What is your "holy grail song" that you cannot find?

Not a big Humble Pie fan, so I could be wrong, but they did a song called "Stone Cold Fever".  Readily available.

Humble Pie, “Rocking The Fillmore” has the live version of Stone Cold Fever

I'm looking for a cover version of "Chest Fever," which was written by and originally performed by The Band. Currently, the best known cover versions of that song were done by Three Dog Night and Widespread Panic. 

Mademoiselle Nobs can only be found on Pink Floyd bootleg "Live In Pompeii". That is THE MOST psychedelic song ever been recorded. 

That's where Richard Wright's dog (Mademoiselle Nobs) was singing on stage.

I can't even find information that they covered it.

@thecarpathian I heard it a couple of times on WKLS (96 Rock) in Atlanta back in the 70's. I didn't hear it again until around 15 years ago, when I heard it on KGSR in Austin. So, I'm beginning to think that it was some kind of limited promotional item that only 1970's DJ's would know about. That theory could explain why there is no info on it and why it is so hard to find  

Hot Smoke and Sassafras, by the Bubble Puppy.

I heard that song in the early 60's and totally flipped out over it. Can't find an LP or 45. 

@judsauce ,

There are at least two 45's of that song for sale on EBay right now.

Qobuz doesn't have Tom Russell's "Poor Man's Dream" album, which was his best and best-recorded. Subsequent recordings of "Gallo del Cielo" are available but much inferior. I want the good one on a HF playlist.

Jerry Shirley from Humble Pie: And once they all got there, we set up and played a couple of those Band songs. Music from Big Pink  had just come out [in mid-1968], and we were all blown away by it, The first song we ran through – I can clearly remember – was a cover arrangement of their song “We Can Talk”. We had wanted to also do “Chest Fever”, but we didn’t have a Hammond organ yet.

@mitchagain Widespread Panic does do a great cover of that.

George Harrison’s version of ; “ It don’t come easy “  whom he wrote for Ringo Starr. I really like George’s version but cannot find it anywhere .

3 Dog Night covered it in 1968. 
https://youtu.be/85PD4epq18Y?si=Mz4jD6aJ81u_nTkd

@judsauce I found "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" on a compilation CD called "The Psychedelic Sixties," which is on the FUEL label. There are currently used & new copies of it on Amazon now at reasonable prices..

@garebear, I think I remember hearing (and liking) George's version of "It Don't Come Easy;" but, I don't remember how or where I heard it.

Both the Smithereens ("Attack of the Smithereens" or "Covers:) and Bettye LaVette ("Interpretations - The British Rock Songbook") have done excellent versions of that song. The Smithereens cd's are easy to find and reasonably priced; but, the Bettye LaVette CD is out of print; so, that will be a pricier option.. 

@whiteknee , I read Jerry Shirley's autobiography called "Best Seat in the House." It is one of the better rock biographies or autobiographies that I've read. Plus, major style points for the title!

Saw Yo Yo Ma on PBS many years ago.  Performance in a castle, I think in Scotland.  Sounded amazing on my old tube television at the time.  Have a fully decked out theater now and can't find even a hint on the internet that the performance ever took place.

@thecarpathian  Thanks for the suggestion of the 45's on Ebay.

@mitchagain  And thank you too, for the suggestion on the CD compilation.

I am going to look into both options. Appreciate it!

For some reason, I know that song by heart within my head!  That song had lots of energy and power when it came out.  Music really burns an imprint in our memory that never goes away!!!

I have a bootleg of Little Feat Live Oct. 31, 1975 at the Orpheum Theater Boston on cassette, burned to CD, but it's nowhere near the original broadcast quality heard on the day/date on WBCN.  My rommate recorded it on a Sony 10" RtR at 7.5 ips off a Pioneer TX9500 from our hilltop house roof antenna in Burlington, MA.  The SQ was fantastic.  Unfortunately, the machine and tape were lost in a home burglary...

Not necessarily holy grail material but wish I could find a new cd of Billy Thorpe/Children of the Sun.  The only new thing avail is the "revisited" version which is a lesser mix IMO and missing a great tune that I believe charted back then. Chains of your Love.  Again not all that special but thought some here might like to hear mention of it.

I bough a 24k Gold CD of the Jazz band " The Wonderful Sound of Three Blind Mice back in 1995 that is very rare today My brother wanted to see if I could find one for him as he's so impressed with mine I found one not too long ago on Ebay for $300

https://youtu.be/WmHjTmDRO88?si=14O04k_1AuInlbhB

@bbarten Original Capricorn releases on CD from the late 70's tend to be hard to find. However, there's a label in the UK called BGO Records ("Beat Goes On") that have released remastered CD versions of a few albums by former Capricorn artists like: The Dixie Dregs and Sea Level. 

It is easy to get on their email list; and, it's also easy to send them an email with suggested releases. I'm kind of surprised about "Children of the Sun" never getting remastered and re-released. 

@mitchagain Thanks so much!  Well it did get remixed but it's not so good.  lol  I will definitely check that out further.  That's interesting too!  Thanks agian!

There are so many? As a Canadian I have access to many bands that are known in Canada and enjoy regular radio play here, but if they don’t crack the USA top 40 list they can’t be found on any of the streaming services, forget about finding a record or CD.

Not necessarily a ‘holy grail’ song, but for the longest time I’ve wanted to listen to the Buckingham Nicks album again. No streaming service seems to have it. I had it on vinyl in college, but it was stolen along with my other albums and stereo equipment in a burglary. They left cash and camera gear that was sitting out in the open, just took the audio equipment. 

Anyway, I finally found a CD version a few weeks back. I think it’s a bootleg version, but at least I have it again. 

The album "Nightbirds" by Labelle with the song Lady Marmalade is not available for streaming or purchase. I managed to find a used CD on Ebay for a reasonable price but it's pretty rare. 

Weird nightmare meditations on mingus, in vinyl.  I have been told it happened but very very few made.  CD is an easy find, vinyl oh well. 

@garebear, speaking of George Harrison, one that seldom comes up is Beware of Abkco.  Total bootleg, just pure George, all talent and very little production.  I believe some of his finest work.  I have played for many with wide eyed awe at how great he was. 

George Harrison’s version of ; “ It don’t come easy “ whom he wrote for Ringo Starr. I really like George’s version but cannot find it anywhere .

It is on GH’s "The Concert For Bangladesh" release.

Bartok "Concerto for Orchestra" played for a live audience in the Royal Albert Hall, London. This performance was shown on a PBS tribute to Sir George Solti in the late 70s. Sir George gave an inspired performance, and the crowd went absolutely wild at the finish. The broadcast was hosted by Bill Curtis, long-time Chicago News Anchor, and had interviews with Sir George focusing on his time with the CSO.

Would love to have this video.

A  song called "Gold",by John Stewart,with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Can't find it on Tidal  or Qobuz.

Thanks rokadanny but I am looking for the actual studio version of George Harrison’s ; “ It don’t come easy “” …..can’t find it . This is a live version. 

@rockysantoro , There a couple of best of John Stewart cd's on Amazon. One is called "Gold" and the other is called "Turning Music Into Gold." Both appear to have most of the songs from "Bombs Away Dream Babies," which was a very good album.

“Silver Train” by Jon Anderson (Yes) and John Paul Jones. Had this on cassette a hundred years ago and have not been able to find it anywhere ever again😞. 
 

Also “Holy War” by John Butcher. Have never been able to find this one either…

“Nonesuch” a little instrumental featuring a bagpipe practice chanter. I had the vinyl back in the 60s but it took me decades to remember the name of the song (I had it confused with the name of the group) and lo and behold Qobuz had it. Golden Ring, “A gathering of friends for making music.” Folk Legacy, 1964.

Another tough one was “Minstrel from Gaul” by Richie Havens. Found his album “Stonehenge” (1970) on eBay, but never found it on streaming services.

Modern Day Magic by Marie Cain. Heard it on a demo album when I was a DJ on a Nome, Alaska radio station.

@garebear , a friend of mine confirms that there is a studio ("demo") version of George Harrison performing "It Don't Come Easy." He also confirmed that it was never commercially released; so, finding it on a bootleg (which is what he has) looks like your only option. A record show is probably your best bet for that; so, hopefully there are some shows that are near to where you live. IF you were to travel to a record show, the shows in Austin are the best that I've ever been to.

My friend, who is a massive Beatles fan and collector, said that the general belief is that George initially wrote the song (thus the demo version) and then gifted it to his friend Ringo. From there, they both collaborated on the finished product.  

I was at a Jethro Tull concert in 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. A time when Martin Barre was still with the band. They did an instrumental version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ that was lights out. I know there is not a studio version that Ian has done but there could be a boot of the concert floating around. An astounding version and really off the wall for them. Fond memory.

Sorry, more than just one song.

I wish someone would remaster, "Every Picture Tells A Story" from the original sessions tapes.

After all these years such a great album, but stills sounds like it was recorded inside a garbage can.

ozzy

@ozzy , check out the website for Culture Factory Records. Around 10 years ago they released remastered CD's of the first 4 Rod Stewart solo albums. I have all 4 of them and they sound very good (96 Kz - 24 bit). An extra bonus is that they use a cardboard sleeve to recreate the look and feel of the original vinyl album cover. Some of the other artists included in this series of remastered CD's include Rare Earth, Wishbone Ash and Walter Egan ("Not Shy").

The Walter Egan album comes from the same time period as "Bombs Away Dream Babies" by John Stewart (previously mentioned in this thread by Rocky Santoro), where it seems everything that Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks touched turned to "gold."

I'd love to get my hands on Billy Joel's live cover of Take This Job And Shove It.

for

So, I do have an Ultra Disc of Every Picture Tells A Story, that I haven’t played in a few years since downloads became so convenient. I just took it out and it does sound way better than the Quboz 24-192hz. download.

So, there are better recordings of this album.

ozzy

@ozzy Read your post which prompted me to dig out my long-unplayed Ultradisk of this Rod Stewart masterpiece. Will play tonight!

Thanks for the inspiration.

Mine is not a specific song but an album on vinyl.  It is Special EFX Global Village.  It can only be found on CD it was never produced in lp format.

There was a song in the early to mid-1980s on MTV with a video. It wasn’t the "best song" or anything, but it always bugged me that I can’t find who it was by. All I remember is a snippet of lyrics, sung by a girl, "My color is red, tears fill my glass". One of those fly-by-night synth bands in that time period, I guess. I’ve tried finding it by the lyrics, but nope, no correct hits.

BTW, that old Buckingham\Nicks album is on YouTube, probably illegally, but you can hear it (in lossy quality of course). 

"Silver Train" by John Paul Jones and Jon Anderson is on the soundtrack of a film called 'Scream for Help." "Mademoiselle Nobs" on the Floyd live at Ponpeii is simply a live version of the track "Seamus" from the PF album 'Meddle.'

That George Harrison recording of “It Don’t Come Easy” is on YouTube. 

Great topic for a thread.

Nelson Riddle's Theme from Stow Away In The Sky and Esplanade At Sunset by Paul Weston