The Blues Right Off - Our Blues Bag (1970) RARE
An incredibly rare album, Our blues bag changes hands for princely sums. It was privately pressed in 500 copies and housed in a cloth bag that was silkscreened with the band's and record name, and also contained a lithographic print by venetian artist Vittorio Basaglia.
No counterfeit exists, nor foreign reissues.
This not a review as such, it's info as to this crazy album & how it came about. Having peddled early demos to record companies in Italy and getting a flat "no thanks" at every turn, we decided to record and release on our own what became "Our Bluesbag". The cover is hand-printed (!!) by famous Venetian artist Vittorio Basaglia, inside a jute sac with an album title stencil and the final vinyl album was done in 500 copies... mine was lost years ago in a fire, though. The recording was done by Ermanno Velludo, one of those guys gifted with Golden Ears - he was to us what George Martin was for The Beatles, and a de facto fifth member of The Blues Right Off. We did it all in about 2 days, a lot of it being "first takes". Essentially, it is a live album, done in a painter's studio and not a proper recording studio! It rates 5 stars for our determination of "going against the grain" and for Ermanno's incredible sonic result. All the material is home-grown - no covers here. We sold copies on the street in Venice and at concerts and that "ultra-rare" tag is correct as it wasn't distributed through shops. We later found out that "Our Bluesbag" is now a legendary album and also expensive to get, if you can get one! If you're interested in more about those obscure days in Italy, check the site italianprog.com - under Artists/B there's more Blues Right Off info... In retrospect, it's kinda strange as to Italian "firsts" we accumulated:first "location studio" recording / releasefirst home-grown release / own-distribution in Italy first hand-made / hand-printed coverfirst Blues album in Italy Ermanno still has original tapes but we've resisted so far to re-release anything. So for those who haven't had the possibility to listen to the music here's a short description:it's a bit like John Mayall, vocally, as I haven't got a nasty, deep & growling voice - also, I figured that I wasn't exactly born in some Black US ghetto being Danish and very white in terms of looks. A song like "Born On The Highway" is about being a truckdriver going from coast to coast across the USA, endlessly. Another one is about the "Black Angel" of Berlin, then in the news. It's an attempt at having the Blues - anyone can "have the Blues" - you don't need to be Black, in other words. Claes Cornelius - on behalf of The Blues Right Off
Tracklisting:
01 One Mint Julie
02 Rushing Wish
03 Black Angel
04 Love's Gonna Show Up Someday
05 Leaving My Hometown
06 Born On The Highway
07 Miss D
Downloads Link:https://rapidshare.com/files/3152633019/Blues_Right_off__the_our_blues_bag.rar
