Brewer & Shipley - Weeds [1969]

Artist: Brewer & Shipley 
Album: Weeds (Vinyl LP Rip)
Year: 1969
Genre: Folk Rock / Singer-Songwriter
Site: http://www.brewerandshipley.com/

Comment: From Wikipedia: "Brewer & Shipley were a folk rock duo of the late 1960s through 1970s, consisting of singer-songwriters Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley. They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmonies and socially-conscious lyrics, which reflected the concerns of their generation -- especially the Vietnam War, and the struggles for personal and political freedom. Their biggest hit was the song "One Toke Over the Line" from their 1970 album Tarkio."

This band is much bigger than "One Toke"---from their polished take on "All Along the Watchtower" (which easily one-ups the Dylan original in this regard) to the gloriously far-out, acid-drenched bongos and beautiful harmonizing on "Witchi-Tai-To," a Native American chant, Brewer & Shipley's work is down-to-earth and far-out at the same time. They flew under the radar for pretty much their entire career after moving out of Los Angeles and back to the Midwest in '69; now their records are nearly impossible to find on CD.

Weeds is a personal favorite. Check this out.

(If you're still not sold, Jerry Garcia from The Grateful Dead liked them enough to play pedal steel on their record Tarkio!)

Tracklist:
01. Lady Like You
02. Rise Up (Easy Rider)
03. Boomerang
04. Indian Summer
05. All Along the Watchtower
06. People Love Each Other
07. Pig's Head
08. Oh, Sweet Lady
10. Too Soon Tomorrow
10. Witchi-Tai-To

Fair to Midland - The Carbon Copy Silver Lining [2002]

Artist: Fair to Midland 
Album: The Carbon Copy Silver Lining
Year: 2002
Genre: Hard Rock / Metal / Experimental / World
Site: http://www.myspace.com/fairtomidland

Comment: Their first album. Pre-dates inter.funda.stifle by two years. Much easier to see the System of a Down comparisons. CCSL is hard aggro-metal at times, but quavery acoustic-tinged tracks like "Informative Timeline" showcase the band's versatility and stunning use of dynamics and melody.

Tracklist:
01. Gaining One
02. As I Was Travelling...
03. Stiffback
04. Informative Timeline
05. An Occurance During The Restoration Process
06. -The Beltway-
07. My Mentor
08. Stale Penny (Miracle Grow)
09. Pen- -.
10. Beto Ii
11. With This Easel.
12. See, Saw
13. ..(I)..

Wishbone Ash - Argus [1972]

Artist: Wishbone Ash
Album: Argus (LP / Vinyl Rip)
Year: 1972
Genre: Hard Rock / Jazz / Blues
Site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wishbone_Ash

Comment: Led Zeppelin if they shucked the blues and tried jazz on for size. Some really awesome guitar work/soloing, the likes of which you just don't hear anymore. Harder/noisier than Steely Dan, but still laid-back compared to modern metal.

Tracklist:
1. Time Was
2. Sometime World
3. Blowin' Free
4. The King Will Come
5. Leaf and Stream
6. Warrior

About

Ad Astra Per Aspera: "to the stars through adversity." The Kansas state motto.

The music: Unheard of. Underground. Underappreciated. Unique.

The musicians who play on the recordings featured here are the stars. The adversity? That you can't easily find their music. Let's fix that.

If you like what you hear: Leave a comment or a shout. Go attend that band's show. Buy a t-shirt. Talk to them after the show. Tell them to release their music to the internet. Or, buy the CD, then do all the other stuff.

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” - Sergei Rachmaninov