We all know that downloading music for free off the internet is illegal but I have to admit to doing it of late. I’ve got 4-5,000 vinyl albums and maybe 10,000 singles and I do not have time to take each one and digitize it. So, in an effort to save time and deep frustration (trying to cut out clicks, pops and crackle) I went looking for a few albums on the web. I’ve been on the internet since 1995 and knew you could find anything on it but even I was taken aback. Vinyl that I’d spent years searching for, that I’d haggled for and still spent silly money on were all out there, often with high quality scans of covers and labels.
[I’m not going to get into a semantic discussion about legality. In theory you can make one copy of anything you have for personal use. Whether that means you can download it is anyone’s guess. No legal comment on that one, please.]
I started off doing specific searches for albums and then would browse the rest of a site (almost always a blog) to see what else they had of interest. Here’s the result of my research. Many of the blog owners state that the music they have linked to is unavailable officially. I would take that with a pinch of salt!
I’ll start chronologically with the order the bands played the Ballerina. Needless to say, if you’ve discovered something I missed and would like to share it, let me know. All the links open in a new window.
1966
Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours Don’t Stop Loving Me Baby b/w Will Ya? (1966)
The Four Pennies Two Sides Of The Four Pennies (1964) and A Mixed Bag (1966)
Truth – Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness). The b-side of their Deram single. Found here on the compilation “Maximum Freakbeat”
The Beatstalkers – Everyboody’s Talking ‘Bout My Baby
The Koobas Sweet Music b/w Face (1966)
The Beatstalkers – You’d Better Get A Better Hold On. B-side of their second single
1967
Neil Christian -Neil Christian & The Crusaders
The Kingpins – Kingpins For Sale. This compilation includes four tracks from this year. The rest comes from 1965 – ’69
Alan Price Set – French EP and singles collection (22 tracks)
Wimple Winch – Atmospheres
Dantalion’s Chariot – Chariot Rising. The group only every released one single (pictured above) but in 1995, Tenth Planet pieced together this album from the single and previously unreleased material. Judging from this, they must have been a fascinating band to see live.
Simon Dupree & The Big Sound -Kites 1966 – 1969
The Troggs – Cellophane (1967) and Mixed bag (1968)
1968
The Floribunda Rose – ‘Linda Loves Linda’ b/w ‘One Way Street’
The Scots Of St. James – Eiderdown Clown, the b-side of their 1967 single on Spot. Included in this compilation: Circus Days Volume 6
The Herd – Paradise Lost
My Dear Watson – The Shame Just Drained. The b-side of their first single
The Casuals – Jesamine
1969
Writing On The Wall – The Power Of The Picts
1970
Picketty Witch – That Same Old Feeling
Slade Play It Loud (1970)
Status Quo Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon (1970)
Juicy Lucy Self titled album (1969)
The Toyshop – Send My Love To Lucy. This is the b-side of their one and only single, released by Polydor in 1969. It was released on this compilation – “Fading Yellow, Volume Four” in 2003
Beggars Opera – Act One
String Driven Thing – Self-titled album
1971
Bodkin – Bodkin. This album actually came out in 1972 but it’s very likely they were playing songs from it in Nairn.
Chicken Shack – Accept
Beggar’s Opera – Pathfinder
Tear Gas – Tear Gas. To download this album you MUST use the password provided (fleur)
Fleetwood Mac – Future Games
Goliath – Goliath
