Saturday, August 4, 2007

Hammersmith - Hammersmith (1975)

Hammersmith rose from the ashes of Canadian rockers, Painter, in late 1974. With principals Doran Beattie and Dan Lowe in the fold, the band's name power helped them to land a deal with Mercury Records and "Hammersmith" was issued in 1975. The band set out on a tour of Canada and through a number of high profile shows and moderately successful singles, the band were granted a healthy budget increase for their followup. That came in 1976 with "It's For You". Though the sound and production was noticeably slicker, the material was weaker and the album failed to ignite Canadian radio. As a result, the band (with a newly revamped lineup) began falling apart at the seams, prompting a full blown split in 1977. Beattie later turned up as a country solo artist, while other members went on to 451° and Moxy.

"Hammersmith" takes cues from The Guess Who in places, which is understandable considering their reverence in their homeland. The album is fairly consistent, with the band keeping a nice balance of hard and soft throughout. The guitar work is stellar and the harmonies are tight, particularly on album highlight "Feelin' Better". This album has earned quite a cult following over the years, but sadly has never been issued on CD. Luckily, my new friend 'Orchman' has made this available here for your listening pleasure. Check out some cool Canadian rock...

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ronnie/J -

Hi!

Just a note to let you know: your blog ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Piper, Sparks, Halfnelson, Mother's Finest, and all sorts of obscure but VERY cool psyche and hard rock!

Thanks for posting this music.

I've found some things I've been looking for for a long time, and many others were great new discoveries for me (Pepper Tree, for example).

Thanks again for all the music and for the time that you've put into this blog. It's very appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Hammersmith - great lp. I've gotten many spins out of the scratchy copy I picked up for a quarter years ago.

Anonymous said...

Hi R.

Thought i should give you a few more links today.

Ironhorse - Same, found a front for it so here it is.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/nxhcnu

And after that i thought i'd go "stateside" :-)

Oklahoma - Same, a pretty decent southernrocker from '77.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/74ft7w

And last, Missouri - Welcome Two.. another pretty good Southern/HR act from '74.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/85c6kj

I hope you will enjoy these goodies, i sure do. And when i get home tonight i will give you atleast 2 more links, now for stuff you search. Electric Eels and Ziggurat - Melodic Scandal. A thing tho, you state Eels to be from '80, on my copy it says '74. Well what the heck, you gonna get it anyway.

Enjoy!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, i forgot..not that i got anything to do with it but woulden't it be an idea to have a section for requests and links ??
Now they get spread all over the place. But as i said, it's not my affair it was just a thought.

Keep on Rockin' mate.

JKR said...

Thx so much again, Orchman, for hooking me up with these curiosities! With your permission, I'll tag them, clean them & repost them with some background info on the blog. Cool?

Residentevil2 said...

Thanks for your wonderful blog again excellent stuff.Being Canadian it is so hard to find homegrown stuff. But here holy shit I'm in heaven!!!!!
'orchman' huge thanks your amazing and the memories....... thanks seen most of these bands.Would you have the second KARROL BROTHERS album? Been searching hells acre for this stuff, contacted their web site which claim to sell their two CD's 3 times but no responce!
THANKS THANKS and THANKS

Anonymous said...

SHOOT !!! :-)

Nothing against that at all. it's a pleasure to help you if i can.

And here are the new links i promised.

Electric Eels
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dhfeq6

Ziggurat
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gppphd

And i throw in Riverson - Same, from what i've heard maybe one of the rarest Canucks there is.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8h9j3m

JKR said...

Wow, Orchman, you never cease to surprise me. Gracias good sir...your help is always appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Hi Ronnie,
great blog, thanks for such great albums !
Thanks for Hammersmith I was looking for a long time...
For ur info, as you post some good canadian bands, I ripped hard-to-find "In the red" by canadian band FIST...if you're interested, just let me know...Thanx again !

Richard Bunky Bell said...

aww man I got here late.
The Hammersmith link is dead.
Any chance of a second coming?
Love the sight.
Bunky

Anonymous said...

Hi. I just picked up a Hammersmith Album (1976) called "It's for YOu." I was looking on Wikipedia for their discography and they are not even listed. You appear to be the expert, how about writing an entry for everyone to see. Album is on Mercury. Side A: Be a Star; Barre's Bizarre; Good-Bye, Good-Bye; When I Was Young; and Breakaway. Side B: Dancin' Fools; Kincin' Back; Hello, It;s for YOu; Under the Sea; and Mr. Las Vegas.

MrGrober said...

I Love This Album And Cant Find It Anywhere,The Title Cut Has Always Stuck In My Head,I Bought The Album New...