[2023-04-14] Circus 2000 "I Am The Witch: The Anthology" 2CD set (Grapefruit UK)

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Feb 17, 2023 4:40 pm

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV375321/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BV375321/?tag=imwan-21

Description
• First-ever complete anthology of hugely collectable early 70s Italian psych/folk/prog band.

• Heavily influenced by early Jefferson Airplane with lead female vocals and English language lyrics.

Fronted by Grace Slick-influenced singer Silvana Aliotta, Circus 2000 formed in Turin, north Italy in late 1969 in an attempt to emulate their British and American psychedelic heroes.

They made their vinyl debut a year later with a self-titled album featuring such superb, quasi-mystical songs as ‘Magic Bean’, ‘The Lord, He Has No Hands’ and the dramatic ‘I Am The Witch’.

But the band struggled to find an audience, their guitar-led, song-based nature and English language vocals leaving them out of step with the complex, keyboard-based Italian progressive scene flourishing all around them.

After developing a more improvisational, underground-friendly sound on the thriving Italian festival circuit, they returned with a second album, ‘An Escape From A Box’.

Now regarded by European psychedelic collectors as their masterpiece, this five-track album welded their original Jefferson Airplane leanings with expansive Pink Floyd-esque arrangements that peaked on Side Two with the epic ‘Need’ and the spooked, climactic closer ‘When The Sun Refuses To Shine’.

Unable to make a commercial impact, the band broke up shortly afterwards, and it would be a couple of decades before Circus 2000’s music began to receive the attention that it deserved.

The first-ever complete anthology of their career, ‘I Am The Witch’ naturally includes both of their highly sought-after albums as well as stand-alone singles, alternative versions and tracks that were intended for an aborted third album. Housed in a stylish digipak, it includes a new essay on their history, band quotes and some rare photos.

Tracklist
[CD1: Circus 2000]
1. I Can’t Believe
2. Try To Live
3. Must Walk Forever
4. Sun Will Shine
5. I Just Can’t Stay
6. I Am The Witch
7. Magic Bean
8. While You’re Sleeping
9. Try All Day
10. The Lord, He Has No Hands
Bonus Tracks:
11. Io La Strega (I Am The Witch)
12. Pioggia Sottile (I Can’t Believe)
13. I Am The Witch
14. I Can’t Believe
15. Regalami Un Sabato Sera
16. Ho Regalato I Capelli

1-10 The album Circus 2000, Italian Rifi RFL ST 14049, November 1970
11-12 Italian language single, Italian Rifi RFN NP 16424, November 1970
13-14 English language single, mono Italian Rifi RFN NP 16443, March 1971
15-16 Italian language single, Italian Rifi RFN NP 16444, April 1971

[CD2: An Escape From A Box]
1. Hey Man
2. You Aren’t Listening
3. Our Father
4. Need
5. When The Sun Refuses To Shine
Bonus Tracks:
6. Need (edited version)
7. Hey Man (Parte 1)
8. Hey Man (Parte 2)
9. Dove Va La Mia Gente
10. L’Ultimo Paese

1-5 The album An Escape From A Box, Italian Rifi RDZ-ST 14215, 1972
6 Jukebox single, Italian Rifi RM JB 98063, 1972
7-8 Single, Italian Rifi RFN NP 16466, May 1972
9-10 Recordings for proposed third album, not originally released

[2023-04-14] Circus 2000 "I Am The Witch: The Anthology" 2CD set (Grapefruit UK)

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