folk psych blues MILLER ANDERSON Bright City awesome M-

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Miller Anderson-"Bright City" in stereo on Deram 18062. British musician who'd paid his dues in the 1960's before releasing this, his first solo album. Great guitar work, includes hard blues (see about the artist and his history with previous British blues bands) as well as psych tinged folk. There are 7 tracks, 3 over 6 minutes. Alice Mercy (To Whom It May Concern) is an essential tour de force and the title song is one of the best. While the U.K. Deram's sell for more, the sound quality on this rarer U.S. Deram release (with identical cover) sounds great on my turntable - clear, vibrant sonics; can't imagine the U.K pressing sound much better if at all. And, being virtually unknown in the U.S, this is probably the harder of the pressings to find anywhere. Completely unpromoted by Deram in the U.S. ESSENTIAL.

Record Grade:Mint-, a solid 8, full gloss, a few minor surface marks; play-graded and plays at least as well as visual

Cover Grade: Strong VG, minor wear but two cut outs hole top right corner (one larger than the other) as well as small 1/2" tear in same area.Clear taped neatly applied to top seam to secure split.

Labels: Brown and white

First pressing, not a reissue.

About the Album: by Craig Harris

Miller Anderson has been on the cutting-edge of rock for more than three decades. Although he's only released two solo albums -- Dream City in 1971 and Celtic Moon in 1988 -- the Scotland-born guitarist and vocalist has been involved with many influential musicians. Since cutting his musical teeth in bands with Ian Hunter (pre-Mott the Hoople) and Bill Bruford (pre-King Crimson and Yes), Anderson has been a member of such bands as the Keef Hartley Band, Savoy Brown, T. Rex, Mountain, the Spencer Davis Group, and in groups led by Deep Purple's Jon Lord and folk-rock balladeer Donovan. Anderson launched his career with the Royal Crests in 1964, continuing to play with the group as they evolved into Karl Stuart & the Profiles. Although he recorded one single with the Voice, "Train to Disaster" b/w "Truth," he left the band soon afterwards and was replaced by Mick Ronson. After meeting Ian Hunter during recording sessions at Regent Sound Studios, Anderson and Hunter formed a band, the Scenery, with drummer John Verson Smith. The group, which enlarged into a quartet with the addition of keyboardist Dante Smith, released an EP in Japan. In 1967, the group became the backup band for pianist/vocalist Freddie "Fingers" Lee as the Freddie "Fingers" Lee Band. While Anderson temporarily left the group to join the Paper Blitz Tissue, where he met Bill Bruford who replaced drummer Dave Dufort, he rejoined Hunter and Lee in March 1968 to form the oddly named group At Last the 1958 Rock 'n' Roll Show. After recording one single, "I Can't Drive" b/w "Workin' on the Railroad," the band changed their name to Charlie Woolfe. Upon leaving this group, Anderson and Hunter temporarily resurrected the Scenery. In late 1968, Anderson joined the Keef Hartley Band. Although they had begun to work on their debut album, the group had changed their lead singer twice before Anderson was recruited. In addition to playing with them at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, Anderson recorded five albums with the band -- Halfbreed, The Battle of North West, The Time Is Near, Overdrive, and the live album Little Big Band. Leaving the group to start his solo career, Anderson formed the Miller Anderson Band. Assembled to play concerts, the group never toured, instead playing several sessions for BBC Radio. Anderson continued to change bands at a lightning pace. After his band Hemlock toured as the opening act for Savoy Brown in 1973, Anderson was invited to join Kim Simmonds and Stan Webb (from Chicken Shack) to create a three-guitar lineup for Savoy Brown in January 1974. Although he wrote several songs for Savoy Brown's album Boogie Brothers, he only remained in the band until December. While he joined Blood, Sweat & Tears, he left within a few weeks following the departure of lead singer David Clayton-Thomas. Anderson's next projects included the band Dog Soldier with Keef Hartley, and a group assembled by ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor featuring former members of Stone the Crows. Although he joined T. Rex in August 1976, he left after helping to record the album Dandy in the Underworld to tour with Donovan. Anderson's plans to rejoin T. Rex ended with the tragic car accident death of Marc Bolan on September 16, 1977. Instead, he continued to tour with Donovan until 1978 when he and keyboardist Ronnie Leahy joined with guitarist/vocalist Jimmy McCulloch to form the Dukes. While the group recorded a minor hit, "Hearts in Trouble," they fell apart following McCulloch's death. Joining Stan Webb's Speedway in 1982, Anderson left to play bass with a resurrected Chicken Shack from September through December 1984.Anderson next became involved with Mountain. Although he was slated to play guitar in the group, which also featured original drummer Corky Laing and Ian Hunter, he switched to bass when original guitarist Leslie West rejoined the group. Anderson first collaborated with Spencer Davis in a reorganized version of the Spencer Davis Group that featured vocalist Chris Farlowe, bassist/vocalist Colin Hodgkinson, keyboardist Zoot Money, and drummer Pete York and recorded one album, Extremely Live at Birmingham Town Hall. Anderson continued to work with York in Pete York and Superblues. They rejoined the Spencer Davis Group in 1995 and 1997. In September 1993, Anderson performed solo at Blackhearth Concert Hall in South London in a show that also featured Bert Jansch, Davey Graham, and John Renbourn. Anderson played several shows with Jansch before resuming his solo career in January 1994. In June 1994, Anderson formed a trio with Miller and Colin Hodgkinson. Anderson was recruited in July 1995 for two gigs with Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord's group the Gemini Band. He subsequently recorded an album, Pictured Within, with Lord. Anderson's first solo album, Bright City, released in 1971, was recorded with accompaniment from the late Gary Thain (pre-Uriah Heep), Mick Weaver, and Peter Dines. His second album, Celtic Moon, released in 1988, was a mostly acoustic outing recorded with the Spencer Davis Group.

All of my records are shipped in sturdy cardboard LP or 45 rpm mailers with appropriate padding (heavy cardboard fillers or bubble wrap or "peanuts" or some combination thereof". With the exception of sealed LP's, all LP's are removed from their outer sleeves to prevent seam splitting. Upon request, I will give your sealed LP's the same treatment. (once an LP is shipped sealed, it cannot be returned once opened).

All records are carefully graded. In an attempt to give customers an accurate impression of condition rather than adhere to somewhat arbitrary criteria, I give an "overall presentation" grade, supplemented when necessary with additional remarks. Please refer to my grading system below for a more detailed explanation.

MY GRADING SYSTEMS: I’ve been told that I grade conservatively. My NM (near mint) is my highest grade for opened records (which would also include unplayed records). It’s a 9 or 10 on a 1-10 scale. M- would be equivalent to an 8; VG++ to a 7; VG+ to a 6; VG to a 5; VG- to a 4; G to a 3; F to a 2 and P to a 1. The same scale applies when I grade covers (jackets). Significant defects are specifically noted and taken into consideration in the grade.

GRADING DESCRIPTIONS

• GRADING Grading is based on the following criteria
• Sealed = store stock new
• Near Mint = like new or near new with only one or two small insignificant defects, a 9 or better on a 1-10 scale
• Mint- = extremely nice. Would be Near Mint, except for a couple of light hairlines or scuffs, which do not affect play
• VG++ = still a very nice record with all or nearly all of its original gloss but may have a few more light, surface marks, hairlines, needle tracks or the like which should not materially effect play
• VG+ = a nice, but used record that may have a series of light scuffs or scratches. It probably plays with a few pops, but has no serious problems.
• VG = a well-used record that still should sound OK when played, but may have moderate surface noise, pops, etc.
• VG- = a very well-worn record that plays through without skipping, but will do until a better copy comes along.
• Good = not actually good at all but probably will play through but with much in the way of surface noise, pops, crackles, etc. Still, will have no cracks, chips or the like
• Fair = you’re getting this record just to own but not to play
• Poor = the sky’s the limit, generally I will discard a record this bad (and sell the cover, jacket or sleeve alone) unless the label holds some particular interest

  VISUAL GRADING: All records are visually graded only unless I state that they are play-graded. Some major labels were pressed on better quality vinyl and will sound better than a record which visually appears the same on "budget" labels which were pressed on lower quality vinyl. Recording techniques also varied. The sound on live albums may be far inferior to studio recordings. There may also be defects in the pressing which are invisible. The point is that an album on a high quality label that was visually graded VG+ may sound better than an album on a budget label that was visually graded Mint- or even Near Mint. Please refer to my return policy, below. But please don’t be shocked if a record visually graded Near Mint doesn’t sound state of the art. If I base my grade on a PLAY GRADE, I will state this specifically in my grading section.

  COVERS: There are really too many possible defects regarding covers to be as specific in my definitions as I had been with my record grades. But please keep in mind these general grading guidelines:

  • I will give greater weight to the condition of the front cover than back cover when assigning an overall grade
  • No cover with a cut out hole or saw mark will be graded Near Mint even if it is still in factory shrink and there is no other wear
  • I will not reduce the grade of a cover for stickers which are glued to the jacket by the record company (eg. Contains the hit song Expressway to Your Heart); but will reduce the grade for stickers glued on the cover by stores, previous owners, etc.
  • If I write that a cover has a bb hole, I’m talking about a small cut out hole
  • A saw mark is a narrow cut in the perimeter of the cover, could be anywhere and vary in length from 1/2” to 2” at the most.
  • The overall grade takes into consideration any stated defects. For example, if I grade a cover VG+ and then state it has 6” top and bottom seam splits - I’ve already reduced the grade because of the seam splits. If the seams weren’t split, the cover would be graded higher such as VG++ or Mint-.

    Shipping Costs: NEW SHIPPING RATES & POLICIES AS OF JANUARY 4, 2010.

    The buyer pays for shipping.

    DOMESTIC SHIPPING WITHIN THE UNITED STATES: Due to increase in postage rates, I have sometimes been losing money on shipping as I send all records in sturdy professional mailers with one or more fillers. Therefore, I now will be using the eBay postage calculator method. This will also result in a more equitable charge for priority mail shipments. Instead of charging $9 across the board, those who live in the southeast and mid-east will reap the benefit of reduced priority mail rates.

    DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS: COMBINED SHIPPING - Save money when I mail 2 or more records in the same package.

    INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS (NEW POLICIES): Overseas customers are welcome to bid. As with U.S. shipments, I will use eBay's postage calculator for all overseas shipments. Postage to Canada is substantially less than to other countries - if you live in Canada and don't see a separate rate for Canada , please e-mail me and I'll modify the invoice to reflect the lower shipping charges. Surface mail is no longer available for overseas. Express Mail International and Priority Mail International are available - rates are substantially higher than first class international and will be quoted for each purchase if buyer requests this service. Express Mail International or Registered mail is now required for purchases over $100. Generally, Express International costs $35 for 1 album and additional albums are about $5-6 more. Registered costs about $26 for 1 album, about $5 more for each additional album. Registered mail may not be available to certain countries.Why the change? It's because of eBay's and paypal's policies requiring proof of delivery - or - buyer can make a claim for a refund from paypal. This has happened too often to me in the past couple of months. I know that one buyer (twistwatcher, no longer a registered user) that actually received his package but paypal has given me problems and I cannot get the payment back that they reversed. With the other "non-deliveries", I have no way of knowing if the buyer is being truthful and the package was simply "lost or misdelivered" or if the buyer is making a false claim. So...that is the reason for my policy change. I am sorry but the increased risks and costs must be passed on to the international buyer. On the bright side of things, Express Mail International will get you the package much faster and it is safer. Registered mail is much safer (but not as fast). So there are benefits to the buyer as well as the seller.
    In certain situations, Registered Mail might also be an option - please inquire.

    Sorry, but I do not give refunds for items damaged or lost in the mail.

    Please check out my other eBay auctions and stores listings.

    . I’ve been listing all types of records - mostly LP’s - including 50’s and 60’s rock ‘n’ roll, country, folk jazz, blues, personalities, new wave and punk, surf, psych, spoken word, comedy, etc., etc....... I try to list unusual, unique or obscure records, not the ones that you see all the time. While a majority of my listings are albums, you’ll often find a nice selection of 45’s, EP’s or picture sleeves...and an occasional 78 or two.

    My return policy: . You may return an item if it's not in the conditon described. You may not return items if you decide you don't like the music. I will return the base price of the item unless I make an error in shipment such as sending you the wrong record or cd. In that case, you will be reimbursed for the cost of the item and shipping both ways. In addition, the item must be returned in its original condition , i.e. the way it was shipped when it left my hands. While a very high percentage of my records arrive safe and sound (I use professional mailers and a filler or two, more for 78’s), they occasionally are damaged in transit. If that happens, I won’t accept the return of the record or other item.

    Sealed Records: After a sealed record is paid for, I will gladly open it before mailing to make sure that the record is new & unplayed. If the record is not, I will give a full refund. Even though it is easy to spot most resealed records from the 50's and 60's [I will mention that in the desription if it looks like a possibility], not all records from the 70's & 80's are quite as obvious. Please ask for any details about the seal of a particular record & I will be happy to answer.

    Any other questions? About anything? Please e-mail me at ibuyvinyl@nc.rr.com .