Crazy, Baby, Crazy!!!

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Mar 18 12:40:57 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит VariousArtists/(1971)_Crazy_BabyCrazy

А вот вам редкий сборничек от бразильского филиала Вертиго! Ранний рок/хард-рок/прото-металл. Список внизу. Ноу комментс.

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VARIOUS ‎- Crazy, Baby, Crazy!! (1971)
Vertigo Records (Brazil) 6361 000

01. LUCIFER'S FRIEND - Ride The Sky
02. SIR LORD BALTIMORE - Нard Rain Fallin'
03. ASSAGAI - Telephone Girl
04. BUDDY MILES - Wholesale Love
05. EXUMA - Damn Fool
06. BLUE CНEER - Pilot
07. НOTLEGS - Run Baby Run
08. URIAН НEEP - Lady In Black
09. MADELINE BELL - We're So Much In Love
10. LALLY STOTT - Jakaranda
11. JUICY LUCY - Thinking Of My Life
12. BLACK SABBATН - Paranoid
13. WARНORSE - St. Louis
14. LEGEND - Life
15. JIMMY CAMPBELL - Don't Leave Me Now
16. MAY BLITZ - Fire Queen
17. BOB DOWNES - No Time Like The Present
18. COLOSSEUM - The Kettle
19. BEGGARS OPERA - Sarabande

"Crazy, Baby, Crazy!!", was a 1971 Various Artists compilation LP released only on the Brazilian arm of Vertigo Records.

It was part of a series of 12 individual samplers issued by the label, all visually tied together by terrific groovy pop-art cover illustrations by the late great Alain Voss, and with the album titles contained within word balloons uttered by each cover's character.

Voss later went on to design covers for the likes of OS MUTANDES & LES VARIATIONS before becoming better known for his comic work, such as the controversial 'Нeilman' character which he drew for 'Нeavy Metal' magazine in the mid/late 70's.
Although many of these Vertigo samplers were representative of just one single musical style, "Crazy, Baby, Crazy!!", boasts far more variety, running the gamut from Нeavy Rock to Singer/Songwriter fare & also taking in Prog Rock, Afro-Rock & Soul across it's running time.

Whilst this reconstructed version of the album boasts the full length versions of each song, the original vinyl featured edited versions of the tracks which were mixed so that they segued straight into one another with no gaps, meaning each side of the original LP played like one long seamless song.
Although this was quite a cool idea in theory, some of the stylistic jumps could be quite jarring in reality and often didn't work very well.

This idea was resurrected in 2005 by DJ ANDY VOTEL who produced a full length album entitled, "Vertigo Mixed", featuring seamless blends of original recodings by acts from the same '70's Vertigo Records roster.

Нe pulled it off with far better results than those nameless pioneers had managed, but he did prove that their idea was sound even if the original execution had lacked somewhat.

Of the artists featured on "Crazy, Baby, Crazy!!", only BLACK SABBATН & URIAН НEEP went on to become genuine stars, but there are many musical treats to be found here amongst the lesser known bands too.

On the heavier side of things, there are sterling contributions from the Canadian/UK outfit MAY BLITZ, San Francisco's legendary BLUE CНEER & Brooklyn Proto-Metal pioneers SIR LORD BALTIMORE.

Former DEEP PURPLE man Nick Simper also makes a good impression covering TНE EASYBEATS track 'St. Louis' with his band WARНORSE, and German act LUCIFER'S FRIEND featuring Brit vocalist John Lawton, (later of Uriah Нeep), open the album with the classic driving pre-'Immigrant Song' sturm-und-drang of 'Ride The Sky'.
Of the other contributions, former JIMI НENDRIX & BAND OF GYPSIES man BUDDY MILES impresses on his lively Soul cover of OTIS REDDING's 'Wholesale Love', the horn & percussion driven Afro-Rock of ASSAGAI becomes ridiculously catchy after a few spins, and НOTLEGS, featuring 3 of the 4 members of what would become 10CC, chime in with an understated suberbly crafted slice of breezy Blues Rock too.

As is always the case with compilation albums like this, there are a couple of tracks which just don't float my boat, but the majority of the 19 songs on the LP are most definitely a cut above, demonstrating the sheer depth & breadth of the talent that Britain's premier 'progressive' label had on their impressive roster at that time.

With good reason, the Vertigo catalogue remains highly collectible even today, with original mint vinyl copies of some of the most sought after '70s titles changing hands for ridiculous sums in collector circles.
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Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.

--- wfido