We’ve got an incredible 4CD, 35th Anniversary Collection from Jaki Graham out today on #NewMusicFriday, as well the next in the celebrated series of compilations exploring ‘underground’ rock music from Esoteric Recordings – ‘Breakthrough: Underground Sounds of 1971’.
Jaki Graham: 35th Anniversary Collection, 4CD Box Set
CD 1 features the ‘Heaven Knows’ album plus bonus tracks including UK single versions of ‘Heaven Knows (Feels So Good)’, ‘Once More With Feeling’ and her duet, ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love’ with Linx frontman David Grant, plus the US remixes of ‘Once More With Feeling’ and ‘What’s The Name Of Your Game’.
CD 2 features 12 tracks of extended versions plus remixes including the hard to find ‘Revolutionary Mix’ of ‘Round And Around’ and US remixes of ‘Once More With Feeling’ and ‘What’s The Name Of Your Game’. Also included are ‘Freeze You Out’ and ‘Greatest Smile’, both previously unreleased tracks sourced from the tape archives.
CD 3 features Jaki’s 1986 album ‘Breaking Away’ plus 4 bonus tracks including single versions of ‘Breaking Away’ and ‘Step Right Up’ and extended versions of ‘Set Me Free’ and ‘Mated’.
CD 4 includes various mixes and remixes from the ‘Breaking Away’ period including two mixes of ‘Set Me Free’, three of ‘Breaking Away’, two of ‘Step Right Up’ and ‘Still In Love’ along with a three track Mega Mix featuring ‘Set Me Free’, ‘The Closest One’ and ‘Step Right Up’.
The collection comes in a box with each CD in individual wallets featuring related Jaki Graham sleeve images from the period, with a 20 page booklet including sleeve notes and a UK Discography.
Breakthrough – Underground Sounds of 1971, 4CD Clamshell Box Set
Esoteric Recordings’ next release in their series of compilations celebrating the so-called “underground” rock music. 1971 was a momentous year in rock and one which would continue to see Progressive music in all its forms become a dominating force with the album buying public. Much of this music appeared on the “progressive” imprints of major record labels such as EMI’s Harvest, Decca’s Deram and Philips Records’ Vertigo and emerging independent labels such as Charisma, United Artists and Island and led to an increasing presence of underground album music on BBC Radio 1 on its Sounds Of The Seventies and Top Gear programmes.
1971 saw a wealth of imaginative artists meld seemingly disparate musical genres and influences such as jazz, blues, folk, rock and classical music on a host of wonderful albums, all of which appealed to an audience of students and followers of the “underground’ culture. Universities and Colleges were regular venues on the burgeoning live music circuit in the UK for these artists, most of whom earned loyal followings through regular concert performances. 1971 also saw festivals such as Weeley (which attracted an estimated 150,000 people), Reading and the Glastonbury Fayre featuring the leading Progressive album-focussed artists of the day.
‘Breakthrough – Underground Sounds Of 1971’ is a lovingly compiled collection from this pivotal year in music, featuring a host of key artists plus a host of lesser-known acts who failed to reach a wider audience but produced a wide breadth of music, such as BB BLUNDER, BIG SLEEP, CRESSIDA, HELP YOURSELF, MIGHTY BABY, PATTO, PINK FAIRIES, SAMURAI, COLIN SCOT, SPRING and STRAY. Turn on and tune in to the gloriously diverse underground sounds of 1971.