiling.

Jayson Lindh (Cous Cous Personnel):
- Jayson Lindh - Flute.
- Jan Schaffer - Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Guitar.
- Palle Danielsson – Bass.
- Mike Watson - Bass.
- Nagi el Habashy - Cello.
- Kofi Aivor - Congas.
- Malando Gassanna - Congas.
- Bengt Berger - Drums.
- Ola Brunkert – Drums.
- Bobo Stenson - Electric Piano.
- Kenny Håkansson - Guitar.
- Abd el Rahman el Khatib – Lute.
- Bahi Barakat - Tabla.
- Jan Bandel – Tabla.

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The Hobbits - Down To Middle Earth (1967)

Down To Middle Earth is the Debut Album by the American Soft Psychedelic Band The Hobbits.
The Hobbits was a project created by Jimmy Curtiss, who had been Labelled as a possible Teen Idol, but unlike the other Idols wrote his own material instead of having someone writing for them. Curtiss made his Debut in 1959 as a member of the Doo Wop Combo The Enjays and in 1961 made his Solo Debut for the United Artist Label, who had a plan to turn Curtiss in the next American Teen Idol. He failed to sell and become what he was expected to, so he left the Music Industry and until 1967 he worked on publicity, until he came back and started The Hobbits. Decca signed them and released their 3 Albums (The Third one as The New Hobbits) before dropping them for not achieving any success and not selling almost any Album. The name of the Band and Album comes from the Fiction Book The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (if there is still anyone who doesn't know what an Hobbit is...). This Album is a very sought-after Soft-Psychedelic Album. After being dropped by Decca, Curtiss formed a Label and Production Company both called Perception and released material from a Band Called The Bag, supposedly The Hobbits with another name. They ended in 1969 and the whereabouts of Curtiss have been unknown since then.
Best Tracks - "Down to Middle Earth", "I’m Just A Young Man", "Daffodil Days", "Break Away", "Sunny Day Girl". The Cover is simply amazing a fantastic painting of a landscape, very orange, with some flowers and mountains drawn full of expression. One of the best Album Covers i have ever seen.

The Hobbits:
- Jimmy Curtiss.
- Gini Eastwood.
- Heather Hewitt.
- Tony Luizza.
- Zok Russo.

(Found no information on which instrument each one played)

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John Renbourn - The Black Balloon (1979)

The Black Balloon is the Tenth Solo Album by the English Folk Guitarist John Renbourn.
The Black Balloon is another of Medieval-Influenced Solo Albums. The only difference between The Lady And The Unicorn or any other of his Medieval Solo Albums, and this one is the Electric Guitar that Renbourn uses in some of the tracks, even though all of them all have an Acoustic Guitar as the main artery to the song. There are songs from the 13th and 16th Century, arranged by John Renbourn and some originals, like the Title-Track. John Renbourn always kept on performing and composing Folk Music, but he mostly now composes Classical Music after graduating in the Mid-80's in a composition Degree.
Best Tracks - "The Moon Shines Bright", "Bourrée I and II", "Medley - The Mist Covered Mountains Of Home, The Orphan, The Tarboulton" and "The Black Balloon". I saw two covers of this Album, and haven't been able to find which one is the original. One is a Photo of Renbourn with a guitar, and that Cover is one of the of the worse I've seen in awhile, the other is a draw of a Black Balloon, one of those that carry people through the air. That one is much more interesting and inviting than the first.

John Renbourn (The Black Balloon Personnel):
- John Renbourn - Guitars.
- Tony Roberts - Flutes.
- Stuart Gordon - Tabors.

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Ten Years After - A Space In Time (1971)

A Space In Time is the Seventh Album by the British Blues Rock Band Ten Years After.

A Space In Time defers a lot from the previous Ten Years After Albums, attempting a more Acoustic and Melodic sound, reaching out to Folk influences. Not saying that this Album is in any way shape or form weaker, or that the Guitar hasn't got the groove it was required to have, since Alvin Lee has the responsibility to give us a hell of a show when he picks it up. It is their Best selling Album and the only one to feature a hit Single, which got massive airplay on the Summer of 1971. "I'd Love To Change The World" features great melodies and very hippyish Lyrics, against the rich. Although this was the most famous song on their repertoire they rarely played it live. This is their first one to be released by the Columbia Label. They would release two more Albums and a Live Double-Album and in 1974 they would finally split-up. The next ones would be considered as second-category and are never referred when talking about Ten Years After, since they got some really terrible critic's review and the fans didn't like them. They have reformed and currently play without Alvin Lee who now plays Solo.
Best Tracks - "One of These Days", "Here They Come", "I'd Love to Change the World", "Over The Hill", "I've Been There Too" and "Uncle Jam". Pretty normal cover with a photo of the Band members in a green field. It is quite a nice place so it isn't so mediocre as that.

Ten Years After:
- Alvin Lee - Guitar, Vocals, Harp.
- Leo Lyons - Bass.
- Chick Churchill - Keyboards.
- Ric Lee - Drums.

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C. K. Strong - C. K. Strong (1969)

C.K. Strong is the First and Only Album by the American Hard Blues Band C.K. Strong.
Almost nothing is to be found on the Internet's about this band. Nothing at all, they only released thia Album and had one music featuring in a film called "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" where Lynn Carey featured. Lynn was the soul of the group and the reason they got together, She went on to work with Neil Merryweather (in Ivar Avenue Reunion), Vacuum Cleaner and Mama Lion.The Album is a very Strong Psychedelic Blues oriented piece, and it certainly deserved more attention than it got. There isn't much more to say, if all you wanted was information I must ask you to forgive me but i do not have anything to offer you. I joined here everything i had about them.
Best Tracks - "Stormbird", "Baby Let Me Out", "Affairs", "Mean Hearted Man" and "Daddy". The Cover Photo is a quite nice one, a picture of the Band but at least they are not just standing there looking at the camera, but faking a calm environment. It really transmits a Groovy atmosphere.

C. K. Strong:
- Lynn Carey - Vocals.
- Jeff Kewley - Guitar, Vocals.
- Geoff Westen - Guitar, Vocals.
- Chris Brooks - Bass, Vocals.
- Ron Grinel - Drums.

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The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday (1967)

Younger Than Yesterday is the Fourth Album by the American Folk/Psychedelic Rock Band The Byrds.
Allen Stanton who produced The Byrds previous Album, moved to another Label so they were left without a producer. The one they came up with was Gary Usher, who had produced ex-Byrd Gene Clark's Debut Solo Album and was an ex-song-writing companion to Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. This Album is not that long, not reaching the 30 minutes, and it was all recorded in 11 intensive work in Columbia Studios. Robert McGuinn and David Crosby finally managed to have the creative space to express themselves, thanks to Clark's departure, having to fill the void created. Although it did receive some good and complementary reviews at the time, today it is considered often as one if not the Best Album by The Byrds, when it was released everyone was concerned that this would not repeat and that this new incarnation would fail to continue, and we now know that this was incorrect, the next Byrds Albums would continue to bring this fresh and eclectic style. It sold moderately staying 24 weeks on the American Charts, with the peak in the 24th space.
Best Tracks - "Have You Seen Her Face", "Renaissance Fair", "Time Between", "Everybody's Been Burned", "Mind Gardens" and "Why". The Cover is a Multiple Exposure picture of the Band taken by Frank Bez. Not very interesting though.

The Byrds:
- Robert McGuinn – Guitar, Vocals.
- David Crosby – Guitar, Vocals.
- Chris Hillman – Electric Bass, Vocals.
- Michael Clarke – Drums.

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Tinkerbells Fairydust - Tinkerbells Fairydust (1969)

Tinkerbells Fairydust is the First and Only Album by the British Pop Band Tinkerbells Fairydust.
The Tinkerbells Fairydust (originally called The Rush) were formed in 1965 by a fusion of London local groups. Both Bands who went on to form Tinkerbells... were quite famous in London and had already a stable number of followers. During one of their performances they were spotted by Alan Eisenberg and signed to the Don Arden Agency, that also worked for The Small Faces and Gene Vincent. Straight after this, they were signed to Decca and released 3 Singles. Strangely they didn't achieve any success in the UK or in America, but they had massive attention in Japan, where one of their single managed to reach the 2 position, right before The Beatles "Hey Jude". One of their Singles, "Lazy Day" was produced by young Vic Smith, that would later produce such bands as Black Sabbath and The Jam. As there was another Band called Rush, they decided to call themselves Tinkerbells Fairydust as suggested by Vic Smith. They recorded it and were scheduled to release it in December, 1969, but Decca withdrew the release, according to them because the band had split up. Only 5 or 6 copies were left in existence so this Album is considered to be one of the most rare and valuable Psychedelic Pop Album ever. Each copy is nowadays sold for more than 2000 dollars.
Best Tracks - "20-10", "Marjorine", "You Keep Me Hanging On", "Never My Love" and "Lazy Day". The Cover-Art is a pretty mediocre draw of two fairies. Quite weak.

Tinkerbells Fairydust:
- Stuart Attride - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals.
- Gerry Wade - Bass, Vocals.
- Steve Maher - Guitar, Vocals.
- Barry Creasy - Drums, Vocals.
- Chas Wade - Drums, Vocals.
- Eileen Woodman - Hammond Organ, Vocals.
- Dave Church - Vocals.
- Pete Hole - Guitar, Vocals.

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Steeleye Span - Hark! The Village Wait (1970)

Hark! The Village Wait is the Debut Album by the Electric Folk Rock Band Steeleye Span.
this is the only Album where we can listen to the original Steeleye Span Line-up. Immediately after the release of Hark! The Village Wait, the Band would reform adding new members and forcing others out of the Band. This is also the only place where we can hear two female vocalists until their 1996 Album Time. On later Albums they would re-record most of the songs on this Album, their follow-up Album, Please To See The King, would feature the first one, a new version of "The Blacksmith". The "Wait" in the Album's name does not refer to the act of waiting, but to a group of wind-instrumentalists who were employed by a Town. They began being used in the Tudor ages until the 19th Century. A village was however to small to aford paying a Wait, so it is probably refering to the Christmas Waits who sang and played for money, in the same style of the Waits, but independent from a Town, as they were banned in 1835. Steeleye Span are definitively one of the landmarks of Folk Rock music, and one of the best Bands in the UK from this decade.

Best Tracks - "The Blacksmith", "Fisherman's Wife", "Blackleg Miner", "Lowlands Of Holland" and "One Night As I Lay On The Bed". The Original Cover-Art only lasted for 5 years as in the 1975 re-issue it was changed to this Cover. The Original Cover is however much less interesting, the newer a Photo of what looks like an old village, with a very interesting choice of colors, make the Cover look a lot less like a Country Band.

Steeleye Span:

- Maddy Prior - Vocals.
- Tim Hart - Vocals, Guitar, Electric Dulcimer, Fiddle, 5-String Banjo, Harmonium.
- Ashley Hutchings - Bass.
- Terry Woods - Vocals, Guitar, Concertina, Mandola, 5-String Banjo, Mandolin.
- Gay Woods - Vocals, Concertina, Autoharp, Bodhran.

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John Renbourn - The Lady And The Unicorn (1970)

The Lady And The Unicorn is the Fourth Solo Album by the English Folk Guitarist John Renbourn.
John Renbourn and Bert Jansch not only experienced with Blues, Jazz and Traditional sounds, they were also interested in bringing other melodies to Pentangle, the Band to which they were the main composers. Previous to this Album, Renbourn had already released another Instrumental Medieval Album called Sir John Alot of Merry Englandes Musyk Thynge and ye Grene Knyghte, which i have already posted on this Blog. Even though most of the Songs on this Album are old Medieval/Renaissance compositions, there are also some Traditional English songs and one Original Composition. As all Renbourn's songs they have a contemporary sound, with the inclusion of Sitars and Hand Drums. Most of his Solo Albums have a kind of experimental sound to it, it sounds more like something he did for himself than for the masses of Music Lover's. Pentangle and the collaborations he did with other musicians from the Folk Revival seem to be the more Serious stuff. I'm not in any way saying that this Album's are in any way inferior but they simply seem like an underground sound, not something to be sold to the masses, even if the masses are into the Folk Revival.
Best Tracks - "Trotto/Saltarello", "Bransle Gay/Bransle de Bourgogne", "Sarabande", "The Lady and the Unicorn" and "My Johnny was a Shoemaker/ Westron Wynde/Scarborough Fair". The Cover pictures an ancient tapestry called À Mon Seul Désir, the final piece of a 6-piece Flanders Tapestry from the 15th century, considered to be one of the most important art pieces of Europe from this century. Apart from this there is also the name of the Album and the Artist. Not such an imaginative Cover and not very inviting.

John Renbourn (The Lady And The Unicorn Personnel):
- John Renbourn - Guitar, Sitar.
- Terry Cox - Hand Drums, Glockenspiel.
- Don Harper - Viola.
- Lea Nicholson - Concertina.
- Tony Roberts - Flute.
- Ray Watleigh - Flute.
- Dave Swarbrick - Violin.

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