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Nirvana / Songlife 1967-1972 limited edition 6LP vinyl box set

From the pioneers of British Psychedelia and Prog • Limited to 1000 units • Remastered • Includes previously unreleased album • Signed by the band

Nirvana / Songlife 6LP vinyl box set

The output of late Sixties pop-rock band Nirvana is collected in Songlife 1967-1972, a highly limited 6LP vinyl box set that comes with a print SIGNED by the band.

Nirvana were essentially the duo of Irishman Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Greek Alex Spyropoulos – who, following a chance meeting in London during the summer of 1966, took a long, strange trip together. The pair would bring in musicians to play on album sessions including the likes of Herbie Flowers, Billy Bremner and members of Spooky Tooth.
Best known for the psychedelic pop of ‘Rainbow Chaser’ (from 1968’s All of Us) they released five long-players between 1967 and 1972 which featured a supporting cast that included The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Traffic, Chris Blackwell, Salvador Dali, Francoise Hardy, Tony Visconti, and many more.

The albums in this box set are : The Story Of Simon Simopath (1967), All Of Us (1968), Dedicated To Markos III aka Black Flower (1970), Local Anaesthetic (1971), Songs Of Love And Praise (1972) and the never before released 1972 LP Secrets. The first two records were issued on Island (produced by Blackwell) before Nirvana moved to Pye/Vertigo/Phillips.
The Secrets album – which was only recently unearthed in its entirety – has its origins in a musical score that Nirvana had planned on bringing to London’s theatres and stages in the early Seventies.

Four of the original albums have been remastered from their original quarter-inch tapes and the box itself comes with a 52-page large format book featuring liner notes from author Peter Doggett, interviews with Patrick & Alex from Nirvana, full discography, rare newspaper clippings, previously unseen photos, posters and sleeves, and an exclusive Gered Mankowitz print signed individually by the band (Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons).
In fact, Alex and Patrick are not only still both alive, they are still good friends, with both of them residing in Greece. Says Patrick Campbell-Lyons, “Now, as young elderly men, I can say with pride and joy that our friendship is as strong as it was fifty years ago. We see each other often, here in Athens, and respect each other’s creative space. And once in a while we write and record a new song together. Those moments are special, like our friendship.”
Songlife 1967-1972 is limited to 1000 units and will be released on 26 February 2021 on the Madfish label through Snapper Music.
You can order a copy via the SDE shop using this link or the button below (for those in the EU, please be aware that goods are now are subject to import VAT when they arrive from the UK).




THE STORY OF SIMON SIMOPATH
Side A / Act 1

  1. Wings Of Love
  2. Lonely Boy
  3. We Can Help You
  4. Satellite Jockey
  5. In The Courtyard Of The Stars

Side B / Act II

  1. You Are Just The One
  2. Pentecost Hotel I Never Had A Love Like This Before
  3. Take This Hand
  4. 1999


ALL OF US
Side A

  1. Rainbow Chaser
  2. Tiny Goddess
  3. The Touchables (All Of Us)
  4. Melanie Blue
  5. Trapeze
  6. The Show Must Go On

Side B

  1. Girl In The Park
  2. Miami Masquerade
  3. Frankie The Great
  4. You Can Try It
  5. Everybody Loves The Clown
  6. St. John’s Wood Affair


DEDICATED TO MARKOS III / BLACK FLOWER
Side A

  1. The World Is Cold Without You
  2. Excerpt From “The Blind & The Beautiful”
  3. I Talk To My Room
  4. Christopher Lucifer
  5. Aline Cherie

Side B

  1. Tres, Tres Bien
  2. It Happened Two Sundays Ago
  3. Black Flower
  4. Love Suite
  5. Illinois


LOCAL ANAESTHETIC
Side A

  1. Modus Operandi (Method Of Work)

Side B

  1. Home
    – Salutation
    – Construction
    – Destruction
    – Re-Construction
    – Fanfare


SONGS OF LOVE AND PRAISE
Side A

  1. Rainbow Chaser
  2. Please Believe Me
  3. Lord Up Above
  4. She’s Lost It
  5. Nova Sketch

Side B

  1. Pentecost Hotel
  2. I Need Your Love Tonight
  3. Will There Be Me
  4. Stadium


SECRETS
Side A

  1. Secrets (Intro)
  2. I Don’t Care
  3. Someone Stole My Mona Lisa
  4. Bingo Boy
  5. Living In A Blind Spot
  6. It’s Good To Have A Heart
  7. In The Shadow Of That Old Love Affair

Side B

  1. I Want To Touch / The Big Fight
  2. Two Of A Kind
  3. Why Don’t You Like Me
  4. Secrets (Reprise)
  5. What You Do You Are
  6. Freedom Chaser

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37 Comments

37 thoughts on “Nirvana / Songlife 1967-1972 limited edition 6LP vinyl box set

  1. OK, answering myself here:

    Rereading the PR blurb, I guess this reissue of “Markos III” will yet again be a needledrop of the original vinyl pressing. Hopefully they’ve redone it from scratch, using a better copy and stay away from the excessive declicking and digital noise reduction found on every other reissue. It’s a shame it’s never been remastered from the original tapes, but I assume they are lost?

  2. OK, answering myself here:
    Rereading the PR blurb, I guess this reissue of “Markos III” will yet again be a needledrop of the original vinyl pressing. Hopefully they’ve redone it from scratch, using a better copy and stay away from the excessive declicking and digital noise reduction found on every other reissue. It’s a shame it’s never been remastered from the original tapes, but I assume they are lost?

  3. Please please please, remaster the ”Markos III” album from TAPES this time around! Every CD release is from de-clicked vinyl sources that’s smothered in ugly digital noise reduction.

  4. Please please please, remaster the ”Markos III” album from TAPES this time around! Every CD release is from de-clicked vinyl sources that’s smothered in ugly digital noise reduction.

  5. Nice job “reimagining” the early pink Island labels. Didn’t notice right away they weren’t actually the real thing. I guess they can’t use the real logos.

  6. In case somebody linked with the project is reading this, we CD buyers would really welcome a Cd edition of this box. Aware that there is a fairly recent 2CD but this more comprehensive and signed box would be a much better upgrade for those of us who do not buy vinyl. Thanks

  7. I was really dismayed when I saw this, more crap from that grungy name pinching band of grungy crap.*
    Then I realised that it was the REAL Nirvana, the band with the talent and more talent.
    .
    I realised I didn’t need the Black Crowes LP box, I’ve got the 3CD set ordered and I’ve just sold a box set on Discogs so my policy of 1 in 1 out is upheld. I’ve ordered from your store Paul.
    *Meant in fun, they were talented but still name thieves.

    1. Thieves? Nah, they paid 100k $ for it. And to be honest, if these thrives were not there, they would not enjoy the broader recognition they enjoy nowadays. It’s better to say ”ah, those Nirvana” rather than ”Nirvana who?”.
      As far as music legacy goes, this comment implies nothing.

      1. Theives? Yes!
        Grunge Nirvana only paid up after Original Nirvana took them to court. Otherwise Grunge Nirvana would have continued to use Original Nirvana`s name without recognising Original Nirvana`s rights to the name.

        1. Angry? For the name? Nope. Silly at least. I am aware of the lawsuit, but to be honest, I was also not aware of the ‘original’ nirvana till then.

  8. Baroque psychedelic pop ahoy! These albums have all had fairly recent CD reissues but no vinyl reissues at all since first being pressed which is why this box set will likely sell out in fairly short order.

  9. It’s the original (UK) Nirvana – NOT “the wrong one”! Many fans of them will know that there is already an excellent 2-CD set “Rainbow Chaser: The 60s Recordings (The Island Years)” that covers much of their best output.

  10. I had completely forgotten about the “other” Nirvana (realizing they came first), and my first thought upon seeing the headline was, “How much more is there to milk in that cow?” Not that I wouldn’t mind more material from Kurt and company, but things were already beginning to feel very bottom of the barrel with Montage of Heck.

  11. I have all the Simopath 45s/singles bought week of their release, and we played them to death! I bought the CDs during the first lock down so I guess this gorgeous box would be a bit of a luxury!

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