The Rangers – 1. album – LP

The Rangers debut album, originally released in 1969, is reissued on vinyl. At the time, they were still allowed to call themselves The Rangers, and on their first LP they made excellent use of the best material they had created together since 1967. They began in the folk music scene associated with Porta, but their highly catchy songs, delivered with superb vocals and blending folk, country and pop, became major hits with a much wider audience. The original twelve-track album, now transferred to new vinyl, demonstrates this clearly, while 15 CD bonus tracks add further material. Country expert Mirek ern, who also hosted the Rangers early performances, selected singles as well as concert recordings, featuring original singer Jarka Hadrabov and guest Michal Tun, together with the bands most important line-up: Antonn Hjek, Milan Dufek, Miroslav ihoek, Radek Tomek, Jan Vanura and Ji Veisser. The result is an abundance of positive music, stylistically precise lyrics, accomplished instrumental performances and wonderful harmonies. American folk influences receive a fitting local treatment; the album consists entirely of covers, while the bonus tracks offer a glimpse of the later original work of the group that became Plavci. The LP tracklist includes Ta zem je tv zem, Mal baby, Oh, Shenandoah, Poj ven, Zvednte kotvy, Balek karet, Jehly, piky, sochory a kly, Nepla mal, Singsing, Tcentov opera, Smutn psan and Plavci.