VARIOUS ARTISTS - British Progressive Rock At The BBC 1968-1971 (2LP) - UK Maida Vale / Verne LIMITED Press - LISTEN - VERY RARE

Each of the four thematic parts of 'At The BBC' contains 120 minutes of what I consider superb material recorded live by the individual artists (with only very few overdubs) during several-hour sessions at the Maida Vale studios in London. The BBC employed the best British sound engineers, and as a result almost every band recording there sounded sensational - often better and more dynamic than on their records! Besides, many of them played tracks never released on vinyl or sometimes very surprising covers of other artists' recordings. The sound quality is fantastic - simply perfect! Only in a dozen or so cases (out of nearly 130 recordings) were fragments of slightly poorer, but definitely acceptable, quality used. Note! Almost all the recordings have never before appeared on vinyl, and only a few appeared on CDs, and generally with much poorer sound quality! The vast majority of the tracks came from very rare promotional records intended for foreign radio stations. The tracks on them were enriched with short, emotional introductions by the brilliant DJ Brian Matthew, who genuinely added a special flavour to these recordings! I am a great fan of his! In my opinion the stunning gatefold sleeves, with wonderful late 70s designs by Rodney Matthews, contain every detail about the individual recordings: exact recording dates, apt photographs and the line-ups of all the bands, and even short, one-sentence and really spot-on comments assigned to each track. Believe me - you cannot tear yourself away from these records! Please do not suggest to yourself that they are 'some compilations' or products of inferior quality! Hardly anyone will believe me, but as a great fan (and collector) of recordings from the BBC archives, hand on heart I consider these 4 titles (and especially "Psychedelic Rock" and "British Rock") the best vinyl reissues of the last 10 or 15 years! AN ABSOLUTE MUST!!! NEW, SEALED ........................................ The English text below I received from the publisher. It may be hard to read, but with some concentration it is genuinely very helpful! I especially recommend the short comments! ........................ Limited to 500 copies, double black vinyl edition released in beautiful cover with cool pictures and line ups of ALL bands inside the gatefold. This splendid, 120 minute/25 tracks collection (a real labour of love) not only offers an exeptional and often superior renditions of a tracks familiar through the band's original vinyl output, but also a plenty of cracking performances that they never recorded outside the BBC Maida Vale studios. During the 60s and early 70s the BBC was committed to air a substantial amount of live music within its radio broadcasting and as a result, hundreds of popular or less-known British artists were employed to fill that standards. BBC Transcription Service used some of these sessions for promotional-only albums pressed on a weekly basis (supposedly in a quantity of 100 copies) and destined for radio stations all over the world. It was a vinyl LP with yellow-green record labels, housed in a rather plain, yellow sleeve and filled with paper sheets with song titles, time durations and a running order for the show. Most of the tracks included on this release came from long-running 'Top Of The Pops' compilation series (unconnected to the popular TV show) and short-lived 'Pick Up The Pops For Your D.J.’ LP releases, which took radio performances mostly from the prime pop shows of the time like 'Top Gear', 'Saturday Club', 'Sounds Of The Seveties', that aired live and specifically recorded music. All tracks were also adorned with a fresh commentary from (now legendary) DJ Brian Matthew. Aside from BBC promotional discs, in a very few, fully justified cases an unique, home taped, off-air recordings (expertly remastered and restored and marked below as *) were used. The inner gatefold features a band photos and specific line ups. ALMOST ALL TRACKS PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ON VINYL!...... SIDE 1: (29:58) 1. Terry Reid - Writing On The Wall 4.23 (Reid) Recorded on 11th February 1969. This great vocalist has rejected job offers from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. 2. Junior's Eyes - Imagination 6.03 (Wayne) Recorded on 28th October 1968. Very intensive, almost menacing, mostly instrumental heavy psych/prog killer. 3. Mandrake Paddle Steamer - Janus Suite 4.08 (Briley) Recorded on 25th March 1969. A superb instrumental, radio-only track in Arcadium and early Genesis vein. 4. Windmill - Rocky Racoon 3.18 (Lennon/McCartney) Recorded on 21st July 1969. The Beatles done in Jethro Tull way. In 1970 a band turned into Tonton Macoute. 5. Sweet Marriage - Mort 5.45 (Walker) Recorded on 11th August 1969. Excellent and quite heavy radio-only track by unknown band. Great guitar work! 6. Ora - Sea Shore 3.05 (Rubinstein) Recorded on 8th October 1969. Rare radio version of an album track with future Wishbone Ash rhythm section. 7. Simon Dupree & The Big Sound - Groundhog 3.14 (Traditional) Recorded on 6th November 1969. A kind of strong, folk-ish heavy rock from three future members of Gentle Giant. SIDE 2: (30:00) 1. Hardin & York - David Difficult 6.07 (Hardin/York) Recorded on 4th June 1969. Very catchy, fast instrumental track with Hammond organ and drums only. 2. Terry Reid - Superlungs 3.26 (Leitch) Recorded on 13th October 1969. Fantastic remake of Donovan song. Great voice and excellent organ solo! 3. Fat Mattress - Mr. Moonshine 4.26 (Redding) Recorded on 6th October 1969. Very fine version of the best track off their debut album. With Noel Redding. 4. Griffin - Shine 8.03 (Bell/Gibson/Craddock/Kirtley/White) Recorded on 21st October 1969. Developing slowly, superb early prog rock with ex-Skip Bifferty members. 5. Sweet Marriage - Titania 4.22 (Walker) Recorded on 11th August 1969. Another great, but more folky track by those progressive rock unknowns. 6. Love Affair - She's Not There 3.30 (Argent) Recorded on 13th February 1970. An excellent The Zombies cover with some nice, Jethro Tull-like interplay. SIDE 3: (29:40) 1. Quatermass - Gemini 5.29 (Hammond) Recorded on 14th June 1970. Rare radio version of catchy, hard progressive track from the band's only album. 2. Manfred Mann Chapter Three - Time 4.23 (Hugg) Recorded on 17th November 1969. Gloomy, menacing, but superb track - even better than version on their first LP. 3. Galliard - A Modern Day Fairy Tale 3.37 (Brown) Recorded on 16th April 1970. Another excellent, jazz/psychedlia-inspired band with plenty of changing moods. 4. If - I'm Reaching Out On All Sides 5.34 (Quincy/Fishman) Recorded on 1st July 1970. A superb prog band with some of the best British jazz musicians turned to rock. 5. Affinity - Night Flight 6.08 (Hoyle/Jopp) Recorded on 18th November 1970. Unique and wonderful radio version of one of best tracks from their Vertigo album. 6. Galliard - I Wrapped Her In Ribbons 4.26 (Brown) Recorded on 16th April 1970. Very tuneful and truly exciting brass-rock... ballad with some nice improvisations. SIDE 4: (29:38) 1. Walrus - Never Gonna Let My Body Touch To The Ground 3.02 (Ball) Recorded on 1st February 1971. Big Bertha cover. Very heavy brass rock with mean vocals and strong guitars. 2. Sunburst - Dicky Bird 5.33 (Cross) Recorded on 7th January 1971. A very short-lived band led by great guitarist Keith Cross (ex-T2). Instrumental. 3. Walrus - Who Can I Trust 2.29 (Hawthorn) Recorded on 1st February 1971. Unique radio version of the rapid and powerful first track from a band's only album. 4. Gnidrolog - My Room 6.25 (C. Goldring/S. Goldring/Cowling/Pegrum) Recorded on 13th April 1971. Exclusive, complex and great song never released on any of the band's vinyl LPs. 5. Pete Brown And Piblokto - Aeroplane Head Woman 7.43 (Brown/Mullen) Recorded on 16th August 1971. An unique version of a great, heavy song taped by the very last line up of a band. 6. Fields - A Friend Of Mine 4.22 (Field) Recorded on 23rd December 1971. Great, organ-based trio with stately sound. With Graham Field and Andy McCulloch.