Shadows of Night: Gloria (1966) + Back Door Men (1967) + Live Album Raw`n Alive at the Cellar (1966)

ALBUM REVIEW

Here is the first of the Shadow's two Dunwich longplayers from 1966, available from the original masters for the first time in over three decades!! With their debut album, Gloria, the Shadows of Knight bastardized the blues into a new form; they invented supersonic-tempo'd blues-punk!! Including the chart-stomping smash "Gloria" - plus, dig the wildness as they pulverize "I Got My Mojo Working" and the wigged-out "I Just Want To Make Love To You," then take it one extreme step further with totally tough originals like "Light Bulb Blues.
“... ‘Gloria’ . . . rocks like a band straight out of the teen clubs with a total abandon and a raw energy that seems to explode right out of the damn speakers. Equal parts Stones, Yardbirds, Who and snotty little Chicago suburban bad boys, the Shadows could easily put the torch to any Chess blues classics you want to hear...The SOK’s second album found the group in a highly experimental mood. The heavy blues quotient of their debut disc is replaced with a more folk-rock feel to several of the tunes...the LP tracks are the storming rockers... But the bonus track to die for is the single ‘I’m Gonna Make You Mine,’ arguably the band’s finest hour, fueled by Tom Schiffour’s explosive drumming and a guitar sound as nasty as you could possibly ask for...you really should grab’em both and be one with the fuzz.” - discoveries
“...Each record has its own character, remarkable considering the two were released only months apart...Gloria is the Chicago teens taking on the Stones approach to hometown blues giants (especially Muddy Waters), while Back Door Men is Byrds-damaged and one step behind Jagger & Co. as they transformed into raga-folk finger-pointers... Sound and packaging are uniformly excellent. Do you need ‘em both? Oh yeah.” - The Tampa Tribune

“...a truly brutal guitar sound that’ll shred your speakers in no time...Essential!” - Orgie Newsletter
“...Shadows Of Knight were Class A punkers...check out the wild five-minute take on ‘Hey Joe,’ which shreds The Byrds and The Leaves...Add the deep grunge of their 1967 single, ‘I’m Gonna Make You Mine,’ and you have synthesized good clothes, teen sex urgency, hints of mind-expansion, and a welcome sense of their own ludicrousness into loud guitar music that rocked: a blueprint that still works, anyplace, anytime.” - Mojo
“The American Shads were one of a host of bands who imbibed the sounds of the British Invasion...then staggered out brandishing a new musical mayhem to reflect their own street-corner discontents...Sundazed’s new packages of the band’s two mid-‘60s albums bring that added touch of pizzazz we’ve come to expect from America’s premier ‘60s reissue label...quintessential garage rock sets, where Chicago blues meets suburban London R&B meets the cusp of more fuzztoned, freakier times...” - Record Collector

“...These guys were mostly famous for their hit version of Van Morrison’s ‘Gloria,’ but they weren’t a one-trick pony. Check out ‘Light Bulb Blues.’ It’s like Bob Dylan on steroids. Killer vocals as the band cooks to a super boogie. There’s monster fuzz tones. There’s middle-eastern Byrd-like excursion on guitar. There’s long, frenzied segments that feel like pre-punk apocalypse, and that’s just the beginning...If you have any interest in wild rock from this era, definitely check these two out. Highly recommended.” - Vintage Guitar“...The Shads are revered for their tuff blues-influenced garage rock. I listen to ‘I’ll Make You Sorry’ and ‘I’m Gonna make You Mine’ and I think, yeah, these guys deserve to be revered! It’s a tuff double-sider that can hold its own in any company...” - Raputin Mani Festo!
“...a truly boss release...” - Scram“...these reissues of their two true albums...so aptly proves, they were one of the more exciting groups of the mid-‘60s...influenced by British contemporaries such as the Rolling Stones and Kinks, only their sound was louder, faster, and dirtier and their attitude and look, even snottier...amazingly fresh and vital 30 years after the fact, a true sign of lasting genius.” - Vendetta
“Oh yeah! Not just the title of this suburban Chicago band’s second single, but also an exhortation about the re-release of these two 1956 albums. Gloria and Back Door Men were something of a personal garage rock holy grail for this writer...Deserving of their ‘legendary’ status...” - Suburban Voice
“...Too bad more clubs don’t play this sort of music anymore...” - Banzai

“...More swells than Lake Michigan on a howling day, more attitude and snarl than Johnny Rotten, and wads of strung-out guitar riffs. The Shadows of Knight were punk before there was punk...Like just about all Sundazed reissues, the packaging of each of The Shadows Of Knight reissues is top notch. Original cover art and album liner notes are a given as is tossing in a couple of extra tracks to go with the original dozen. The icing on the cake for each is the usual in-depth words from the Sundazed stable of ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll authorities...” - Time Out
“...If you dig the sounds discussed within these pages and do not own either of these albums, then put down the mag immediately, grab your coat and get that mojo working down to your nearest Sundazed dealer...” - Shindig!
“...Quite simply, when it came to the reinterpretation of blues into rock, there was no better white band in 1966 than the Shadows of Knight...the evidence lied on two awesome albums from that year, Gloria and Back Door Men...” - Ugly Things
“...Sundazed Music, the world’s greatest reissue label, has bolstered the band’s place in the punk pantheon with the release of the group’s Gloria and Back Door Man CDs...Typical of Sundazed product, the CDs boast crystalline clarity, bonus cuts and generous liner notes.” - The New Haven Advocate

THE BONUS ALBUM: YES ! AMAZING LIVE RARE STUFF OF THE SHADOWS... GREAT SOUND QUALITY !

INFO

“Complete with a wild six-minute rendition of their major hit, ‘Gloria,’ this recently uncovered concert document reveals the Shadows of Knight as a ferocious blues-rock band on the edge of frenzy.” - Entertainment Weekly
“Raw ‘n’ Alive At The Cellar, 1966 is a vital addition to the garage-punk canon—a soundboard blast of Shadows of Knight in their white-blues-brat prime. Note the bizarre lift from ‘It Can’t Happen Here,’ by the Mothers of Invention, at the end of ‘Gloria.’” - Rolling Stone
“A recently discovered, and surprisingly well recorded, live set by the quintessential mid-sixties punk/blues/rock garage band. For a while these guys were bigger stars than the Rolling Stones on their Chicago home turf, and on the basis of the insanity documented here, it’s not hard to see why. They had the sound and the attitude (if not the musicianship) down absolutely cold. Priceless stuff.” - Stereo Review
“The mere existence of this recording is remarkable in itself: its pointedly clear and crisp fidelity (in mono but who cares) is even more astonishing....the set is sonically fierce...The myth is reality after all.” - Goldmine
”The last few years have seen Sundazed become one of the premiere sixties reissue labels. Their projects are always high quality, with excellent sound, annotation and graphics. Their Shadows of Knight is no exception...In short, Sundazed has come up with yet another winner. This album is a raw, timeless document of an unforgettable era of American music.” - discoveries
“If you’re looking to delve further into the underbelly of the great unsung one-hit garage bands of the 1960’s, I’d heartily recommend sending off for the Sundazed catalog for this and their other fine releases including the Knickerbockers (‘Lies’) and The Trashmen (‘Surfin’ Bird’).” - Oil
“A major archeological find, the garage rock equivalent of King Tut’s tomb. Raw ‘n’ alive indeed!”... - Freakout U.S.A.
“...Sundazed have done it yet again....truly fabulous. Amazingly clear...This is genuine garage punk...A fast, wild, raw mix of blues, rock & roll, folk rock, soul and early psych...if you’ve got the slightest interest in classic 60’s garage punk, this is an essential release...” - Ptolemaic Terrascope
“Maybe I’m weird, but this is precisely the kind of record I fantasize about in my rare idle moments: previously-unknown-to-exist live tapes of a truly godlike band at the height of their powers. That this album even exists is staggering in itself...” - Ugly Things
It's only natural that the home of the hip-shakin', harmonica-blowin' blues would produce the finest garage-blues band in history. Hear the Shadows of Knight rock Chicago in this live, circa-1966 recording that's ours alone!
Here is the first of the Shadow's two Dunwich longplayers from 1966, available from the original masters for the first time in over three decades!! With their debut album, Gloria, the Shadows of Knight bastardized the blues into a new form; they invented supersonic-tempo'd blues-punk!! Including the chart-stomping smash "Gloria" - plus, dig the wildness as they pulverize "I Got My Mojo Working" and the wigged-out "I Just Want To Make Love To You," then take it one extreme step further with totally tough originals like "Light Bulb Blues. (GLORIA ALBUM)

13 SONGS OF PURE EXCITMENT ! ! ! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...AND AT THE END... TO CLOSE... GLORIA... YES ...

THE FIRST 2 ALBUMS ARE CLASSICS, REALLY GREAT, ESSENTIAL ALBUMS.

LINK GLORIA: HER NAME IS G-L-O-R-I-A !!!!!!!!!

LINK BACK DOOR: PEEPIN`& HIDIN`

LINK RAWN AND ALIVE: LET IT ROCK ! ! !