Freeway Jam

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Time for yet another installment of Freeway Jam's regular irregular feature we like to call "What were people looking for when they accidentally wound up here?"

The Coasters: Searchin' [45] (1957)

Freeway Jam gets at least a couple of search engine hits a day, bringing music fans and/or collectors, not unlike you or I, to this tiny (but, I'm happy to report, growing) little island in an ocean of music websites and blogs.

If you arrived here searching Google or Yahoo for lyrics or mp3's, stick around; we won't tell anyone. And while I can't help much in your quest for those, we can at least rap about 'em. So check back again in a few days, and you'll probably find your search profiled right here.

So, let's get right down to it:

From Google: 4-hero les fleurs lyrics
4 hero: Creating Patterns (2001)

Wow, this is a bigger hit than I imagined. I mentioned it once in my very first post three weeks ago, and it keeps bringing people here, which makes me talk about it more, and this train has no brakes. OK fans, one more round of applause for "Les Fleurs". I'll recommend the Minnie Riperton original to those who missed it the first time. But I am starting to get a little tired of this tune, both versions.

From Google: Joey Molland Bootleg CD After The Pearl
Joey Molland: After the Pearl (1983)

This is on my perennial wish list, too. Molland's name probably doesn't ring many bells. He was the lead guitarist for Badfinger, who shared vocals and songwriting with Pete Ham, Tom Evans, and drummer Mike Gibbons. Badfinger scored 4 top-20 hits from 1969-1972 ("Baby Blue" is the best; "Day After Day" their most well-known). After a couple of good albums for Warners, the band imploded when their manager ran off with all their money. Ham hung himself in 1975, the band reformed, and then Evans hung himself in '83. Molland bravely soldiers on. After the Pearl was on the defunct Earthtone label in '83, and consists of nice Badfinger-ey tunes enshrouded in world weary resignation. Not a great album, but an interesting one. Very rare now; I've only seen the leadoff track "Here Comes Heartache" on p2p. Snatch it, if you can.

From Google: "Costafine town"
Splinter: Costafine Town [sheet music] (1974)

Splinter: Costafine Town [sheet music] (1974)

Those Splinter freaks just won't give up.

From Yahoo: jam freeway

I wonder what's going on with this one. Did he mean "Freeway Jam"? Should I get excited? Maybe he's Chinese, or Australian. Maybe it's a she! Or, was he looking for the traffic report? At any rate, he came here. Hope your commute went well; you'll have a swell CD to play in the car if you keep coming back here.

From Google: "complete apple singles collection"
The Complete Apple Singles Collection: Volume 11 (2004?)

The Complete Apple Singles Collection: Volume 11 (2004?)

I mentioned this in my wish list as 'a lucky find' I should add, I only found pieces of it, and they didn't circulate on p2p very long. Apple Records was the label the Beatles founded. At the beginning, they took it seriously, and signed some good talent; James Taylor's debut was on Apple, Badfinger was a talented band, Mary Hopkin had her hits, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Ronnie Spector, and David Peel all released records on Apple during their brief heyday, 1968-1972. After the Beatles broke up in 1970, the label started to breakdown amid infighting and financial trouble. It folded in 1975; the solo Beatles were the only artists left by then.

Some kind bootlegger transferred the entire output of Apple 45's, A-sides and B-sides, plus unreleased tracks (including the legendary unheard tune "King of Fuh" which probably remained unheard for a reason) and acetates in a 12-CD set. There were albumwraps of volumes 1-6 circulating, and then a bunch of stray tracks, ripe for cherry picking. Then they were gone.

From Google: baker street gerry rafferty "file sharing"
Gerry Rafferty: City to City (1978)

This isn't hard to find, although it is often mis-tagged. Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" is a big, fat guilty pleasure of mine, and a lot of other people's. That phat, saucy sax. That guitar break. Those lyrics of dissipation and hoped-for redemption. Downloaders might want to get "Right Down The Line" while they're at it.

Rafferty is a musician who has been stereotyped by his biggest hit; he's always been a better than average singer-songwriter who wasn't timid around the occasional electric guitar. That's him on "Stuck In The Middle With You" (the ear-cutting song in Reservoir Dogs) with his early 70's outfit, Stealer's Wheel.

From Google: david gates comments James Griffin's death bread
Lovers and Other Strangers [soundtrack] (1970)

Lovers and Other Strangers [soundtrack] (1970)

Ouch. Sorry guy, you didn't find Gates' comments, you just found my rude comments about Gates. Look, Bread was wimpy and callow, let's face it. Griffin's Bread tunes were grittier; "Mother Freedom" is the best, a chugging little ragged guitar piece that could pass for a Guess Who album cut. But I'll defend "Everything I Own". Fans of that tune shout try Ken Booth's reggae version. And Boy George's is good too, believe it or not.

James Griffin's biggest moment was winning an Oscar for "For All We Know", from the film, Lovers and Other Strangers in 1970. Petula Clark did it in the movie, and the Carpenters had the hit of it. Collectors should be aware that a demo with Griffin singing it exists in the p2p vortex, but the one I landed is incomplete.

Note: Cover art for that soundtrack is super-rare. So get it here if you need it.

That's all for today's installment of "What were people looking for when they accidentally wound up here?" If you clicked on in here looking for Modern Jazz Quartet mp3's, we'll discuss it next time. So be sure to come back.

Jam Tags (1-5 stars):

4 hero: Les Fleurs ****
Minnie Riperton: Les Fleurs ****
Joey Molland: Here Comes Heartache ***
Badfinger: Baby Blue ****
Badfinger: Day After Day ***
Splinter: Costafine Town ***
Gerry Rafferty: Baker Street ****
Gerry Rafferty: Right Down The Line ****
Stealers' Wheel: In The Middle With You ****
Bread: Everything I Own ****
Bread: Mother Freedom: ***
Ken Booth: Everything I Own *****
Boy George: Everything I Own ****
The Carpenters: For All We Know **
Petula Clark: For All We Know (don't have it; never heard it)
James Griffin: For All We Know (demo) *

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