Afterworders who can recall the ration may well have ventured into the world of label samplers, which cost 17/6 d in 1970 and were single or double lps with a single offering from pretty well each of the label’s acts.
This was paper-round wages well-spent.
I’ve just dug out a few of mine and have been Jazz – rocking my way thru’ “Fill your head with Rock,”
Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Flock and also soft -rocking along to Island Records ” Bumpers,” with Bronco, Traffic, John and Beverley Martin.
There were loads.Was it just last night’s hop extract which induced the rosy glow, or were they really quite wonderful and still are ?
Feedback_File says
I fondly remember the Island double ‘El Pea’ which I no longer own following the stupid clear-out of vinyl that I undertook sometime in the early/mid 80s (a few years later I flogged my collection of original Marvel comics from the 60s and 70s – what a mug !)
NigelT says
I think CBS started this with the Rock Machine Turns You On, but a favourite of mine is the Transatlantic one ‘Listen Here’ – Pentangle, Ron Geeson, Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell, The Purple Gang’s wonderful ‘Granny Takes A Trip’ !
Kaisfatdad says
The Rock Machine! One of the first albums I ever bought.
Still pretty fab too!
Fifer says
And let’s not forget the follow up – Rock Machine I Love You – with an equally stellar line up. Details here – http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Machine_I_Love_You
mikethep says
You Can All Join In and Nice Enough to Eat, two fondly remembered Island samplers.
Also this, The Blues, Vol. 1, my introduction to the blues, every track an absolute killer: http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-blues-vol-1-chess-mca-mw0000202670
I won it for getting a letter published in Melody Maker…
Fifer says
Wow! Just, wow!
Mike Hull says
Harvest Bag from 1971 has plenty of interesting stuff on it – Barclays James Harvest, Edgar Broughton, Roy Harper, Climax Chicago Blues Band, Mark Almond (not the 1980s synth pop guy) and others.
Also, The Contemporary Guitar Sampler that Transatlantic released in 1969. It was my introduction to Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Pentangle, John Fahey and others. the LP also features Gordon Giltrap, Ralph McTell and John Pearse. Bought my copy second hand in about 1980 or 1981 for £2, but had borrowed it from Wilmslow library as early as 1979.
SteveT says
I had that Transatlantic Sampler too and very good it was. Turned me on to Pentangle and interestingly saw Gordon Giltrap last year in concert. Lives locally and does a lot for charity.
Guess these samplers in good condition would be worth a decent amount of dose.
SteveT says
Spell checker bollocks – Dosh not dose.
pencilsqueezer says
I remember the Transatlantic sampler. I even remember buying it in 1971.
One of the first LPs I owned was The Age of Atlantic. MC5, Vanilla Fudge…
Anyone remember the Backtrack albums?
SteveT says
Remember that Age of Atlantic well – some cracking stuff on that.
spider-mans arch enemy says
I was listening to ‘The Rock Machine’ yesterday. It was worth the price just for Dylan’s ‘Days of 49’.
minibreakfast says
I got this one last year (surprising enough at a boot sale!), but IIRC the Bob tune is I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.
spider-mans arch enemy says
Whoops – I meant the ‘Rock Buster’ lp, with Arnie on the front.
Fin59 says
There was a Warner Brothers (think it was them) one called Let If Rock (think it was that) which featured an eclectic collection from Big Joe Turner to the Doobie Brothers.
It was only something like 59 p to buy. Worth it for a great version of the Stones’ Connection by Montrose. Better than the original which is not something that can be said often of Stones covers.
Here it is
mikethep says
Yes, I had that. I think it might have been connected with the very wonderful Let It Rock magazine.
Fin59 says
Bit of googling about reveals that it was compiled by the late, great Charlie Gillett whose Radio London show of moons or two ago were a treasure trove of musical discovery
Billybob Dylan says
There was another Warners sampler, with Bugs Bunny on the cover, which was also 59p, and also featured Montrose! I think it was released to coincide with a Warner Bros. artists tour in 1974 or 75. There were two tracks each from Little Feat, the Doobies, Tower of Power, Montrose and Graham Central Station, and one track by Bonaroo and one track by someone whose name I’ve forgotten.
I’ve still got my copy (and my copy of El Pea).
moseleymoles says
From a later generation Pillows and Prayers Introduced Tracey thorn, Ben watt, the monochrome set, The passage etc. And finished with this wonderful item from Britains stately homo. ‘Pay no more than 99p’
Harry Tufnell says
This album more or less defines the early 80’s for me, young, idealistic, in my first serious relationship, buying my first house! I now have a lens for my camera that cost more than that first house near the centre of Rotherham!
Alias says
Richard Branson’s short lived association with roots reggae gave us the excellent The Front Line cheap sampler.
Rigid Digit says
Stiff released A Bunch Of Stiffs sampler in 1977, then threw out Stiffs Greatest Stiffs in the autumn of that year.
Baskerville Old Face says
I loved those samplers. ‘Nice Enough To Eat’ (1969) changed my life and opened up my ears to a whole new world of music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_Enough_to_Eat
Some kind person has put up the following:
Baskerville Old Face says
Part of this:
Beany says
Bumpers opened up a whole new world of music to me. Most of the tracks are on YouTube now but I vowed if I ever became a lottery millionaire I would licence this set and release it on CD. Not happened so far. So many favourite pieces of music contained therein. This is definitely one of them still.
Mott The Hoople – Thunderbuck Ram
Tiggerlion says
The Warner Brothers Music Show cost 59p, released in 1975. Bargain!!
A1 -The Doobie Brothers – Pursuit On 53rd Street
A2 –Graham Central Station – Feel The Need
A3 –Little Feat – Oh Atlanta
A4 –Montrose – Bad Motor Scooter
A5 –Tower Of Power – Don’t Change Horses (In The Middle Of A Stream)
A6 –Bonaroo – Sally Ann
B1 –Doobie Brothers – The Black Water
B2 –Graham Central Station – We’ve Been Waiting/ Release Yourself
B3 –Little Feat – Dixie Chicken
B4 –Montrose – Connection
B5 –Tower Of Power – Only So Much Oil In The Ground
Blue Boy says
I remember that one well. There was a tour associated with it as well in which as I recall the Doobie Brothers were headliners, but the general view was that Little Feat blew them off the stage
johnw says
I’ve still got a couple of label samplers that came via Melody Maker in about 1976. One is CBS and contains Born To Run and the other is A&M which contains Strawberry Letter 23 (by the Brothers Johnson). I think I only had to pay for postage. Wedged in among them is a 10″ RSO sampler that inevitably has an Eric Clapton track… may have been a B-side.
johnw says
I thought I’d dig them out and I was surprised at the number I had.
Three from Virgin, 2 from Polydor/RSO, 2 from A&M, 3 from CBS. I reckon it was around £10 the lot!
johnw says
Aha! my first picture on the new Afterword and I failed! I’ll keep trying until I get it right!
johnw says
johnw says
http://www.hardcafe.co.uk/photos/samplers.png
johnw says
Still can’t work out what html I should have used to embed the picture!
Rigid Digit says
Polydor/RSO – is it this one?
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Good-For-Nothing-The-Sounds-Album-Volume-1/release/1507473
Good For Nothing (from Sounds).
Bought at a Record Fair, primarily for the Doctors Of Madness track.
Not too bad, as I recall – it was first time I ever heard Barclay James Harvest
johnw says
Yep, that’s the one! – see picture. The second Sounds volume (this time from CBS) I thought was better but then it has a Sparks track on it which would be bound to elevate any slab of vinyl!
Blue Boy says
The aforementioned Rock Buster introduced the 13-14 year old me to any number of artists – Santana, Al Kooper, Its a Beautiful Day, Poco, The Byrds and above all Bod Dylan, with CBS trying to sell Self Portrait via Days of 49. Haven’t listened to if for probably 40 years but just googling the track listing is like Proust and madeleines…
Carl says
Two not yet mentioned – the Age of Atlantic and The New Age of Atlantic.
The first had inter alia Led Zep plus Dr John and Buffalo Springfield while the second introduced me to Loudon Wainwright and John Prine.
Fifer says
Then there was “This Is Soul”, which was a real knockout back in 1969 – http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Is-Soul/dp/B000N3TYNS – every one a winner and all for 12 of your shillings and 6 pennies.
davebigpicture says
I think this is still in the loft
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l522/davebigpicture/America%20strikes%20back.jpg
I’m not going to get it ‘cos I’ve knackered my back but it wasn’t very good IIRC. This was obtained by collecting tokens in Sounds around 1980 and could only be collected from a major record store, possibly HMV in Oxford St.
Lando Cakes says
Delivered through the post! At least, mine was.
Vince Black says
I have Rock Machine Turns You On as a CD but as far as I know You Can All Join In and Nice Enough To Eat were never released on CD which is a shame as they were corkers. Nick Drake’s “Time has told me”, Free’s “Oh I wept” and “Woman”, Traffic’s “Forty Thousand Headmen”, Blodwyn Pig, Jethro Tull, Quintessence, Strangely Strange. It’s enough to bring a tear to a grown man’s eye
Baskerville Old Face says
They released a CD that combined ‘You Can All Join In’ and Nice Enough To Eat’ and called it ‘Nice Enough To Join In’ (1993). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nice-Enough-Join-Various/dp/B000026NG0
Much of this music was also featured in a double CD called ‘And The Heavens Cried’ (1996)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/and-the-heavens-cried-mw0000966151
The most recent CS set to feature the music from both samplers was the 3-CD set called ‘Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal: An Island Records Anthology 1967-1972’
http://www.allmusic.com/album/strangely-strange-but-oddly-normal-an-island-anthology-1967-1972-upc-6024-mw0000558467
Chopmanski says
The Front Line a Virgin reggae sampler was superb, and the Early Street Sounds were’nt too shabby either
Kaisfatdad says
Probably because I liked the name I’ve just remembered a Liberty sampler called Gutbucket.
Mostly blues and some interesting stuff.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutbucket_(album)
Lando Cakes says
I have the also excellent Son of Gutbucket. It met the prime requirement for samplers in that it encouraged me to buy some of the albums the tracks came from = High Tide, McKenna Mendelson Mainline etc. And very good they were too.
duco01 says
In 1991 I bought a sampler from World Circuit records called “Boiling Point – Music from Hot Countries”.
Basically, it was all good, but in particular it introduced me to three artists whose music I’ve loved ever since: Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangare and (especially) Orchestra Baobab. One listen to “Utru Horas” was all I needed.
niallb says
Great post, nogs. My early favourite was the Harvest one, Picnic – A Breath Of Fresh Air. BJH, Floyd, Purple, Pretty Things, Henry Cow, Roy Harper, all wonderful. However, a band I had never heard of resonated to my 13 year old ears. Bakerloo. Clem Clempson on guitar, prior to him joining Humble Pie. This track has stayed with me for 45 years. Still love it.
http://youtu.be/RYuljfUMwKc
Locust says
The very first time I stopped lurking on the old Word site to join in the fun I mentioned (among other things) the triple LP sampler from 1971 called “The Music People”, that my dad brought home from touring the US and gave to my older brother.
Luckily, he wasn’t interested so I promptly stole it, aged five, and a magical world of new music opened up for me (before that it was mostly Beatles and classical music that I was familiar with).
My life-long love of Taj Mahal started then and there. And it introduced me to Laura Nyro! (to name but two of many)
Yes, it had some awful tracks on it as well (Redbone – I’m looking at you guys! )
But slowly but surely it got me – directly and indirectly – to discover all kinds of wonderful music over the years. It also got me interested in reading about music and the artists that made the music, because the sleeve had a short text about every track/artist and I would pour over it like it was the Rosetta stone of pop culture. Later leading me to music magazines and biographies.
So thanks, dad (even if you actually gave me a really ugly plush dog with a wind-up key in its arse to make it bark, which it did twice before it broke)!
hubert rawlinson says
That’s the one I was trying to remember, still got my copy upstairs. Must dig it out again.
Baskerville Old Face says
I remember that album – a mixed bag triple disc set from CBS which opened up all sorts of American music for me. Here are the details:
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=14955
Deviant808 says
I still regularly play the “In Love With These Times” sampler that Flying Nun released in 1990.
I first heard about this when John Peel played a few tracks off it (I remember him being particularly taken with the Bailter Space track on there) and it led me to buying great stuff from Dead Famous People, Snapper, Straitjacket Fits and this lot:
(“North By North” – The Bats)
Harry Tufnell says
Virgin’s 1981 sampler “Cash Cows” was an eclectic mix to say the least. XTC, Mike Oldfield, OMD, Gillan, Magazine, Captain Beefheart, Tangerine Dream, Human League.
I dug it out and gave it a listen earlier – the whole hasn’t stood the test of time as well as a couple of the components have. Here’s one;
moseleymoles says
Returning the Pillows and Prayers entry by commenting on yours, yes I had the dancing cows. And what a great LP. Among the first stuff I heard from Human League, XTC and pil. There’s very little dross on there – apart from The Professionals. Now I want to get a copy – sold mine of course when could afford to buy actual albums from said acts.
duco01 says
Virgin Records had an 8-song, 10-inch sampler called “Guillotine”, which you may remember.
It was a bit of a mixed bag: Good Stuff from Poet & the Roots (i.e. Linton Kwesi Johnson), XTC, the Motors, Penetration, plus the odd stinker, of course.
johnw says
I’d forgotten about that one until I delved through my records last night (see photo above). Having looked at the track listing and the accompanying sleeve thumbnails, I think this was more a compilation of Virgin singles rather than the more traditional album sampler.
Mike_H says
I like a good sampler, me.
In the early days I bought the 2 ultracheap CBS “Rock Machine” albums and “Rockbuster”, the 3 Island ones, the 2 Liberty “Gutbucket” albums.
Later was Virgin’s amazing “Front Line” reggae sampler. Then there were the NME mail order cassettes, of which I bought a good few.
Later again I started collecting magazine coverdiscs, often quite indiscriminately. That’s how I discovered Word magazine. Most of the mags that I bought I chucked away unread, being only interested in the discs.
I got interested in “World” music and bought quite a few ’90s samplers. Also Jazz, both contemporary and older bebop-y stuff.
I subscribed for a while to the almost-totally-unreadable Wire magazine for it’s left-of-left-field subscriber discs.
Lately I’m buying vintage R&B compilations such as Proper Records 2 excellent Cosimo Matassa 4-CD boxes, which I can’t recommend highly enough. Prime New Orleans. All killer, No filler, as they say.
Frankie Ford “Sea Cruise”
James Blast says
Fruity, a Warner Bros sampler cost 99p had Alice Cooper, Curved Air, Fleetwood Mac, Ry Cooder, Fanny and many more.
Purple People, a sampler of folks on Deep Purple’s short lived label, Hard Stuff featuring Johnny Gustafason and more that I forget.
Bombers, never owned this but always thought it looked interesting, I think Stone the Crows were one of the bands featured.
Vulpes Vulpes says
An old favourite of mine:
Kid Dynamite says
The bass fans among us will enjoy Dubhead’s New Breed Of Dub samplers. I have volume one:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-A-New-Breed-Of-Dub/release/128493
and look! Here’s volume 2 on the YouTubes
minibreakfast says
I got these at boot sales over the Bank Hol weekend, both CBS.
http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p773/minibreakfast/DSCN0046_zpspxb254la.jpg
http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p773/minibreakfast/in20good20company_zpsnvzpmpsu.jpg
James Blast says
The Flock violinner later to join MO, or a meringue Colin H?