Paul McCartney - Solo Rockers (1969-2026) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

I recently posted three compilation albums of rockers from the solo careers of the four ex-Beatles, and three more compilation albums of ballads from them. All of those were put together by guest poster Mike Solof. But when Mike made those, he discovered there were a lot more rockers and ballads by Paul McCartney than any of the other ex-Beatles, since he's had a long and very prolific career. So Mike decided to make an extra rockers album just of McCartney songs, as well as an extra ballads one. Here's the rockers.

All the songs are taken from studio albums or singles. There are no special edits done by Mike this time. 

By the way, note that the range of years given in the title, 1969-2026, is for the entire project. On this album, the actual range ins 1972 to 2007. As usual, see the mp3 tags for all the details. 

This album is an hour and two minutes long.

01 Junior's Farm (Paul McCartney)
02 Night Out (Paul McCartney)
03 Rinse the Raindrops (Paul McCartney)
04 Angry (Paul McCartney)
05 Beware My Love (Paul McCartney)
06 Used to Be Bad (Paul McCartney)
07 Rock Show (Paul McCartney)
08 Getting Closer (Paul McCartney)
09 Hi, Hi, Hi (Paul McCartney)
10 Jet (Paul McCartney)
11 Magneto and Titanium Man (Paul McCartney)
12 Fine Line (Paul McCartney)
13 Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney)
14 Ever Present Past (Paul McCartney)
15 Get Out of My Way (Paul McCartney)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/5rb7nkZK 

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/sD7pOUGHyzFduOl/file

Now that this is an album only featuring McCartney, there's no need for Mike to use AI to create images of imagined Beatles reunions. So this is a real photo of McCartney in concert. Mike selected the picture though, so I don't know what year it's from or other details. 

The Staple Singers - Hampton Jazz Festival, Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA, 6-29-1973

The Staple Singers were a family music group that existed for a long time, from the early 1950s until the 1990s. They were decently popular all through the 1950s and 1960s (Bob Dylan was a big fan of their early work), but their acoustic mix of gospel and folk limited their appeal. Then, in the early 1970s, they moved in more of a mainstream soul direction, and were rewarded with four big classic hits: "Respect Yourself," "I'll Take You There," "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" and "Let's Do It Again." Here's a soundboard bootleg concert from their peak early 1970s period.

Although the Staple Singers toured a lot, there are surprisingly few live recordings from this time, either officially released or bootleg. There are three official live albums from them. One is very early, 1964, and the other two are quite late, 1980s or after. Quality bootlegs are few and far between. This is the only worthy one I've found from the 1970s that has at least some of their big hits. "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There" are here, but the other two hits mentioned above hadn't been released yet. 

The Staple Singers always had a gospel element to them. Personally, I'm not religious and don't like preachy music. But while there's a gospel number here, I'm perfectly okay with it.

By the way, there was one song at the start that I've removed: "Are You Sure." The reason I removed it is because the recording only had the last minute of it, and I couldn't find any good way to patch in the rest. 

As an aside, weird fact: the band members were all from the Staples family, with the key members being Pop Staples as lead guitarist and Mavis Staples as the usual lead vocalist. Yet for some reason they called themselves the "Staple Singers" instead of the "Staples Singers."

Here's their Wikipedia entry: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Staple_Singers

This album is 40 minutes long. 

01 Be What You Are (Staple Singers)
02 talk (Staple Singers)
03 I Like the Things about Me (Staple Singers)
04 Respect Yourself (Staple Singers)
05 Don't Break My Heart (Staple Singers)
06 I'll Take You There (Staple Singers)
07 talk (Staple Singers)
08 And the Lord Will Hear (Staple Singers)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/z2dNw5BG 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/VeBDNnozv75XmBU/file

The cover image comes from an appearance on the "In Concert" ABC TV Show on November 14, 1973.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr - Solo Ballads, Volume 3 (1969-2026) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's the third and last of three albums collecting ballads from the solo careers of the ex-Beatles John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. I've also finished posting a similar series of three albums of rockers from them. All of these were put together by guest poster Mike Solof. But we're not quite done. Because McCartney has been so prolific, he gets an extra album of rockers and another extra album of ballads.

Once again, pretty much everything here comes from studio albums. "Mama You've Been on My Mind" is an exception, since it's a demo version that came out as a bonus track. But Mike made new mixes of four songs. A couple of them were at my request. The thinking is some of these songs were a bit too rocking to fully qualify as ballads. So the mixes strip the songs down some more.

This album is one hour long.

31 [I Want To] Come Home (Paul McCartney)
32 King of Broken Hearts [Mike's Mix 2026] (Ringo Starr)
33 Jealous Guy [Ultimate Mix] (John Lennon)
34 Warm and Beautiful (Paul McCartney)
35 Life Itself (George Harrison)
36 Love Is (Ringo Starr)
37 Happy with You (Paul McCartney)
38 Out the Blue (John Lennon)
39 Sat Singing [Mike's Mix 2026] (George Harrison)
40 Early Days (Paul McCartney)
41 Photograph [Mike's Mix 2026] (Ringo Starr)
42 Only Love Remains (Paul McCartney)
43 Imagine [Mike's Mix 2022] (John Lennon & Julian Lennon)
44 Mama You've Been on My Mind [Demo] (George Harrison)
45 As Far as We Can Go (Ringo Starr)
46 Tragedy (Paul McCartney)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/tCJixTR6

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/88IHsZeczEOLSre/file

Mike Solof sure does love imagining what the Beatles would have looked like if they all were still alive. Here's another cover image Mike made using an AI program. It's in the same style as the two previous albums in the ballads series.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr - Solo Rockers, Volume 3 (1969-2026) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's the third and last album compiling the best rockers from the solo careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Once again put together by Mike Solof (with some suggestions from me). 

There's one more best ballads album coming. Then, since McCartney has so much solo career, and his heart keeps on ticking, there's another album of extra rockers from him, and another of extra ballads. (On top of that, you'll also notice slightly more songs from him on these other albums too.)

Most of the songs here come from studio albums. There are a couple of exceptions though. "Soily" is a great McCartney rocker from his Wings years. He put out a live version, but no studio version. The version here is an unreleased studio take. Also, "I'm Losing You" and "Cleanup Time" were both included on Lennon's 1980 album "Double Fantasy." However, these are special remixes done by Mike. Oh, and the last song is an unusual one. "Givin' Grease a Ride" originally appeared on a 1974 album by Mike McGear, McCartney's brother. But Mike (Solof) did another edit to remove McGear and focus on McCartney's participation on it. McCartney co-wrote it, and the backing band on the recording was Wings. 

This album is 59 minutes long. 

31 Soily [Take 7] (Paul McCartney)
32 Goodnight Vienna (Ringo Starr)
33 I'm Losing You [Mike's Mix 2025] (John Lennon)
34 Old Siam, Sir (Paul McCartney)
35 Any Road (George Harrison)
36 Cleanup Time [Mike's Mix 2025] (John Lennon)
37 Spin It On (Paul McCartney)
38 It Don't Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
39 Sue Me, Sue You Blues (George Harrison)
40 House of Wax (Paul McCartney)
41 Whatever Gets You thru the Night (John Lennon)
42 Any Road (George Harrison)
43 Home to Us (Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr)
44 Drowning in the Sea of Love (Ringo Starr)
45 Givin' Grease a Ride [Wings Only Version] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Mike McGear with Paul McCartney and Wings) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/nNBttgVC

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/d5Oeosromzuc9dy/file

The cover is another imagines Beatles reunion image that Mike asked an AI program to make. I pointed out to him that it was odd if the crowd was behind the Beatles, but Mike pointed out it could have been a stage in the center of the crowd. 

Stephen Stills & Manassas - Winterland, San Francisco, CA, 10-7-1973

Back in 2018, I posted a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (CSNY) concert is very closely linked to this one, taking place just three days earlier at the same venue. I'll explain more about that shortly. I was certain that I had posted this album at the same time. However, recently I was updating broken links, and I noticed there was no link for this album. I looked closer, and realized I'd never posted it. So better late than ever.

Manassas was a band led by Stephen Stills of CSNY. But included many other great musicians, especially Chris Hillman, formerly of the Byrds, who wrote and sang lead vocals on some songs. The idea was this would be Stills' main band for many years. They released the cleverly titled "Manassas" in 1972 and "Down the Road" in 1973. CSNY had been apart since late 1970. But around the time of this concert, they began getting back together.

A concert taking place on October 4, 1973 was billed as a Manassas concert. But CSNY basically crashed the band's first set and played a bunch of songs acoustically, which meant they didn't need Manassas to back them up. That reunion a very big deal in the music world. CSNY had been called the "American Beatles" and had sold zillions of albums, way more than Manassas. Chris Hillman later commented that this was the night he realized the future of Manassas was done, due to Stills naturally wanting to rejoin the much more popular CSNY. It would turn out Hillman was right. Manassas would break up not long after this, after they played a few more concerts to finish their tour.

Here's the link to the CSNY set (mostly) from that concert:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2018/05/crosby-stills-nash-young-winterland.html

However, "the show must go on." Despite being upstaged by the CSNY reunion, Stills and the rest of Manassas still had their second set to perform. But it must have been frustrating and bittersweet for them (except for Stills). Their encore, "Daylight Again - Find the Cost of Freedom," was performed by Manassas and CSNY together. That may have been awkward. By the way, I've included that song on both album, since it was both a CSNY performance and a Manassas one.

Then, three days later, on this date, October 7, 1973, the whole process repeated itself. CSNY performed another set in the middle of another Manassas concert at this same venue. For whatever reason, I believe only the Manassas set from this date is available, so that's what I'm posting here. This apparently includes everything that was performed except for the songs with just CSNY. As for CSNY, the album I've posted from them consists mostly from their October 4, 1973 concert, with a few different songs from October 7th added in.

At least some of two concerts were professionally filmed for some reason, and I think this one was broadcast live on the radio as well. That's why we have a recording with soundboard-level sound quality. I don't believe the film footage has been officially released in any way, but you can find it on YouTube. 

This album is an hour and 18 minutes long.

01 Song of Love (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
02 Rock and Roll Crazies (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
03 Jet Set [Sigh] (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
04 Anyway (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
05 So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
06 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
07 Johnny's Garden (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
08 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
09 Go Back Home (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
10 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
11 Six Days on the Road (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
12 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
13 Safe at Home (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
14 Fallen Eagle (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
15 Hide It So Deep (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
16 You're Still on My Mind (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
17 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
18 Pensamiento (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
19 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
20 49 Bye-Byes - Drum Solo (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
21 For What It's Worth (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
22 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
23 Lies (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
24 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
25 The Treasure - Carry On (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
26 talk (Stephen Stills & Manassas)
27 Daylight Again - Find the Cost of Freedom (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young & Manassas)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/1zBra6Q8

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/bW21m9x5dzPVqrJ/file

The cover image is taken from a video of this exact concert. I used Ask Gemini to add to the detail level.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr - Solo Rockers, Volume 2 (1969-2026) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here is the second out of three albums where guest poster Mike Solof gathered together rockers from the solo careers of the Beatles. I've already explained pretty much everything you need to know in the write-up to "Volume 1," so I'll keep this write-up short.

All the songs here have been officially released, except for "Dispute and Violence." This was a collaboration between George Harrison and Ravi Shankar that was performed during Harrison's 1974 concert tour. 

This album is an hour and one minute long. 

Note that, for this album and the others in this series and the ballads series, Mike wanted the track numbering to continue from album to album. That way, you can put them in one folder and listen to them as a single album if you want. 

15 So Glad to See You Here (Paul McCartney)
16 What You Got (John Lennon)
17 Wake Up My Love (George Harrison)
18 One (Ringo Starr)
19 Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five (Paul McCartney)
20 Devil's Radio (George Harrison)
21 Instant Karma [We All Shine On] (John Lennon)
22 Have You Seen My Baby (Ringo Starr)
23 Girls School (Paul McCartney)
24 Tight A$ (John Lennon)
25 Cloud 9 (George Harrison)
26 Oh My My (Ringo Starr)
27 Monkberry Moon Delight (Paul McCartney)
28 I Don't Wanna Face It [Mike's Mix 2025] (John Lennon)
29 Dispute and Violence (George Harrison & Ravi Shankar)
30 Only Mama Knows (Paul McCartney)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/jjye47MU

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/L7Adyk612Rd8gDn/file

The cover image is another one Mike made using AI, imagining Beatles reunions that never happened. In my opinion, this one has a late 1970s vibe.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr - Solo Ballads, Volume 1 (1969-2026) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Yesterday, I posted "Solo Rockers, Volume 1," featuring rocking songs from the solo careers of the four Beatles. It was created by guest poster Mike Solof. This is the exact same concept, also done by Mike, but with ballads. There are different definitions of ballads, but in this case we're talking about love songs usually done in a more mellow mode than the rockers.

For the rockers, Mike's selection of songs was pretty straightforward. But when it came to picking ballads from the Beatles' solo careers, it was harder going. He found enough for three volumes, the same as for the rockers. But in some cases, he chose to make some new "Mike's Mix" edits of songs that toned down or removed drums and some other elements to help the songs fit into the ballad mode. His edit of "Blow Away" by George Harrison on this volume is a good example. The original, which was a hit in 1979, is pretty close to a rocker. But Mike's edit transforms it pretty dramatically, and hopefully allows you to appreciate the song in a new way. 

This album is 53 minutes long.

01 Bluebird (Paul McCartney)
02 Never without You [Mike's Mix 2026] (Ringo Starr)
03 Here Comes the Moon [Mike's Mix 2025] (George Harrison)
04 Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him [Mike's Mix 2025] (John Lennon)
05 So Bad (Lindsay Pagano & Paul McCartney)
06 I'm Yours (Ringo Starr)
07 Blow Away [Mike's Mix 2026] (George Harrison)
08 Heaven on a Sunday (Paul McCartney)
09 Old Dirt Road [Mike's Mix 2025] (John Lennon)
10 Little Willow (Paul McCartney)
11 I'll Still Love You (Ringo Starr)
12 Dark Sweet Lady (George Harrison)
13 Love [Take 31] (John Lennon)
14 Baby's Request (Paul McCartney)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Hi6PcHRM

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/opD0riXacqTFSaL/file

Mike chose some more AI artwork that he found on the Internet for the cover.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr - Solo Rockers, Volume 1 (1969-2026) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

In the 1970s, the Beatles remained extremely popular but there was no new Beatles music to sell, so the record companies repackaged their music in different ways. For instance, in 1976, an album called "Rock n' Roll Music" was released, containing all rocking Beatles songs. And in 1977, another one came out called "Love Songs." A similar one came out in most countries but the U.S. in 1980 called "The Beatles Ballads." Guest poster Mike Solof was inspired by these albums to create similar albums, but for the Beatles' solo careers. He's taken roughly equal numbers of songs by the four ex-Beatles and mixed them together. This was enough for three albums of rockers and another three albums of ballads. 

But wait, there's more! Paul McCartney has been prolific, and stubbornly refuses to die. (Ha ha) As a result, Mike also made an extra album each just for more rockers and ballads from him. So here's the first of eight albums. We'll start with some rockers.

Note there's nothing really new here. These are just already released songs, but hopefully repackaged in an interesting way. Just like those 1970s repackaged Beatles albums. By the way, interesting fact: "Rock n' Roll Music" went all the way to Number Two on the U.S. album chart in 1976, and was only kept out of the top spot by the Paul McCartney and Wings album "Wings at the Speed of Sound." 

As usual with Mike's posts, please check out the PDF file he's included with the download zip. 

This album is 54 minutes long. 

01 Save Us (Paul McCartney)
02 Rock and Roll People (John Lennon)
03 Horse to the Water (George Harrison)
04 You're Sixteen [You're Beautiful and You're Mine] (Ringo Starr)
05 The Mess [Reworked] (Paul McCartney)
06 Cleanup Time (John Lennon and Yoko Ono)
07 Cockamamie Business (George Harrison)
08 Lonely Road (Paul McCartney)
09 Snookeroo (Ringo Starr)
10 Cold Turkey (John Lennon)
11 Helen Wheels (Paul McCartney)
12 All Those Years Ago [Paul on Vocals, Ringo on Drums] (George Harrison)
13 After All These Years (Ringo Starr)
14 Big Barn Bed (Paul McCartney)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/tuCsvKEk

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/plP5cXglEj9HZci/file

Mike is more of a fan of making new AI pictures than I am. In 1969, the Beatles played a short concert on top of Abbey Road studios in London. For this one, he asked an AI program to make an image of an imaginary Beatles reunion on that rooftop many decades later. Mike was particularly pleased at how the AI creatively added two big beer bottles at their feet. 

Dana Gillespie - Hold on to Your Fire - Non-Album Tracks (1971-1976)

Recently, a commenter asked me if I still plan on posting more non-album tracks collections. Actually, I have lots of them that are already made. I just don't get around to posting them much because they're part of my music collection and I usually prioritize posting things I've recently discovered. But I'll try to get back to posting more of those. Back in 2020, I posted a non-album tracks collection by British singer-songwriter Dana Gillespie. It consisted of rare songs she did in the late 1960s. Finally, I'm back with a second such collection, from the early 1970s.

First, here's the link to the earlier collection:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2020/11/dana-gillespie-light-up-various-songs.html

At the time of the start of the music here, she had released two albums in the late 1960s, mostly consisting of her own songs. Both were well received, but neither of them were hits. Around 1970, she started musically collaborating with David Bowie, whom she had known since about 1965. She was signed to his record company and management team. Bowie even wrote a song for her, "Andy Warhol," and they performed it together on the BBC in 1971. 

The first five songs here are demos she recorded in 1971. This was half of an album with her songs on one side and Bowie's songs on the other. About 500 copies were made and circulated in the music industry to help both of them get record deals. Bowie's songs were redone for his album "Hunky Dory." These versions come from a later archival compilation called "What Memories We Make."

However, Gillespie didn't release another album out until 1973, because she got involved playing a major role (Mary Magdelene) in the first London production of the play "Jesus Christ Superstar." That kept her busy through 1972, and a soundtrack was released in 1973. Tracks 6 and 7 here are from that. 

When she finally released her next album, "Weren't Born a Man," it was a very good one. I recommend it if you haven't heard it yet. Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson technically produced it. But in fact, they were too busy with their careers, having turned into big stars since Bowie started collaborating with Gillespie in 1971. But Bowie did have some involvement, for instance, playing on and producing that album's version of "Andy Warhol." 

In 1974, she released another album, "Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle." This was also was good, but didn't get much traction. It showed her moving more in a blues direction. Unfortunately, she began having trouble with her record company. She got stuck in a dispute, and was unable to release any more records. Her next album wouldn't come out until 1982. From that point on, she went all in on the blues, and put out many more albums in the blues style. Tracks 8 through 14 are from 1973 and 1974, and mostly consist of songs she wanted to put out on her next album. Those didn't come out until the "What Memories We Make" compilation mentioned above.

While having a music career, Gillespie also was pursuing a movie career. She certainly had the looks to be a big star. When she was blocked from making more records, she spent most of the rest of the 1970s as an actress. She landed some prominent roles, but never became a big star in that field either. The last song here is from a 1976 movie. 

One final thing. Here's an article from the Guardian about Gillespie's very interesting life. It's worth a read:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/12/bowie-bed-hopping-and-the-blues-the-wild-times-of-dana-gillespie

This album is 58 minutes long.

01 Mother, Don't Be Frightened (Dana Gillespie)
02 Andy Warhol (Dana Gillespie)
03 Never Knew (Dana Gillespie)
04 All Cut Up on You (Dana Gillespie)
05 Lavender Hill (Dana Gillespie)
06 Everything's Alright (Dana Gillespie with Stephen Tate & Paul Nicholas)
07 I Don't Know How to Love Him (Dana Gillespie)
08 Hold on to Your Fire (Dana Gillespie)
09 Man Size Job (Dana Gillespie)
10 Stoke the Engine (Dana Gillespie)
11 Goin' Crazy with the Blues (Dana Gillespie)
12 Say Goodnight to the Night (Dana Gillespie)
13 Do the Spin (Dana Gillespie)
14 Gone at the Game (Dana Gillespie)
15 Celandine's Blues (Dana Gillespie)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/LAAK3hDd 

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/I0tgLutyB6aSxSK/file

The cover image is from a 1968 movie called "The Lost Continent." The original picture I found was in black and white, but I colorized it. She also had some dirty smudges on her skin, which I removed in Photoshop. 

Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters - WLIR Ultrasonic Concert Series, Ultrasonic Recording Studios, Hempstead, NY, 10-1-1973

I recently posted a couple of concert albums by Chick Corea and his band Return to Forever, and John McLaughlin and his band the Mahavishnu Orchestra (as I write this in August 2026). I'm not into that kind of jazz. But I do want to post all the worthy concerts from certain concert series, and I know other people do like this kind of music. So here's a Herbie Hancock concert from that same time period, the early 1970s, as part of the WLIR Ultrasonic Concert Series.

Hancock has to be one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time. A lot of that has to do with his 1973 album "Head Hunters." On this album, he switched styles, combining instrumental jazz with funk more than he had on any previous album. Here's what the Wikipedia entry about the album has to say about how it was received by the public: "The album was a commercial and artistic breakthrough for Hancock, crossing over to funk and rock audiences and bringing jazz-funk and jazz fusion to mainstream attention, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard 200. Today the album is regarded as a landmark of fusion and has influenced artists in numerous other genres." In fact, it went Platinum, and became the best selling jazz album of all time, up until that point.

That album was released on October 26, 1973. This concert took place on October 1st. So Hancock had his new band, the Head Hunters, and his new funk-jazz style, but I guess the audience wasn't familiar with his style until they heard it in this concert.  

The sound quality is excellent. However, there was a problem with the recording in that there was a lot of hiss. But that kind of thing is easily fixed these days. I ran all the songs through the MVSEP audio editing program, and got rid of most of the hiss. I'm assuming this sounds better than any previous versions of this bootleg. 

This album is 57 minutes long. 

01 talk by emcee (Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters)
02 The Spook Who Sat by the Door [Instrumental] (Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters)
03 talk (Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters)
04 Butterfly [Instrumental] (Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters)
05 Sly [Instrumental] (Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters)
06 Chameleon [Instrumental] (Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/vaEwA778

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/80bsDdTfQjnBjjZ/file

The cover image of Hancock is from an unknown concert in 1973.

Various Artists - The Best of the Rest, Volume 1, Ebbets Field, Denver, CO, 1973-1974

I previously said I was almost done with posting music from Ebbets Field radio broadcasts, but I'm not quite done. I've made two compilations of all the songs that are available with excellent sound quality, from a variety of musical acts. Here's the first of those compilations.

The reason we have these songs is because in the 2000s, KCUV-FM, a Colorado radio station, released four albums containing songs from Ebbets Field concerts. The first one was called "Live From Ebbets Field Vol. 2: 1973-1976," and the others just changed volume numbers. These were obscure, local releases to begin with, and then soon went out of print, so now they're almost impossible to find as albums. But luckily, someone put all the songs on the Internet, so I was able to get them. I went through all the albums, and removed the songs that I included on full concert albums. Then I sorted the remainder chronologically.

It's remarkable to think that all of these concerts were broadcast in full on Colorado radio stations in the 1970s, yet those concert recordings now seem to be lost. Then there's an equal number on "The Best of the Rest, Volume 2," plus still more radio broadcasts that weren't even selected for these compilations. In fact, it's known that about 300 such concerts from that venue were broadcast in the 1970s! I've posted 70 concerts from there. This volume and the following one contain songs from another couple dozen. So that leaves recordings for another 200 concerts that must exist somewhere, in excellent sound quality. The fact that two previously unknown Ian Matthews concerts came out on an archival box set this year (2026) is an encouraging sign that somebody out there still has at least some of them and could release them if someone pays the licensing fees. Let's hope more get to the public somehow.

By the way, if any of you have any recordings from this venue that I've missed, please step forward with them, so I can post them! A commenter recently said they have a full Wendy Waldman concert and offered to share it with me, but since then I never heard back from that person. (If you're out there, please do share, it's never too late.) 

If you want the dates of the concerts for these songs, please check the mp3 tags. All that information is there. The only thing I want to say about the below songs is that although I've posted a Peter Frampton concert from Ebbets Field, the Frampton song here is not from that. The one I posted is a 1975 concert, but the song here is from a 1974 concert. 

This album is 58 minutes long.

01 A Whiter Shade of Pale (New York Rock Ensemble)
02 The Lodger (Peter Frampton)
03 Hello, Hello (Sopwith Camel)
04 Steppin' Out (Joan Armatrading)
05 Ridgetop (Jesse Colin Young)
06 Wild Thing (Chip Taylor)
07 Carolina Day (Livingston Taylor)
08 Wabash Cannonball (Doc & Merle Watson)
09 Blackbird (Kenny Rankin)
10 The Ballad of Curtis Loew (Al Kooper)
11 Fare Forward Voyagers (John Fahey)
12 Down Drinking at the Bar (Loudon Wainwright III)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/uF3yCdFz

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/RwbHCPyDdmKOXAU/file

Since this is a "various artists" album, I wanted to do something different for the cover art. I was able to find very, very few photos from inside the Ebbets Field venue. Here is one. Instead of looking at the stage, it shows the audience in their bleacher seats covered with the venue's notorious orange shag carpet. I'm not sure which concert this is from exactly, but I think it's from one by the Ramones in early 1977.

Unfortunately, I don't have any audio recording from any Ramones concert held here, just this photo.  

The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Ebbets Field, Denver, CO, 4-3-1973

If you thought I was done posting concerts sourced from Ebbets Field radio broadcasts, I'm not. I've been distracted this last week working like a demon on the "Maximum Wall" Pink Floyd project, so I haven't been posting much. But I'm glad to say that's nearly finished. Now, I'm just waiting for feedback from a few people. I don't have many more of these Ebbets Field recordings, but I do have about ten more. 

Some of those are because I decided I wanted to be thorough and post all the ones I could find, even if they're of music I don't like much. This is one that doesn't really appeal to me. I'm not into serious instrumental jazz (although I do like vocal jazz). But hey, I'm sure there are some people out there will appreciate this, so this is for you. It's the Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by lead guitarist John McLaughlin.

Here's the Wikipedia intro about this band:

"The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 and from 1984 to 1987. With its first line-up consisting of McLaughlin, drummer Billy Cobham, keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jerry Goodman, and bassist Rick Laird, the band received acclaim for its complex, intense music consisting of a blend of Indian classical music, jazz, and psychedelic rock as well as its dynamic live performances between 1971 and 1973. Many members of the band have gone on to acclaimed careers of their own in the jazz and jazz fusion genres."

Since this isn't really my cup of tea, I won't say much more. But here's the rest of the Wikipedia article:

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Wikipedia

I only had one problem when getting ready to post this album: the last song, "Dawn," got cut off before the end. About the last five minutes were missing. So I found another soundboard bootleg version, from Buffalo, New York in January 1973, and I used that to fill in the last few minutes. That's why that one song has "[Edit]" in its title.

As far as I can tell, this recording is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent.  

01 talk (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
02 Meeting of the Spirits [Instrumental] (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
03 Open Country Joy [Instrumental] (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
04 talk (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
05 The Dance of Maya [Instrumental] (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
06 talk (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
07 Dawn [Instrumental] [Edit] (Mahavishnu Orchestra)

This album is an hour and five minutes long. 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/qh28KWnr

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/o1WSPhKhdYCDfwt/file

The cover image shows John McLaughlin in a Mahavishnu Orchestra concert, in Shibuya Kokaido Hall, , Tokyo, Japan, on September 19, 1973.

Covered: Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff, Volume 2: 1970-1973

I haven't posted much at this blog in recent days, but for a very good reason: I've been fully focused on finishing the "Maximum Wall" version of Pink Floyd's "The Wall." It's still some days away from completion, but the end is very much in sight. Fabio from Rio has helped greatly in adding a visual aspect to an accompanying booklet that has now grown to over 150 pages! I'm hoping the final product will blow your socks off.

Luckily, I had a bunch of albums mostly ready to be posted in preparation for my vacation, and I still have some of those to post. So here's another one. Let's continue with the "Covered" albums by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, usually just called "Gamble and Huff." Here's the second volume out of four.

By 1970, Gamble and Huff had enough of a track record of writing and producing soul music hits that they were ready to start their own record company. So they created Philadelphia International. It was backed by CBS Records, and distributed by them. This new company was up and running by 1971. Soon, they were having even more hits, and bigger hits too.

At the same time Gamble and Huff and Philadelphia International were on the rise, Motown Records was self destructing. I've described this in other write-ups. But, in short, it seems label owner Berry Gordy grew tired of the music business and wanted to become a multimedia company, with much more focus on T.V. and movies. So he moved the company from Detroit to Los Angeles, and lost most of the musical talent along the way. (And yet, for all that, Motown only had a couple of movie successes.) Thus, Philadelphia was able to largely replace Detroit as the place to be for soul music in the early 1970s.

Furthermore, as time went on, Gamble and Huff began to develop an increasingly distinctive style.  Here's how it is described in their Wikipedia entry: "Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia soul sound evolved from the simpler arrangements of the late-1960s into a style featuring lush strings, thumping basslines, and sliding hi-hat rhythms - elements that soon became the distinguishing characteristics of a new style of music called disco."

Some hits here were massive. For instance, "Me and Mrs. Jones," "Love Train," and "TSOP [The Sound of Philadelphia]" weren't just Number Ones on the U.S. soul singles charts, they were Number Ones on the U.S pop charts as well! Furthermore, they had many more hits than this. I just selected the cream of the crop, so these albums would have wider appeal.

All through this time period, the Gamble and Huff songwriting partnership was going strong. The vast majority of the songs here were written by the two of them, and with nobody else. However, occasionally there were additional songwriters. For instance, "Drowning in the Sea of Love" was also written by Joe Simon, and a songwriter named Cary Gilbert helped write "Me and Mrs. Jones." 

This album is 54 minutes long.

01 Get Me Back on Time, Engine Number 9, Part 1 (Wilson Pickett)
02 Drowning in the Sea of Love (Joe Simon)
03 I'll Do Anything [He Wants Me To] (Doris Troy)
04 Back Stabbers (O'Jays)
05 Me and Mrs. Jones (Billy Paul)
06 One Night Affair (Jerry Butler)
07 When the World's at Peace (O'Jays)
08 If You Don't Know Me by Now (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
09 Power of Love (Joe Simon)
10 Love Train (O'Jays)
11 Am I Black Enough for You (Billy Paul)
12 I'll Always Love My Mama (Intruders)
13 Break Up to Make Up (Stylistics)
14 The Love I Lost, Part 1 (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
15 Put Your Hands Together (O'Jays)
16 TSOP [The Sound of Philadelphia] (MFSB with the Three Degrees)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/EjhUcS2T

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/qf93VFHAlUX1weE/file

The cover image is from 1973. I moved the two people closer using Photoshop. Also, the original picture was in black and white. But I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program. That's Huff on the left and Gamble on the right.

The Carpenters - Singles Uncovered, Volume 2: 1972-1976 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

The day before yesterday, I posted "Volune 1" in this series of Carpenters albums made by guest poster Mike Solof. This is the second volume, and the third volume will be coming very soon. 

As mentioned in the write-up for "Volume 1," this blog has already posted some different attempts to strip the Carpenters' music of excessive production and get it back to basics, especially Karen Carpenter's voice. But Mike has taken a different approach. He used his editing skills to get rid of most of the strings and excessive backing vocals, but still keep guitar, bass, and drums, as well as the lead vocals.

Also, note that while this is called "Singles Uncovered," that's not strictly true. Most single A-sides from this time are included. But there are some that Mike didn't like so he left them off. And I think they're also are some non-singles that he did like that he included.

This album is one hour long.

01 It's Going to Take Some Time (Carpenters)
02 Goodbye to Love (Carpenters)
03 Road Ode (Carpenters)
04 I Won't Last a Day without You (Carpenters)
05 Top of the World (Carpenters)
06 Sing (Carpenters)
07 This Masquerade (Carpenters)
08 Yesterday Once More (Carpenters)
09 Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Carpenters)
10 Please, Mr. Postman (Carpenters)
11 Only Yesterday (Carpenters)
12 Happy (Carpenters)
13 Solitaire (Carpenters)
14 Love Me for What I Am (Carpenters)
15 Tryin' to Get That Feeling Again (Carpenters)
16 There's a Kind of Hush (Carpenters)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/MY3dHuzL 

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/2TR4KryTZswXVd9/file

The cover image was chosen by Mike. I don't know the details.

Covered: Brian Wilson, Volume 1: 1963-1978 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

June 11th marks the first anniversary of the passing of musical genius Brian Wilson (1942–2025), who would have turned 84 on June 20th had he still been with us. This seems like the perfect moment to post "Covered" albums devoted to this extraordinary songwriter. Since Brian is, of course, closely associated with the Beach Boys, the "Covered: Brian Wilson" collection also serves as an indirect tribute to the legendary vocal group, highlighting the enormous influence they have had on generations of musicians since the 1960s.

This collection is another collaboration with Fabio from Rio. He is a devoted Beach Boys fan and, in fact, his first guest post here was a tribute to Brian Wilson, written and published just days after Brian’s death one year ago. You can find it here:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2025/06/various-artists-songs-in-key-of-brian.html

It is therefore no surprise that he embraced this project wholeheartedly and came up with hundreds of potential covers, which were eventually trimmed down to exactly 100 tracks spread across five volumes. These 100 recordings represent 98 different compositions, since we made minor exceptions to my usual policy of avoiding duplicate songs by including two versions each of "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations", which will appear in later volumes.

Most of the songs here were not hits in their cover versions or at least were not big hits. But there is one important exception: “Surf City” was a Number One hit in the US in 1963 for Jan and Dean. The song was written by Wilson and Jan Berry of Jan and Dean fame. However, even though a lot of these were not the big hits, they were intended to be, it shows that Wilson’s songs were being widely covered practically from the very beginning of his career with The Beach Boys in 1962.

Note that during The time period of this album, 1963 to 1978, Wilson wrote or cowrote dozens of hit songs for the Beach Boys. Fabio and I were careful to never use the Beach Boys versions or solo Brian Wilson versions, but only covers by other musical acts. It just so happens that many of the best covers of those hits from this time come later. So if you don’t see some of your favorite songs, just wait to see what we come up with for the later volumes.

Out of these 23 tracks here, only 12 were recorded by the Beach Boys around the time of their first release. The remaining 11 tracks were originally recorded by other artists, demonstrating that Brian's talent was not limited to his own group.

These are the non-Beach Boys tracks: 

01 Drag City (Jan & Dean)

02 He's a Doll (Honeys)

03 Surf City (Jan & Dean)

04 The One You Can't Have (Honeys)

06 The New Girl in School (Jan & Dean)

08 Guess I'm Dumb (Glen Campbell)

13 Time to Get Alone (Redwood)

17 Good Time (American Spring)

19 Sweet Mountain (American Spring)

20 Had to Phone Ya (American Spring)

23 Almost Summer (Celebration)

A few of those songs - tracks 13, 17, and 20 - were later done by the Beach Boys. And Celebration was a side project for Beach Boys singer Mike Love.

Particularly noteworthy are the Honeys / American Spring (a.k.a. Spring), which together are represented here by five songs. The Honeys were a pop group formed by sisters Marilyn Rovell (later Marilyn Wilson), Diane Rovell, and Barbara Rovell (the latter eventually replaced by their cousin, Ginger Blake). In many ways, they were a female counterpart to the Beach Boys. They were discovered by Gary Usher at a talent show in 1961. Usher eventually introduced them to Brian, who renamed the group and began dating Marilyn. The couple married in December 1964.

The Honeys dissolved in 1970 when Ginger left the group to pursue a solo career. Marilyn and Diane then formed Spring, and later added "American" to the band's name after encountering trademark issues with a British group of the same name that threatened legal action. American Spring released a single album in 1972, produced by Brian Wilson, and recorded several additional tracks in 1977–1978 for a second album that was never released. Some of these recordings would later appear on compilations and anthologies. "Had to Phone Ya," recorded before the Beach Boys' own version, is one such example. 

This album is one hour long.

01 Drag City (Jan & Dean)
02 He's a Doll (Honeys)
03 Surf City (Jan & Dean)
04 The One You Can't Have (Honeys)
05 You're So Good to Me (Fireballs)
06 The New Girl in School (Jan & Dean)
07 Don't Worry Baby (Ivy League)
08 Guess I'm Dumb (Glen Campbell)
09 Here Today (Bobby Vee)
10 I'm Waiting for the Day (Peanut)
11 Don't Talk [Put Your Head on My Shoulder] (Carmen McRae)
12 The Little Girl I Once Knew (Bystanders)
13 Time to Get Alone (Redwood)
14 Aren't You Glad (Peggy March)
15 Darlin' (Paper Dolls)
16 Friends (Chicks)
17 Good Time (American Spring)
18 Vegetables (Jan & Dean)
19 Sweet Mountain (American Spring)
20 Had to Phone Ya (American Spring)
21 Sail On Sailor (KGB)
22 Breakaway (Wildfire)
23 Almost Summer (Celebration)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ypFoz44W

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/DdA0Xae8n72zlKI/file

The cover image is from 1964.

Covered: George Harrison, Volume 2: 1972-1989

Here's the second volume out of six "Covered" albums celebrating the songwriting of George Harrison.

When this album starts, in 1972, Harrison was seemingly on top of the world. His 1970 solo album "All Things Must Pass" was a huge critical and commercial success, hitting Number One in the U.S., Britain, and many countries. It surprised many by outselling the solo albums of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. 

For the first half of the 1970s, Harrison maintained a very active musical career. In addition to putting out his own solo albums, he produced and/or played on albums by other musical acts. We can see that here, especially with his help for fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr. There are no less than five songs here performed by Starr. 

"Back Off Boogaloo" follows the pattern of "Octopus's Garden" and "It Don't Come Easy" on the previous volume, in that it was solely credited to Starr when in fact it was co-written by Harrison. It was a big hit in 1972, especially in Britain, where it made it all the way to Number Two in the singles chart. But while those two songs I just mentioned are still credited only to Starr, in 2017, the official credits for "Back Off Boogaloo" changed to be a co-write with Harrison.

The same pattern continued for Starr's next big hit, "Photograph," which went all the way to Number One in 1973 in the U.S., Canada, and other countries. But this one was the first one to be officially credited to Starr and Harrison from the very beginning. Like all the other Starr songs mentioned above, it seems Starr started it, but needed a lot of help from Harrison to finish it off. Starr later said he was good at writing a verse or two, and a chorus, but then he often would get stuck. He also said of Harrison helping his songwriting in this era, "I only know three chords and he'd stick four more in, and they'd all think I was a genius."

But Harrison also wrote or co-wrote songs for others during this time period: "The Holdup" by David Bromberg, "So Sad (No Love of His Own)" by Alvin Lee and Mylon Lefevre, "Far East Man" by Ron Wood, and "I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)" by Cilla Black. In all those cases, the cover versions included here came first. For "So Sad" and "Far East Man," Harrison released his own versions a year or two later.

Here's a fun fact about the version of "Something" by James Brown. That great song has been covered around 1,000 times, making it one of the most covered songs of all time. But Harrison said that Brown's version was his favorite out of all the covers he'd heard. In an interview many years later, he said, "There are a lot of really good versions of 'Something.' But the one that is just a killer, and nobody even knows about it except for a few friends of mine, is the James Brown version of it. He put it out as the flip side to a revamped version of 'Think.' And you gotta play it, it's just unbelievable." He even sent Brown a postcard complimenting him on it and suggesting that it should be released as an A-side instead.

Unfortunately, in the mid-1970s, Harrison lost a lot of the passion he'd had for his music career up until then. Here's a quote taken from a Wikipedia article: "Writing for Rolling Stone in 2002, Mikal Gilmore commented that 'the crises [Harrison] faced in the mid-1970s changed him,' and that depression was a key factor. Depression permeated many of the songs that Harrison wrote during this period, an issue that was not helped by his continued heavy drinking and cocaine use." As a result, he mostly stopped writing songs for others, and put out fewer albums himself. This trend deepened in the 1980s, when he only put out three studio albums, compared to six in the 1970s (with one of them being a double album).

As a result, Harrison's music didn't get the same attention in the 1980s, so there weren't as many covers. That's especially the case since he did very little to promote his career. The only concert tour he took in the 1970s and 1980s was in 1974. Only the last three songs here are from the 1980s. One of those, by the way, "Run So Far," was written for a 1989 album by Eric Clapton. However, Harrison's own version would be released in 2002.

This album is one hour long. 

01 Back Off Boogaloo (Ringo Starr)
02 What Is Life (Olivia Newton-John)
03 The Holdup (David Bromberg)
04 Photograph (Ringo Starr)
05 Something (James Brown)
06 Don't Let Me Wait Too Long (Rotten to the Core)
07 You and Me [Babe] (Ringo Starr)
08 I'd Have You Anytime (Ralfi Pagan)
09 So Sad [No Love of His Own] (Alvin Lee & Mylon Lefevre)
10 Sunshine Life for Me [Sail Away Raymond] (Ringo Starr)
11 Far East Man (Ron Wood)
12 I'll Still Love You [When Every Song Is Sung] (Cilla Black)
13 Dark Horse (Thomas Harris)
14 Wrack My Brain (Ringo Starr)
15 Cloud Nine (Gary B.B. Coleman)
16 Run So Far (Eric Clapton)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/PETt92E9 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/dkyCmpiTQNxZADj/file

The cover image is from the 1970s, but I don't know the exact year. 

Zephyr with Tommy Bolin - Art's Bar and Grill, Boulder, CO, 5-2-1973

Mere minutes ago, I posted a concert of Zephyr with Tommy Bolin performed at the Ebbets Field venue in Denver, Colorado, in May, 1973. I'm posting this similar one immediately thereafter because I actually strongly recommend you listen to this one instead, unless you're a die-hard fan and want both. The issue is sound quality. The two concerts are similar, but this one sounds much better.

I gave a lot of explanation to the Ebbets Field concert I just posted that also applies here. But I guess I'll give a quick summary for those who didn't read the write-up for that album. The band Zephyr was formed in 1968 in the Boulder, Colorado area. Candy Givens was a charismatic lead singer and Tommy Bolin was an exceptionally talented lead guitarist. Bolin left the band in 1971 after two albums. The band continued without him, releasing another album in 1972.

Then, in the summer of 1973, Bolin had some free time between commitments for his band at the time, the James Gang. So he agreed to play a handful of reunion concerts with Zephyr, just in the Boulder and Denver area. This concert was professionally recorded, and officially released in 1997 under the name "Zephyr Live at Art's Bar and Grill May 2, 1973." As I write this in 2026, it's the only officially released Zephyr live album.

So, since this has been officially released, why am I posting it? That goes against my usual policy. It's because there was a serious flaw to the official release: the lead vocals were so low in the mix, they were almost inaudible. Here's a fan review I found of this album at the Discogs website, that sums up the problem: "Great example of Tommy Bolin's guitar playing. Amazing. Only issue is the mix has poor vocals. Great singer but can't hear her."

I guess in 1997 when this album was released, that problem would have been very difficult to fix. But now, anybody can fix it with ease, due to massive improvements in audio editing technology. So I fixed it. I used the MVSEP program to split the vocals from the instruments. Then I drastically boosted the volume of the vocals, and then merged the two parts back together. The result is like night and day, in my opinion. Before, the album was pretty much unlistenable, unless you treated it as an all instrumental album. But now it sounds just fine, like a well recorded live album from that time period.

So that's why I'm posting this, despite it being officially released. Also, I checked, and that release is out of print. 

If you compare this with the Ebbets Field concert recording, there are some songs performed on that one not performed here, and vice versa. As I said, if you're a big fan, you might want to hear both. But if you only want one, I would definitely make it this one, due to the sound quality. 

This album is an hour and nine minutes long.

01 Just Warming Up [Instrumental] (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
02 Cross the River (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
03 Boom-Ba-Boom [Instrumental] (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
04 Somebody Listen (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
05 Huna Buna (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
06 The Creator Has a Master Plan (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
07 Sail On (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
08 Crazy 'bout You (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
09 Goin' Home (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
10 Hard Chargin' Woman (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ZP8XjRwQ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/rbqOyTHmotcCgfx/file

In 1970, Zephyr appeared on a local PBS TV show, simply called "The Show." Video footage of that performance survives. So I took a screenshot from that video for the cover image. Candy Givens is seen as the lead singer, with Tommy Bolin on guitar behind her.

Zephyr with Tommy Bolin - Ebbets Field, Denver, CO, 5-24-1973

Before I say anything else, I want to warn you about the sound quality here. A big reason I've been prioritizing the posting of concerts from the Ebbets Field venue is due to the consistently high sound quality. But this is an exception. This sounds markedly worse than any other recording from this venue that I've posted so far. I'm guessing it's an audience boot instead of a radio broadcast. So listener beware.

The main draw for this concert is lead guitarist Tommy Bolin, whose reputation has continued to grow since his untimely death in 1976. He was a member of the band Zephyr when that band started out in 1968. The main appeal of the band was that it paired Bolin's obvious guitar talents with the singing of Candy Givens, a woman whose singing had similarities to the singing of Janis Joplin. Zephyr put out albums in 1969 and 1971. They toured the U.S., but they didn't manage to get a commercial breakthrough. In 1971, just after the band's second album was released, Bolin left the band, due to growing personality conflicts in the band. The rest of the band continued without him, releasing another album in 1972.

In the summer of 1973, Bolin was at loose ends. He had joined the band the James Gang early in 1973. But that band had some time off between recording an album and when it would be released in September. Bolin was living in Boulder. Someone came up with the idea of Bolin reuniting with Zephyr for a few concerts just in the Boulder and Denver area. It would just be for fun, and to make a little money, since he was already committed to being a part of the James Gang. So this was one of a very small number of shows. I'm calling it "Zephyr with Tommy Bolin," because while he had been a member, he was no longer a member. 

As it turned out, Zephyr fizzled out shortly after these reunion shows. The band got back together in 1976 and continued onward. However, it only released one more album, in 1982. Then the band ended for good in 1984, when lead singer Candy Givens died of a drug and alcohol overdose.

I was disappointed that this concert doesn't sound very good. I tried to do some audio editing to improve things, but I could only do so much with the raw material. Then I noticed that another one of these reunion shows was actually released as an official live album, the only live album from the band. That release has the informative title "Zephyr Live at Art's Bar and Grill May 2, 1973." As you can see, that took place just three weeks prior to this concert, at a small club in Boulder.

So I gave that album a listen. The sound quality is much better than this one. But there was a fatal flaw: the lead vocals were extremely low in the mix, almost inaudible. So I decided to fix that, and then post that album too. I strongly recommend you actually listen to that album instead of this one, due to the drastically different sound quality. But, since I'm posting all the Ebbets Field concerts I can get my hands on, I'm posting this one too. If you're a real die-hard fan of Zephyr and/or Tommy Bolin, you might want both.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on Zephyr, though it's not very thorough. As I write this in May 2026, it doesn't even mention the 1973 reunion with Bolin.

Zephyr (band) - Wikipedia  

This album is 52 minutes long.

01 Cross the River (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
02 The Locomotion (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
03 Lay Down and Die (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
04 Rock Me, Baby (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
05 Going Home (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
06 The Creator Has a Master Plan (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)
07 Sail On (Zephyr with Tommy Bolin)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/59iXMozo

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/1zqAVNC1EVqMtR9/file

The cover image has major quality issues, just like the music for this album. But I chose it over other options because this is an actual photo taken inside the Ebbets Field venue! It's the first one I've found that fits with one of the albums I want to post. That's Candy Givens playing harmonica with a bandana on her head, and Tommy Bolin on guitar. 

I could have tried to improve this image in various ways, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it since the album has issues anyway.

Howlin' Wolf with Detroit Junior - Ebbets Field, Denver, CO, 8-23-1973

Enjoy your daily dose of Ebbets Field radio broadcasts while they last. Here's a concert by blues legend Howlin' Wolf. I've been wanting to post some music from his for ages, but I didn't have anything I considered worthy. Now, finally, I do. However, be mindful that only the second half of this recording actually features Howlin' Wolf. The first half mostly stars another blues musician, Detroit Junior.

It's important to keep in mind that Howlin' Wolf's health was in a bad way by the time this concert happened. He was only 62 years old in 1973. Sure, that's old, but not so old compared to some blues musicians. For instance, B.B. King performed over 300 concerts a year well into his 80s, and kept touring until one year before his death at the age of 89. But starting in 1969, Wolf had a number of serious health issues. He had a heart attack that year. The next year, he got in a serious car accident that forced him to be on dialysis for the rest of his life. Then in 1971, he had another heart attack. His blood pressure and kidneys kept getting worse. Despite all that, he kept touring occasionally and even increased the number of concerts he did in 1973. He would keep touring in 1974 and 1975 until his health issues just got to be too much. He died in early 1976 at the age of 65.

Due to these many problems, his band leader Eddie Shaw put his foot down and limited Wolf to just six songs per concert. In this concert he only did five songs, but one of them, "Goin' Down Slow," lasted over nine minutes, so that easily counted for two.

I don't want to summarize Wolf's entire career. Here's Wikipedia for that:

Howlin' Wolf - Wikipedia 

Unfortunately, only performing six songs that last a total of about 30 minutes isn't good value for a typical concert-goer, even if it was to see a blues legend. So that's why the first half of the concert was dominated by Wolf's backing band, especially singer and pianist Detroit Junior (birth name Emery Williams, Jr.). He was a reasonably well known blues figure in his own right. Here's his Wikipedia entry, if you want to know more:

Detroit Junior - Wikipedia

Someone else worth a mention is Hubert Sumlin. He didn't do any singing in this concert, but he was the lead guitarist. He joined Wolf's band in 1954, and was basically his musical right hand man for the rest of Wolf's life. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 43 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Here's his entry:

Hubert Sumlin - Wikipedia

Although Wolf's health was failing, he still sounded exactly like you'd expect. In my opinion, 1973 was his last good year before his health problems started to be really noticeable in his music. That was the year he released his last studio album, "The Back Door Wolf," which is an album I quite like.  

This album is 58 minutes long. Just the Howlin' Wolf portion is 28 minutes. 

01 talk by emcee (Detroit Junior)
02 Talk to My Baby (Detroit Junior)
03 talk (Detroit Junior)
04 I Can't Stop Loving You [Instrumental] (Detroit Junior)
05 talk (Detroit Junior)
06 Your Love Is Creeping Away from Me (Detroit Junior)
07 talk (Detroit Junior)
08 Baby Workout (Detroit Junior)
09 talk (Detroit Junior)
10 How Blue Can You Get (Detroit Junior)
11 talk (Detroit Junior)
12 What'd I Say (Detroit Junior)
13 talk (Detroit Junior)
14 Little Red Rooster (Howlin' Wolf)
15 Going Down Slow [Edit] (Howlin' Wolf)
16 talk (Howlin' Wolf)
17 Killing Floor (Howlin' Wolf)
18 talk (Howlin' Wolf)
19 Shake for Me (Howlin' Wolf)
20 talk (Howlin' Wolf)
21 Goodbye Instrumental (Howlin' Wolf)
22 talk by emcee (Howlin' Wolf)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/qzeCBjBo

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/uOMFPh1ttZRG1L6/file

The cover image is from a concert at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, in the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, on April 12, 1973.

Little Feat - Ebbets Field, Denver, CO, 7-19-1973, Late Show

Yesterday, I posted Little Feat's early show at the Ebbets Field venue in Denver, in 1973. This is the late show.

As I mentioned in my write-up for the early show, it seems this one was the one that was actually broadcast live on a local radio station at the time. The emcee at the end of the early show told the people leaving they could hear the late show with their car radios as they drove home. But this show lacks the usual expected encore because the band was opening for Zephyr, and had run out of time. (Zephyr broke up around 1970, but did a few reunion shows in the Denver area around this time.)

There's some overlap in song selection between the early shows and late shows, with five songs being played in both. But five songs were only played in the early show: "Hamburger Midnight," "On Your Way Down," "Willin'," "Cold, Cold, Cold," and "Fat Man in the Bathtub." Meanwhile, six songs were only played in the late show: "A Apolitical Blues," "The Fan," "Texas Rose Cafe," "Snakes on Everything," "Cat Fever," and "Sailin' Shoes."

This album is an hour long.

01 talk (Little Feat)
02 A Apolitical Blues (Little Feat)
03 Two Trains (Little Feat)
04 Got No Shadow (Little Feat)
05 The Fan (Little Feat)
06 talk (Little Feat)
07 Texas Rose Cafe (Little Feat)
08 talk (Little Feat)
09 Snakes on Everything (Little Feat)
10 talk (Little Feat)
11 Cat Fever (Little Feat)
12 talk (Little Feat)
13 Walkin' All Night (Little Feat)
14 talk (Little Feat)
15 Sailin' Shoes (Little Feat)
16 Dixie Chicken (Little Feat)
17 Tripe Face Boogie (Little Feat)
18 talk (Little Feat)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/4Ca8kMnq

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/Cor6zSPJrrheyHK/file

The cover image focusing on band member Lowell George is from an episode of the "Midnight Special" TV show, broadcast on August 9, 1974. I wanted to have a picture of the band in 1973, but there were surprisingly few of those, and none that were very good. I used the same source for the early show.