Richard St. John Francis Harris was an Irish actor, singer-songwriter, theatrical producer, film director and writer. He appeared on stage and in many films, and is perhaps best known for his roles as King Arthur in Camelot (1967), as Oliver Cromwell in Cromwell (1970) and as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), his final film. He also played a British aristocrat and prisoner in A Man Called Horse (1970), Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator (2000) and the gunfighter English Bob in Clint Eastwood's Western film Unforgiven (1992). Harris had a top ten hit in Britain and the US with his 1968 recording of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park". A Tramp Shining is an album by Harris, released in 1968. Harris teamed with singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb for this album. Although Harris sang many numbers on the soundtrack album to the film musical Camelot in the previous year, A Tramp Shining became his first solo album. Jimmy Webb wrote all the songs, arranged the musicians, and produced the entire album. "MacArthur Park" was one of the biggest singles of that year, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. The album as a whole was also highly successful, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Album of the Year" in 1969. 01 - (Prelude) Didn't We 02 - (Interlude) Paper Chase 03 - (Interlude) Name Of My Sorrow 04 - (Interlude) Lovers Such As I 05 - In The Final Hours 06 - Mac Arthur Park 07 - Dancing Girl 08 - If You Must Leave My Life 09 - A Tramp Shining LINK (RS) or LINK (FS)
From one perspective you can argue that the Yardbirds are one of the most unstable British rock groups of all time, reflected by the fact that it produced three of the greatest guitarists in history: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. It is mostly because all three started out with the Yardbirds that the group is regarded so highly even though they only had a few Top 40 hits in 1965-1966. This is a modern compilation of their early era. 01 - For Your Love 02 - Heart Full Of Soul 03 - Shapes Of Things 04 - You're A Better Man Than I 05 - Evil Hearted You 06 - The Train Kept A-Rollin' 07 - I Ain't Got You 08 - I Wish You Would 09 - Smokestack Lightning LINK (RS) or LINK (FS)
Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Usually known professionally as Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". Born to Be is Melanie's debut album, released on Buddah Records in 1968. Following Melanie's success at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 Buddha repackaged and reissued the album as My First Album. 01 - In The Hour 02 - I'm Back In Town 03 - Bo Bo's Party 04 - Mr. Tambourine Man 05 - Momma Momma 06 - I Really Loved Harold 07 - Animal Crackers 08 - Christopher Robin (Is Saying His Prayers) 09 - Close To It All 10 - Merry Xmas LINK (RS) or LINK (FS)
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded as The Dirt Band. Constant members since the early times are singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and drummer Jimmie Fadden. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen was with the band from 1966 to 1986 and returned during 2001. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter joined the band in 1977. The band is often cited as instrumental to the progression of contemporary country and roots music. Pure Dirts, is the group's first compilation album, made up of six songs from the first album and eight from Ricochet, assembled and released by Liberty Records in England (where neither of the original albums had appeared). A fair representation of the original Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. 01 - Buy Me For The Rain 02 - It's Raining Here In Long Beach 03 - Dismal Swamp 04 - Tide Of Love 05 - Holding 06 - Call Again 07 - Your Gonna Get It In The End 08 - Shadow Dream Song 09 - Song To Jutta 10 - The Teddybears Picnic 11 - Truly Right 12 - Put A Bar In My Car 13 - Candy Man 14 - I'll Search The Sky LINK (RS) or LINK (FS)
No Earthly Connection is a 1976 progressive rock concept album by Rick Wakeman. It was recorded in France for tax purposes.The LP record's sleeve attributes the album to Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble. In addition to Wakeman with his wide variety of keyboard instruments, including harpsichords, Mellotrons, Moog synthesizers, organs, and pianos, musicians on the album are vocalist Ashley Holt, Roger Newell (bass guitar and vocals), John Dunsterville (guitars, mandolin, and vocals), Tony Fernandez (drums and percussion), Martyn Shields (trumpet, French horn, and vocals), and Reg Brooks (trombone and vocals). The album is currently out of print in Europe and the USA, but a remastered CD release is available in Japan. There are currently no plans for an official CD reissue in the rest of the world. 01 - Music Reincarnate The Warning The Maker The Spaceman The Realisation The Reaper 02 - The Prisoner 03 - The Lost Cycle LINK (RS) or LINK (FS)
The Kickstands were one of writer and producer Gary Usher's studio amalgams that made use of veteran L.A. session players in the early to mid-'60s to produce album after album of hot rod and surf tunes. With players from the so-called Wrecking Crew, including Jerry Cole, Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Leon Russell, Glen Campbell, and with Chuck Girard handling most of the vocals, the Kickstands officially released one album, Black Boots & Bikes, on Capitol Records. The album had a somewhat darker hue than most of Usher's sunshine and surf productions, and tracks like "Death Valley Run" and "Slow Ride South" are definitely worth seeking out for fans of Usher and the hot rod/surf genre. 01 - Death Valley Run 02 - Hill Climb 03 - Mean Streak 04 - Side Car 05 - Two Wheel Show 06 - Haulin' Honda 07 - Devil On Wheels 08 - Ridin' Trails 09 - Slow Ride South 10 - Johnny Take Care 11 - Scrambler LINK (RS) or LINK (FS)
