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We got this tape years ago when it was submitted by a customer of ours who thought we would be interested in it. He was from Ohio, and told me he was friendly with the guys in this band. He managed to get their demo recording and sent it on behalf of the band. That was around 1986, and the recordings dated around 1983. That was the last I heard about it. Decades later, I rediscovered the tape and decided it was time. Heavy and complex, the first track of their demo tape was 45 minutes long! As you can imagine, there were no labels that took them on...except me of course!
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Complex prog rock inspired by Genesis primarily but you will hear a lot of different things that might remind you of any of a dozen other bands. These guys were just playing music they loved and did not mind if it crossed genre too much. They began in Houston in 1970, the CD contains liner notes so you get more of their history. Very cool stuff!
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Formed in 1972, Hands were originally called Ibis, and then a series of name changes which eventually led to Prism, which they were widely known as, until things got serious. With the production of high quality studio demos, they were forced to change names again, this time for good - with the name HANDS. These early recordings capture them at a time before the studio quality demos, when they were still working small clubs and colleges and playing a lot of covers (albeit very interesting ones).
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Released on vinyl, this features excellent multi-layered guitar, ripping bass and drum work, and Ian Gillan inspired vocals with dark, haunting, somewhat blues-tinged hard rock songs. Recorded in Rosenberg, TX. only a single 45 rpm was released, but the tracks on the 7" were from a previous demo recording done in 1974. This and much more is featured on the CD version, where you can hear for yourself why the world should have heard of the name Ottis Coleman, but hopefully now they will get the chance. For fans of Trapeze, Deep Purple.
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Hard rock group from Houston active during the mid 70's and were primarily known as a covers band, playing many of the well known clubs in town. They recorded a handful of original songs in 1975, and disbanded following some unfortunate incidents while on the road. A single 7" record was released, however, and gained enough traction that rhythm guitarist Jimmy Lee Dean decided to continue on and recruit new members (the era known as Jeremiah MK II). This version of the band recorded a full length LP which never saw the light of day as the manager absconded with the master reels soon after the sessions, and nobody heard from him since. Eventually, we rediscovered these masters and attempted to transfer them in the studio but the tapes had severely degraded, the material, such as it is, is also contained on this collection. A 40th Anniversary reunion concert occurred in 2014, and excerpts from that show are included on the 2nd disc. All known recordings of this band are included in this package.
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Formed in 1969, legendary heavy Southern psyche rock group Josefus took Texas by storm, recording a monumental LP (Dead Man) and touring throughout Texas in 1969 (opening act for Grand Funk on most of the Texas dates). Somehow, through all the craziness, they have kept it together (original singer and guitarist) all these years and continue to record and play live. This CD showcases an exceptional live performance on one side (this was originally done on vinyl which is now out of print) and a rare 1978 studio session on the other side (was lost for over 35 years!). A killer disc!
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Heavy, rural psyche that features pretty acid influenced guitar (putting it mildly) stoned, psychedelic lyrics with an Eastern mysticism pervading. Effects include conch shell through echoplex (yup), flutes, walls of feedback, sort of what you might get if you mixed Ya-Ho-Wa 13 with Tangerine Dream, Loch Ness, Hendrix, and Amon Duul. Out There!
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Begun in Houston in 1969, brothers Duane and Bill Massey created an eclectic hard rocking progressive rock band that survived numerous line-up changes over the years and still exists to this day. An album, "Ruff Mix", was released in 1975 and features excellent arrangements augmented with blazing electric guitar by Richard Heath who went on to join Lic. This CD captures them in the early 80's where more emphasis was placed on hard guitar sounds, not necessarily metal but good Texas hard rock.
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Hard blues rock band formed in 1975 in Houston, TX. Featured vocalist BB. Watson who left Houston to pursue a career in Nashville as a C&W singer. He had some fleeting success, eventually came back to Houston and worked with Michael Knust (Fever Tree) and Keith York (Albatross, Rare Breed) for a stint and also attempted to reunite the Rare Breed (those sessions contained on this CD). Rare Breed also featured the guitar of Robert Hampton before he joined Hooker. These are all the known recordings.