Wilson Pickett - American Soul Man (1987)

If Wilson Pickett had arrived at Motown 20 years earlier, the reaction would have been frenzied. But by the time he joined them in 1987, the once-great company was in the throes of a horrible slump.

Pickett's late-'80s album for them was painful. It wasn't half bad as far as production and arrangements, and Pickett's vocals were better than anticipated. But the songs sounded third-rate, and while he did get one single onto the lower rungs of the charts, "Don't Turn Away," this wasn't the Pickett everyone loved or wanted to hear.

Although not as good as his 60's Atlantic sides, at least these 1987 Motown tracks show that Wilson Pickett's vocal prowess had not waned over the years. In my view, soul lost its way during the 80's and this album gives the impression of both the artist and the record company seeking a new direction.

In that respect it doesn't quite work - not the stereotypical Motown sound and definitely not the Southern Soul of Memphis or Muscle Shoals.

With a mix of both slow and up-tempo numbers, it is the ballads that show Pickett at his best and the MusicHound R&B Essential Album Guide lists this as ".....worth searching for: American Soul Man is a brief stop at the legendary Detroit R&B label that finds Pickett in good voice - perhaps inspired by the hallowed surroundings".

With only nine tracks I was left wanting more (always a good sign), but at least the shortest track is four minutes long with the longest, a live version of "In The Midnight Hour", lasting almost eight minutes.

Sadly, this re-working of his classic hit didn't work for me but others might find it more enjoyable.

1.   A Thing Called Love - 4:09

2.   When Your Hear Speaks - 5:04

3.   Love Never Let Me Down - 3:59

4.   A Man Of Value - 4:06

5.   (I Wanna) Make Love To You - 4:02

6.   In The Midnight Hour - 6:22

7.   Don't Turn Away - 4:27

8.   Just Let Her Know - 4:28

9.   Can't Stop Now - 4:07

Label - Motown Records

Diesel Park West - Shakespeare Alabama demos (1998)

Diesel Park West aren't one of my most powerful hankerings, and maybe not many others as well, but I thought a few of you might enjoy this.

My own appreciation of them revolves more around certain songs, not so much entire albums. These tunes were cut in anticipation of the band's 1989 debut, Shakespeare Alabama.  It's "modern rock" in perhaps the most commercial sense, but there are some real stunners here in the guise of the jangly "All The Myths on Sunday," and the more anthemic "When the Hoodoo Comes."

If you're looking for a few lazy comparisons, DPW run/ran the same gamut as contemporaries Mission UK, latter-80s Alarm, and occasionally Simple Minds.

Like the aforementioned, these Leicester, UK chaps emanated something resembling a social conscience, without ever getting too pious.  This set is well worth checking out, even though the finished versions were minimally revised from these prototypes.

1.   Like Princes Do

2.   All the Myths on Sunday

3.   Bell of Hope

4.   Out of Nowhere

5.   The Waking  Hour

6.   When the Hoodoo Comes

7.   Opportunity Crazy

8.   Here I Stand

9.   Jackie's Still Sad

10.   A House Divided

11.   Don't Be Scared of the Night

12.   What About Us

https://www93.zippyshare.com/v/wkp5SLzP/file.html

Catherine Wheel - Happy Days (1995)

A good percentage of Catherine Wheel's fans might have chucked Happy Days out of their players after the unleashing of Rob Dickinson's David Coverdale-like "oooh" during the brain bash of "God Inside My Head." In the event that the listener had the open-mindedness required to tackle the lengthy record in whole, they would have heard more Headbanger's Ball vocalisms, wanky guitar solos, and some lyrical passages that would lead admirers of Ferment and Chrome to wonder what happened. "Grow my hair long and strange/I'll be a walking mountain range." What?

Although the onslaught of pounding, throbbing hard rock prevails throughout the course of Happy Days, there are moments of respite. "Heal" tugs the heartstrings, summing up the record's theme of combating cynicism and coming to grips with adulthood. (The line "Everyone needs someone to live by" comes straight from Talk Talk.) The smoldering eight-minute "Eat My Dust" is unfortunately buried half way through the record. It's easy to get lost in the web of dazzling atmospherics. But more than anything, the greatest challenge of Happy Days is wading through it. At 14 songs and 58 minutes, it's not necessarily bloated for records of its time, but with the tug of war between cocksure heaviness and grandiose pop, it's a chore to get through. It's only four minutes longer than Chrome, but it feels like it doubles it in length. The band seems like they lowered themselves to make a play for the U.S. alternative charts, but they undeniably sound full of fire. The record undeniably misses the imagination of their previous conquests, and it ultimately sounds like a lesser band.

Happy Days is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Catherine Wheel, released 6 June 1995 by Fontana Records in the UK and Mercury Records in the US. Like its predecessor, Chrome, it was produced by Gil Norton.

"Judy Staring at the Sun" featured guest vocals by Tanya Donelly. On the single mix, Donelly performed the song's chorus and second verse; on the album, however, her vocals appeared only in the chorus, and all verses were sung by Rob Dickinson. The single peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart; second single "Waydown" peaked at number 15 on the Modern Rock chart and number 24 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and was also the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 163.

1.  God Inside My Head - 3:52

2.  Waydown - 3:14

3.  Little Muscle - 3:04

4.  Heal - 6:13

5.  Empty Head - 3:12

6.  Receive - 3:35

7.  My Exhibition - 2:27

8.  Eat My Dust You Insensitive Fuck - 8:06

9.  Shocking - 3:58

10.  Love Tips Up - 3:55

11.  Judy Staring at the Sun - 3:56

12.  Hole - 3:49

13.  Fizzy Love - 3:34

14.  Glitter - 4:10 (exclusive to vinyl edition)

15.  Kill My Soul - 5:10

https://www110.zippyshare.com/v/paXokxi2/file.html

David Carradine - Grasshopper (1975)

In addition to his acting career, Carradine was a musician. He sang and played the piano, the guitar and the flute among other instruments. In 1970, Carradine played one half of a flower power beatnik duo in the season 4 Ironside episode "The Quincunx," performing the songs "I Stepped on a Flower," "Lonesome Stranger," and "Sorrow of the Singing Tree." He recorded an album titled Grasshopper, which was released in 1975. His musical talents were often integrated into his screen performances. He performed several of Woody Guthrie's songs for the movie Bound for Glory. For the Kung Fu series he made flutes out of bamboo that he had planted on the Warner Brothers lot. He later made several flutes for the movie Circle of Iron, one of which he later played in Kill Bill. Carradine wrote and performed the theme songs for at least two movies that he starred in, Americana and Sonny Boy. The first line from the Sonny Boy theme, "Paint", which he wrote while filming Americana in Drury, Kansas, in 1973, is engraved on his headstone. He wrote and performed several songs for American Reel (2003) and wrote the score for You and Me. He and his brother, Robert, also performed with a band, the Cosmic Rescue Team (also known as Soul Dogs). The band performed primarily in small venues and benefits.

It was sad to hear of the death of David Carradine recently. Back in 1975, he had great success with the Kung Fu TV series and released this album of self-composed songs. At the time, to promote the album, he appeared on the UK chat show Russell Harty.

1. Around - 3:18

2. 5 a.m. - 2:48 

3. Feeling That Grows - 2:43  

4. Cosmic Joke - 3:04 

5. Last Chance - 3:43 

6. You And Me - 2:02 

7. Chicken Song - 1:08 

8. Big Mack Truck - 3:57 

9. John Drew - 3:09 

10. Everytime - 2:45 

11. Simple Man - 3:32 

12. Hollow Sounding Drum - 3:34  

13. The Phoenix - 2:39

The Escalators - Self Titled EP (1980)

The Escalators were a short-lived British rock outfit led by bassist Nigel Lewis and drummer Mark Robertson, who formed the group in 1982 after leaving the Meteors, the influential U.K. psychobilly act fronted by Paul Fenech. Looking for a more diverse musical landscape than the warped rockabilly approach of the Meteors, Lewis and Robertson were joined by guitarist Bart Coles and vocalist Woodie, and adopted a sound that fused elements of rockabilly, garage rock, and psychedelia into a sinister but expressive sonic brew. 

The Escalators is a band that sounds quite unlike anything else. Taking its inspiration from some of the artistic concepts of master film maker David Lynch the band has developed it’s own very unique approach to music making. While not specifically referencing David Lynch, composer Kynan Robinson sought to imply concepts such as an investigation into normality as well as an application of dual narratives involving both the ideas of reality and fantasy into the sometimes beautiful, sometimes unsettling music played by the Escalators.
The band has worked with a visual artists Kiron Robinson and Michelle Robinson to create a set design which includes video, and a live show which tetters on the ege of haunting beauty an Lynchian wierdness.The Escalators consists of a veritable whos who of the Melbourne music scene with all of it’s performers playing in dozens of other significant Melbourne bands.

After putting out a couple of singles, the Escalators released their first album, Moving Staircases, through Big Beat in 1983, but it soon proved to also be the group's last, as the band broke up by the end of the year. Lewis and Robertson continued on, playing hard-edged garage rock with their new group, the Tall Boys, formed shortly after the Escalators called it a day; given Lewis and Robertson's following among fans of off-center British rock, Moving Staircases was given a reissue on CD by Big Beat in late 2006.

1.  Here Come That Girl Again - 3:09

2.  Strange Girl - 4:07

3.  Wooly Bully - 4:01

4.  Double Talk - 5:21

Tin Angel - Tin Angel (1983)

Tin Angel (formerly Toronto band 'The IUDs'), was an 80's all-female punk-turned-pop band based out of New York city who released a self-titled album in 1983 on Atlantic Records which was produced by Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Double Fantasy Lennon).

This seems like a band that was put together in the wake of the success of the GO GO's,Pat Benetar,Quarterflash, with a Runaways street rocker feel to it.The Songs are very generic with no thought behind any of them. I'm very glad I only paid a buck for this album. 
Only one or two songs are decent enough and that isn't saying much. This came out in 1983 and I can tell why this didn't sell. This type of overproduced girl rock was out of style by the time it was released. Funny enough they only made one album and dropped off the face of the earth. Do yourself a favor and pass this one up.

1.  Keep Love Burning - 3:10

2.  Imagination - 3:31

3.  Rearrange - 3:50

4.  Ain't Worth a Dime - 3:23

5.  The Waiting Room - 5:11

6.  Round Round - 3:46

7.  Way of Life (9 to 5) - 3:04

8.  Can't Get Close Enough - 3:17

9.  Tap a Line - 3:10
10.  Itchin' to Win - 3:03

Bruce Cockburn - Night Vision (1973)

Night Vision is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn released domestically on True North Records. The album's artwork is an adaptation of a painting by Alex Colville entitled "Horse and Train".

Night Vision is Bruce Cockburn's fourth album - released in 1973, it's mostly pretty good. It has Cockburn turning away from the brighter, more optimistic songs that filled his first three albums, and more towards the seriousness of his later works. "You Don't Have to Play the Horses" and the shorter piece "The Blues Got the World..." point this up effectively, along with one of his very best instrumental tracks, the minor-key "Islands in a Black Sky."
Some of the earlier sprightliness remains - the short opening instrumental "Foxglove" plays like a hornpipe, and is certain to set any listener's toes to tapping. Some of the material doesn't work quite as well - "When the Sun Goes Nova" sounds a little silly for a concept (the eventual death of the sun as a red giant) that's sort of dark and serious - but as long Cockburn continues to remind us that there is life to be lived ("Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long" is a good indication of that), a decent balance is kept with this album.
Overall, Night Vision is a good album; Cockburn was still finding his voice at this point, but for an artist who's had a career as long as his (43 years at this point, if one counts the fact that his 1970 eponymous debut album was recorded in the late fall of 1969), that's allowed. He hasn't made a bad album yet, even if they weren't all perfectly memorable. Night Vision is definitely one of the better ones nonetheless.

A little darker this time out (hence the title), Bruce Cockburn's fourth album find even greater rewards. Backed by a complete band, many of the songs hold up better through time. Sure, there's still the light-hearted folksy bits like "The Blues Got the World...," but there's also a gutsier sound exemplified in "You Don't Have to Play the Horses" and even a trick out of the Tom Waits song-style on "Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long." No matter what type of music you're looking for, there's something here that will tickle your fancy.

1.   Foxglove - 1:29

2 .  You Don't Have to Play the Horses - 3:49

3 .  The Blues Got the World... - 1:52

4.    Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long - 4:14

5.   Islands in a Black Sky - 7:40

6.   Clocks Don't Bring Tomorrow - Knives Don't Bring Good News - 6:49

7.   When the Sun Goes Nova - 2:42

8.   Déjà Vu - 5:36

9.   Light Storm - 2:33

10.   God Bless the Children - 4:17

https://www94.zippyshare.com/v/mYJzroPx/file.html

C.W. McCall - Rubber Duck (1976)

Rubber Duck is an album by country musician C. W. McCall, released on Polydor Records in 1976. It is his fourth album, released the same year as Wilderness, but concentrating on the themes the McCall character was popular for – trucking, as opposed to the various depictions of nature that could be found in Wilderness. Among others, the album contains the song "'Round the World with the Rubber Duck", a sequel to McCall's earlier wildly popular hit "Convoy", with many humorous and absurd elements added. "Audubon" is a quasi-autobiographical song, while "Ratchetjaw" is a take on trucker slang, with a multitude of CB-related terminology included in the lyrics.

1.  "'Round the World with the Rubber Duck" (Bill Fries, Chip Davis) – 4:08

2.  "Audubon" (Fries, Davis) – 3:41

3.  "Super Slab Showdown" (Fries, Davis)

4.  "Windshield Wipers in the Rain" (Fries, Davis) – 3:41

5.  "Sing Silent Night" (Fries, Davis)

6.  "Ratchetjaw" (Fries, Davis) – 2:38

7.  "Nishnabotna" (Fries, Davis)

8.  "Two-Way Lovin'" (Fries, Davis)

9.  "Camp Bird Mine" (Fries, Davis) – 3:36

10.  "Niobrara" (Fries, Davis)

https://www28.zippyshare.com/v/VXkDvru1/file.html

Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today (1975)

There's No Place Like America Today is a 1975 studio album by Curtis Mayfield. It peaked at number 120 on the Billboard 200 chart, as well as number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The title is intended in an ironic way, as illustrated not only by the cover -- a grim parody of late-'40s/early-'50s advertising imagery depicting white versus black social reality -- but the grim yet utterly catchy and haunting opening number, "Billy Jack." A song about gun violence that was years ahead of its time, it's scored to an incisive horn arrangement by Richard Tufo. "When Seasons Change" is a beautifully wrought account of the miseries of urban life that contains elements of both gospel and contemporary soul. The album's one big song, "So in Love," which made number 67 on the pop charts but was a Top Ten soul hit, is only the prettiest of a string of exquisite tracks on the album, including "Blue Monday People" and "Jesus" and the soaring finale, "Love to the People," broken up by the harder-edged "Hard Times." The album doesn't really have as clearly delineated a body of songs as Mayfield's earlier topical releases, but it's in the same league with his other work of the period and represents him near his prime as a composer.

The album cover was based on a 1937 monochrome photograph by Margaret Bourke-White, titled At the Time of the Louisville Flood, on which the advertising slogan was "There's No Way Like the American Way". The original photograph was published in the February 15, 1937 edition of Life magazine.

1. Billy Jack - 6:10

2. When Seasons Change - 5:28

3. So in Love - 5:15

4. Jesus - 6:13

5. Blue Monday People - 4:50

6. Hard Times - 3:45

7. Love to the People - 4:07

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/7553c2c87bd61e312b19777f3548dc6520180107062712/05b700