Tag: Fantasy
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Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Midnight Special, 1977 on Fantasy
This 2xLP release is a reissue of two earlier albums: 1960’s Blues & Folk (sides 1 and 2) and 1961’s Blues All Around My Head (sides 3 and 4). Fantasy often put out these reissues as double LPs, as the earlier blues artists were being rediscovered again – good way to get the earlier material.…
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Creedence Clearwater Revival, Willy and the Poor Boys, 1969 on Fantasy
This was the fourth LP from CCR, and the third released in 1969 (one in January, one in August, and this one in November) – talk about striking while the iron is hot / saturating the market. John Fogerty, older bother Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford are in fine form, including “Down On…
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David Bromberg, My Own House, 1978 on Fantasy
Bromberg’s 9th album as a solo artist, from 1978 – his first on Fantasy after three great Columbia records in the seventies. Bromberg is one of my favorite musicians I feel doesn’t get enough attention. Fewer guest stars here than some of his other albums, but still excellent music from Bromberg, including a number of…
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Thelonious Monk, The Unique Thelonious Monk, 1956 on Riverside
Monk recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Art Blakey on drums, produced by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer – originally Riverside RLP 12-209 with a different cover. My copy, via Academy Records in NYC, is the 1983 reissue in the Original Jazz Classics series, issued by Fantasy which acquired the…
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Shawn Colvin, Uncovered, 2015 on Fantasy
This is actually at least Colvin’s second album of covers, ~20 years after she put out Cover Girl (1994). Some well known tunes here – Paul Simon’s “American Tune,” Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street,” and Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan’s “Hold On” – but also some lesser known songs – Robbie Robertson’s “Acadian Driftwood,” Graham Nash’s “I Used…
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Bill Evans, Spring Leaves, 1976 on Milestone
2xLP release from 1976 which collects two previous Riverside releases: Portrait In Jazz (1960) and Explorations (1961). This one includes two takes on “Autumn Leaves” – one which appeared in Mono (Riverside 315) and one in Stereo (Riverside 1152). This also includes “The Boy Next Door” which was left off of Explorations originally. Milestone records…
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Valerie June, Under Cover, 2022 on Fantasy
Valerie June’s a multi-instrumentalist and singer from Memphis and part of the Broken Strings Collective. She’s known broadly for her unique voice and range across Americana / Blues / Folk and put out this EP of cover songs in 2022. All the versions are wonderful, but I especially love her takes on “Pink Moon” and…
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She & Him, Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson, 2022 on Fantasy
I love tribute albums and cover albums, and also both Brian Wilson and She & Him (the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward), so this was right in my wheelhouse. It’s their seventh studio album. Nothing very unexpected or out of left field here – pretty straightforward what you’d expect from She & Him…
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Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Hard Travelin’: songs by Woody Guthrie and others, 1977 on Fantasy
This is really a 2xLP reissue of two Prestige records: Jack Elliott Sings The Songs of Woody Guthrie (1960) and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (1961). Fantasy purchased the catalog of Prestige, Riverside, and Milestone in the early seventies. My copy is a pressing from some time in the 80s with the blue Fantasy labels, which I…
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Bill Evans Trio, Portrait in Jazz, 1960 on Riverside.
Bill Evans Trio, Portrait in Jazz, 1960 on Riverside. My copy is a reissue from 2011 in the Original Jazz Classics series (OJC-088). Evans with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian One of my favorite Jazz LPs
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Duke Ellington, The Pianist, 1974 on Fantasy.
Duke Ellington, The Pianist, 1974 on Fantasy. Sessions in 1966 and 1970 compiled by Fantasy and reased in 1974.
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Lightnin’ Hopkins, Double Blues, 1972 on Fantasy.
Lightnin’ Hopkins, Double Blues, 1972 on Fantasy. Continuing on the blues compilation front, this reissued tracks from the Prestige LPs Down Home Blues and Soul Blues from the 60s. Fantasy was a label out of Berkely CA that first issued Dave Brubeck and Creedence Clearwater Revival and then purchased rights to the catalogs of Prestige,…
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Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, 1976 on Fantasy.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, 1976 on Fantasy. Billed as “Featuring John Fogerty” and with the edited (shorter) version of Grapevine that would become a single. A must have certainly. Though i love original 70s pressings, my copy is 2021 vinyl pressing – a Craft Recordings reissue pressed by GZ Media –…
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Otis Redding, Otis Redding Recorded Live (Previously Unreleased Performances), 1982 on Atlantic.
Otis Redding, Otis Redding Recorded Live (Previously Unreleased Performances), 1982 on Atlantic. As the liner notes explain, Ed Michel uncovered these tapes (from the same performances which made up “Otis Redding – Live at the Whiskey A Go-Go”) in the Fantasy Records archives in Berkely – Otis and band live in 1966
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Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, 1956 on Riverside.
Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, 1956 on Riverside. My copy is an 1982 pressing in the Original Jazz Classics series – jacket reproduced from the 1958 reissue.
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Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo’s Factory, 1970 on Fantasy
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo’s Factory, 1970 on Fantasy Love this album – the 11 minute Heard It Through The Grapevine, Travelin’ Band, Looking Out My Back Door, and so many more. Vinyl Me, Please did a 50th anniversary pressing with Optimal, half-speed mastered at Abbey Road, but this original 1970 Rockaway pressing sounds pretty damn…
