The Blues Right Off - Our Bluesbag (Vinyl Magic) 1970

Biography : 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 (The Blues Right Off)

Tracklist
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

Line-up
Claes Cornelius - vocals, guitar
Giancarlo Salvador - bass
Fuffi Panciera - drums
Paolo Zanella - flute, guitar