Spencer Davis Group - Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 1: Sessions 1965-1968

Album: Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 1
Size: 155,7 MB
Time: 66:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2000
Styles: R&B
Art: Front, tray

1. Midnight Special (2:13)
2. It's Gonna Work Out Fine (2:59)
3. Dimples (2:18)
4. Watch Your Step (2:22)
5. It Hurts Me So (2:57)
6. I Can't Stand It (2:26)
7. She Put The Hurt On Me (2:32)
8. Keep On Running (2:43)
9. Goodbye Stevie (2:57)
10. We'll Be Together, Til The End Of Time (2:35)
11. When I Come Home (2:35)
12. Mean Woman Blues (2:41)
13. Can't Get Enough Of It (2:48)
14. Oh! Pretty Woman (3:18)
15. Neighbour Neighbour (3:25)
16. I'm A Man (3:04)
17. Gimme Some Lovin' (3:29)
18. Don't Want You No More (3:37)
19. Mr Second Class (3:02)
20. Time Seller (2:50)
21. Moonshine (3:35)
22. Feel Your Way (3:13)
23. With Their New Face On (3:00)

This is a very full disc (23 songs) of BBC sessions recorded by the band in the 1960s, all but six of them by the prime Spencer Davis Group lineup featuring Stevie Winwood. It's a bit disappointing that all but one of those 17 tracks with Winwood on board have been previously available in studio versions, and even the one that wasn't (the blues cover "Oh! Pretty Woman") had already been issued on the Eight Gigs a Week compilation of early Davis recordings. Still, it's a good solid selection, heavy on the R&B covers that made up the bulk of their early repertoire, such as "Dimples," "Watch Your Step," "I Can't Stand It," and "Mean Woman Blues." In fact, there's not much in the way of non-covers, though renditions of the big hits "Keep on Running," "I'm a Man," and "Gimme Some Lovin'" are here ("Somebody Help Me," oddly, is not).

The performances are not much different than the studio versions; sometimes there may be a sense of less inhibition, but on the other hand, "I'm a Man" and "Gimme Some Lovin'" are definitely inferior to the denser arrangements heard on the classic singles. As for the six 1967-1968 songs sans Winwood that conclude the disc, they are naturally of not as much interest as the preceding part of the program. Yet they're not dispensable either, as the band plowed on with a somewhat heavier, more soul-psychedelic-oriented sound, emphasizing original material penned by Davis and newcomer Eddie Hardin. The fidelity is superb throughout. /Richie Unterberger, AllMusic

Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 1: Sessions 1965-1968 mc
Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 1: Sessions 1965-1968 zippy

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Spencer Davis Group - Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 2: Live 1965-1968

Album: Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 2
Size: 133,3 MB
Time: 57:32
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2000
Styles: R&B
Art: Front, tray

1. Kansas City (4:22)
2. Every Little Bit Hurts (4:56)
3. Stevies Blues (Early Version) (8:03)
4. It's Gonna Work Out Fine (3:21)
5. Somebody Help Me (2:07)
6. Sittin' & Thinkin' (2:33)
7. Keep On Running (3:35)
8. When I Come Home (2:52)
9. Dust My Blues (3:07)
10. Mean Woman Blues (3:28)
11. Together 'Til The End Of Time (3:42)
12. I'm A Man (3:23)
13. Georgia On My Mind (5:03)
14. Gimme Some Lovin' (4:00)
15. Dust My Blues (2:53)

One problem with many of the top British R&B bands of the mid-'60s is the absence of full-length concert documents of their work. The Yardbirds were lucky enough to leave behind Five Live Yardbirds, and the Animals had In the Beginning in the can, but most other acts from the Rolling Stones on down usually left us just a handful of tracks, if that. This 14-song CD fills an essential gap in the Spencer Davis Group's output, offering a baker's dozen live cuts from various stages featuring the band's classic lineup (plus a single concert track from their post-Steve Winwood incarnation), and every track here is essential listening.

The four 1965-vintage cuts, apparently from a rehearsal at the Marquee Club, sound as good as any live rock recording of the decade and are highlighted by the best single track that Winwood ever left behind with the group, an early version of Stevie's Blues that features him scatting away in utterly unpretentious manner, which is followed by a driving version of It's Gonna Work Out Fine; then jump to the German television show Beat Club in 1966, and pounding renditions of Keep on Running, Sittin' & Thinkin', and Somebody Help Me - these are a bit on the lo-fi side, but there's no leakage on the instrument sound and one can cope with the slightly boomy ambience. The Finnish television appearance from later the same year also has a few sonic limitations but nothing impossible to deal with, and even the post-Winwood era version of Dust My Broom from the Empire Pool at Wembley in early 1968, featuring Ray Fenwick on lead guitar, proves well worth hearing.

All show the group stretching out a bit on their established repertory and turning the instruments up higher than they would have in recording - although it's interesting to note that, after the 1965 tracks on this disc (which predate the release of their first album by about a month), the evidence here shows that the band succeeded, better than most British R&B-based groups of the period, in capturing their live sound in the studio. This disc is a perfect compliment to the Polygram UK double-CD Spencer Davis Group anthology, although it can also stand on its own as a live best-of or an introduction to the group or to Steve Winwood's early career. /Bruce Eder, AllMusic

Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 2: Live 1965-1968 mc
Mojo Rhythms & Midnight Blues Vol. 2: Live 1965-1968 zippy

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Downchild Blues Band w. Spencer Davis - Blood Run Hot

Size: 79,9 MB
Time: 34:25
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1981/2003
Styles: Electric blues, R&B
Art: Full

1. Hey Hey Little Girl (2:15)
2. Rocket 88 (3:06)
3. Could Have Had All Your Lovin' (4:40)
4. Natural Ball (3:26)
5. Drivin' Blues (2:58)
6. Blood Run Hot (4:14)
7. Nine Below Zero (4:33)
8. Shot Full Of Love (3:18)
9. Let's Get High (3:25)
10. They Were Rockin' (2:25)

Led by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Donnie "Mr. Downchild" Walsh, the Downchild Blues Band is the premier blues band in Canada. Their saxophone-driven jump blues provided a major inspiration for Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi's Blues Brothers, who included Walsh's tunes, "Everything I Need (Almost)" and "Shotgun Blues," on their 1978 debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues. Formed in 1969 by Walsh and his brother, Richard "Hock" Walsh, the Downchild Blues Band endured continuous personnel turnover. More than 18 musicians came and went, including Gene Taylor, who went on to play with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Kenny Neal, who joined after leaving the employ of Buddy Guy and relocating to Toronto. Conflict between the Walsh brothers resulted in Hock Walsh being fired from the band shortly before work began on their third album in 1974. Although he returned to work with the band in 1977 and 1985, his hard living caught up with him on February 1999 when he succumbed to an apparent heart attack.

Since the early '90s, Downchild Blues Band has benefited from a more-fixed lineup. Vocalist/songwriter Chuck Jackson, who joined in 1990, received a Maple Blues award as "best male vocalist of 1999" and a "Blues with a Feeling" award, from the Toronto Blues Society, for his "achievements during a distinguished career". A former member of '60s rock band, Rhinoceros, Michael Fonfara received a Maples Blues award, in 2000, as "piano/keyboards player of the year." Mike Fitzpatrick has played drums with Big Joe Turner, Sonny Rhodes, Hubert Sumlin, and Bob Margolin and has recorded with such blues artists as Snooky Pryor and B.B. Odom. Gary Kendall, who played bass on the band's earliest recordings, returned after a 12-year break, during which he booked concerts at Toronto blues club the Silver Dollar. The recipient of a Toronto Blues Society "Blues with a Feeling" award, in 1993, he received Maple Blues awards as "bass player of the year" in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

The signature sound of the Downchild Blues Band continues to emanate from saxophone player Pat Carey. A member of the band since 1985, Carey previously worked with the Winnepeg Symphony, the Jimmy King Golden Boy Brass, Tony Faim & the Dukes, and Richard "Hock" Wilson. In addition to providing horn arrangements for such Canadian artists as Jack DeKeyzer, Big Daddy G, Sonny Fournier, and Chuck Jackson & the All Stars, he has recorded with Rita Chiarelli, Fathead, the Unity Band, Danny Brooks, and Curley Bridges. The recipient of a Maple Blues award as "horn player of the year", in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, he recorded an album, Starlight with his group, Pat Carey's Jazz Navigators. Raised in northern Ontario, where their parents ran a resort hotel, Donnie and Richard "Hock" Wilson relocated to Toronto in their teens.

Together with the Downchild Blues Band, they recorded one of the first independent albums to be released in Canada. Recorded in two nights in a small makeshift studio at Rochdale College, the album, titled Bootleg, was picked up for distribution by RCA Victor and re-released in Canada and Japan. Their second album, Straight Up, released in 1974, included the band's only hit, a reworking of Joe Turner's "Flip, Flop and Fly." /Biography by Craig Harris, AllMusic

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

Blood Run Hot mc
Blood Run Hot zippy

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Farlowe, Davis, York, Hodgkinson, Money, Anderson - Extremely Live At Birmingham Town Hall

Size: 108,3 MB
Time: 46:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1988
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Intro ( 0:22)
02. Let The Good Times Roll ( 2:00)
03. Key To The Highway ( 4:03)
04. Feets Too Big ( 5:10)
05. Tamp 'em Up Solid ( 4:05)
06. Ain't Nothing Shaking But The Bacon ( 6:41)
07. I Think It's Gonna Rain Today ( 3:17)
08. The Thrill Is Gone ( 4:55)
09. Watch The River Flow ( 5:11)
10. Stormy Monday (10:41)

Personnel:
Bass – Colin Hodgkinson
Drums – Pete York
Guitar – Spencer Davis
Guitar, Vocals – Miller Anderson
Keyboards, Vocals – Zoot Money
Vocals – Chris Farlowe

Extremely Live At Birmingham Town Hall

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