Rock — CDs  

A really unusual later chapter in the career of guitarist Robby Krieger – a post-Doors album done for Blue Note Records – and a set that's got more than enough jazzy touches to live up to its placement on the label! Krieger's guitar gets plenty of workout on the album's fusion-styled grooves – often a lot more jazz than the rock you'd expect, with some especially great keyboards from Stu Goldberg and Sal Marquez – the latter of whom handled most of the soulful arrangements on the set. There's a bit of vocals – sometimes by a chorus, sometimes processed in a way that's almost vocoder – and the whole thing owes a lot more to mid 70s funky fusion than any of Robby's work with the Doors. Titles include "The Ally", "Low Bottomy", "Big Oak Basin", "Spare Changes", "Uptown", and "Gumpopper".

A legendary batch of funky rock tracks – noteworthy not only for production by Jimi Hendrix, but also for the group's insanely great groove! There's a bluesy undercurrent here, but sharpened much more strongly for the funk generation – which takes Cat Mother way past contemporaries like Canned Heat or The Steve Miller Band – yet also still has the gritty power of both of those groups. Jimi's production is surprisingly great – fused tightly at times, in ways that almost preface some modes that bigger acts would take rootsy sounds in the 70s, but much more revolutionary here. The set's worth it alone for the trippy instrumental jam "Track In A", and other tracks include "Can You Dance To It", "Marie", "How I Spent My Summer", "Bramble Bush", "Boston Burglar", and "Favors".

The legendary 1970 recordings Alex Chilton made at Ardent Studios – recorded in a brief moment after the bust up of the Box Tops and before the debut of Big Star – and a truly powerful precursor to that most iconic of soulful Memphis rock acts! For the longest time, the 1970 sessions were something of a rock & roll holy grail – having been oft-discussed, if rarely heard, by Chilton and Big Star diehards. In the mid 90s, Ardent Records finally released the heart of this collection as 1970 – and here it's done up with even more love and respect by Omnivore, which over the course of just a handful of releases has become one of the very best deep digging reissuers of great, should-be classic soul & rock treasures. The vibe swings from stripped down, soulful rock that sometimes flirts with country rock – those songs featuring gruff, bluesy vocals from Chilton that belie his actual youth, just as greatly as his vox for The Box Tops – to gentler soul pop numbers that truly prefigure the Big Star sound to come. The collection features 20 tracks: all of the material from the long out of print 1970, plus other songs from the period, including demos (these are raw in the right kind of way, as finished as we'd ever want to hear them) and some original mono mixes. Great liner notes by Bob Mehr, a living encyclopedia of Memphis musical knowledge. Includes "Free Again (Original Mono Mix)", "Come On Honey", "Something Deep Inside", "I Can Dig It", "The EMI Song (Smile For Me)", "Every Day As We Grow Closer/Funky National", "I Wish I Could Meet Elvis", "All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain", "Sugar, Sugar/I Got That Feeling", "All I Really Want Is Money", "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and more.

Enigmatic folk rock and soulful bluesy vocals from Karen Dalton – her legendary lost 1971 album that's credited with inspiring some the most idiosyncratic work by folk rock superstars and contemporary freak folk heroes alike! Karen was a fixture on the 60s NY folk scene – Dylan even gives her props in his Chronicles Vol 1 memoirs – but she rarely recorded. Her voice carries a huge Billie Holiday influence – but the delivery is wholly unique in her earthy folk phrasing, a real dip back into Harry Smith territory. Her guitar and banjo picking is strong, too! In My Own Time was recorded for Paramount at the end of 1970 and beginning of '71, with really rich and surprisingly soulful backing on an interesting selection of material written or popularized by Dylan & The Band, George Jones, Paul Butterfield, and even a folksy soul take on "When A Man Loves A Woman". Light In The Attic shines a huge light for this reverential reissue – pristinely remastered, with a thick booklet of liner notes by Lenny Kaye, Nick Cave and Devendra Banhart. Other tracks include "Something On Your Mind", "In My Own Dream", the traditional "Katie Cruel", "One Night Of Love" and "Are You Leaving For The Country".

Bob Dylan and his great band whip up a moody, yet darkly humorous Tempest – and while the overall greatness of his records came down just notch or two after Love And Theft – this one goes the other way and comes pretty damn close to his late-era peaks! Lyrically, it's definitely better than the past couple records – with verse after verse of poetic storytelling – which is carried all the more effectively by his weathered rasp. Sound-wise, Dylan is as indebted as ever to pre-rock rhythm & blues, but there's some nice fuzzy electrified arrangements, too – and it's all played by a stellar band that's been with him for a long time now, one perfectly-suited for the style: guitarists Charlie Sexton & Stu Kimball, BR5-49 fiddler and steel guitarist Donnie Herron, bassist Tony Garnier, drummer George Receli, and a most noteworthy guest in Los Lobos' David Hidalgo on accordion. Includes "Duquesne Whistle", "Soon After Midnight", "Narrow Way", "Long And Wasted Years", "Pay In Blood", "Scarlet Town", "Early Roman Kings", "Tin Angel", "Tempest" and "Roll On John". This deluxe limited CD edition includes a 60-page bound notebook with dozens of rare vintage magazine covers – produced exclusively for this edition.

The sweet second album from If – a Brit jazz-rock combo with a really great sound! The album was produced by Lew Futterman, the talent behind some of Jack McDuff's large-arrangement albums for Blue Note – and Lew seems to bring in a similar ambitious feel to the set that really brings the most out of the instrumentation. The group features some great organ and electric piano by John Mealing, and saxes by Dick Morrisey – and as always with this sort of thing, there's some vocals that sound a bit dated – but the overall feel is still quite strong, especially in the breakout instrumental passages. Titles include "Your City Is Falling", "Shadows & Echoes", "I Couldn't Write & Tell You", and "Sunday Sad".

An amazing set that documents the early years of the Zamrock scene – the funk and psych informed Afro Rock pioneered by vocalist and African guitar legend Rikki Ililonga and his group Musi-O-Tunya in Zambia from 1973 to 1976 – and compiled beautifully in this great set from Now Again/Stones Throw! It's incredible stuff that blends fuzzed out guitar psychedelia, raw rhythms and brass-heavy funky soul. Ililonga's legacy is represented strongly on the record made by the group he founded, Musi-O-Tunya – who work with electric guitar, bass, sax, western and African drums and percussion – as well as the Zambia album, credited to Rikki Illilonga, in which he sings and plays all instruments except trumpet. The set also includes his Sunshine Love album, in which he sings and plays all instruments except bass and drums – and a it's got a rawer, bluesier psych soul approach overall. The CD version compiles most tracks from those albums plus Musi-O-Tunya's Wings Of Africa LP and bonus tracks from 7-inches from the time. 31 tracks on 2 CDs and comes a great, book-bound package with extensive liner notes by Eothen Alapatt and an interview of Ililonga by Eothen. Disc one includes Musi-0-Tunya tracks "Tsegulani", "Mpondolo", "Walk And Fight", "The Sun", "Dark Sunrise", "The Wings Of Africa", "Jekete Yamankowa" (Parts 1 & 2), "Mpulula", "Smoke" and more. Disc 2 features tracks from the Rikki Ililonga cuts "Sansa Kuwa", "Sheebeen Queen", "Stop Dreaming Mr D", "The Nature Of Man", "The Queen Blues", "Working On The Wrong Thing", "Sunshine Love", "Angel Black" and more.

One of a handful of enigmatic albums cut in the early 70s by Sixto Rodriguez – a Latin-tinged singer with a style that's a bit like that of Jose Feliciano – but trippier, and with more rock and folk touches! This set's probably his best one – thanks to arrangements and production by Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore, both of whom give the album a stoned-out feel that sets it up nicely with other work on the Sussex label at the time – and which has made this Rodriguez album a well-sought nugget for crate diggers! The album's got a lot of "deep" cuts with semi-political lyrics – including "Inner City Blues" (not Marvin's version), "Like Janis", "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst", and "Crucify Your Mind" – and Rodriguez seems like he must have been one hip cat back in his day! Wonderful reissue version – with great sound and a huge booklet of notes that really gets at the details of the enigmatic Rodriguez story!

Wonderful easy grooves – from an orchestra leader who couldn't read a note of music! During the 60s, Andrew Oldham was probably best known to the world as the flamboyant manager of the Rolling Stones – but during the same period, or at least the earliest stretch of it, he also headed up his own studio orchestra – working with pop arranger David Whittaker to craft some incredibly groovy albums! This one's the ensemble's fourth and final effort – a magical transformation of familiar Rolling Stones numbers into some sweet easy instrumentals – all asparkle with the best styles of mid 60s Brit easy, served up with orchestrations that run from baroque to breezy! Titles include "Blue Turns To Grey", "You Better Move On", "Heart Of Stone", "Time Is On My Side", "The Last Time", "Theme For A Rolling Stone", and "Tell Me".

A cool Capitol quartet from the end of the 60s – every bit as Sunshine Pop sounding as you'd guess from their name and image on the cover! There's a style here that's a bit different than some of the sweeter pop of the time – a slight undercurrent of darkness that's hard to peg easily, but which comes a bit from the way the male and female voices interact – and from the slightly unusual arrangements, which seem to rely heavily on some of the bluer notes in the spectrum. Vocals are arranged by Peter Mann, the leader of the group – and the instrumentation is by Mort Garson, whose presence is always appreciated. Titles include "Take Me Away", "Privilege", "Hanging Together", "The Candy Children Song", "Papa Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You", "Baby Baby", "Let The Truth Come Out", and "The Attitude". CD features lots of bonus tracks too – acetate takes of "Easy To Be Hard" and "Save The Country, a live version of "Charlie & Fred", and mono versions of "Let The Truth Come Out", "Privilege", and "Skip A Long Sam".