Keef Hartley Band 1999 Not Foolish, Not Wise

Genre: Blues-Rock
Rate: 128 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 01:15:05
Size: 68,59 MB



review by Thom Jurek

Issued in England in 1999, Keef Hartley's Not Foolish Not Wise is, apparently, a compilation of sorts of old live recordings and some from the studio. What is maddening is that apart from a personal reminiscence by Neil Slaven that covers some of Hartley's career, there isn't one iota of information -- other than titles and songwriting credits -- as to when or where these recordings were made, or even who played on them. One can deduce with a degree of certainty that many of these recordings were live gigs featuring outtakes and alternate material from the Halfbreed era that included the four-piece horn section of Henry Lowther (trumpet, violin), Harry Beckett (trumpet), Lyn Dobson (tenor sax, flute), and Chris Mercer (tenor sax), with Hartley on drums, the late bassist Gary Thain (later with Uriah Heep!), Dino Dines on keyboards, and Miller Anderson (who also served as vocalist) and Spit James on guitars. Some come from a later edition of the band with only two horns.

The music is rooted deeply in the progressive blues of the early '70s, where the influence of John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion project was just making itself known. But Hartley's band was deeper into a more raucous form of blues and R&B than jazz, though the horn charts are fairly sophisticated, as evidenced by the title track, "Marin County," "Too Much Thinking" with its subtly shaded trumpets shimmering over the saxophones, and the slippery funk groove of "Don't You Belong," driven by Thain's bass thud and punched up by the horns Famous Flames style. Given that many of these are live cuts and the rest are outtakes, the sound can be a tad muddy, but it only adds to the overall presence of the music.

Despite the dodgy omissions in credits, this is a vital and thoroughly engaging release, capturing a band at the stellar height of its power both live and in the studio. As Slaven put it in his liner notes, this "was a no nonsense band that played no nonsense music." Recommended for anyone ever interested in Hartley or in the evolution of British blues.



Tracklist:

01 - Sinning For You 03:40


02 - Spanish Fly 06:08

03 - Me And My Woman 05:24

04 - Too Much Thinking 06:51

05 - Not Foolish, Not Wise 04:37

06 - Don't You Belong 05:59

07 - Marin County 04:08

08 - Always Thingking Of You 04:34

09 - Don't Sign It 05:09

10 - Colours 06:08


11 - Roundabout 06:23

12 - You Can't Take It With You 08:00

13 - Just A Cry 08:04





Keef Hartley Band here:



Download

Mirror

Keef Hartley Band 1972 Seventy Second Brave

Genre: Blues-Rock
Rate: 128 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:35:39
Size: 32,59 MB



This is the fifth studio album from the Keef Hartley Band. Following 1971's Overdog, Hartley and lead guitarist/vocalist Miller Anderson went (amicably) their separate ways, and Hartley was left to virtually rebuild the band from the ground up for this album, not easy given the number of other projects he was involved with at the time.

The complete change in personnel had an inevitable effect on the music. The sound is still long limbed blues with jazz overtones, almost but not quite in the prog rock genre. But there is now a funky/soul element, especially evident in the opener `Heartbreakin Woman'.

The new personnel manage to fill the shoes of their predecessors admirably, and another classic album of jazzy/soulful blues with that distinctly British flavour results. (http://www.amazon.co.uk)



Tracklist:

01 - Heartbreakin' Woman 04:22

02 - Marin County 04:00


03 - Hard Pill To Swallow 05:43


04 - Don't You Be Long 05:18

05 - Nocturns 02:04

06 - Don't Sign It 04:29

07 - Always Thinking Of You 04:41

08 - You Say You're Together Now 03:43

09 - What It Is 01:19





Keef Hartley Band here:



Download

Mirror

Keef Hartley Band 1970 The Time Is Near

Genre: Blues-Rock
Rate: 128 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:35:07
Size: 32,10 MB



review by Jo-Ann Greene

At the time, the transformation from R&B into hard rock and prog rock seemed seamless, swept along a current of subtly shifting styles, a view today cemented by hindsight into inevitability. But all one has to do is listen to bands that fell by the wayside to see that the end result was in no way insured, and that other paths beckoned, only to quickly become cul-de-sacs. Drummer Keef Hartley established his reputation upon joining British blues legends John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967, performing on four of their albums before his departure the following year. That same year, Hartley formed his eponymous band around the axis of himself, bassist Gary Thain, and singer/guitarist/composer Miller Anderson, with their musical horizons widened by a kaleidoscope cast of brass, keyboardists, and flügelhorn players.

The group released The Time Is Near..., its third album, in 1970, a set that found the group moving into ever more esoteric pastures. Some critics complained the album was directionless, but au contraire, the band knew precisely where they were going and what their goal was -- to create a tapestry of sound that intricately weaves together American R&B with a decided Stax slant, intertwining funkier flavors with the brass flash of the earlier soul era, and criss-crossing it with jazz. Some songs are embroidered with a harder rock sound, others are threaded with bright splashes of Latin colors, and others still with more subdued acoustic passages. It takes several listens for the full aural impact to coalesce, a reflection of the song's lack of infectious hooks and strong melodies, a sign too of the band's growing proggy bend and jazzy leanings.

But given enough time, the album begins to weave its spell, and its greatness starts to solidify. However, as a path to chart success, this album was a dead-end street; pop fans want instant gratification, and Time Is Near wasn't supplying that. But for more discerning audiences, this CD is a welcome return for a carefully crafted and gorgeously imagined set.



Tracklist:

01 - Morning Rain 03:02


02 - From The Window 03:29

03 - The Time Is Near 10:11

04 - You Can't Take It With You 07:21

05 - Premonition 04:26


06 - Another Time, Another Place 02:36

07 - Change 04:02





Keef Hartley Band here:



Download

Mirror

Keef Hartley Band 1971 Overdog

Genre: Blues-Rock
Rate: 192 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:35:42
Size: 48,99 MB

Review by Jo-Ann Greene

After the subtleties and suppleness of 1970's The Time Is Near..., the Keef Hartley Band's third full-length, the group returned the following year with Overdog, a set that kicks them into overdrive. Opening with a dramatic flourish of wah-wah guitar, the anthemic "You Can Choose" instantly wipes all memories of the intricate design of the preceding album off the board. Big and brash, "Choose" pounds rock into funk with savage delight. In contrast, "Plain Talkin'" is all grit and glory, strutting its Stax-y antecedents center-stage, and smugly smirking at their hard-rocking ex-Brit beat contemporaries, who lost the blues in their rush to rock. Elsewhere, "Overdog" puts paid to prog rock pretentiousness, as the band slyly slide from haunting wah-wah guitar and spacy effects straight into funk, and back out again through coursing, driving instrumental sections. It's a spliced styling that's reiterated to even more dramatic effect on "Theme Song." Keef Hartley's drums keeps those segments pulsing, but it's "Roundabout" that's his true showcase, as his skins rumble away under layers of dramatic brass passages and crash around the guitar solos. His drumming reaches an apotheosis on the song's 7" version, a blistering attack of swing-styled beats that prods the brass to even greater heights, while his crack drumming on the flip side of the single pushes the guitarist into hyper-speed and the horns into rousing solos of speed jazz, only to collapse into slower passages of big rock that slams straight into Detroit. After that, the gentler, jazzy excursions of "Imitations from Home" are a well-deserved breather, although not for Hartley, whose intricate patterns keep him on his toes. Only the Beatlesque "We Are All the Same" provides any concession to contemporary pop audiences, but KHB cared little for them, so intent were they on proving to rock fans that there was no need to desert R&B, soul, and funk in their search for more experimental music and/or harder sounds. On their last set, they delicately pointed out the possibilities; here they hammer it home.



Tracklist:

01 - You Can Choose 05:29

02 - Plain Talkin' 03:23

03 - Theme Song, On Route, Reprise 08:06

04 - Overdog 04:20

05 - Roundabout 06:07

06 - Imitations From Home 03:36

07 - We Are All The Same 04:41




Download

Mirror




Enjoy the music!

Keef Hartley Band 1971 Little Big Band

Genre: Blues-Rock
Rate: 293 kbps VBR / 44100
Time: 00:42:42
Size: 89,21 MB


Tracklist:

01 - You Can't Take It With You 08:16

02 - Me And My Woman 05:49

03 - Not Foolish Not Wise 06:49

04 - Legoverture: Leavin Trunk; Halfbreed; Just To Cry; Sinnin For You 21:48




Download

Mirror




Enjoy the music!

Keef Hartley Band 1969 The Battle Of North West Six

Genre: Blues
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:41:47
Size: 95,58 MB

Miller Anderson's vocals are outstanding. Steady rhythm from Hartley and Thain under some nice edgy guitar licks from Spit James and Anderson. Excellent keyboards and brass accents (flugel horns sound great). A combination of Blues, Rock and Jazz with emphasis on Blues and Rock. There is even a mellow side which explores Anderson's vocal range on "Don't give up". The flute part in "Hickory" reminds me a little of Tower of Power's "Sparking in the Sand". If you like John Mayall, you'll probably like this too. (amazon.com)


Tracklist:

01 - The Dansette Kid - Hartley Jam For Bread 04:01

02 - Don't Give Up 04:09

03 - Me And My Woman 04:25

04 - Hickory 02:45

05 - Don't Be Afraid 04:26

06 - Not Foolish, Not Wise 03:57

07 - Waiting Around 02:29

08 - Tadpole 07:01

09 - Poor Mabel (You're Just Like Me) 03:09

10 - Believe In You 05:25




Download

Mirror





Enjoy the music!

Keef Hartley Band 1969 Halfbreed

Genre: Blues
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:50:48
Size: 116,28 MB

The Keef Hartley Band's 'Halfbreed' is arguably the best English blues album ever recorded. Having just been fired from the drum kit in John Mayall's Bluebreakers -- Keef Hartley took with him seemingly the entire horn section of the Bluebreakers who had just recorded the great 'Crusade' album. Joining them was Gary Thain on bass (who would later show up on Uriah Heep's best efforts like 'Demons & Wizards' and 'Look At Yourself'), along with Spit James and Miller Anderson on guitars. Two incredably talented guitarists whose work on cuts like 'Born To Die' is as good as any work by better known guitarists, such as Clapton, Beck, Peter Green, etc. These guys were incredible. Miller Anderson also had a voice that was born to sing the blues -- it is an incredibly expressive voice that carries so much strength, emotion and tenderness (when needed) that few singers are his equal. To fill it all out, Peter Dines was on piano and the Hammond B3 organ to give that fat sound that only a B3 can bring to the blues. Gorgeous stuff. Brash stuff. Blistering stuff. It's all here. Their version of 'Leavin' Trunk' will peel the paint off the walls and the aforementioned 'Born To Die' would easily make any Best 10 Cuts of English Blues albums that were really worth their salt. This album was, for me, in 1969 when it was released, the high-water mark of English Blues. These guys were incredible. Today, my son listens to it and tells me that it's one of the best albums he's ever heard -- it is. If you can find a copy, don't pass it up. (Amazon)



Tracklist:

01 - Sacked 07:55

02 - Born To Die 10:02

03 - Sinnin For You 05:54

04 - Leavin Trunk 05:58

05 - Just To Cry 06:22

06 - Too Much Thinking 05:33

07 - Leave It To The Morning 03:28

08 - Think It Over 05:36




Download

Part1 Part2




Enjoy the music!