Category: music
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David Bowie, Stage, 1978 on RCA
Bowie’s second live album, following 1974’s David Live. It’s a 2xLP release, drawing on concerts from Boston, Providence, and Philadelphia. Playing with Bowie here are Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis, George Murray, Adrian Belew, Simon House, Roger Powell, and Sean Mayes. (In essence the group that would be on Lodger). Got criticized at the time for…
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Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie, 1975 on Pablo
Pablo records, with a logo and name inspired by Picasso, was started by Norman Granz (who also produced this record) in the early seventies. There’s a ton of great Pablo jazz records—I generally pick them up whenever I see them. Recorded in 1974 in London, this release brings together two greats but it is not…
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UB40, Little Baggariddim, 1985 on DEP International / A&M
Great EP by UB40 from the mid-eighties, including a duet with Chrissie Hynde covering Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” with a dub version on side 2. There’s also a new version of “One In Ten” from Present Arms There’s a full album called Baggariddim – this EP was only released in the US…
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Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel (aka Security), 1982 on Charisma
The fourth in Peter Gabriel’s self-titled set of albums, this one was labelled Security in some regions, and sometimes is referred to as Peter Gabriel 4. I love this whole quartet of albums, from 1977 to 1982 – this one includes “Shock The Monkey” as well as “They Rhythm of the Heat” and “San Jacinto”…
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The Selecter, Celebrate the Bullet, 1981 on Chrysalis
The Selecter were a Coventry band on 2 Tone; Celebrate the Bullet was their second album, following Too Much Pressure. Neol Davies, Pauline Black, and Arthur Hendrickson did most of the songwriting here, with production by Roger Lomas. My copy—via Lucky Records in Reykjavik—is a 1981 Santa Maria pressing.
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Randy Newman, Live, 1971 on Reprise
Randy Newman recorded at The Bitter End, Sept 17-19th, 1970, and released in 1971. Only his self-titled debut (1968) and “12 Songs” (April 1970) had been released at this point. Such a talented songwriter – “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” and “Lonely at the Top” are great versions here. Produced by Larry Waronker…
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John Prine, Sweet Revenge, 1973 on Atlantic
Prine is one of my favorite songwriters of all time. This was his third full-length, and third on Atlantic. Produced by Arif Mardin, it was mostly recorded in Nashville, with one track (“Dear Abby”) recorded live at SUNY New Paltz. Musicians include Steve Goodman and many of the folks who played on Prine’s debut album.…
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The Robert Cray Band, That’s What I Heard, 2020 on Nozzle Records
Robert Cray (often attributed as The Robert Cray Band) has been making great electric blues albums since 1980’s Who’s Been Talkin’. This is their most recent studio album and won the Soul Blues Award at the Blues Music Awards from the Blues Foundation in 2021. I’m a huge fan of Cray’s approach to the blues…
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Ambrose Akinmusire, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, 2011 on Blue Note
Akinmusire is an avant-garde jazz trumpeter from Oakland by way of the Manhattan School of Music, USC, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in LA. This was his second album (first on Blue Note) with Walter Smith III on sax, Gerald Clayton on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Justin Brown on drums. “My…
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Broadcast, Tender Buttons, 2005 on Warp Records
This was the third studio album from Broadcast, at this point largely a proect of Trish Keenan and James Cargill as a duo, credited on the album as James & Trish. Tender Buttons was also a book of poetry by Gertrude Stein that came out in 1914 – I took a flyer on the album…
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Peter Gabriel, Plays Live!, 1983 on Charisma
Peter Gabriel’s first solo live album, released following his four self-titled solo albums (commonly called Car, Scratch, Melt, and Security). It was recorded across multiple venues in the American midwest: Illinois State University, Kansas City, Northern Illinois University, and South Illinois University. Accompanying Gabriel are Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, David Rhodes, and Larry Fast, with…
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Lucinda Williams, Ramblin’ On My Mind, 1979 on Folkways
Attributed to “Lucinda” mono-nymically, this was Williams’ debut solo album, released in 1979 on Folkways (which became Smithsonian Folkways in 1987). She’s accompanied by John Grimaudo on 6-string guitar (she plays 12-string and sings), and the album was produced by Tom Royals, an attorney for whom this is the only producing credit – he was…
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John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, 1965 on Impulse!
Accompanying Coltrane here are McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack in December 1964 but not released until 1965. Arguably Coltrane’s masterpiece (perhaps second to Giant Steps?) and still one of his best selling albums (and platinum certified by RIAA). The chant…
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Suzanne Vega at The Cabot, June 5th, 2025
Suzanne Vega is on 13-night tour of the east coast (Maine to DC), and one of the stops was in Beverly at the Cabot. The show is Vega, accompanied by Gerry Leonard, with cellist Stephanie Winters joining on maybe 2/3rds of the songs. There are some backing tracks (percussion) on some songs and I think…
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The Decemberists, The Crane Wife, 2006 on Capitol
his was the band’s fourth studio LP, and the first on Capitol Records. Production by Tucker Martine and Chris Walla. This album is one I could just leave on repeat for hours (and sometimes do). Definitely one of my top 20 albums of all time. My copy via Academy Records in NYC is a 2006…
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Blancmange, Mange Tout, 1984 on London Records
Second studio album from British synth-pop duo Blancmange (Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe), following Happy Families. This was their best selling album, with “Blind Vision” and “Don’t Tell Me” as successful singles. I always loved “The Day Before You Came” but did not realize it’s an ABBA cover! My copy is a UK pressing via…
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The Damned, Machine Gun Etiquette, 1979 on Chiswick
This was the third studio album from Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies, and (new bassist) Algy Ward, collectively known as The Damned. Includes a cover of “Looking at You” by the MC5, as well as “Love Song” and “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today.” I believe this was only available as an import in…
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Jimmy Scott, Falling In Love Is Wonderful, 1963 on Tangerine Records
American jazz vocalist sometimes referred to as “Little” Jimmy Scott, who had a very high contralto voice due to Kallmann’s syndrome, a genetic condition.Scott performed in the final episode of Twin Peaks which led to a bit of a career resurgence in the 1990s. This album was out of print between the 1963 release and…