The Syn discography (1965-2016)

For a band that only made two singles, the Syn are quite well remembered by British rock collectors, principally because two of their members -- guitarist Peter Banks and bassist Chris Squire -- eventually surfaced in the first lineup of Yes in 1968. Their two singles, both issued in 1967 in the U.K. on Deram, were pretty solid efforts in their own right. These charted their transition from mod to psychedelic guitar rock, rather in the manner of a much more famous British psychedelic cult band from the same era, Tomorrow (with Steve Howe on guitar). Their first single, "Created by Clive," was a foppish Carnaby Street takeoff that the band disliked; the fine B-side, the hard mod pop tune "Grounded," featured high soul harmonies and interplay between organ and sparkling guitar, and was much more indicative of the band's sensibilities.

Their promise really bloomed on their next and last 45, "14 Hour Technicolour Dream," one of the best obscure British psychedelic singles (indeed one of the best British psychedelic singles by any band). Inspired by the 1967 psychedelic London festival of the same name, it was an exhilarating distillation of the best attributes of British pop-psychedelia -- a hook-happy ebullient melody, precise harmonies, unexpected structural twists and turns, Who-like drumming, and tasteful guitar distortion -- into a compact package. It wasn't a hit, though (in fact it was only used as the B-side of "Flowerman"), and the band broke up in early 1968. Banks and Squire played in another psychedelic band, Mabel Greer's Toyshop, for a few months before becoming founding members of Yes. The four songs from the Syn singles have cropped up on numerous compilations of British psych-pop rarities; all four, and a demo of "Flowerman," also appear on Peter Banks' Can I Play You Something?, a compilation of odds and ends from bands that Banks was involved with prior to joining Yes.

Remarkably, the Syn reunited in 2004 and wound up being more active in this incarnation than they were in the '60s. This new version of the Syn featured bassist Squire, guitarist Paul Stacey, keyboardist Gerard Johnson, drummer Jeremy Stacey, and vocalist Steve Nardelli, and they released Syndestructible in October 2005. By the time they played shows supporting the album, the band featured Squire, Nardelli, Johnson, guitarist Shane Theriot, and drummer Alan White. Soon, the Syn became Nardelli's group and he'd swap out supporting musicians for concerts and albums. Two studio albums followed by the end of the decade -- 2007's Armistice Day, 2009's Big Sky -- and then the live The Syn Live Rosfest appeared in 2015, followed by the studio set Trustworks in 2016. 

The Syn-(2005)- Original Syn (The Complete History of The Syn 1965-69)

The Syn-(2005)- Original Syn 1965-2004

The Syn-(2005)- Syndestructible

The Syn-(2007)- Armistice Day

The Syn-(2009)- Big Sky

The Syn-(2015)- Live Rosfest

The Syn-(2016)- Trustworks

The Midnight Special - Live on Stage 1973 (DVDRIP video)

Featuring an incredible array of the greatest musicians of the 1970s and early 80s, The Midnight Special stands alone in the history of rock ‘n’ roll as the first ever late-night live concert show on TV, capturing the spirit of a time when rock was exploding in so many new, exciting directions. For nine thrilling years, The Midnight Special brought audiences the very best live music from every genre – rare performances right into homes every week – complete with the intimacy of close-ups and multiple camera angles that placed you right there with the on-stage action. It was an exciting time, and it’s now been restored and re-mastered in this exclusive series.

• The Doobie Brothers – Listen To The Music
• Billy Preston – Will It Go Round In Circles
• Jim Croce – Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
• Gladys Knight & the Pips – Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye)
• T-Rex – Bang-A-Gong (Get It On)
• Loggins & Messina – Your Mama Don’t Dance
• Linda Ronstadt – Long, Long Time
• Argent – Hold Your Head Up
• Helen Reddy – Delta Dawn
• Steely Dan – Reelin’ In the Years
• Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now
• Seals & Crofts – Summer Breeze
• Anne Murray – Danny’s Song
• War – The Cisco Kid
• Edgar Winter – Frankenstein

 

Stephen Stills - Carry On [4 CD, 2013/FLAC]

 

 

Carry On is a four-CD set, spanning 50 years and includes more than five hours of music and includes a 113 page booklet. Produced by Graham Nash and Joel Bernstein with Stephen Stills, Rhino s anthology spotlights the remarkable scope of stills career with essential recordings, live cuts, new mixes, and 25 previously unreleased tracks.

The tracks unfold mostly in chronological order, and the anthology leads off with its oldest entry: "Travelin " a previously unreleased recording that Stills made at age 17 in Costa Rica (one of the many places he lived growing up in a military family). The youngest track, recorded only a few months ago, features CSN performing "Girl From The North Country" in New York City during a sold-out five-night run at the Beacon Theater that closed the group s acclaimed 2012 world tour.

 

Texas Alexander & His Circle - 1927 - 1951 (4 CD, 2017/FLAC)

 

Alger "Texas" Alexander (September 12, 1900 – April 18, 1954) was an American blues singer from Jewett, Texas. Some sources claim that he was the cousin of Lightnin' Hopkins, but no direct kinship has been established. It has also been asserted that he was the uncle of the Texas country blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims.

A short man with a big, deep voice, Alexander started his career performing on the streets and at parties and picnics in the Brazos River bottomlands, where he sometimes worked with Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1927, he began a recording career that continued into the 1930s, recording sides for Okeh Records and Vocalion Records in New York, San Antonio, and Fort Worth.

Songs he recorded include "Mama's Bad Luck Child," "Sittin' on a Log," "Texas Special," "Broken Yo Yo" and "Don't You Wish Your Baby Was Built Up Like Mine?"

His early records for Okeh are notable not only for the originality of his songs but also for the musical motifs against which they are set. On April 9, 1934, Alexander recorded with backing by the Mississippi Sheiks. Their line-up featured Bo Carter on violin and Sam Chatman and Walter Vinson on guitar. The eight tracks recorded included "Seen Better Days" and "Frost Texas Tornado Blues", the latter of which told of the tornado which destroyed Frost, Texas, on May 6, 1930, leaving 41 dead.

Alexander did not play a musical instrument, and over the years he worked with a number of other artists, including King Oliver, Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, Little Hat Jones, the Mississippi Sheiks, J. T. Smith, and Lightnin' Hopkins. He sang in the free rhythm of work songs, such as the migrant cotton pickers he performed for might have sung, which posed a challenge for those accompanying him. The rhythm of his singing is often difficult to follow, and on his records his accompanists can often be heard resetting their watches to "Alexander time". Lonnie Johnson devised free-form guitar melodies in counterpoint to Alexander's vocal lines.

Alexander allegedly murdered his wife in 1939 and was imprisoned in the state penitentiary in Paris, Texas, from 1940 to 1945. Research by Coy Prather published in the spring 2014 issue of Texas Music Magazine revealed that the often-printed story of his prison term may be a myth. There are no records that Alexander ever served a sentence in a Texas prison, and there was never a prison in Paris. Prather believed Alexander may have served time on a county work farm for playing lewd music in public.

After 1945, Alexander returned to performing and recording. His last recording was made in 1950 with Benton's Busy Bees, with Leon Benton on guitar and Buster Pickens on piano.

Alexander died of syphilis in 1954, at the age of 53. He was buried in Longstreet Cemetery, in Montgomery County, Texas. 

 

Elvis Presley - Touring in the 70s Vol. 2 (17 CD, 2009)

 

Japanese King Records release 

Limited edition of 1000 copies only.