Browse by Artist: LENO

Artist:	LENO
Title:	Vida E Obra De Johnny McCartney
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 623CD

"Leno's Vida e Obra de Johnny McCartney was intended as the next musical step after tropicália, it's full-blooded rock and roll approach intended to link the music that had already been made to the music that would be played a few years later. This record just might have been that bold step had CBS released it in 1971. But censors banned most of the tracks, and Leno was fortunate (thanks perhaps to his string of innocent sounding Jovem Guarda number one chart hits in Brazil as half of duo Leno e Lillian) not to experience the exile or imprisonment of other artists of the time. He was also fortunate that the master tapes survived in the CBS vaults, making them available for this reissue. The album has a sound that has more to do with bands such as Sly & The Family Stone, the Beatles (post 1967), Cream, and Steppenwolf, and features contributions from music legends Marcos Valle, Raul Seixas (anarchic surrealistic icon of Brazilian counterculture), hard psych rockers A Bolha, and members of Los Shakers and Renato e Seus Blue Caps. One of the most singular records of the 1970s rock era in Brazil, speaking in terms both historic and musical, with a significance in Brazil that makes people who know it well wonder how it has taken so long to be known worldwide, in a time when the efforts of the Brazilian rock and psychedelic underground scene are so well-documented. A 24-page booklet (packed with photos and lyrics) details Leno's career, as well as the story behind this exceptional record."

Artist:	LENO
Title:	Leño
Label:	VINILISSSIMO (SPAIN)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	MRSSS 008LP

Reissue of the first album by Leño, the foundation stone of Spanish hard rock and a record which has been massively influential for over 30 years since its release in 1979. Their sound, with influences ranging from blues rock to prog, and their defiant attitude established a blueprint adopted by different generations of urban rock bands, right up to today. In Spain, the Church of Hard Rock considers Leño's first LP its gospel. Several generations of Spanish bands have developed under the guidance of Rosendo Mercado, leader of the band and affable pontiff of this institution. In fact, 2010 has seen the release of a tribute double CD to Leño titled Bajo La Corteza ("Under The Bark," which makes a reference to the band's name, which means "Log"). It's important to remember that Madrid's rock scene spent a good part of the '70s in clandestinity; only after the death of dictator Francisco Franco did it come out of the catacombs. In the book Rosendo: Rock En Las Tripas (Guía de la Música, Madrid, 1994), Pedro Giner detailed the miseries of the band members' previous groups such as Fresa or Ñu, and even Rosendo's struggles during his military service in a Western Sahara under war threat. The urgency to communicate can explain this debut's fury, made without many means: it was recorded in 70 hours, including mixing. The repertoire ignores conventional structures: over five minutes of the first track, "Castigo," go by before Rosendo's voice rises, rough and menacing. Although the guitarist admitted he was influenced by British guitarist Rory Gallagher, Leño's first steps go beyond the blues-rock canon, trying to crush mental structures. "El Tren," which Rosendo used to play with Juan Carlos Molina in Ñu, was an invitation to an LSD trip. Although there were some pastoral moments in Leño, the band stood out for their belligerent reaction towards their environment. They sing of a city where "not even the rats can live," and the track "Este Madrid" also points at the disappointment of a democracy where the powerful can impose their will (and the former rebels are happy to just get high). Rosendo had no patience either for a society which, after years of rejection, couldn't wait to embrace rock music as a symbol of modernity. "El Oportunista" ironically talked about punk and businessmen who "invest one and get ten in return." He didn't know how much that opportunism was going to cost him: the band had signed an onerous contract and, when they split in 1983, its members had to give up all their rights in order to obtain artistic freedom. The record cover also requires an explanation: it represents the replacement of the bass player, with the departure of Chiqui Mariscal and the arrival of Tony Urbano. The overall look reveals they followed the photographer's orders, who tried to create a kind image which didn't correspond with the harshness of the grooves. Liner notes in Spanish and English, pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies only. Gatefold sleeve.

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