It is a project from the heart of JOHN CREMER, owner of RAILROAD TRACKS STUDIOS in Cologne and renowned audio mastering engineer, who is now releasing "Troubadours" by MARTIN WINSOR and JEANNIE STEEL on his RAILROAD TRACKS label. This album is a collection of live and studio recordings from 1972.
Three members of the five-piece folk band GURNEMANZ perform at the famous TROUBADOUR on Old Brompton Road in London in 1972. The hosts of the TROUBADOUR that night are, like the title of their 1972 LP, MARTIN WINSOR, REDD SULLIVAN and JEANNIE STEEL - it's the start of a lifelong friendship and the idea for their omnibus tour. Together with SULLIVAN, WINSOR was a member of the FOUR SKIFFLE GROUP, which was founded in the 1950s.
The success of their omnibus tour led to the idea of releasing an LP on SONGBIRD, an EMI label on which GURNEMANZ had already released their second album. Shortly before this planned LP could be finished, EMI split from SONGBIRD and the record was never released - until now! JOHN CREMER kept the recordings until today, because before founding RAILROAD TRACKS he worked at EMI STUDIOS as mastering and DMM overdubbing engineer and was responsible for the recordings of this LP.
When worldwide restructuring measures were carried out by EMI in spring 1999, CREMER founded RAILROAD TRACKS STUDIOS. Had he not preserved the 1979 recordings over all these years, they would never have been heard. All the original tapes have been restored and remastered by THOMAS ÖLSCHER.
A real dream from the 70s, which reflects a snapshot of an extraordinary and wild musical era.
Photo Credits:
(1ff) Martin Winsor & Jeannie Steel (unknown/website).