- Blog
- Profile
- Homepage
-
Black Nasty, Talking To The People, 1973 on Enterprise
Enterprise was a sub-label of Stax, and released the early solo work of Isaac Hayes. It is actually named after the Star Trek spaceship – Al Bell was a big fan. Black Nasty cut three singles and an album (this one) for Enterprise before being dropped by the label. Johnnie Mae Matthews, the “Godmother of…
-
Lou Rawls, Come On In, Mister Blues, 1969 on Pickwick/33
One has to be careful about some of these discount releases on Pickwick/33 – they were a discount label for a reason, offering cheap compilations of previously released material – but this one is really fantastic. Lou Rawls passed in 2006 and he put out over 70 albums, so there’s a lot to collect, especially…
-
Julie Byrne, The Greater Wings, 2023 on Ghostly International
This is Byrne’s first release on Ghostly International and third full-length. Her collaborator and partner Eric Littmann died suddenly during the recording of the album which he was producing. Alex Somers (of Jónsi & Alex) completed the production. Byrne says in the sleeve notes “we worked with devotion and deliberate exploration of how our collaboration…
-
Neil Young, Bottom Line 1974, The Radio Broadcast, 2018 on Parachute
Although this claims to be a radio broadcast (likely to make it appear legit under EU copyright laws which treat broadcasted material differently) it’s likely actually an audience recording, with a few additional tracks of unknown recording date attached. This 1974 Bottom Line show has been bootlegged many times, but is also now an official…
-
Irma Thomas, Down at Muscle Shoals, 1984 on Chess
Thomas recorded for Chess in the late sixties, and made this recording at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals in 1967, but the album was not released until 1984 (in Japan). It’s very hard to find in the Japanese vinyl, though it was reissued on CD in 1991. There are no credits for musicians, though…
-
Dr. John, Desitively Bonnaroo, 1974 on ATCO
Dr. John’s seventh solo LP, Desitively Bonnaroo is the source of the name for the Bonnaroo music festival. It was produced by Allen Toussaint, who is also credited with keyboards, percussion, and backing vocals, and a band including George Porter Jr, Art Neville, Joseph Modeliste, and Leo Nocentelli (aka The Meters). Not sure if Dr.…
-
Nina Simone, Silk & Soul, 1967 on RCA Victor
This was Simone’s second album for RCA, following Nina Simone Sings the Blues, and was recorded in RCA Victor Studio B in New York. It includes great renditions of “The Look of Love” and “Cherish” neither of which I thought of as particularly Nina Simone material, along with a brilliant “I Wish I Knew How…
-
Nickel Creek, Celebrants, 2023 on Repair Records
The first Nickel Creek album since 2014 and a welcome reunion for Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins, all of whom have been busy doing other things. It become a nominee for best folk album at the Grammy Awards but lost to Joni Mitchell at Newport. It was recorded in 4 weeks at Nashville’s…
-
The Decemberists, I’ll Be Your Girl, 2018 on Capitol
The Decemberists is one of my top twenty bands of all time – I could leave their discography on repeat all week and never tire of them. That said, I mostly discovered the Decemberists in the era of digital: CDs, downloads, and streaming – I’ve had very little on vinyl. So I was excited to…
-
Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska, 1982 on Columbia
Springsteen’s sixth studio album, which he recorded himself on a four track to use as demos but then decided to release them directly. (Somewhere in the vaults exist at least some of these songs in full band versions, but they’ve not surfaced yet). Springsteen has cites as inspiration both the story of Charles Starkweather (who…
-
Leo Kottke, Ice Water, 1974 on Capitol
Although he was born in Georgia, I think of Kottke as another Minneapolis folkie. He’s one of the folks who, when I find an album I don’t have, I just buy it without question. He’s also still out touring and well worth seeing if you get a chance. This was his fifth full length on…
-
Oliver Nelson with Eric Dolphy, Straight Ahead, 1961 on Prestige / New Jazz
Nelson on sax and clarient, with Dolphy also on sax, bass clarinet, and flute, supported by Richard Wyands on piano, George Duvivier on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Recording supervised by Rudy Van Gelder. Nelson had earlier recorded Screamin’ The Blues with Dolphy and Richard Williams. It is safe to say that if you…
-
Various Artists, L80s: So Unusual, 2023 on Numero Group
Really interesting package here – the sleeve is basically denim, with a pocket looking like an 80s jeans pocket, complete with lipstick mark and phone number (which actually rings Numero group). Part of a series Numero group did: “The Cabinet of Curiosities,” each of which is said to be in “lavish” packaging. The contents: Yes,…
-
Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, 2017 on Dead Oceans
First release on Dead Oceanes from Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, and her/their second full length LP. It’s an eclectic record but I really enjoy it. (The AV Club at the Onion called Zauner a “21st-century Björk” – though that makes me wonder why Björk isn’t a 21st-century Björk). My copy is the 2023 reissue…
-
Prince, Controversy, 1981 on Warner Bros.
Prince’s fourth full-length album, which he wrote, produced, and played most the instruments on. (André Cymone gets co-writing credit on “Do Me Baby” on some later versions, but is not credited here – plus backing vocals for Wendy & Lisa, Bobby Z for Drums and Lisa and Fink for keys on some tracks). I love…
-
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972 on RCA Victor
I came to this album indirectly and backwards – from the Bauhaus cover (“Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilley, and the Spiders from Mars”). But what a magnificent album it is. I think Bowie was at his greatest creative height in the early 70s (as much as I do love his later…
-
La Lupe, Queen of Latin Soul / Reina De La Canción Latina, 1968 on Tico
Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond – aka La Lupe – was a Cuban singer who emigrated from Cuba in the early 60s. (According to Wikipedia, while performing in Havana, she earned fans including Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Marlon Brando – can’t vouch for any of that). She performed and recorded…
-
Baby Rose, Through and Through, 2023 on Secretly Canadian
Debut album on Secretly Canadian for Baby Rose (aka Jasmine Rose Wilson) and her second album. Sort of a psychelic soul throwback – her voice gets lots of comparisons to Nina Simone but as though Simone was fronting a contemporary R&B group. It’s not that she’s imitating or calling back to an older form –…