Kevin Gilbert - Covers (1986-1996) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's the third and last album that make up guest poster Mike Solof's collections of his favorite songs from the music career of Kevin Gilbert. The first two albums focused on original songs, but this one consists entirely of cover versions.

As I mentioned in my write-up for the first album in this series, Gilbert often mixed a catchy pop sensibility in his songs with the musical complexity of prog rock. As a result, he especially liked prog rock type bands that also had some pop appeal. Probably his favorite band of all was Genesis. In fact, he was such a Genesis fan that he once performed the entirety of the Genesis double album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" in concert! This album contains three Genesis covers, as well as some other prog rock songs that are almost never covered by anyone, such as "Siberian Khatru" by Yes and "Karn Evil 9" by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. And yet we can see Gilbert's pop side as well, with covers of songs like "The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band and "If I Fell" by the Beatles. Definitely interesting stuff here.

As usual, Mike has included a PDF in the download zip that has more information and photos and such. But note that it's the same PDF as in the other two Kevin Gilbert albums he put together. 

This album is 60 minutes long.

Here's a list of the original musical acts for each of the songs here: 

01 Suite- Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills and Nash
02 Firth of Fifth - Genesis
03 The Joker - Steve Miller Band
04 Rendezvous 602 - U.K.
05 Back in NYC - Genesis
06 Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
07 Rocket Man - Elton John (with Pink Floyd intro)
08 Siberian Khatru - Yes
09 If I Fell - Beatles
10 Karn Evil 9 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
11 The Musical Box - Genesis 

And here's the usual song list: 

01 Suite- Judy Blue Eyes (Toy Matinee)
02 Firth of Fifth (Kevin Gilbert & Mickey Sorey)
03 The Joker (Kevin Gilbert)
04 UK Suite [Rendezvous 6-02 - Danger Money - Caesar's Palace Blues] (Kevin Gilbert & Mickey Sorey)
05 Back in N.Y.C. (Kevin Gilbert)
06 Kashmir (Kevin Gilbert)
07 Rocket Man (Toy Matinee)
08 Siberian Khatru (Kevin Gilbert)
09 If I Fell (Toy Matinee)
10 Karn Evil 9 (Kevin Gilbert)
11 The Musical Box (Giraffe)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/mvhs6yEL

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/o1G0R8xtPXiJqQL/file

I believe I found the cover image in an Instagram post. It had some distracting things on it, like some text added on top. But I wiped that out using Photoshop. I don't know exactly when or where it's from. 

Kevin Gilbert - Rarities (1985-1996) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's the second out of three "best of" albums guest posted Mike Solof has made for singer-songwriter Kevin Gilbert. The first album, "Originals," focuses on Mike's favorite songs that were on Gilbert's studio albums (including albums for bands he led, such as Toy Matinee). This one digs deeper. 

Considering that Gilbert's music career only lasted about ten years, he created a remarkable amount of music. He only put out a few albums in his lifetime. But since his death in 1996, a couple dozen more albums have come out! Gilbert was one of those musicians, like Prince, who played practically every instrument he could get his hands on, and was always writing and creating. So there was a ton of rare material for Mike to draw on when making this album. (As usual, look to the mp3 tags for all the details on the sources of the songs.)

One interesting highlight of this album is "Leaving Las Vegas." That was a big hit for Sheryl Crow. But Gilbert co-wrote it, as well as co-writing most of the songs on Crow's debut album, "Tuesday Night Music Club." The two of them were romantically linked for a while, and Crow was a member of Gilbert's band for a time.  

Like Mike always does with his guest posts, he's created a PDF file with additional comments and photos and so forth. In this case, the PDF is the same for all three Gilbert "best of" albums he made.  

This album is 59 minutes long. 

01 National Public Radio (Kevin Gilbert)
02 Things She Said [Jazz Version] (Kevin Gilbert)
03 Circling Winds (Kevin Gilbert)
04 Goodbye L.A. (Kevin Gilbert)
05 Suit Fugue [Dance of the A & R Men] [Early Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)
06 God's Been Tapping My Phone (Kevin Gilbert)
07 Queen of Misery (Toy Matinee)
08 KMTT Jingle (Kevin Gilbert)
09 Leaving Las Vegas (Kevin Gilbert)
10 Tea for One [Sax Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)
11 Something Nice for My Dog (Kevin Gilbert)
12 Late for Dinner [Dark Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)
13 Souvenir (Kevin Gilbert)
14 Finally Over You (Kevin Gilbert)
15 All Fall Down [Toto Version] (Kevin Gilbert)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/N98cVBGz

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/pzxlRnsVOmw60ea/file

I don't know the details of where or when the cover image is from. It was selected by Mike. 

Kevin Gilbert - Originals (1984-1996) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's a really interesting album put together by guest poster Mike Solof. Have you ever heard of Kevin Gilbert? If you have, congrats, because he's not as well known as he sound be. Mike is a huge fan of Gilbert's music, so much so that he put together three albums to showcase Gilbert's musical talent. The first album, this one, consists of the original songs Mike considers the best. Then he's made another one of the best rarities, and a third one of the best cover versions. If you want to get started, this is the obvious first album to listen to. Then, if you're interested, check out the other two. (Then, hopefully, more than that.)

For a quick overview, I'll quote the intro paragraph to his Wikipedia entry, which states me "was an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and producer. He was best known for his solo progressive rock projects, Toy Matinee, and his contributions to 'Tuesday Night Music Club' (1993), the debut studio album of Sheryl Crow. Kevin Gilbert died from autoerotic asphyxiation. He was found dead at his Los Angeles-area home on May 18, 1996, at the age of 29."

Here's the link to the rest of the Wikipedia page:

Kevin Gilbert (musician) - Wikipedia

I have to admit I wasn't familiar with Gilbert's music before Mike made these albums, although I'd previously heard good things about his career here and there. After hearing the albums Mike made, I have to agree that Gilbert was a very talented musician who deserves to be much better known than he is. He often combined a catchy pop sensibility with the complexity of prog rock. That is a very difficult combination to pull off. It's a real shame he died so young, and the strange manner of his death probably didn't help his musical legacy.

Note that this albums combines songs from Gilbert's solo albums, as well as songs he did with bands he was in: Giraffe, Toy Matinee, and Kaviar. All the lead vocals are by Gilbert. 

Anyway, Mike has written extensive notes about Gilbert, his life, and why he likes his music so much. You can find that in the PDF included with the download zip, as usual for Mike's guest posts. 

This album is an hour and 23 minutes long. 

01 When Strangers Part (Kevin Gilbert)
02 This Warm Night (Giraffe)
03 Air Dance (Giraffe)
04 Tired Old Man Suite (Kevin Gilbert)
05 Last Plane Out (Toy Matinee)
06 Things She Said (Toy Matinee)
07 The Ballad of Jenny Ledge (Toy Matinee)
08 Goodness Gracious (Kevin Gilbert)
09 Shadow Self [Alternate Version] (Kevin Gilbert)
10 Miss Broadway (Kevin Gilbert)
11 Single (Kaviar)
12 The Sultan of Brunei (Kaviar)
13 The Best Laid Plans (Kevin Gilbert)
14 Certifiable No. 1 Smash (Kevin Gilbert)
15 All Fall Down [Alternate Horn Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GvEgk98D

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/BNCnBxCFRjJRq5o/file

I don't know the details of the cover image. It was found by Mike.

Dan Fogelberg - Best of Live: 1974-1995 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

I just posted a "best of" album guest poster Mike Solof made of his favorite studio tracks by singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. He wanted to divide his music up into a studio best of and a live best of, so here's the companion live best of.

Mike is a really big fan of Fogelberg's music and is making these to help me, and others like you, better enjoy his music. As he usually does, Mike made a PDF with more information and pictures, which is included in the download zip. I encourage you to give that a look. It's the exact same one as for the studio best of.

For the studio best of, all the songs are officially released, and usually from his studio albums. For this one, most of the songs come from official live albums as well. But four of the songs here come from bootlegs. Specifically, tracks 10, 11, 13, and 16. But they're excellent sounding ones, just as good as the live albums.

By the way, Fogelberg's last concert was for the "PBS Soundstage" concert in 2003. (He died of cancer in 2007 at the age of 56.) I would really like to post that here, but I've only found a few songs from it on YouTube. If anyone has all of it, please let me know. Thanks. 

This album is an hour and 13 minutes long. 

01 Songbird (Dan Fogelberg)
02 The Power of Gold (Dan Fogelberg)
03 Blow Wind Blow (Dan Fogelberg)
04 Hard to Say (Dan Fogelberg)
05 Innocent Age (Dan Fogelberg)
06 Looking for a Lady (Dan Fogelberg)
07 Once upon a Time (Dan Fogelberg)
08 Make Love Stay (Dan Fogelberg)
09 The Chauvinist Song (Dan Fogelberg)
10 Morning Sky (Dan Fogelberg)
11 Someone's Been Telling You Stories (Dan Fogelberg)
12 Part of the Plan (Dan Fogelberg)
13 talk (Dan Fogelberg)
14 Song from Half Mountain (Dan Fogelberg)
15 Souvenir (Dan Fogelberg)
16 To the Morning (Dan Fogelberg)
17 Here Comes the Sun (Dan Fogelberg)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/9q7tK9se

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/QZQOzX6EPddIoQh/file

As with the cover to the studio album, Mike picked this one. I don't know exactly where or when it comes from. 

Dan Fogelberg - Best of Studio: 1974-1987 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Recently, I mentioned to my musical friend Mike Solof that I wasn't very familiar with the music of the band Kansas, other than their big hits. He went and made me a "best of" album, which I've posted here. Then I happened to mention I wasn't familiar with the music of Dan Fogelberg either, again other than the big hits. So boom, once again he made me a "best of." I really need to be careful about what I say around Mike, it seems, or my music collection will keep growing too much! ;)

It turns out Mike is a very big fan of Fogelberg's music, just like he is of the music of Kansas. In fact, he likes Fogelberg's stuff so much that he made two albums. He made a studio album and a live one. As you can see from the title, this is the studio one. The live one will follow shortly.  

As is his habit, Mike has included a PDF to explain his thoughts, as well as provide some good pictures. So please check that out for more information. In this case, the PDF is the same for both the studio and live albums. 

This album is an hour and 12 minutes long. 

01 Nexus (Dan Fogelberg)
02 The Power of Gold (Dan Fogelberg with Tim Weisberg)
03 Lonely in Love (Dan Fogelberg)
04 In the Passage (Dan Fogelberg)
05 Better Change (Dan Fogelberg)
06 Beggar's Game (Dan Fogelberg)
07 Sweet Magnolia [And the Traveling Salesman] (Dan Fogelberg)
08 Tell Me to My Face (Dan Fogelberg with Tim Weisberg)
09 Times like These (Dan Fogelberg)
10 The Reach (Dan Fogelberg)
11 Empty Cages (Dan Fogelberg)
12 Tucson, Arizona [Gazette] (Dan Fogelberg)
13 As the Raven Flies [Alternate Version] (Dan Fogelberg)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/2MFP7NnJ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/ZhEqShKlvNQ1RV8/file

The cover image was selected by Mike. I don't know exactly where or when it's from.

Kansas - Best Of / Sampler (1974-1980) (A MIKE SOLOF GUEST POST)

Here's an album that came into being as a result of the Kansas concert that was posted here a few days ago. After guest poster Mike Solof suggested making an album of a concert from Kansas's 1979 Monolith tour, I agreed, but I mentioned that I was really familiar with the band's music. I only knew their big hits, especially "Dust in the Wind" and "Carry On Wayward Son." He really likes the band and thought that was a shame, so he offered to make a "best of" type album for newbies like me. I agreed again, and suggested that he post that on my blog too.

He went ahead and did that, so here we are. Of course, there are official "best of" albums for the band already. But Mike felt none of those had the ideal selection of songs that he wanted. He focused on just their 1970s heyday, because in the early 1980s they lost key members and became a kind of Christian rock band for a while, before returning to their roots (and getting some key members back) later in the decade. 

If you want to know more, Mike has made a PDF with his explanation, as he usually does. If you think some essential songs were left off, or there are songs that shouldn't have been included, leave a comment. Perhaps Mike will make an updated version.

Unusually for this blog, everything here is released and from the studio albums. But hopefully this is a sampler that will inspire some people to dive deeper into the Kansas catalog. 

This album is an hour and four minutes long. 

Before I get to the usual song list, here's the song list with names of the albums each song is from, and the year that album was released: 

01 Song for America - Song for America (1975)
02 Journey from Mariabronn - Kansas (1974)
03 Down the Road - Kansas (1974)
04 Carry On Wayward Son - Leftoverture (1976)
05 The Wall - Leftoverture (1976)
06 Miracles Out of Nowhere - Leftoverture (1976)
07 Point of Know Return - Point of Know Return (1977)
08 Dust in the Wind - Point of Know Return (1977)
09 How My Soul Cries Out for You - Monolith (1979)
10 A Glimpse of Home - Monolith (1979)
11 People of the South Wind - Monolith (1979)
12 Loner - Audio-Visions (1980)

And here's the usual song list: 

01 Song for America (Kansas)
02 Journey from Mariabronn (Kansas)
03 Down the Road (Kansas)
04 Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas)
05 The Wall (Kansas)
06 Miracles Out of Nowhere (Kansas)
07 Point of Know Return (Kansas)
08 Dust in the Wind (Kansas)
09 How My Soul Cries Out for You (Kansas)
10 A Glimpse of Home (Kansas)
11 People of the South Wind (Kansas)
12 Loner (Kansas)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/y1GhCvdC

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/h9B4sSiXYzdWPLl/file

Mike found the photo of the band. I don't know the details of where or when it's from. 

Evie Sands - The Best of Evie Sands (1965-1974)

For the most part, I've been posting stray tracks collections from well known artists. However, there's another bunch of albums I could post, which are best of collections from lesser known artists. Some artists have been underappreciated, and often have never had a decent official best of album (if they even had one at all). If there's interest, I could post more albums of this type.

Here's a good example. As far as I know, there never have been any sort of best of representing Evie Sands whatsoever. And that's a real shame, because in a better world, Sands should have been a big star. Looking at the album cover here, it's plain to see that she was gorgeous, and she had a great voice, plus charisma. But making it big in the music business requires some amount of luck, and she never got a lucky break.

You can read about her career in Wikipedia here:

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

But the gist of it is that she recorded many songs that should have been hit singles for her, but weren't for one reason or another. Mostly, her record companies were too small or incompetent. For four different songs, she did the earliest version, but other artists had the hit with it. For instance, she was the very first to record and release "Angel of the Morning," but her record company was going out of business at the time. Later that same year, 1967, another little known singer, Marrliee Rush had a top ten hit single with it, and it has since gone on to be covered by dozens of artists and has been a hit over and over again.

On top of everything else, Sands was a talented guitarist and even evolved into a pretty good songwriter. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of most of her 1970s work, because she fell a victim to the trends of the times, such as disco in the late 1970s. She retired from recording music after that for a long time.

However, she resumed her career in 1999 with the release of the album "Women in Prison." I have this album and I like it a lot. She's gone on to put out more good music since then, unfortunately still in obscurity. She continues to tour and record to this day.

I haven't included any of the music from her latter career, since that's a different kettle of fish, done in a somewhat different style. Her earlier material was done for a variety of different labels, so it's highly unlikely any company will ever gather all the rights together for a good best of album. But here's my version. It's 49 minutes long, and arranged in rough chronological order.

01 I Can't Let Go (Evie Sands)
02 You've Got Me Uptight (Evie Sands)
03 Take Me for a Little While (Evie Sands)
04 Run Home to Your Mama (Evie Sands)
05 Picture Me Gone (Evie Sands)
06 Angel of the Morning (Evie Sands)
07 Billy Sunshine (Evie Sands)
08 But You Know I Love You (Evie Sands)
09 Any Way that You Want Me (Evie Sands)
10 Close Your Eyes, Cross Your Fingers (Evie Sands)
11 It's This I Am (Evie Sands)
12 I'll Hold Out My Hand (Evie Sands)
13 Tell Me How to Feel [Live] (Evie Sands)
14 A Woman's Work Is Never Done (Evie Sands)
15 I Love Makin' Love to You (Evie Sands)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/73wupMDX

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/8xWguAEry4MyF90/file

Sands is so obscure today that I had a hard time finding a decent color photo of her from her younger years. The cover art comes from her 1974 album "Estate of Mind." I cropped it and tweaked with the coloring to make it less reddish.