Various Artists - The O T Band Covers-Influences

Various Artists - The O T Band Covers-Influences

Here is a 52 track compilation of the songs that The O T Band regularly covered/featured in our sets over many years - Classic Blues R&B Soul Funk and some Jazz...mostly the earliest versions B B King, Otis, Muddy Waters, Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Mose Allison, Bobby Bland etc

Get it here as mp3@320 files : https://mega.nz/folder/Td0gDSbJ#yT8vewEg4GCmQK3Vpm4KJg

Hear selections of The O T Band and other earlier groups that I was a member of ...

See Here : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwAB0LnUVu1d5C7nTRUhrBQ/videos

Fuller more extensive examples...available Here : https://soundcloud.com/you/sets

Earl Green - Feel The Fire

Found this just recently on YouTube - All tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-fhI2z9DqU&list=PLin74Obze6fXOfG3M7bzdAQ0t4MM5SQAA&fbclid=IwAR31e-1bpRwhHa2BfPCHrv4TTaevg4pNsh0MusMxosai3DQb1hKKEjx-VQw

1973 - ARDON - Memory Of Our First Regular Gig...

Tonight I picked up an old paperback that I had retrieved from my attic a few days ago, to give it a reread...and a small business card fell out...It was from our first central London residency as ARDON in 1973. It had lay in there for nearly 50 years !


As I remember it the crowds were mostly tourists and we stunned many of them with our loudness energy and youthful testosterone.

I include the book too ! Published 1972...LOL !

ARDON - Morning Dew - This was recorded there :  https://soundcloud.com/user-81292978/morning-dew?in=user-81292978%2Fsets%2Fardon-1972-73-those-were-the-days&fbclid=IwAR1koQTEISbTPuSP8NT-aOZaV-owc1iH3VRNC4_M1C1rujOm9p25inFvUdQ

Cheers Gus

Earl Green 1945 - 2020 R.I.P.

My great friend and vocalist Earl left us after years of suffering incurable illness...He was always at home with wife Val and son Joel and was given the best of loving care until the end...I have so many great memories musical and social, holidays together etc it would take forever to tell...I have been pleased to see many great memories and tributes on the net...I remember going to Blues gigs with Earl in London to see our heroes and every other person would say Hi Earl ! If you saw him live you wouldn't forget him...Here are some images of Earl from my collection to remember him by...

This nice tribute to Earl...Good Morning Blues radio Atlanta USA...The OT's make 2 contributions - Listen here :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQ5KVxKtrE&t=8s&fbclid=IwAR2TAJ_U4KmC19kfD89gJAda7rdfTGndV2FROuZmOg1GNbgvSQlG7YDslrU

The O T Band - O T Scrapbook 1 (1984 - 1996) - Streamed here : https://soundcloud.com/user-81292978/sets/the-o-t-band-o-t-scrapbook-1

Various Artists - All Blues 1920's - 50's

Another of my compilations sourced from my CD collection.  This is the Root for me and these are only some of the heroes of this wonderful music we call The Blues...These are some of my favourite early historical classics ...I left out John Lee Hooker (who I saw live in the 1960's) and Lightning Hopkins and many others, forgotten by todays culture ...- Gus   

Click on the covers to get a clearer view.

Get it here :   https://mega.nz/file/fEl0TKBI#TD65CtfSXXU4a3pTEDDqu1k_XAKFV4knDXTNnW6Swag

Easy Star All-Stars - Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band (2009)

Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective founded in 1997 by Michael Goldwasser, Eric Smith, Lem Oppenheimer and Remy Gerstein of New York City-based Easy Star Records. The band is known for its reinterpretations of classic albums in reggae style. Their first album, released in 2003, was Dub Side of the Moon, an interpretation of Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon. This was followed by Radiodread (2006), an interpretation of Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer; Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band (2009), an interpretation the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; and Easy Star's Thrillah (2012), an interpretation of Michael Jackson's 1982 album Thriller.(Wiki)


Tracklist:
01 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ft. Junior Jazz (2:22)
02 With A Little Help From My Driends ft. Luciano (3:13)
03 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds ft. Frankie Paul (4:33)
04 Getting Better ft. The Mighty Diamonds (3:19)
05 Fixing A Hole ft. Max Romeo (4:57)
06 She's Leaving Home ft. Kirsty Rock (3:09)
07 Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! ft. Ranking Roger (2:34)
08 Within You Without You ft. Matisyahu (5:13)
09 When I'm Sixty-Four ft. Sugar Minott (Extended Dub Mix) (5:34)
10 Lovely Rita ft. Bunny Rugs (4:05)
11 Good Morning Good Morning ft. Steel Pulse (2:49)
12 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (1:24)
13 A Day In The Life ft. Michael Rose and Menny More (5:51)

Don't be put off ...This is a great tribute that works ! The singers are known Reggae stars...I am a big  Beatles fan and this is the best recreation I've heard.  It's uplifting...Try it - Gus

Get it here :   https://mega.nz/file/HM9j0ABS#W6idZmiN07igsp-q8JlRn1lO5nS21_uOjRi_IK5P-u8

Bill Withers - Live at Carnegie Hall (1973)

Live at Carnegie Hall is a live album by American soul singer-songwriter and producer Bill Withers. The album was recorded on October 6, 1972, at Carnegie Hall in New York City and released on April 21, 1973, by Sussex Records as a double LP. On October 28, 1997, it was reissued as a single CD by Columbia/Legacy. (Wiki)

This was a soulful revelation for me back in 1973...A wonderful human being that could express this with his voice and songs...his spoken raps are special too...It's a must have album ! - Gus

R.I.P Brother Bill Withers (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020)

Get it here :  https://mega.nz/file/3d1nHaAI#BisPuYIk_j8Lv6gIzUmV91gj45P70cXfDU34KRn8Smc

Santana - Soul Sacrifice (Woodstock 1969)

This was a monumental inspiration to me back in the day...I was a fan from day one...All of their early albums are great and show real development and creativity...Later I got to see them live in the UK...and they still had that magic - Gus

See it here  : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZceAQSJvc&list=LLwAB0LnUVu1d5C7nTRUhrBQ&index=77&t=0s

The O T Band - She's So Sweet (Bluesette)

This is an original Blues from my band that first appeared on the CD 'Earl Green - Feel The Fire (1996)' but had a longer history, dating back to the early 1970's, when we simply called it 'Bluesette' .
We played it at every gig and it always went down well. It's a bitter-sweet minor Blues sung from the heart. Here is our rendition from 2008.

See/Hear it here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqC8joJT5Ag

Various Artists - Fill Your Head With Rock (1970)

Fill Your Head with Rock (1970) was the third release in the successful CBS Records Rock Machine UK budget sampler album series. 
It broke new ground, by extending the format to a double album, and also featured more UK artists than previous samplers.
Compiler David Howell stated that while the earlier samplers were merely aimed at promoting specific full-price releases, this record was part of a major push to establish the label as "the top label in contemporary music" in the UK, and also to establish the market for double albums. (Wiki)

I bought this double album in 1970 aged 16...I was already into Santana, Johnny Winter, Chicago and Mike Bloomfield (from his Paul Butterfield days) But most of the others I was unfamiliar with...I didn't like it all...But it was a memorable, diverse example of the music we called 'Rock' at the time. It shows the move away from commercial pop to a more serious and adventurous mix that would eventually burn out with the coming of punk/new wave, yet remain influential.
I lost my vinyl copy, somehow, but it stayed in my memory...and I wanted it back !

Years later an internet buddy, grumpy, let me know he had the original double album, ripped it and supplied me with this perfect copy along with cover scans. He was also at the Royal Albert Hall as I was, at some concerts that promoted this CBS records era...Seeing Jerry Goodman on electric violin with Flock was different and exciting (he's the cover guy). I got to see him twice more with The Mahavishnu Orchestra later and it was awesome !
Anyway...thank you grumpy ...I just played it again and it still stands as a classic of its time - Gus

Get this album here :                       https://mega.nz/#!yZ0BSQgR!tksgWmCv3UEbf6DvVE5bTsrj7cPovSvK9FF98S22ea4

The O T Band - Something You Got (live video 2008)

This is a video of The O T Band , that I was a member and guitarist of, and existed as a live band playing the London Blues circuit ,the Pub Rock scene and many other gigs, from 1984 to 2018. This is a track from 2008.

Earl, my great friend and singer, always had New Orleans in his musical heart,,,hearing the music on radio in Jamaica,,,He introduced me vocally to 'Something You Got' and 'Sick And Tired' by Chris Kenner...long before I could get these gems on record to hear the originals. And you could tell he lives these songs.

See/Hear it here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6rcJym7qbM

Various Artists - 60's Sounds 1 & 2

A small selection of some sounds that supplied the soundtrack to my early teenage years in the swinging 60's, London...Concentrating on the more commercial Pop/Rock artists and bands (I have posted an earlier compilation that shows the equally exciting Soulful sounds of the time...Tamla, Atlantic & Stax Records)  ...It was a very creative time...
I saw The Beatles, aged 9 on 8th Dec. 1963 at the Odeon Cinema, Lewisham. They came on stage, Paul counted 1-2-3 and they started with 'I Saw Her Standing There'...everything else was obliterated by female screams...I saw one girl gush a piss...
Now...I feel great to be old enough to tell of a distant wonder !    
On reflection (in my 60's too !)...maybe we were just a little idealistic...(pass that J !) LOL ! 
But...this year my family went to Amsterdam for a weekend...It was so relaxed, and yes the Coffee Shops occupied some of my time...An OAP bald hippie...? - Gus 

Beatles

Byrds

Rolling Stones

Bob Dylan

Manfred Mann

CD1  :  https://mega.nz/#!OJ9jiKYB!KtW0V13CILNNohIPivuPOUv5oDTEBmjYnHnYHra5_10

CD2 :  https://mega.nz/#!LV8VTKKA!QvWD2IwLQNJvE-_4Ro9sQIL-njF02OX1CpLhB1xTcKw

Various Artists - Soundtrack 1

Compilation of some of my memorable nostalgic musical moments made for films, TV etc...Some beautiful, some that will raise a smile...and a good selection to use for a pub quiz...
The atmosphere of track 17 'Medication Valse', takes me back to the hospital/asylum ward of Nurse Ratched, where everybody is in a prescribed-drug-haze except for McMurphy -
( Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest...a classic ! ) 
From my CD's except for track 1 which I got from the net...I had been after this version for years...One of my favourite TV shows as a boy in 1960's London.  
'Dangerman'...better than James Bond !  - Gus  

Get It Here :

 https://mega.nz/#!OI9FxA5T!7MGB1nzA5FuRm1KGZD4mzE2hyBp1EPQWcanWO8c6MnQ

Various Artists - Classic Funk Moods

Graham Central Station

Sly & The Family Stone

Donny Hathaway

Compilation of some Funky Stuff ! From my CD collection - PARRRRTY !!! - Gus

Get it Here : 

 https://mega.nz/#!zMlhWKqJ!vqxmD0yn9GXP2gUdQFwZPjLIwcIKOVyI5kDV5A4ylCo