Maggie Bell

Maggie Bell: The Scots Queen of the Blues

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Maggie Bell, the Scots Queen of the Blues, who came to the attention of the music-loving public as the singer with 70's prog-rock band Stone the Crows, is one of the greatest blues and soul singers of her time. Maggie was born to a musical family in Glasgow, and as a teenager, sang with local dance bands. In the 60's she toured US airforce bases in Germany before returning to Scotland to form "Power" with guitarist Lesley Harvey, which later became Stone the Crows. In 1972 a tragic accident occurred on stage at Swansea University - Leslie Harvey died of electrocution, just as the band was about to launch into the first song. Although devastated by Leslie's death the band decided to keep going and brought in Scots guitarist Jimmy McCullough. They continued to perform for a further year, but due to various reasons, eventually split up and Maggie embarked on a solo career.

Manager Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin) almost immediately got Maggie signed to US label, Atlantic Records. Her first album," Queen of the Night" was produced by Jerry Wexler. It received great reviews and sold very well. Maggie went on the road in the US. for some shows in the "Deep South". She was the opening act for Earth ,Wind & Fire, who at the time, were at the height of their fame. "I had to open the show and the audience were all sitting there with their mouths hanging open and doing nothing". She hit on an idea, and asked her road manager to make her a wooden screen. "I told him I wanted to sing the first song behind the screen and then appear from behind it, just to see what the response would be.

Well the response was unbelievable! You see at first, they couldn't accept a white woman from Scotland singing the blues. Scotland! Where's Scotland - Is that near Alaska? So we used the screen and then it was alright. Ha Ha Ha".

Maggie toured Germany in 1975 to promote "Queen of the Night" and the reception she received was so good, she was encouraged to record her second excellent album,"Suicide Sal".

Maggie sang in the stage production of the Who's "Tommy" album, and also on Rod Stewart's hit single"Ev'ry picture tells a Story", and has had chart success duetting with singer B.A. Robertson.Apart from her musical endeavours, she hasappeared on the silver screen, alongside actors such as Billy Connolly and acclaimed American actor Harvey Keitel.

For over twenty years Maggie lived abroad, but now she's back in the UK. performing with some of her oldest friends and looking to the future.


Tracklist -

01 Caddo Queen
02 A Woman Left Lonely
03 Souvenirs
04 After Midnight
05 Queen Of The Night
06 Oh My My
07 As The Years Go Passing By
08 Yesterday's Music
09 We Had It All
10 The Other Side
11 Trade Winds


When Maggie Bell's group Stone The Crows broke up in 1973 it was time for Britain's finest female singer to launch her solo career. Since her earliest days in Glasgow, the Scots lass with the soulful voice had been impressing audiences with her powerful and passionate style. She was used to singing with bands, but now she was thrust into the spotlight on her own. It meant more freedom, but more responsibilities, and it wasn't always an easy task. She set to work on two albums (produced by the legendary Jerry Wexler), 'Queen Of The Night' (1973) and Suicide Sal'(1975), both now re-issued by Repertoire. They gave her the chance to choose her favourite material and work with the best musicians. Among the artists on 'Queen Of The Night' were Boggle Young and Cornell Dupree (lead guitars), John Hughey (pedal Steel) Chuck Rainey (bass) and Steve Gadd (drums). The Sweet Inspiration provided background vocals.

84.9 MB - MP3 @ 320 kbps - covers included

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Maggie Bell - Suicide Sal (1975)

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Tracklist -

01 Wishing Well
02 Suicide Sal
03 I Was In Chains
04 If You Don't Know
05 What You Got
06 In My Life
07 Comin' On Strong
08 Hold On
09 I Saw Him Standing There
10 It's Been So Long



From the sleeve notes:
Who was Suicide Sal? Well, there lies a mystery Only Maggie Bell can solve. Both are legendary characters, but we know a lot more about Maggie, the Scots Queen of the Blues. She was undoubtedly one of the greatest blues and soul singers of the rock era, blessed with a powerhouse voice that made fans go weak at the knees. However, Suicide Sal really existed, was famous in her own day and, as it turns out, had a strong family connection with Ms. Bell.

Once the star of Stone The Crows, that excellent hard rock band from the early seventies, Maggie was in the throes of building up her solo career when she unleashed this album back in 1975. It followed on the heels of her debut 'Queen Of The Night' (1973). Both albums were put together by Jerry Wexler, a top US producer who had worked with Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. It was Wexler who gave Maggie the kind of encouragement and advice that she needed after two previous projects with other producers had failed to work out. In truth, it wasn't always easy for a girl to break through the rock'n'roll barriers in the Seventies. There weren't so many female artists around, and very few Scots girls singing the blues.

When Maggie arrived in America and toured the Deep South she actually had to sing behind a screen before black audiences would accept her. But once they'd heard her voice and she stepped out from behind the screen, they cracked up and gave her the warmest of Southern welcomes!

CHRIS WELCH, London, England, 1997
78.7 MB - MP3 @ 320 kbps - covers included

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Midnight Flyer - Self Titled (1981)

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Tracklist -

01 Hey Boy
02 Love Games
03 French Kisses
04 In My Eyes
05 Over And Over
06 Last Resort
07 Do You Want My Love
08 Sweet Loving Woman
09 What Ever I Want
10 Midnight Love
11 Rough Trade
12 Rock 'n' Roll Party (Bonus Track)
13 Waiting For You (Bonus Track)


While the name Midnight Flyer may not be instantly recognizable to most casual students of rock music, one only has to take a cursory glance at the pedigree of the players concerned to reveal that, prior to the formation of the band, the musicians had already been involved with such well known artists as Stone The Crows, Streetwalkers, Whitesnake, Savoy Brown, Foghat, Hudson Ford, Jim Capaldi and Leo Sayer among many others. The fact that Midnight Flyer did not become a household name and go on to sell truckloads of albums cannot in any way be attributed to a lack of talent within the band. Far from it! Fronted by one of the finest female vocalists Britain has ever produced, Midnight Flyer was made up of vastly experienced musicians who, in the years since Midnight Flyer, have continued to work with the cream of British rock.

Formed in 1980, Midnight Flyer was composed of Maggie Bell (lead vocals), Dave Dowle (drums), Anthony Glynne (guitars), Tony Stevens (bass guitar) and John Cook (keyboards), who left soon after the recording of the band's only album to be replaced by Chris Parren. Before we tell the Midnight Flyer story, it might be worth looking at the CVs of the individual members prior to the formation of the band.

65.9 MB - mp3 @ 192 kbps - covers included

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British Blues Quintet (featuring Maggie Bell 2007)


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Tracklist -

01 What You Got Is So Good
02 As the Years Go Passing Through
03 San Francisco Bay Blues
04 Tramp 'Em Up Solid
05 It Never Rains But It Pours
06 Wishing Well
07 That's The Way I Feel
08 Penicillin Blues
09 Walkin' Blues
10 I Wanna' Thank You Baby
11 Fog On The Highway
12 Houston
13 I Just Wanna' Make Love To You
14 Respect Yourself

Personnel:
Zoot Money - vocals, keyboards
Colin Allen - drums, cymbals
Colin Hodgkinson - vocals, bass guitar
Maggie Bell - vocals
Miller Anderson - vocals, guitar


Maggie Bell, from Scotland, is one of the world's greatest soul and blues singers. Maggie and drummer Colin Allen were both members of the legendary Stone The Crows. Zoot Money is one of the best 'good time' performers in the business. He not only plays great keyboards but also sings with guts and emotion. The other members of the quintet are Miller Anderson, who has played guitar with many top bands since the 1960s including the Keef Hartley Band, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Mountain, T-Rex and Donovan's band, and Colin Hodgkinson who was in Alexis Corner's band for almost 20 years, and has played with Whitesnake. These musicians are among the best in their field. They've been "around the block" a few times and performed with some of the greatest names in music over the last 40 years. This tterrific quintet covers a great part of the British blues territory. The band go for the throat with a great collection of blues standards and their own songs, and here, not knowing their engineer is recording the concert, the BBQ are as natural as it gets. The rollicking shuffle of "What You Got Is So Good" is a perfect starter. All the tracks are great, but "Penicillin Blues," "Tamp 'Em Up Solid," "San Francisco Bay Blues," "It Never Rains But It Pours" and "Wishing Well" are knockout tracks. This great album has all the inherent features of the best of British blues, and keeps the great tradition alive. Check out Maggie Bell's albums, "Queen Of The Night" and "Suicide Sal." You should also listen to Stone the Crows superb 1970 album, "Ode To John Law."

143 MB - mp3 @ 256 kbps - covers included

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Stone The Crows - Self Titled (1969) German remastered edition from January 1997

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Tracklist -

01 The Touch of Your Loving Hand
02 Raining in Your Heart
03 Blind Man
04 Fool on the Hill
05 I Saw America


Stunning debut album from one of the "lost" bands of the 70's that should be in any serious classic rock fan's collection. You may not know the band by name, but many are sure to recognize one or two of the pedigrees involved.
Lead vocalist Maggie Bell, whose bluesy and soulful whiskey-soaked voice recalls Janis Joplin and Bonnie Tyler, pursued a solo career after the group dissolved. Bass player and backing vocalist Jim Dewar went on to greater fame for his distinctive singing on Robin Trower's early albums (give a listen to "Touch Of Your Hand" for the sound of those unmistakable pipes!) Unsung guitarist Les Harvey (brother of glam-rocker Alex) had his career tragically cut short in an infamous onstage electrocution during a Stone The Crows concert.(Listen to his acoustic playing on "Blind Man" to hear what I mean by "unsung guitarist"). Remastering on import edition is outstanding.

69.7 MB - mp3 @ 256 kbps - covers included





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Stone The Crows Live In Montreux 1972

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Tracklist -

01. Friends
02. Penicillin Blues
03. Love 74
04. Danger Zone
05. Hollis Brown


Description
This is a great performance from Stone the Crows at their peak with Les Harvey's great guitar work and Maggie Bell's raunchy singing. There is only five tracks on this c.d but don't worry there's no drum solo's or over indulgencies-although some of the slow blues workouts are a little uninspired (hence only four stars) but on the other tracks the band are stunning. The opener 'friends' really rocks and there is some great hammond/guitar workouts 'love 74' is far superior to the studio version, but the real standout is the twenty minutes plus of Dylan's 'Hollis brown' which shows what a dynamicmore… band they were live and what a great singer Maggie Bell is. The track just builds and builds. Instrumentally it's spot on with some fine guitar. The only let down is it fades before it's finished (i'd love to hear the full version). Still, as an introduction this is a good place to start as the studio albums(forget the one with Jimmy McCulloch) are a bit hit and miss.

122 MB - mp3 @ 320 kbps - covers included

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Stone The Crows - BBC Radio 1
Live In Concert (1971-72)

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Stone the Crows was a tough-luck, working class, progressive soul band that came out of the pubs of Scotland in the early '70s. They had everything going for them at the start: not one, but two gritty singers, a talented guitarist, a rhythm section that had played with John Mayall, and the name recognition of having Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant as their producer. Despite favorable reviews by the critics, however, they never managed to sell their hybridized soul music to a large audience. In addition, they lost two of their key members early on, one of whom was tragically electrocuted, and the group broke up after four albums.
Their biggest contribution to rock was the immense vocal talent of one Maggie Bell. Winner of several Top Girl Singer awards in Britain, Bell had a raunchy, gutbucket voice that, although it fell short of the naked emotion and range of Janis Joplin's, came probably closer to her style than any other female singer. She first attracted notice when she jumped up on stage at a show in Glasgow to wail with Alex Harvey of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Impressed by her talent (and audacity), Harvey hooked her up with his guitar-playing younger brother Les, then fronting a local band called the Kinning Park Ramblers. After playing army bases in Europe for several years as Power, Bell, Harvey, bassist Jim Dewar, keyboardist Jon McGinnis, and drummer Colin Allen (who had played with future bass player Steve Thompson in John Mayall's band), came to the attention of Peter Grant and they changed their name to Stone the Crows, which supposedly is a Scottish variation of "the hell with it."
Both of their first two albums received good reviews upon release, but sold very meagerly. Then bassist/vocalist Jim Dewar quit the band to join Robin Trower's fledgling group, to be replaced by the non-singing Steve Thompson. Shortly after releasing Teenage Licks, guitarist Les Harvey was electrocuted onstage during a gig at Swansea University. This appeared to end the band, but they carried on, recruiting young Jimmy McCulloch from Thunderclap Newman and released "'Ontinuous Performance." Although the rock press lauded the singing of Bell, her group couldn't seem to emerge from the shadows and they broke up after this last album, with McCulloch flying away to join Paul McCartney in Wings.


Tracklist:

01. Keep On Rollin'
02. Don't Think Twice It's Alright
03. Big Jim Salter
04. Mr. Wizard
05. Goin' Down
06. On The Highway
07. Palace Of The King
08. Penicillin Blues
09. Sunset Cowboy
10. Niagra
11. Good Time Girl
12. Ionian Highland Lilt

Size: 134 Mb
Bitrate: 256 Kbps
Covers: Front, Back & Inside




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Maggie Bell - The River sessions (2004)

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Tracklist -

01 Blue Suede Shoes
02 Try A Little Tenderness
03 As The Years Go Passing By
04 Only Women Bleed
05 Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City
06 Good Man~Monologue
07 Trade Winds
08 No Mean City
09 Every Little Bit Hurts
10 That's The Way I Feel


"The River Sessions" catches Glasgow-born Maggie Bell back home, recording live at the Pavillion, Glasgow on November 1, 1993. The dynamic soul singer/blues belter has given us another female-oriented album: at one point she complains that she's being forced to do men's compositions, and wonders where the women writers are these days; then says, never mind, she's begun writing songs herself. But not to worry: this record is an hour's worth of "real" songs, and then some.

Bell opens with a New Orleans funkified take on the rockabilly favorite "Blue Suede Shoes," a song that apparently can trace its lineage back to the Gaelic Scots that settled the state of Georgia. She dares to take on Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness," dedicates it to her Glasgow mother, and does right by Redding -- and her Mom. "As the Years Go Passing By," a blues as good live as the studio take on her first solo album, "Queen of the Night." Ditto for "Trade Winds." Womack and Womack's "Good Women, Good Men," previously done by American blues star Bonnie Raitt. (And Maggie's happy to say she's got herself a good man, a Dutchman: she now lives in Holland.) Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed." She reaches back to an obscure Brenda Holloway number, "Every Little Bit Hurts," and closes with Delbert McClinton's "The Way I Feel."

We also get Bobby Bland's "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City," perhaps recorded here as a Glasgow-oriented companion piece to the soon-to-follow, magnificent "No Mean City." That was used as the theme song of "Taggart," the Scottish television show heard 'round the world, for years and years. This piercing, keening song she dedicates to everyone there that night: "There's your song. It's about you." It's also the best reason to get this album. Bell has been heard to remark that, though this song was a hit single, she'd sure love another hit album; but listen, this song certainly has legs. ~ Stephanie DePue - Amazon reviewer

79.7 MB - mp3 @ 192 kbps - covers included

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Stone The Crows - BBC Sessions Vol. 2 1971-1972 (1998)

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Tracklist:

01. Faces
02. Let It Down
03. Big Jim Salter
04. Keep On Rolling
05. Going Down
06. On The Highway
07. Mr Wizard
08. Good Time Girl
09. Penicillin Blues
10. On The Highway

Size: 117 Mb
Bitrate: 320 Kbps
Covers: Front & Back




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Maggie Bell - Best Of-(2008)


2008 two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) release from the Scottish Soul/Rock vocalist best known for fronting Stone The Crows. This 'best of' CD draws together original studio recordings from the solo albums plus cuts from her latest band British Blues Quintet. The DVD is a live concert recorded at Montreux 1981. Angel Air.
(DVD not included with this share).


TrackList

01 Cado Queen
02 As The Years Go Passing By
03 We Had It All
04 Wishing Well
05 Suicide Sal
06 I Was In Chains
07 Coming On Strong
08 No Mean City
09 Penicillin Blues
10 Danger Money
11 Bring It On Home To Me
12 Respect Yourself

Audio CD (November 4, 2008)
Original Release Date: November 4, 2008
Number of Discs: 2
Format: Import
Label: Angel Air

320kbps(cbr) mp3 122MB 2008





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