CRAWLING UP A HILL ( Various CD)

Crawling Up A Hill – A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71, Various Artists, 3CD Boxset

Housed in a clamshell box with a 40-page booklet featuring potted histories and priceless period photos of all the featured acts, Crawling Up A Hill is a fascinating document of a genre that, though relatively short-lived, would have a seismic influence on the subsequent development of rock music

 TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE
1. ALL YOUR LOVE – John Mayall's Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
2. CRAWLING UP A HILL – The Zany Woodruff Operation
3. LOUISE – Anderson Jones Jackson
4. I LOVE YOU – The Graham Bond Organization
5. I'M A MAN (live) – The Yardbirds
6. DON'T WANT YOU NO MORE – The Spencer Davis Group
7. I CAN'T KEEP FROM CRYING, SOMETIMES – Ten Years After
8. JUMPING AT SHADOWS (Demo Version) – Duster Bennett
9. CHARLIE – The Deviants
10. YOU SHOOK ME – Jeff Beck
11. AIN'T NOTHIN' IN RAMBLIN' – Jo-Ann Kelly
12. LOVE THAT BURNS – Fleetwood Mac
13. WANG DANG DOODLE – Love Sculpture
14. OPERATOR – Alexis Korner featuring Robert Plant
15. CAN BLUE MEN SING THE WHITES? – The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
16. WALKING – Dr. K's Blues Band
17. LITTLE WOMAN YOU'RE SO SWEET – Shakey Vick
18. A STRANGER IN YOUR TOWN – The Climax Chicago Blues Band
19. LORD OF THE RINGS – Downliners Sect

DISC TWO
1. SWEET TOOTH – Free
2. DEATH LETTER – Mike Cooper
3. BLISTER ON THE MOON –The Taste
4. I JUST CAN'T KEEP FROM CRYING – Levee Camp Moan
5. SOMETIME GIRL – Sam Apple Pie
6. SKIN GAME (Live) –John Dummer Blues Band
7. DIAMOND JOE – Quiet Melon
8. NOBODY BY MY SIDE –Killing Floor
9. DEAR JILL – Blodwyn Pig
10. THERE'S AN EASY AND A HARD WAY OF LIVING – Icarus
11. TEARS IN THE WIND –Chicken Shack
12. BRING IT ON HOME – Bakerloo
13. THE SAME FOR YOU – Jaklin
14. TRAIN COMES, TRAIN GOES – Frozen Tear*
15. TELEPHONE BLUES (aka TALK TO ME BABY) –The Rats
16. MADISON BLUES –Angel Pavement
17. IT'S YOU I MISS –Christine Perfect Band
18. THIS LOVE OF OLD –Medicine Head
19. BABY PLEASE DON'T GO – Jasper

DISC THREE
1. I'VE GOT THOSE FLEETWOOD MAC CHICKEN SHACK JOHN MAYALL CAN'T FAIL BLUES –
Liverpool Scene
2. RIDE WITH YOUR DADDY TONIGHT – Brunning Sunflower Blues Band featuring Peter Green
3. TIME TO MOVE – Red Dirt
4. A HARD WAY TO GO (Live) –Savoy Brown
5. MEAN BLUES – Jeremy Spencer
6. CHAUFFEUR – Black Cat Bones
7. GARDENER MAN – Siren
8. DUPREE BLUES – Blue Blood
9. PASSING THROUGH – Steamhammer
10. RAINING IN YOUR HEART –Stone The Crows
11. OLD GOPHER –Edgar Broughton Band
12. ROADRUNNER – Stack Waddy
13. TAKE ME DOWN TO THE WATER – Heavy Jelly
14. THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS –Skid Row
15. TAKE YOUR MONEY –Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts
16. THE SUN IS SHINING – Mungo Jerry
17. BACKLASH BLUES – Linda Hoyle
18. RAILROAD – Status Quo

Tracks taken :
1-1 from LP " Blues Breakers " ( July 1966 ) [Decca ‎LK 4804]
1-2 previously unissued. Recorded December 1966.
1-3 from 7" EP " Anderson Jones Jackson " ( January 1967 ) [Saydisc ‎33SD 125]
1-4 from single B-side of " You've Gotta Have Love Babe " ( February 1967 ) [Page One ‎POF 014]
1-5 not originally issued. Recorded April 1967.
1-6 from single B-side of " Time Seller " ( July 1967 ) [Fontana ‎TF 854] According to Discogs the track is credited to Spencer Davis and Phil Sawyer.
1-7 from LP " Ten Years After " ( November 1967 ) [Deram ‎DML 1015]
1-8 not originally issued demo version. Recorded early 1968.
1-9 from LP " Ptooff! " ( June 1968 ) [Underground Impresarios ‎IMP 1]
1-10 from US LP " Truth " ( July 1968 ) [Epic ‎BN 26413]
1-11 from LP compilation " Blues Like Showers Of Rain " ( July 1968 ) [Saydisc Matchbox ‎SDM 142] credited to Various Artists
1-12 from LP " Mr. Wonderful " ( August 1968 ) [Blue Horizon ‎7 63205]
1-13 from single A-side ( September 1968 ) [Parlophone ‎R 5731]
1-14 not originally issued. Recorded September 1968.
1-15 from LP " The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse " ( November 1968 ) [Liberty ‎LBS 83158]
1-16 from LP " Dr. K's Blues Band " ( December 1968 ) [Spark ‎SRLP 101]
1-17 from LP " Little Woman You're So Sweet " ( January 1969 ) [Pye Records ‎NSPL 18276]
1-18 from LP " The Climax Chicago Blues Band " ( February 1969 ) [Parlophone ‎PCS 7069]
1-19 from Swedish Juke Box 7" EP " Untitled " ( February 1969 ) [JUKEbox ‎JSEP 5584] credited to Various Artists
2-1 from LP " Tons Of Sobs " ( March 1969 ) [Island Records ‎ILPS 9089]
2-2 from LP " Oh Really!? " ( March 1969 ) [Pye Records ‎NSPL.18281]
2-3 from LP " Taste " ( April 1969 ) [Polydor ‎583 042]
2-4 from LP " Levee Camp Moan " ( April 1969 ) [County Recording Service ‎COUN LP 132]
2-5 from single B-side of Tiger Man " ( May 1969 ) [Decca ‎F 22932]
2-6 not originally issued alternative version. Recorded May 1969.
2-7 not originally issued. Recorded May 1969.
2-8 from LP " Killing Floor " ( June 1969 ) [Spark ‎SRLP 102]
2-9 not originally issued. Recorded circa May 1969.
2-10 not originally issued. Recorded July 1969.
2-11 from single A-side ( August 1969 ) [Blue Horizon ‎57 3160]
2-12 from LP " Bakerloo " ( September 1969 ) [Harvest ‎SHVL 762]
2-13 from LP " Jaklin " ( October 1969 ) [Stable Records ‎SLE 8003]
2-14 previously unissued. Recorded October 1969.
2-15 not originally issued. Recorded November 1969.
2-16 not originally issued. Recorded November 1969.
2-17 not originally issued. Recorded November 1969.
2-18 from LP " New Bottles Old Medicine " ( May 1970 ) [Dandelion Records ‎63757]
2-19 from LP " Liberation " ( November 1969 ) [Spark ‎SRLP 103]
3-1 from LP " Bread On The Night " ( November 1969 ) [RCA ‎SF8057]
3-2 from LP " Trackside Blues " ( December 1969 ) [Saga Eros ‎EROS 8132]
3-3 not originally issued. Recorded December 1969.
3-4 not originally issued. Recorded circa January 1970.
3-5 from LP " Jeremy Spencer " ( January 1970 ) [Reprise Records ‎RSLP 9002]
3-6 from LP " Barbed Wire Sandwich " ( February 1970 ) [Decca ‎SDN 15]
3-7 from LP " Siren " ( February 1970 ) [Dandelion Records ‎63755]

3-8 from LP " Blue Blood " ( February 1970 ) [Sonet ‎SNTF 615]
3-9 from LP " MK II " ( March 1970 ) [CBS ‎S 63694]
3-10 from LP " Stone The Crows " ( May 1970 ) [Polydor ‎2425 017]
3-11 from LP " Sing Brother Sing " ( June 1970 ) [Harvest ‎– SHVL 772]
3-12 from single A-side ( July 1970 ) [Dandelion Records ‎S 5119]
3-13 from promo LP " Heavy Jelly " ( November 1970 ) [Not On Label ‎HELP 4] Test pressing only.
3-14 from LP " Skid " ( October 1970 ) [CBS ‎63965] On the booklet is wrongly written : CBS 63847.
3-15 from LP " 12 Inches Of " ( May 1971 ) [Sonet ‎SNTF 619]
3-16 from single A-side (2nd song) of " You Don't Have To Be In The Army To Fight In The War " ( September 1971 ) [Dawn DNX 2513]
3-17 from LP " Pieces Of Me " ( November 1971 ) [Vertigo ‎6360 060]
3-18 from LP " Dog Of Two Head " ( November 1971 ) [Pye Records ‎NSPL 18371]

• By 1965, the British R&B boom was over. Cyril Davies was dead, Alexis Korner was employed as MD on a children's TV show, and the legion of young acolytes the two men had inspired had drifted away from the blues and into mainstream pop stardom. The more "purist" individuals were out in the cold: Brian Jones was marginalised in the Stones by the emergence of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, while Eric Clapton had stormed out of the most blueswailing Yardbirds in protest at their recording of winsome pop ditty 'For Your Love'.

• But things were about to change. In April 1966, club band John Mayall's Blues Breakers – prominently featuring a still-simmering Clapton – recorded their debut studio album with the aid of producer Mike Vernon. Released in July, the LP was a huge, entirely unexpected success, reaching the UK Top Ten and remaining in the charts for an impressive 17 weeks.

• Suddenly, an astonishing number of virtuoso young British (and Irish) blues guitarists, all of whom rejected the trappings of pop success as fervently as the young Eric, were inspired to form their own bands. In the wake of Clapton, his Yardbirds replacement Jeff Beck and Peter Green (Eric's replacement in Mayall's band after he'd split to form Cream) came the likes of Kim Simmonds, Jeremy Spencer, Stan Webb, Paul Kossoff, Alvin Lee, Clem Clempson, Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore and Mick Ronson. Within a year or two of Mayall's unexpected breakthrough, the second wave of the British blues boom was in full, glorious bloom.

• Featuring all of the above names, Crawling Up A Hill chronicles the development of the British blues scene during that relatively brief but halcyon period, covering both the electric blues bands (Mayall's Blues Breakers, Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, Ten Years After etc) and the acoustic country blues acts (Jo-Ann Kelly, Mike Cooper, Ian A. Anderson and others).

• In addition, we feature a number of more obscure bands from the era, including Levee Camp Moan (responsible for two of the most feverishly-collected albums of the era), pre-Faces outfit Quiet Melon and The Zany Woodruff Operation, now receiving their first-ever public exposure.

• Housed in a clamshell box with a 40-page booklet featuring potted histories and priceless period photos of all the featured acts, Crawling Up A Hill is a fascinating document of a genre that, though relatively short-lived, would have a seismic influence on the subsequent development of rock music.