REFLECTIONS IN A GREY WIND

SALT CREEK - JUST ABOUT DUE (1977)

2010-08-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

SALT CREEK - JUST ABOUT DUE LP (1977)

Rare Michigan private press dark rural country folk-rock LP out of south eastern Michigan. At first, I did not love this LP because I found the dealer hype calling it 'dark rural loner folk' misleading. At first listen I found this to be just a local country-rock LP from '77. And it is, but after several listens I noticed the extremely bleak, lost, and lonely vibe of the LP especially evident on tracks like "I Wanna Feel A Little Wanted" and "Just About Due". One member is now a fairly well known country music artist in the Nashville area. Pressed on MT Records in 1977. Highly recommended to fans of dark/lonely music with an open mind.

Favorite Tracks: "I Wanna Feel A Little Wanted", "Just About Due", "Can't You See" "Night With A Silver-Tonged Devil", "Comfort In The Wind" and "The Chosen One"

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OCTOBER (1979)

2010-04-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER - SELF TITLED LP (1979)

Rare Michigan private press progressive psych LP out of the Detroit area. Instrumentation includes several synths and strings in addition to a traditional setup. The band as been said to have held seances in graveyards. Recorded at Charisma Sound Studios and pressed on Charisma Sound in 1979 in an edition of 500.

Favorite tracks: All.

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DREAM - LIVING IN A DREAM (1979)

2010-04-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

DREAM - LIVING IN A DREAM LP (1979)

Rare Michigan private press progressive folk/soft psych LP out of the Detroit area. Great unique LP with instrumentation that includes flute, piano, 12-string guitar, and strong vocals. Pressed on Dreamusic Ltd at Archer in an edition of 300 copies.

Favorite songs: All.

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TRAVIS - TO BE AS FREE AS YOU (1975)

2010-04-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

TRAVIS - TO BE AS FREE AS YOU LP (1975)

Rare Michigan private press rural folk rock LP out of Royal Oak. Great heavily hamonized rural folk rock/country-rock with a nicely polished analog sound. Recorded at Audio Graphics Services. Pressed on Unity Productions in 1975.

Favorite tracks: To Be As Free As You, It's To Love

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SQUARE ROOT OF NINE - GET TOGETHER (1969)

2010-04-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

SQUARE ROOT OF NINE - GET TOGETHER LP (1969)

Rare Michigan private press folk LP out of Westland. Great dark moody basement folk boom sound heavily influenced by Gordon Lightfoot recorded at Pac Three, which was a garage style recording studio. Features a phenomenally eccentric cover of "House Of The Rising Sun" which alone makes the LP worth checking out. Pressed on no label in an edition of 500 copies, although, according to the band, numerous copies were ruined in a flood.

Favorite tracks: "Downcast Emerald Eyes", "Early Morning Rain", "A Kind Of Love", "Pussywillows, Cat-Tails", "House Of The Rising Sun"

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BLUE MONEY BAND - DO YOUR DUTY (1980)

2010-03-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

BLUE MONEY BAND - DO YOUR DUTY LP (1980)

Rare Michigan private press blues rock/psych LP out of Lansing. Pressed on Money Master Records in 1980. They have a previous debut self-titled LP from 1979 also on Money Master. Not an extremely interesting LP but worthy of note because it was produced by Cub Koda and features an ex-Woolies member.

Favorite Tracks: Bad Boy Stomp

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2010-02-26T10:28:00.002-08:00

VOICE OF CH'ENG & THE GODSINGER LP

Rare Michigan private press folk LP out of Pontiac. Great basement moody new age folk from Michael G, the director of New Directions Thru Meditation. Side one features the Chinese Ch'eng instrument while side two features acoustic guitar. Features amazing hand drawn front and back cover. Pressed on Song Of Oneness Records at Archer in Detroit (AR 4892).

Favorite Tracks: All

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ANTHONY & SCOTT - S/T LP (1977)

2010-02-26T10:28:00.001-08:00

ANTHONY & SCOTT - S/T LP (1977)

Rare Michigan private press psych pop LP out of Ann Arbor. Recorded by two cousins in a barn in Ann Arbor. Pressed on Midwest Records (MCR 1300) in 1977 in an edition of 500.

Favorite tracks: Pink Octopus

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PERFECT TOUCH - TOUCHING YOU LP + 45

2010-02-18T14:01:00.001-08:00

PERFECT TOUCH - TOUCHING YOU LP

PERFECT TOUCH - WHAT GOES AROUND B/W BOOGIE TONIGHT 45

Rare Michigan private press modern soul from Detroit. 45 features an alternate mix of "What Goes Around" and additional non-lp synth heavy track "Boogie Tonight".

Favorite tracks: All.

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FRANK HOLIDAY - SWEET SURRENDER B/W TOUCHIN'

2010-02-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

FRANK HOLIDAY - SWEET SURRENDER B/W TOUCHIN'

Rare Michigan private press modern soul 45 from ???. I am not sure where this is from or the year, Holiday Express performs with Frank on "Sweet Surrender" and I believe there was a Holiday Express from Detroit at the time but there was also numerous other Holiday Express groups, so I'm not sure if its the same or not. Recorded at Uncle Dirty's Sound Machine Studios.

Favorite tracks: All.

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JOHN DRENDALL, BA THROWER & FRIENDS - PAPA NEVER LET ME SING THE BLUES LP (1972)

2010-02-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

JOHN DRENDALL, BA THROWER & FRIENDS - PAPA NEVER LET ME SING THE BLUES LP (1972)

Rare Michigan private press blues psych LP out of Lansing. I have seen this described as "acid-psych", but I don't understand why, besides as hype from dealers. However, this is an extremely rare and well executed/produced private LP that deserves a better distribution than it was originally given. Recorded at Uncle Dirty's Sound Machine Studios and released under Deacon Productions in an edition of 100 copies. Members were involved in several other Lansing private press albums such as BLUEJOHN - BOOTS & BOTTLES, THROWER/SPILLANE/MCFARLAND - BLUE JOHN, SALOON MUSIC-S/T, AND JACK HAMILTON-S/T. Drendall currently plays in DAMION.

Favorite Tracks: All.

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POOR RICHARD - PLACE OF THE SUN LP (1978)

2010-02-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

POOR RICHARD - PLACE OF THE SUN LP (1978)

Rare Michigan private press psychedelic folk LP out of Kalamazoo. This is not the usual bland SSW folk you get when something is described as psychedelic folk. Instrumentation includes mellotron, moog (played by Charlie Wicks, aka CEO of ProCo Sound, the creators of the RAT distortion), cello, fife, drums, guitar, and bass. Recorded at Uncle Dirty's Sound Machine Studios and released under Kazoo Records. Boogie Records, which was a local record store at the time, also helped with the release of this LP. The track "As I Walk" has recently been included on Numero Group's "Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes" compilation.

Favorite Tracks: All.

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NORTHERN STAR - SELF-TITLED (1975)

2010-02-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

NORTHERN STAR - SELF-TITLED LP (1975)

This is rare private folk LP out of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1975. I found my sealed copy of this at the Grandville spot for cheap. This is not your standard folk LP and displays interesting arrangements with additions of piano and strings with a subtle jazzy feel on some tracks. "Fourteen Years" is an exceptionally well composed bleak track about not being able to go on with life anymore. This also features a nice extended 12 minute instrumental track on "Galaxy". Back of LP features a great group shot. Other than that, I don't know much about this LP and have only heard of 2 other copies.

Favorite Tracks: "Fourteen Years", "Chicago Skyline", "Music And Love", "Galaxy"

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RICK & J.B. - WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE (1977)

2010-02-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

RICK & J.B. - WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE LP (1977)

This is an extremely rare Michigan private subltely dark rural folk lp out of East Lansing in 1977 . This is the only copy I've ever seen or heard of, picked it up at the basement spot in Kalamazoo. It has a couple weak/bad tracks (first/last) but the other tracks make up for them. Great synth/instrumental track on "Clone Booth" and another great instrumental track on "Dandyrose Jump". LP is a Damn Good Audio Production which I think may have done a couple other things out of Lansing. "Boogie Woogie Shuffle" is exactly what you'd expect, unlistenable.

Favorite tracks: "Clone Booth", "How I Feel", "Dandyrose Jump", "Moon River"

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PAT'S PEOPLE - SILVER RAINS AFAR

2010-02-01T18:13:00.001-08:00

PAT'S PEOPLE - SILVER RAINS AFAR LP

Michigan private celtic/UK psychedelic folkrock. This LP contains traditional songs and originals featuring every member singing lead vocals on at least one track. This adds an eclectic mix to the album that may not be present in other similar albums. "Silver Rains Afar" is not an over-the-top psychedelic album but it shows signs of the members mixing psychedelic influences with traditional aspects, not unlike what Tony, Caro & John did with "All On The First Day", although obviously more Irish. This LP features This is the groups first of three albums (later, "An Irish Night At The Gaelic League" LP (1974) and "Some Say The Devil's Dead" (1980)). They were once the house players at Pat's Bar in Belfast before moving to Canada then Michigan. Recorded at Adell Studios in Novi, MI.

Favorite Tracks: All.

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JOHN & ROSY GOACHER - BEGONE DULL CARE! (1976)

2010-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

John & Rosy Goacher - Begone Dull Care! LP

Rare Michigan private press married folk duo. UK folk style with minimal instrumentation of only acoustic guitars, if that. Some songs display a beautiful somber tone not present in other versions of the songs. The Goachers were from Lake Odessa and recorded this LP in 1976. This was the first release and possibly the only release on the Yorkshire Rose "label".

Favorite Tracks: Brimbledon Fair, Mosaic, Baliff's Daughter of Islington, and Lizzie Lindsay.

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MOREY STORE BAND - CRY FOR THE DREAMER LP (1979)

2010-01-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

Morey Store Band - Cry For The Dreamer LP

Rare Michigan private press hard rock/psych. Heavy bloozey barband style with great guitar and organ work and dark lyrics. The band was named after an actual store in Michigan that is down gone. Back cover text is all in a rough hand painted style with multiple mis-spelled words and one of the band members is wearing a "DISCO SUCKS" shirt while hanging out a window. This LP was recorded by Bryce Roberson at the famed Uncle Dirty's Sound Machine Studios.

Favorite tracks: "The Reason Why I'm Here", "The World Seems Colder", "Travelen Man"(sic), and "Cry For The Dreamer"

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