Rock — LPs  

A very cool Capitol Records relic – a special album for radio DJs – with cuts that include "Song Of The Ages" and "Another Day" by Roy Harper, "Requiem 820 Lathem" and "Spinning Wheel" by Mel Torme, "Is That All There Is" by Ty Lemley, "Country Preacher" and "Oh Babe" by Cannonball Adderley, and "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Lou Rawls.

A repackaged version of the album Summer Days & Summer Nights – one of those stupid Capitol reissues that somehow contains less tracks than the original album! Fortunately, there's enough good stuff on here to make this one worth checking out – like some key pre-Pet Sounds gems that include "Let Him Run Wild" and "You're So Good To Me", both of which define the Pet Sounds love essence at its best – as well as the amazing "Summer Means New Love", an instrumental that hints at what Brian would soon do later in the studio!

A great pre-Rubber Soul moment – with tracks that include "Honey Don't", "I Feel Fine", "Baby's In Black", "Mr Moonlight", "I'll Follow The Sun", and "No Reply".

Titles include "Eight Days A Week", "Words Of Love", "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party", "Every Little Thing", and "Yes It Is".

Titles include "Roll Over Beethoven", "Thank You Girl", "She Loves You", "I'll Get You", and "I Call Your Name".

A wonderfully trippy record from The Beatles – filled with songs that have become classics, even though the initial package was designed for a movie that was one heck of a mess! The set's incredibly strong throughout – filled with some of the new post-Peppers ideas explored by the group, yet also with some catchier numbers too – great sing-songy tracks that undoubtedly were a big mainstream influence to the world of late 60s psych! Titles include "Blue Jay Way", "The Fool On The Hill", "Flying", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", and "Baby You're A Rich Man".

A wonderfully trippy record from The Beatles – filled with songs that have become classics, even though the initial package was designed for a movie that was one heck of a mess! The set's incredibly strong throughout – filled with some of the new post-Peppers ideas explored by the group, yet also with some catchier numbers too – great sing-songy tracks that undoubtedly were a big mainstream influence to the world of late 60s psych! Titles include "Blue Jay Way", "The Fool On The Hill", "Flying", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", and "Baby You're A Rich Man".

Titles include "This Boy", "Don't Bother Me", "Little Child", "Not A Second Time", "I Wanna Be Your Man", and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

A landmark leaping-off point for The Beatles – and a record that really paved the way for countless new ideas to come! The mix of catchy pop and freer ideas here is really wonderful – tunes that introduce a whole new mature world in mainstream music – yet manage to have all the catchy complexity of the earlier years too. Production, songwriting, and delivery is superb – and this version features 14 songs that include "Drive My Car", "Norwegian Wood", "Nowhere Man", "Think For Yourself", "The Word", "What Goes On", "Girl", "I'm Looking Through You", and "Run For Your Life"".

Hard to deny the lasting power of this crucial album from The Beatles – a set that unleashed some of their trippiest sounds and most tender moments too! The mix of wit and honesty is wonderful – and the sonic range is dynamic as the archetypal cover image – a package that's had an undeniable impact on modern music for the past few decades! Titles include "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "She's Leaving Home", "Lovely Rita", "When I'm Sixty Four", "A Day In The Life", and "Fixing A Hole".

Hard to deny the lasting power of this crucial album from The Beatles – a set that unleashed some of their trippiest sounds and most tender moments too! The mix of wit and honesty is wonderful – and the sonic range is dynamic as the archetypal cover image – a package that's had an undeniable impact on modern music for the past few decades! Titles include "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "She's Leaving Home", "Lovely Rita", "When I'm Sixty Four", "A Day In The Life", and "Fixing A Hole".

An excellent biker soundtrack – very different than the usual bag! For this one, Tony Bruno has come up with some great instrumentals – many of them jazzier than you'd think, and a few with some nice funky Capitol instrumental touches – not so much studio fuzz guitar, as they are groovy numbers that are a lot less hairy than the guys on screen in the movie! The change is a nice one – not as rockish as the regular biker soundtrack – although there are some vocal numbers too, done in the Tower/Sidewalk sort of style. Yet it's the instrumentals that really send us – and which make this album well worth seeking out! Titles include "Chase Of Death", "Goofin", "Bass Lake Run", "Hang On Tight", and "Al and Alice".

Ever wonder what might have happened to the Monkees had they stayed together into the 70s? Probably the closest you'll ever get is this unusual outing from 1976 – an album that matched Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones with the songwriting team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – a pair who'd given the original quartet some of their biggest early hits! Oddly, without the folksy touches of Peter Tork, or the country inflections of Mike Nesmith, the sound here is almost in Atco-era Bee Gees territory – lightly baroque, with a real focus on the vocals and they way they're recorded – almost in a soft rock sort of mode. Many tunes have surprisingly great harmonies – but not as upbeat or jangly as on the original Monkees hits (or those by Boyce & Hart for that matter!) – and more in the compressed, easily gliding mode that was common in studio work during the period. Both pairs in the quartet contributed original tunes to the set, and production is by Boyce & Hart – augmented by some additional arrangements by Jimmie Haskell. Titles include "You Didn't Feel That Way Last Night", "Moonfire", "Savin My Love For You", "I Remember The Feeling", "Sweet Heart Attack", "Right Now", "I Love You", "You & I", "Sail On Sailor", and "Along Came Jones".

A cool 60s Capitol psych album – with organ from Tony Scott and flute from Paris Sheppard – and nice long tracks that include "I Just Thought Of The Moon", "The House Of Saturn", and "The Happening".

A fantastic lost psych album – with a moody spacey sound augmented by lots of organ, harpsichord, and electric piano! The best cuts are short and echoey – with kind of a trippy pop feel that sounds like post-Brit invasion lyricism, mixed with LA stoner freedom, and a good dash of Love-esque soul. Titles include Tim Hardin's great "You Upset the Grace of Living", "Hang Onto A Dream", and "Never Too Far" – plus a very cool version of "Nature Boy", and the tracks "Tiffany Rings", "I Watch The Moon", and "Me About You".

Let's get this straight. Merle Haggard SINGS "Okie From Muskogee" but he is not THE "Okie From Muskogee". Nevertheless, this is the record that put the honky in honky tonk. Merle sure pretended to not like hippies back in '69, and story has it he even refused an invitation to produce Gram Parson's GP album on the basis that Gram was just another damn dirty hippie. Of course that's just a story – Merle simply didn't fancy himself a producer. Okie From Muskogee is pretty much the definitive portrait of the Hag at his most reactionary, and if the ignorant politics of the title track gives us a few goosebumps along the way, it's well worth it to hear him perform some of his best tracks at the very peak of his career. Besides, what's an outlaw if he doesn't scare you a little? Many of the great ones are here, including "Mama Tried", "No Hard Times", "In the Arms Of Love", "If I Had Left It Up To You", "White Line Fever", "Blue Rock", "Okie From Muskogee", and a medley of "Swinging Doors", "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive", "Sing Me Back Home", and "Branded Man".

Groovier than you might think – but that's what we've come to expect from Jimmie!

This set is from a few years later than the first Beach Boys Song Book – and as such, features a groovier sound overall! There's still plenty of strings in the mix, but the arrangements from Mort Garson and Perry Botkin also show some of the growing love of sound used by the group – little instrumental elements, well-shaded musical moments, just the sort of styles that Brian Wilson might bring to his own backings – although with a bit more strings! The tunes are a great mix of Pet Sounds-era tunes and some earlier numbers – and titles include "Caroline No", "Good Vibrations", "Little Deuce Coupe", "God Only Knows", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Help Me Rhonda", and "Be True To Your School".

Iron Maiden's monumental Live After Death – a standard bearing live album in the metal realm – and a vital snapshot of the British heavy metal heroes at the peak of their powers! Maiden pretty much conquered the live metal world on this tour – and Live After Death features recordings from LA's Long Beach Arena and London's Hammersmith Odeon. Most of their their greatest songs to this point are represented, including "Aces High", "2 Minutes To Midnight", "The Trooper", "Revelations", "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", "Powerslave", "Number Of The Beast" "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "Iron Maiden", "Children Of The Damned" and more!

One of the best rock and/or country LPs of the late 50s and early 60s! Capitol signed the rockabilly rebel princess several years prior to the release of this collection of her jumpy, frenetic singles, and had Wanda record more crossover material, which she succeeded at in incredible fashion. That left Capitol to finally release a record of her earlier trademark style, and boy it's a doozy! You get "Fujiyama Mama", one of the most incendiary unsung rock and roll singles of all time, plus other great ones like "Rock You Baby", "Cool Love", "Honey Bop", "Baby Loves Him", "Mean Mean Man", "You've Turned To A Stranger" and bonus tracks including "Sinful Heart" and "I'd Rather Have You". Sweet, but feral honky tonk rockers of the first order!

The cover says this is "an album if great rockin songs by Wanda Jackson" and they are indeed pretty rockin! Rather than rock, these tunes are more rockabilly, of course – and Wanda's amazing, raspy yet pretty voice is definitely rooted in classic honky tonk, too. It's a really fun record from her prime at Capitol. Tracks include "Lonely Week-Ends", "Kansas City", "Fallin", "Hard Headed Woman", "Tongue Tied", "Sparkling Brown Eyes", and "Man We Had A Party". One of the highlights of the record is the killer guitar playing – with credit to Roy Clark!

An incredibly lovely record from Kraftwerk – fashioned along the same suite-like style as Radio Activity, and served up with some haunting and charming tunes throughout! The electronics are quite spare, yet very thoughtful – never a note out of place, as the quartet build their careful efforts together to create a tapestry of surprisingly warm sounds – using just a bit of vocals in really great ways, and almost prefacing a whole generation of UK and Euro pop to come – yet without any of their schmaltz! Titles include "Europe Endless", "Hall of Mirrors", "Abzung", "Franz Schubert", and "Showroom Dummies" – not to mention the awesome title track and electro break number "Metal On Metal".

A fantastic record of country harmony spirituals, cut by the legendary Ira and Charlie Louvin, during the height of their years at Capitol! The record's a treasure all the way through – from great cuts like "Satan is Real", "The Drunkard's Room", and "Dying From Home, And Lost" – to the groovy cover that has the Louvins standing next to a flaming pile of garbage with a statue of Satan! Forget all that modern insurgent country bullcracky – this is the real deal!

The first moment of genius from the Steve Miller Band – a killer debut that also features a young Boz Scaggs as a key member of the group! Steve's the core star here, though – setting things up in this amazing blend of psych, blues, and hard rock – one that's easily a lot more ballsy than most of his Bay Area contemporaries at the time – really taking off on some propulsive rhythms, razor-sharp guitar, and cooking keyboards! Scaggs' vocal help is mighty nice – and titles include "You've Got The Power", "Pushed Me To It", "Junior Saw It Happen", "Baby's Callin Me Home", "Roll With It", and "Key To The Highway".

A key compilation of early Floyd nuggets – with cuts that include "Arnold Layne", "Interstellar Overdrive", "See Emily Play", "Julia Dream", "Careful With That Axe Eugene", "Cirrus Minor", and "Bike".

An incredible little record – and one that helped take the Capitol Records surf sound of the early 60s into much hipper territory for the 70s! The record is certainly a "surf symphony" – in that it features a larger orchestra conducted by Jan Rubini – set to groovier themes that have a leaner, cleaner, more "adult" sort of easy feel – but one that also bounces along with a fair bit of groove in the mix! The style is somewhere in the territory of Pat Williams at his hippest – but also has some slight rockish touches as well – stepping around the larger strings with a soundtracky mode that's totally great. Players on the record include Jim Gordon on drums and Lyle Ritz on bass – and Ritz's strong electric pulse at the bottom of the orchestrations really help keep things moving along nicely! The overall sound is tough to describe, but it's wonderful throughout – a really unique little record that's Capitol at its finest and hippest. Titles include versions of "Warmth Of The Sun", "Theme From A Summer Place", and "My Cherie Amour" – plus "The Last Thrill", "Green Water Sails", "The Promise Of Rain", and "Night Of The Lions".

A madly tripped-out little record – about as wild as you could hope to expect from a group named Shiva's Headband! There's a real San Francisco hippie feel going on here – a blend of rootsy rock and psychedelia, plus a few bluesy touches – done in a mode that's down-homey, yet which is also the kind of vision of "down home" that was playing big in Haight Ashbury at the time! Instrumentation includes harmonica, violin, and electric piano – in addition to the usual guitar, bass, and drums – and the vocals often have a rough and ragged quality – fragile, yet also a bit bluesy too. Spencer Perskin arranged, wrote, and produced most of the record – and also sings lead vocals too – and titles include "My Baby", "Take Me To The Mountains", "Song For Peace", "Ripple", "Ebeneezer", "North Austin Strut", and "Good Time".

One of the greatest rock albums to come out of Detroit in the 60s – even if these guys aren't as well known as The Stooges or MC5! There's a similar brilliance here, though – a heady brew of ripping guitars, burning Hammond, and massively pounding drums – all recorded with a slightly garagey edge and expansively searching quality that stretches things out without overindulging in too much jamming. There's also a really dark feel to the record too – one that has the same sense of danger and urgency as SRC's bigger contemporaries, yet never sounds forced. Titles include "Onesimpletask", "Daystar", "Exile", "Marionette", "Black Sheep", and "Refugeve".

Not as guitarry or AM-pop heavy as the group's earlier classics, but still a pretty nice little record nonetheless – filled with the kind of playful McCartney tunes that we've always loved, and carried off with an undeniable charm. Includes the hit "With A Little Luck", plus "Famous Groupies", "Deliver Your Children", "London Town", "Café On The Left Bank", "I'm Carrying", "Backwards Traveller", and "Cuff Link".

Titles include "Rags & Bones", "Acadian Driftwood", "Hobo Jungle", "Ophelia", and "It Makes No Difference".

A definitive Beach Boys collection that graced many a stereo back in the 70s!

A landmark leaping-off point for The Beatles – and a record that really paved the way for countless new ideas to come! The mix of catchy pop and freer ideas here is really wonderful – tunes that introduce a whole new mature world in mainstream music – yet manage to have all the catchy complexity of the earlier years too. Production, songwriting, and delivery is superb – and titles include "Norwegian Wood", "Think For Yourself", "The Word", "Girl", "I'm Looking Through You", and "Run For Your Life"".

Mystically grooving psychedelia from Chocolate Watch Band – a heady mix of the psyche sounds of the era with some really groovy Eastern inspired spirals of sound! The band doesn't skimp on the hip shaping and head nodding rock vibes – with some Stones-y swagger, especially in the vocals – but they bring the freaked out instrumental vibes into the mix very nicely – some sitar, really heavy bass grooves, shakers and other leftfield percussive touches. Titles include "Voyage Of The Trieste", "In The Past", "Inner Mystique", "I'm Not Like Everybody Else", "Medication", "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go", "Baby Blue" and "I Ain't No Miracle Worker".

A mix of spiraling psychedelia and grittier garagey rock from Chocolate Watch Band! No Way Out has a bit more grit than the more mystical follow up LP, but we wouldn't complain about that – the mix of more tripped out organ and atmospheric touches paired with harder hitting, sweaty r&b and fuzz rock influenced sounds match pretty well in our book! Groovy stuff from the late 60s Cali scene! Titles include "Let's Talk About Girls", "Midnight Hour", "Come On", "Dark Side Of The Mushroom", "Hot Dusty Road", "Gone And Passes By", "Expo 2000" and "Gossamer Wings".

Surf guitar hits the drag strip – as Dick Dale makes the same move as most of his Cali contemporaries of the 60s – shifting his groove from waxed boards and woodies over to the world of hot rods! The sound's still pretty much the same, though – smoking instrumentals filled with Dale's amazing lines on guitar – a way of hitting the instrument that was a lot harder, heavier, and more frenetic than most other surf/instro players of the period – with a raw bite that arguably sets the scene for hard rock in the part of the decade to come! Vinyl version features 14 tracks rom Dale's hot rod recordings for Capitol – with cuts that include "50 Miles To Go", "Nitro Fuel", "Surf Buggy", "Firing Up", "Taco Wagon", "The Victor", "Mag Wheels", "Wild Wild Mustang", and "Night Rider".

With "Europa & The Pirate Twins", "Flying North", "Weightless", "Leipzig", "Windpower", "She Blinded Me With Science", "Commercial Breakup", "Urges", "Airwaves", "Radio Silence" and "Cloudburst At Shingle Street".

With "Who Knows", "Machine Gun", "We Gotta Live Together", "Power To Love", and "Changes" – all recorded live at the Fillmore East on New Years Eve, 1969!

The cover says this is "an album if great rockin songs by Wanda Jackson" and they are indeed pretty rockin! Rather than rock, these tunes are more rockabilly, of course – and Wanda's amazing, raspy yet pretty voice is definitely rooted in classic honky tonk, too. It's a really fun record from her prime at Capitol. Tracks include "Lonely Week-Ends", "Kansas City", "Fallin", "Hard Headed Woman", "Tongue Tied", "Sparkling Brown Eyes", and "Man We Had A Party". One of the highlights of the record is the killer guitar playing – with credit to Roy Clark!

One of the greatest power pop albums ever recorded – a blistering batch of tight little rocking tunes that took pop music back to basics at the end of the 70s! The group have an almost Beatles-esque flair for the short catchy tune – but have also pumped up things nicely with a smoothly compressed 70s approach to production. There's an urgency to the work that seems to drive the whole thing with an uptight adolescent sense of horniness – a strange force that kicks most tunes into ultradrive by tapping into a virtually limitless source of energy! Titles include the mega-hit "My Sharona", plus "Heartbeat", "Lucinda", "Frustrated", "Good Girls Don't", "Selfish", "O Tara", and "Maybe Tonight".

One of the many chapters of Jimi's career before his famous Experience recordings – a set of hard rocking soul tracks with singer Curtis Knight, recorded in a really lively sort of party feel! The quality of the set almost makes us think this one was a live session – especially on the really great 10 minute track "Get That Feeling" – a stone jamming number that features some mean funky guitar from Jimi, and some screaming vocals from Curtis! Other titles include "How Would You Feel", "Simon Says", "Hush Now", "Welcome Home", and "Strange Things".

A masterpiece from SF rocker Steve Miller – and a perfect summation of the years of blues, soul, funk, and rock he'd been soaking up in the Bay Area scene! The album crossed over instantly with the massive cut "Fly Like An Eagle" – already great on its own, but supported here with the massive "Space Intro", which adds an extra minute of cool electronics to the tune. Other great cuts include the amazing funky rocker "Take The Money And Run", plus "The Window", "Mercury Blues", and "Dance, Dance, Dance".

Quicksilver Messenger Service shortened their name for their second LP of 5 tracks, mostly recorded live at Fillmore East. The band includes Greg Elmore, Gary Duncan, John Cipollina, and David Frieberg. Songs include the 25-minute "Who Do You Love Suite", "Mona", "Calvary", "Maiden Of The Cancer Moon", and "Happy Trails".

Titles include "Wolf Run (parts 1 & 2)", "Just For Love (parts 1 & 2)", "Freeway Flyer", "Gone Again", and "Fresh Air".

The Raspberries fourth album has an ironic title – as it was the group's final pre-comback effort – and a pretty sharp one, with lots of biting, Kinks-esque discontent and crunching guitars! The group was clearly fed up with the industry at this point, but the songs are still quite tuneful, if a bit heavier. Certainly a step away from their more sunny pop of the first few records – but still a catchy, worthy effort from a largely unheralded group! Tracks include "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)", "Play On", "Party's Over", "Rose Coloured Glasses", "Cruisin' Music", "I Can Hardly Believe You're Mine", "Hands On You", "Starting Over" and more.

Possibly the last truly wonderful Wings album of the 70s – a monumental crossover record that smoothed out their groove a bit more and delivered some wonderful hits! Denny Laine is still in the group at this point, and titles include the classics "Let Em In" and "Silly Love Songs" – plus "Cook Of The House", "San Ferry Anne", "Warm & Beautiful", "Wino Junko", and "The Note You Never Wrote".

A massive 3LP package – one that set a whole new standard for 70s live albums! The group's at their rocking best – a bit rawer here than in the studio – and the set includes some overlooked gems from albums, plus renditions of a few Beatles tunes too.

My God – they finally did it! After all these years of hearing about the legendary Smile album from The Beach Boys – hearing snippets on other albums, studio bonus tracks, re-recordings, and all the other sources they've dangled in front of us for decades – Capitol's finally gone and done what they never did back in the 60s – released the whole legendary set together, as one package – and in formats that even exceed anything that might have been issued back in the day! You've probably heard a good number of the songs here before – some as they were chopped up and included on Smiley Smile, 20/20, and other post-Pet Sounds albums by the group – and in some recent re-recordings by Brian Wilson. But trust us, they all sound amazing here together – in the original recordings, with sublime 60s studio production, and godlike arrangements by the young Brian Wilson. Titles include "Our Prayer", "Gee", "My Only Sunshine/You Are", "Cabin Essence", "Wonderful", "Surf's Up", "Holidays", "Vege-Tables", "Good Vibrations", "Love To Say Dada", "Do You Like Worms", "Barnyard", and "I'm In Great Shape". 2LP set is on super-heavy vinyl, with a really great cover packaging job – and features 5 bonus tracks that are alternate takes and mixes of album tunes! Includes lyrics and liner notes too.

Classic guitar from one of the all-time greats – a smoking selection of rare Capitol and Deltone Records singles from the legendary Dick Dale – and virtually a blueprint for generations of surf guitar to come! Sure, there were loads of other great players up and down the Pacific coast back in the 60s – but Dick had a way of making things cook that was unlike anyone else – more of an edge, more of a rocking raw feel, and honestly, a lot more balls than most of his contemporary – as you'll hear in this classic set of cuts that includes "Tidal Wave", "Surfing Dreams", "Mr Peppermint Man", "A Run For Life", "Death Of A Gremmie", "Surfin Rebel", "The Wedge", "Shake N Stomp", "Surfing Drums" and an archetypal recording of "Miserlou". 14 on the vinyl version.

A wacko Kim Fowley solo album – released on Capitol in the mid 70s featuring recordings he made in '69 & '70 – and we must say, it's aptly titled! It's wild stuff in which Fowley shrieks, barks and occasionally sings on material that ranges from feral freakouts (including one tune that Kim wrote with Iggy & The Stooges in mind) to more accessible, yet primitive garage rock. Fowley plays all the instruments, too, and titles include "Night Of The Hunter", "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll", "Werewolf Dynamite", "Is America Dead?", a cover of Link Wray's "Rumble", "Ain't Got No Transportation" and more.

Career-to-date spanning Ben Harper ballads compilation hand-picked by Ben.

Iron Maiden at their mid 80s peak – and along with Number Of Beast and Piece Of Mind, Powerslave completes one of the mightiest trilogies in metal history – pretty much cementing the Maiden legend! Kicking off with the incredible one-two punch of "Aces High" and "2 Minutes To Midnight" and closing up with the title track and the epic "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", there's really no way to call this anything but a classic – but the remaining album tracks are among Maiden's finest, too! Those include killer instrumental "Losver Words (Big 'Orra)", "Flash OF The Blade", "The Duellists" and "Back In The Village".

A brilliant standout in a late 60s world of blues rock – a set that goes way beyond what most of Steve Miller's contemporaries were doing at the time – to find a brave new world that's all its own! As before, the drums are key to the group's sound – harder and funkier than most of their contemporaries – with a propulsive energy that really pushes the group past any sort of sleepy cliches, and allows Miller to grab a whole host of other influences, and manage to forge them into the sound. Tim Davis is the mighty man on the kit – really kicking it throughout – and other surprising guests include Ben Sidran on guitar, and an appearance by Paul McCartney on one track too! Titles include "Space Cowboy", "Got Love Cause You Need It", "Celebration Song", "In My Dark Hour", "Kow Kow", and "Brave New World".

The second album from The Sons Of Champlin – a record that actually has the group shortening their name to The Sons, but expanding their sound past the jamming bluesy roots of their debut! The record's got a tightness that brings a bit of jazz into the mix – not much, in a way that's blended with folksy instrumentation in a really gentle way – fleshing out acoustic guitars with a bit of horns, vibes, and other nice touches that give some of these tunes a much more timeless feel than you'd think. The album's a bit sparse on notes, but someone's doing a great job with the arrangements here – putting more of a high-concept spin on the record, yet still retaining the personal feel of the group. Titles include "Why Do People Run From The Rain", "It's Time", "Country Girl", "You Can Fly", "Love Of A Woman", and "Boomp Boomp Chop".

Probably the greatest record that the Louvin Brothers ever made – and a haunting batch of songs filled with death and disaster, sung in a crystalline harmony style by Ira and Charlie! Includes the oft-quoted "Kentucky", plus loads of other great ones, including "Take The News To Mother", "What Is Home Without Love", the ever-scary and beautiful "Knoxville Girl", and "Mary Of The Wild Moor". Country harmony grandeur and entirely essential!

David Axelrod takes on Handel's Messiah – and the result is an amazingly complex set of music – very similar to his earlier albums on Capitol Records, and his Warner work with the Electric Prunes! If you love the Axe, you'll find plenty to love here – spare, dark orchestrations, often with a subtle hint of funk in the rhythms, some jazzy flourishes, and this bold sense of studio majesty that marks Axelrod as one of the most inventive producers of his time! The sound's one that gave birth to a whole generation of hip hoppers and beatheads – and the proceedings are conducted by Cannonball Adderley, with a feel that's similar to other Adderley/Axelrod high-concept sets – like Soul Of The Bible or Soul Zodiac. Titles include "Overture", "Worthy Is the Lamb", "Behold Recitative", "Comfort Ye My People", and "And The Angel Said Unto Them".

Pure brilliance from start to finish – especially the second side of the record, which has a continuous run of tunes that's very unique – and still completely sublime all these many years later! The album shows the fracturing ideas of the group, but crafted together with a unity you won't find on The White Album or Let It Be – still a way of making it all gel together beautifully, as the fab four stretch their wings to find new ways of being. Added instrumentation is used wonderfully – never overdone, but with orchestral passages that can really hammer home the best musical moments – and titles include "I Want You", "Because", "You Never Give Me Your Money", "Golden Slumbers", "The End", "Her Majesty", "Polythene Pam", and "Sun King".

The second album done by David Axelrod for The Electric Prunes – and arguably the best! The album's a bit unusual, in that none of the original Prunes were actually working on the session – and instead, Axlerod's almost fully at the helm – putting together the set in a way that's quite similar to his own solo albums over at Capitol! As with those, there's a bold, spacious sort of instrumentation here – richly orchestral, but also quite funky at times – punctuated by great drums from Earl Palmer, bass from Carol Kaye, keyboards from Don Randi, and guitar from Howard Roberts – who's really tripping out nicely here! The work uses the Jewish Kol Nidre mass as its conceptual locus – but really takes off with plenty of tripped-out Axelrod flourishes that make the whole thing a fair bit more psychedelic than anything you'd ever hear in temple. Titles include "Holy Are You", "The Adoration", "Our Father, Our King", "Kol Nidre", and "General Confessional".

The roots of The Knack – and some really amazing tracks that were recorded years before their famous debut on Capitol! The sound here is great and gritty – mostly just Doug Feiger and Berton Averre working out tunes in the studio – using guitar and bass, and serving up the vocals with a nicely sneering style! Even more amazing is that most of these tunes were recorded in 1973 and 1975 – yet already show the pair's tremendous ear for a tight riff and unstoppable hook – that core essence of everything we love about The Knack – but with an even rawer feel too. Titles include "Who'll Set You Down", "Little Lies", "Flower My Fate", "Weiss On Rye", "Have A Heart", "Corporation Shuffle", "Get On The Plane", "Lazer Days", and "Good Girls Don't".

Smoking hot rod grooves – put together by studio maestro Bruce Johnston in the years before he became a bigger Beach Boy! The set's one of many groovy surf/car sets that Johnston cut during this mid 60s stretch – although it's more obscure than most, given its release on Smash Records – instead of the usual Capitol or Columbia outlets for his work. But the lineup features some key familiar faces from those other projects – guitar from Glenn Campbell and Tommy Tedesco, and some mighty drums from the great Hal Blaine! Hot Rod enthusiast George Barris adds his name to the project – and also gives up some nice car knowledge on the back cover – and titles include "Stick Six", "Fireball", "Jive Driver", "Super Fine", "Firecracker 400", "Hotty 32", and "Speed Shifters".

Wild work from The Ventures – a set that really has them trying to change with the times – and coming up with some excellent sounds in the process! The inside cover features a cool "photo story" of the group – very unusual, as it shows the aging quartet trying to act real groovy and camp it up for the camera – like some surf act on Capitol – yet they only come off looking stiff and flat. Fortunately, the music more than makes up for the visuals – as the group's well-crafted guitar lines are a perfect fit for the album's pop psych tunes! And instead of the easy covers you might expect, there's a wealth of original material here – proof that the group could still write some great ones when they wanted – as you'll hear on "Psychedelic Venture", "Guitar Psychedelics", "Reflections", "Endless Dream", "Psyched Out", "1999 AD", and "Vibrations".

Wild work from The Ventures – a set that really has them trying to change with the times – and coming up with some excellent sounds in the process! The inside cover features a cool "photo story" of the group – very unusual, as it shows the aging quartet trying to act real groovy and camp it up for the camera – like some surf act on Capitol – yet they only come off looking stiff and flat. Fortunately, the music more than makes up for the visuals – as the group's well-crafted guitar lines are a perfect fit for the album's pop psych tunes! And instead of the easy covers you might expect, there's a wealth of original material here – proof that the group could still write some great ones when they wanted – as you'll hear on "Psychedelic Venture", "Guitar Psychedelics", "Reflections", "Endless Dream", "Psyched Out", "1999 AD", and "Vibrations". Also features versions of "Happy Together", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You".

A cool record by ne of our favorite artists of the mid 60s to early 70s! Fred Neil is best known to the world as the man who wrote "Everybody's Talkin'", which was used excessively in the film Midnight Cowboy, but since the version in the film was sung by Nilsson, Fred's talents werelargely eclipsed. This Capitol album has the singer/songwriter playing in a very relaxed studio vibe – with some spare backing, and edgey playing that opens up a side of him that we've rarely heard elsewhere. Supposedly, the session was largely improvised, and designed to recreate the feel of his legendary live shows. The tracks are fairly long, and include titles like "Felicity", "Send Me Somebody To Love", "Looks Like Rain", and "Fools Are A Long Time Coming".