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Plain and Fancy

Music gives soul to universe, wings to mind, flight to imagination, charm to sadness, and life to everything.

Plato

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Clear Blue Sky - Clear Blue Sky (1970 uk, essential raw heavy rock, 2017 remaster)



As the '60s gave way to the '70s in Swinging London, the colossal success of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience was helping hard rock to become arguably the musical genre du jour, meaning there were literally hundreds of young British bands bent on following in their heavy footsteps, while testing the limits of those newly developed Marshall stacks. Needless to say, only a handful of those groups would go on to become household names (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc.), leaving dozens more to share in the remaining limelight (Uriah Heep, Budgie, Taste, Jethro Tull, etc.), and then hundreds more fighting over the leftover table scraps -- including the subject of this text, Clear Blue Sky.

Formed in the western London suburb of Acton by teenage school chums John Simms (guitar, vocals), Mark Sheather (bass), and Ken White (drums), the bandmembers tried on several different monikers (Jug Blues, Matuse, and simply X) while they tinkered with their Brit-blues foundation, gradually adding harder, psychedelic, and eventually progressive songwriting elements. Extensive touring across the U.K. and into Germany also helped them gel as a unit, and so the precocious trio was primed and ready to capitalize on the next big opportunity that came its way, taking first place in a talent contest at the legendary Marquee Club that resulted in an offer from Donovan manager Ashley Kozak to represent the group. And true to his power broker reputation, Kozak soon managed to secure a recording contract for the boys with adventurous EMI imprint Vertigo, which put the newly renamed Clear Blue Sky into Island Studios in the spring of 1970, right next door to none other than Led Zeppelin! 

Another early believer, vocalist Patrick Campbell-Lyons, formerly of the progressive rock band Nirvana (no, not that Nirvana), was hired to produce the three 18-year-olds, and by January 1971 the eponymous Clear Blue Sky LP arrived in record stores, adorned with one of the first Roger Dean cover designs (although, in Europe, it was titled Play It Loud and given different artwork). Unfortunately, the record's edgy mix of proto-metal, post-psych acid rock, and burgeoning prog rock -- though enthusiastically praised by collectors to this day -- ultimately failed to distinguish itself from the embarrassment of heavy rock riches that marked this period in time. And despite consistent touring over the next few years, Clear Blue Sky's career slowly lost momentum -- along with their Vertigo contract -- until the old friends finally decided to call it a day in 1975.
by Eduardo Rivadavia


Tracks
1. Sweet Leaf - 8:02
2. The Rocket Ride - 6:24
3. I'm Comin' Home - 3:08
4. You Mistify - 7:49
5. Tool Of My Trade - 4:55
6. My Heaven - 5:01
7. Birdcatcher - 4:15
All compositions by John Simms

Clear Blue Sky
*John Simms - Guitar, Vocals
*Mark Sheather - Bass
*Ken White - Drums

Free Text
the Free Text

10 comments:

  1. I thought I was burned out on power trios but this is pretty great, thanks Marios!

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  2. Awesome!Thank you so much for putting up this CD "MARIOS"...

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  3. this is a great band- hardly as "typical" as the commentary states- truly unique. I have 6 of their albums & the version I have of this one is different. Thanks Marios for putting it up.

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  4. no pueden cambiar de link de descarga,desde ayer no puedo descargar pues parece que hay virus

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  5. there aren't any viruses, just use your adblocker

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  6. awesome record, excellent remaster, don't miss it

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  7. Thank you for the uploads.

    I will never meet you in the real world (maybe) but you are a saint to musical gods.

    If it wasn't for your gift, the music would be lost! This is a true beauty. To have such sound stricken upon my very own ears is a humble honor. Life feels so much more complete when you discover these gems. Now, I have heard many. And each artist is different. Truly unique. I am feel so privileged to have the ability to hear this for myself.

    We need to protect and preserve this art. It will never be like this again, the musical prophecy dictates as such. As I do with all albums I collect, This one will go into the vault. Forever preserved in EMP shielding on a digital device, SSD drives, etc.


    Thank you so much,

    ~ The Musical Wizard

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