Very Best Of Pat Suzuki (Fan Mix)

I watched Biloxi Blues a few days ago, and instantly fell in love with the enchanting song on the opening credits. The song is "How High The Moon" by the wonderful Pat Suzuki.
I am so captivated by the song that she is now in my top 20 favorite female vocalists of all time. There was a nice best of on Compact Disc, but the songs were mastered very loud so I felt a fan remix was in order. The volume has been lowered, new EQs given to each song, and a small amount of reverb and stereo reduction has been applied where needed. I also took the liberty of adding stretched versions of "How High The Moon" and "Poor Butterfly".
I hope you will enjoy this album, if so buy a copy when you get a chance. Thankfully she is still alive and performing, so definitely see her if possible. I found five tracks that weren't on the Very Best Of collection so I will offer those under the regular link, they were remastered on Acid Pro.

Download fan mix

More By Pat Suzuki

Woody Herman & The New Third Herd - Men From Mars 10 inch LP

This is a 10 inch album which was purchased by my Mom in England around 1955. I listened to the album since I was very young because I liked the cover illustration so much. I scanned the cover with a friend's camera and figured I would download the songs somewhere quite easily, after all this is the famous Woody Herman. I quickly realized that this is a very rare album, especially for downloading. Fortunately that same friend had just purchased a Roland Edirol recorder so we hooked it up to my Stanton turntable and got down to work. I also looked up recording dates for The Third Herd and proceeded to find a few more tracks which were recorded for the US Verve 12 inch release of this album. I found 5 tracks which were recorded around the same time and by the Third Herd to the best of my knowledge. I really hope you will enjoy this rare gem the way I have over the years. "Marakeesh" is the track that my Mom purchased this album for, and it is a beautiful piece of exotica. The flautist, Sam Staff really shines on this track, and sadly died at age 34 before this album was released in England. This album seems to fit stylistically in between Cool Jazz and Lounge Music, it is bouncy, sophisticated and modern. The title track features an unusual Organ/Electric Piano combination which helps give it a modern otherworldly quality. Woody was in his early 40s around the time he assembled his Third Herd and I think that is reflected in the music here, it is mature, somewhat restrained but forward looking collection.

get it here

The Crazy Beat Of gene Vincent (1963)

This excellent album went out of print very soon after it's release and has not ever made it to CD in the US. The recording sessions vary in age quite a bit. Lonesome Boy was recorded about the same time that Eddie Cochran was helping him out, while Weeping Willow and some others were recorded after Eddie's tragic death. Although it is one of his less cohesive LPs, it is a great one nonetheless and deserves to be heard in High Fidelity. The download is a 256 kbps copy of songs that appeared on The Gene Vincent Box Set of Capitol and Columbia recordings, it is recommended highly. The tracks leave on extraneous material like studio talk, and an occasional false start. I also added 2 bonus tracks and 2 alternate takes. This album boasts a huge number of respected musicians and session players from both The United States and Europe. It features at least 2 eras of Blue Caps as well as Sounds Incorporated (who played on The Beatles Sgt. Pepper Album). Weeping Willow is a British all-star tribute to the recently deceased Eddie Cochran. I hope you'll enjoy this LP as much as I do. Notice that the production, arrangements and vocal performances exceed that of the early 60's British Invasion groups in sophistication. The Beatles wouldn't come close to this level of excellence until the mid to late 60's. I own every song Vincent has released during his lifetime with the exception of his last 2 LPs for the Kama Sutra label. If anyone has those albums they want to share let me know please.

Download 256 kbps

Homer And Jethro Collection

This is everything I could find by Homer & Jethro, I own their best of collection on vinyl and a couple of songs on CD collections, everything else was found on the internet. 33 songs spanning almost their entire career including 2 instrumental numbers that showcase their talents as musicians. The quality of the sources varies drastically, but I have attempted to smooth out the scratches, eq and volume differences. I would love to find a copy of them doing I Want To Hold Your Hand so if anyone has that, please let me know. These fellas were funny, talented and deserving of more CD releases than they currently have. For more information on these two go to their wiki link, or their page at the Country Music Hall Of Fame.

Download Link (VBR LAME)

Chrome-Raining Milk (Revisited)

Chrome was a very dynamic group that formed in San Francisco in the late 70s. Their sound incorporated Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal, Psychedelic, Post Punk, Gothic, Kraut Rock and Industrial. I discovered this group through Ralph Records, although they are not actually on that label. This is the last music the classic line-up of Chrome made before a long split up. It was recorded at San Francisco's famous Hyde Street Studios. This is the first album I bought by the group back in the early 80's. It took around 25 years for me to really appreciate the group, but I am a huge fan now. This album is generally considered to be their worst LP, but I have a soft spot for it since it is the first one I heard by them, plus the music is still top notch. The album was issued with incorrect track listing, a deceptively titled song and abridged mixes of songs that previously appeared on the albums "Chronicles 1" and "Chronicles 2". That is the main reason it is not a highly regarded album, however the music is still first rate. I seem to have lost my original vinyl copy of this album, so I downloaded a version on Demonoid (RIP). It was created using the original unedited Chronicles versions of the songs and was taken off pristine vinyl. So, although this isn't actually what the album sounded like exactly, it is the same songs, just properly titled and not edited for time. I added "Future Ghosts" as a bonus track. For those that want an abridged version taken from CD sources, I am offering that as well, it is nearly identical to the original LP. I can't remember the name of the man who shared the long version at Demonoid, but thank you again whoever you are. The top cover shown is from the original 1983 release the lower cover was assembled by me to accompany the revisited 75+ minute version.

Download 75+ Minute Version (From Vinyl)

Download 40+ Minute Version (From CD)

Crazy Elephant LP (1969)

This LP came out at the end of the 60's, and was rare enough that many record collectors used to tell me it didn't exist, I suspect it went out of print very early on. Crazy Elephant had one big hit called "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin", and a very minor hit called, "Sunshine, Red Wine" they released some more singles that didn't do very well. The band is almost always unfairly compared to the Bubblegum music that their producers Kasenetz-Katz were widely known for. Unfair because to this day I still haven't heard a pure Bubblegum style song out of this diverse and talented group. They sounded similar to Vanilla Fudge and The Rascals but to the best of my knowledge they didn't sound Bubblegum. The LP is sometimes referred to as a collection of singles, but it stands up nicely as an album in it's own right. The strongest element running throughout the album is strong keyboard work. Much of this album was put together by Ritchie Cordell, who worked on many Super K projects. Three performers of note on this album are Robert Spencer (vocals) who had previously performed with The Cadillacs (post "Speedo"), Kenny Cohen (Flute, Sax, Vocals) who went on to perform with The Eagles, Santana, Rod Stewart and BB King, and Bob Avery (Drums) who also played with The Music Explosion ("A Little Bit Of Soul"). Larry Laufer (Keyboards, Vocals) is designated as the leader of the group on this LP. Hal King (vocals) and Ronnie Bretone (Bass) are the other performers credited on this LP. Larry Laufer was asked to put together a touring version of the group, The Music Explosion and eventually that group evolved into the Crazy Elephant band credited on this LP. Production is by Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz which apparently is the main reason this group is considered by many to be Bubblegum. Very ironic considering that at least one song would sound totally in place on the original "Nuggets" box set. For some reason Buddha records declined to represent Crazy Elephant, and they instead ended up on Bell Records. Crazy Elephant was once cited as an influence on Talking Heads, I'm assuming because of the jangly rhythm guitar work and youthful lyrics. There are also a few singles here which I believe were released around the same time as the LP. The single, "There Ain't No Umbopo" was written, performed and produced by the guys who would eventually become Hotlegs and then 10cc, the song reminds me of Side 2 of Small Faces "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" album. During this era they put out several singles for Kasenetz-Katz as well as some British bubblegum producers. I believe that Laufer, King and Bretone went on to perform on more of Kasenetz-Katz bubblegum classics. I would bet that at least one of them ended up on Captain Groovy & His Bubblegum Army, since they also issued a single called "Dark Part Of My Mind".

Contents
1. Respect
2. Pam
3. Come To The Farm
4. Somewhere
5. My Baby (Honey Pie)
6. Sunshine, Red Wine
7. Heartless (Hertie Gertie)
8. Love Strike
9. Try This When You're Ready
10. Higher & Higher
11. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (Stereo LP Version)
12. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (Mono Single Version)
13. Dark Part Of My Mind (B-Side)
14. Gimme Some More (A-Side)
15. There's A better Day A Comin' (A-Side)
16. Space Buggy (B-Side)
17. There Ain't No Umbopo (A-Side)
18. Landrover (B-Side)
19. Splif Dna Spih (B-Side)

Download Link for CRAZY ELEPHANT LP