Rock — All Formats  

Arguably one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time – and the key flowering of the partnership between David Bowie and Mick Ronson! The guitars here are heavy – so much so that the record's always crossed over big with crowds who are always suspicious of Bowie's artier work of the 70s – and represented a crucial moment when his groundbreaking music also found a large mainstream audience as well. And despite the fact that Ziggy's an androgynous space rocker with a spurious pedigree, the manufactured posturing of the album's come to be taken quite literally over the years – a vivid text of alienation, expression, and redemption – served up beautifully over a host of classic tracks that include "Five Years", "Soul Love", "Moonage Daydream", "Suffragette City", and "Ziggy Stardust" – all further proof of Bowie's 70s ability to slide in wherever he wanted with ease!

Groovy little pop rock tracks, with a good small combo sound, and a tight little arrangements with a larger ensemble. The group has a good late 60's pop harmony style, with the lead singer out front, and the other singers in the back – in the style of a band like We Five or something like that. Includes the track "There She Goes", which has a nice break at the beginning.

We love Kim Fowley, and can never get enough of his genius – and no matter what the setting, Fowley always seems to move around the maddest corners of rock and pop music! This raw batch of gems is all pulled from the Fowley vaults – and features a host of indie singles recorded in LA between his bigger bursts of fame – some with Kim in the lead, lots more with lesser-known talents all given Fowley's forceful treatment in the studio – a push forward that makes just about every track here sparkle like some long-lost garage rocker or weird novelty number. Norton provides very detailed notes that are as much a musical journey as the cuts themselves – and titles include "The Knight In Shining Armor" by Knights Of The Round Table, "Kalani Honey" by John Paul Jones, "Young & Wild" by Renegade Five, "Big Bad Wolf" by Kim Garry & The Rhythm Kings, "Watch Your Step" by Larry Green & The Rhythmaires, "Goin Away Baby" and "Golden Apples Of The Sun" by Grains Of Sand, "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by The Rogues, "Moses" by Navarros, and "The Trip", "Astrology", and a rare radio spot all by Kim Fowley.

A smoking second set from The Gods – and a record that captures the British scene at a perfect point when new ideas were definitely coming into play, but could still be served up in a style that was pretty lean and mean overall! All the cuts on the set have the potential of being much longer overblown numbers – yet The Gods really keep their focus wonderfully, and hone the tunes down to their best elements – with tight guitar work here, some compelling lyrical twists there, and bigger ideas that seem to inform the whole thing, yet never push anything towards pretension. Titles include "Lady Lady", "Penny Dear", "Long Time Sad Time Bad Time", "Five To Three", "Autumn", "To Samuel A Son", and "Sticking Wings On Flies". CD also features two bonus tracks – "Maria" and "Long Time Sad Time Bad Time (mono version)".

Number five, and the Steve Miller Band is still going strong – working here with some great help from Area Code 615, who bring a slightly rootsy vibe to the set! That core Miller brilliance is still very firmly in place – and Steve's got an even sharper ear for writing songs this time around – working in more influences than before, and really finding his voice – or more appropriately, that great way his vocals can be filtered in with the production. Other guests include Ben Sidran and Nicky Hopkins – helping to reinstate the keyboard sound in the group – and titles include "Steve Miller's Midnight Tango", "Industrial Military Complex Hex", "Never Kill Another Man", "Going To The Country", and "Hot Chili".

Post Pearls Before Swine work from Tom Rapp – a record that has him stepping out as a solo act, but with a feel that's quite similar to his recordings with the group! The mood here is laidback and slightly folksy – but also augmented more by piano than by guitar, and recorded with a watery style that works wonderfully with Rapp's sad-tinged vocals. A number of the songs appear to be remakes of versions from earlier years – and titles include "Snow Queen", "The Jeweler", "Rocket Man", "Sail Away", "Full Phantom Five & I Shall Not Care", "These Things Too", and "Grace Street".

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse".

Sublime sounds from We Five – and a record that really takes the group past the pop styles of their debut! There's some nicely sinister echoes of the San Francisco scene going on here – more electric guitar than previously, used in edgey ways – and this more "arch" style on the female vocals from Bev Bevins – almost a slight Grace Slick aspect creeping in at the bottom. These elements are subtle, but really transform the sound of the record – and titles include "The First Time", "Our Day Will Come", "What's Goin On", "Poet", "You Let A Love Burn Out", "What Do I Do Now", and "High Flying Bird".

Sublime sounds from We Five – and a record that really takes the group past the pop styles of their debut! There's some nicely sinister echoes of the San Francisco scene going on here – more electric guitar than previously, used in edgey ways – and this more "arch" style on the female vocals from Bev Bevins – almost a slight Grace Slick aspect creeping in at the bottom. These elements are subtle, but really transform the sound of the record – and titles include "The First Time", "Our Day Will Come", "What's Goin On", "Poet", "You Let A Love Burn Out", "What Do I Do Now", and "High Flying Bird". CD features both mono and stereo mixes of the album – plus the bonus track "There Stands The Door".

Completely charming sounds from We Five – a second full length set for A&M Records, and one that really has the group growing past their simple folksy roots! There's a wonderful interplay of voices going on here – styles borrowed a bit from male/female jazz and soul vocal groups of the period, yet given a deeper 60s inflection too – a dose of righteous energy that's got the darkness of folk, but moving into some sunshine pop modes too – and which shows especial maturation on some of the album's mellower cuts. Production is right in the best A&M modes of the time – again moving past pop towards some darker corners of the music – and titles include "Walk", "It Really Doesn't Matter", "Walk On By", "I Can't Believe", and "All The Time".

A vital collection of some of the best songs written, or co-written by Otis Blackwell – who's one of the greatest and most adaptable songwriters of the late 50s onward! His songs were perfectly suited to bridge late 50s and early 60s soul, rock and pop – especially for performers who straddled those styles – but his work reaches pretty far, stylistically! If you don't know the name Otis Blackwell, we promise you know his songs – and some of the best of them are on this set – with some hugely famous tunes, some in iconic form, and others in lesser-known versions. There's also some overlooked gems – and the titles include "Make Me Know It" by Elvis, "Don't Be Cruel" by Jerry Lee Lewis, "My Pigeon's Gone" by The Five Keys, "For My Good Fortune" by Mahalia Jackson, "I'll Find You" by Gene Pitney, "Brace Yourself" by Ben E King, "I Told Myself A Lie" by Clyde McPhatter, "Home In Your Heart" by Solomon Burke, "Handy Man" by Del Shannon, Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott's 1962 demo for "One Broken Heart For Sale", "Fever" by Little Willie John and more.

The immortal collection of psychedelic era garage rock and proto-punk gems – originally released on Elektra in 1972, where it influenced many of the great 70s underground pioneers, long before being reborn as an expanded box set in the late 90s! Lenny Kaye and Elekra Records big wig Jac Holzman put Nuggets together in 1972, mixing a bunch of great buzzsaw rock singles, indiscriminately melding hits and underground cuts alike – 27 great tracks by the likes of the Amboy Dukes, Standells, Castaways, Magicians, the Seeds, the Electric Prunes, Sagittarius, the Magic Mushrooms and many more! Tracks include "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" by Electric Prunes, "Dirty Water" by the Standells, "Respect" by Vagrants, "No Time Like The Right Time" by Blues Project, "Invitation To Cry" by Magicians, "You're Gonna Miss Me" by Thirteenth Floor Elevators, "Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five, "Baby Please Don't Go" by Amboy Dukes, "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius, "Open My Eyes" by Nazz and more! One of the first great rock anthologies!

A remarkable collection of psychedelic and garage rock that at this point really needs no introduction from us. 27 amazing tracks of seminal rock, including the Electric Prunes "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night", the Standells "Dirty Water", the Shadows Of Knight "Oh Yeah", the Seeds "Pushin' Too Hard", the 13th Floor Elevators "You're Gonna Miss Me", Count Five "Psychotic Reaction", the Leaves "Hey Joe", the Cryan Shames "Sugar & Spice", the Blues Magoos "Tobacco Road", Chocolate Watch Band "Let's Talk About Girls", and the Nazz "Open My Eyes", plus loads more!

A really wonderful compilation of rare material from the early days of Cherry Red Records – that great British label who brought some incredibly sweet pop into an otherwise dark post-punk world! The set's especially nice for its wealth of material by Everything But The Girl and solo members Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn – as nearly a third of the set is material by various combinations of the above. Includes "Can't", "Tower Of Silence", and "Aubade" by Ben Watt; "Goodbye Joe" by Tracey Thorn; and "Feeling Dizzy" and "On My Mind" by Everything But The Girl. Also includes "My Brilliant Career", "Son Of God's Mate", and "Inside Out" by The Nightingales; "If She Doesn't Smile" and "Thousand Guitars Of St Dominiques" by Fantastic Something; "4 Countries" and "The Coroner & The Inquest" by The Reflections; "This Is For The Moment", "Think", "Rushes", and "The Trial" by Five Or Six; and "The Bridge" by The Monochrome Set.

No jumble here, as the collection's a really well-done batch of tracks – all rarer-than-rare psychedelic gems from the UK scene of the late 60s, a good deal of which have never been issued before! There's a real nuggets-like sound to the set – plenty of fuzz guitar, flanged-out vocals, and trippy productions – but there's also some sweeter elements too, a few echoes of Sunshine Pop that help keep the set from just being a rehash of familiar psych modes – and which makes it a tremendous new discovery in sound! The notes are as full, detailed, and thoughtful as the track selection – and titles include "Friends & Mirrors" by Five's Company, "You Can Run" by The Majority, "Do What You Must" by Tintern Abbey, "What's The Rush Dillbury" by Paradox, "Delighted To Meet You (demo)" by Honeybus, "Meet Me At The Fair" by The Penny Peeps, "Mary Ann With The Shaky Hand (demo)" by Opal Butterfly, "Time Machine Man" by The Majority, "Like The Day Goes" by Paradox, "Flying High" by Rupert's People, "You & Me Baby" by Obscured Rays, and "Into My Life She Came" by The Penny Peeps.

Godlike! This is probably the finest Nick Drake album that you can buy, and it's an incredible mix of folksy vocals, jazzy guitar, and incredible baroque arrangements! The album includes Drake's wonderful "River Man", one of his best-ever songs (and maybe one of THE best-ever songs!) – plus loads of other excellent cuts like "Fruit Tree", "Day Is Done", "Three Hours", "Saturday Sun", and "Time Has Told Me". Fantastic – and essential!

We love Kim Fowley, and can never get enough of his genius – and no matter what the setting, Fowley always seems to move around the maddest corners of rock and pop music! This raw batch of gems is all pulled from the Fowley vaults – and features a host of indie singles recorded in LA between his bigger bursts of fame – some with Kim in the lead, lots more with lesser-known talents all given Fowley's forceful treatment in the studio – a push forward that makes just about every track here sparkle like some long-lost garage rocker or weird novelty number. Norton provides very detailed notes that are as much a musical journey as the cuts themselves – and titles include "The Knight In Shining Armor" by Knights Of The Round Table, "Kalani Honey" by John Paul Jones, "Young & Wild" by Renegade Five, "Big Bad Wolf" by Kim Garry & The Rhythm Kings, "Watch Your Step" by Larry Green & The Rhythmaires, "Goin Away Baby" and "Golden Apples Of The Sun" by Grains Of Sand, "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by The Rogues, "Moses" by Navarros, and "The Trip", "Astrology", and a rare radio spot all by Kim Fowley.

Arguably one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time – and the key flowering of the partnership between David Bowie and Mick Ronson! The guitars here are heavy – so much so that the record's always crossed over big with crowds who are always suspicious of Bowie's artier work of the 70s – and represented a crucial moment when his groundbreaking music also found a large mainstream audience as well. And despite the fact that Ziggy's an androgynous space rocker with a spurious pedigree, the manufactured posturing of the album's come to be taken quite literally over the years – a vivid text of alienation, expression, and redemption – served up beautifully over a host of classic tracks that include "Five Years", "Soul Love", "Moonage Daydream", "Suffragette City", and "Ziggy Stardust" – all further proof of Bowie's 70s ability to slide in wherever he wanted with ease!

Sugar sweet pop rock from Paul McCartney & Wings – much more adventurously arranged than most of McCartney's post Beatles releases, Wing-ed or not – and to our ears (and many others), it's also his best post-Beatles album! There's plenty of rave up rock & roll leading into to the sugary, un-shakable choruses, no doubt the secret weapon, but the songs are pretty great! Titles include "Band On The Run". "Bluebird", "Jet", "Mrs Vanderbilt", "Let Me Roll It", "Mamunia", "No Words", and the sublime "Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five".

A great assemblage of Billy Joe Shaver's excellent, overlooked 80s records for Columbia – from a time when most mainstream country was getting glossier and more cliched – and Billy was sticking to hardscrabble yet soulful outlaw roots! This 2CD set includes the complete I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Someday) and Billy Joe Shaver albums from '81 and '82 – which are among his best ever – plus the nearly as strong Salt Of The Earth from a few years later, and a non-LP bonus track. Titles include "Fit To Kill And Going Out In Style", "Blue Texas Waltz", "Ragged Old Truck", "I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal", "Bottom Dollar", "Old Five And Dimers Like Me", "Ride Me Down Easy", "Swwet Mama", Hardworkin' Man", "Devil Made Me Do It The First Time" (a newer and more electric version of his classic "Black Rose"), "Fun While It Lasted", "I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train", "Blue Texas Waltz", the B-side "Love You 'Till The Cows Come Home" and more. 31 tracks in all!

An amazing package – filled with loads of rare gems – all vintage vinyl nuggets from the enormous collection of The Cramps! Lux Interior and Poison Ivy are legendary record collectors – and have been digging in thrift stores, warehouses, and basements for many decades – filling a love of music that even predates the formation of their famous group – and which went onto inform the sounds they made on their own! Given that the duo were out there digging for many years before the rest of us, they've definitely gotten their hands on some amazing gems over the years – a good number of which are presented here in an ultra-cool 10" vinyl package – subtitled in ways that really give you an idea of the sounds – "ghoulish exotica", "lip-curling rock n roll", "crazy mixed up sounds", and "instrumental madness". Titles include "The Cave" by Gary Spider Webb, "Wild Man Walk" by The Ebonettes, "Mashed Potatoes" by Noble Watts, "Unitar Rock" by Willie Joe & His Unitar, "Jibba Jab" by Tic & Toc, "From The Top Of Your Guggle" by The Five Blobs, "Gang War" by Gene Maltais, "Sugar Doll" by Johnny Jay, "Bongo Beatin Beatnik" by Joe Hall & The Corvettes, and "Dragon Walk" by The Noblemen.

Raw soul, heavy funk, snotty rock, and raucous R&B – all pulled from the legendary record collection of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy! The sounds here are the sorts that went onto form the blueprint for The Cramps – and the package is overflowing with rare gems that are hand-picked by the pair – the kind of underground, indie singles that have always made record-digging so great – plucked up by Lux and Ivy in the years before most of us even started searching for wax! The cool 10" set features two dozen tunes – and titles include "Drive Daddy Drive" by Little Sylvia, "Stormy Weather" by The Five Sharps, "Rock A Bongo Boogie" by Terry Snyder, "Red Headed Flea" by The Caps, "Chickie Run" by Homer Denison Jr, "99 Chicks" by Ron Haydock & The Boppers, "Baby Brother" by Bill Carter & The Rovin Gamblers, "Service With A Smile" by The Kuf-Linx, "Imagination" by The Quotations, "Tongue Tied" by Betty McQuade, and "The Vulture" by Ronny Ray's Playboys.

Some of the earliest work ever recorded by the mighty Memphis-based Goldwax Records – material that shows the roots of the label's famous deep soul style, and a wide variety of other modes as well! From the start, it's clear that the ears at Goldwax really knew what they were doing – as even the more pop-oriented recordings here have something very different – a care and quality that makes digging through the label's catalog on a single-by-single basis just as great as doing the same with work from Stax/Volt! As with that company, you can first hear Goldwax getting their start in a few different styles – some of which were issued on other labels at the time – then settling into a classic mode pretty quickly, that massive Memphis soul style that easily made Goldwax one of the most important southern soul imprints of the 60s. The package features a whopping 58 tracks in all, plus full notes too – both a and b-sides of early singles, with titles that include "Toddlin" by Gene Bowlegs Miller, "It's Wonderful To Be In Love" by The Ovations, "I Can't Make It" by James Carr, "Arabian Jerk" by The Merits, "I Can't Fight This Much Longer" by Eddie Bond, "That's How Strong My Love Is" by OV Wright, "Our Last Quarrel"by Bobby McDowell, "Will I Ever Be Free" by Jeb Stewart, "The Day The World Cried (parts 1 & 2)" by Oboe, "A Thousand Vows" by Bobby McDowell, "Spoonful" by The Playboy Five, "Rhythm Marie" by Phillip & The Faithfuls, "Country Style" by Dorothy Williams, "Have You Seen Jean" by Al Vance, "Lover's Crime" by Spencer Wiggins, and "My Motor Bike Balked" by The Lamars.

A masterful reissue of the classic '64 7-inch EP by The Rolling Stones – reissued for the first time in its original format since 1964! Includes "If You Need Me", "Empty Heart", "2120 South Michigan Avenue" and "Around And Around".

The immortal collection of psychedelic era garage rock and proto-punk gems – originally released on Elektra in 1972, where it influenced many of the great 70s underground pioneers, long before being reborn as an expanded box set in the late 90s! Lenny Kaye and Elekra Records big wig Jac Holzman put Nuggets together in '72, mixing a bunch of great buzzsaw rock singles, indiscriminately melding hits and underground cuts alike – 27 great tracks by the likes of the Amboy Dukes, Standells, Castaways, Magicians, the Seeds, the Electric Prunes, Sagittarius, the Magic Mushrooms and many more! Tracks include "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" by Electric Prunes, "Dirty Water" by the Standells, "Respect" by Vagrants, "No Time Like The Right Time" by Blues Project, "Invitation To Cry" by Magicians, "You're Gonna Miss Me" by Thirteenth Floor Elevators, "Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five, "Baby Please Don't Go" by Amboy Dukes, "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius, "Open My Eyes" by Nazz and more! One of the first great rock anthologies!

Timeless, sun-toasted LA psych from The Allah-Las – a chiming, dreamy little guitar rock gem on the Innovative Leisure label! There's some garage-charged numbers, and on the fllipside of that approach, there's some surprisingly delicate numbers – plus some swaggery, late 60s Stones-y styled tunes, too. They wear their influences pretty proudly, but the songs are really strong and memorable – it's no mere stylistic rehash – much like what labelmate Hammi El-Katib is doing with his 60s forbears, The Allah-Las are making a pretty strong new school take on classic fuzzed out rock! Titles include "Catamaran", "Don't You Forget It", "No Voodoo", "Sandy", "Vis-A-Vis", "Seven Point Five", "Ela Navega", "Busmans Holiday" and more.

If anybody could take a great tune and make it better, it was The Ventures – as you'll hear on this album's killer version of "Hawaii Five O" – as well as a host of other groovy goodies too! The set's still got the core sound of the quartet – loads of fuzzy guitars riffing away over heavy drums – but there's also some fuller arrangements too, but handled by groovy guys Mike Melvoin and George Tipton – both of whom keep things swinging in a west coast 60s style that's very much like the best modes over at Capitol Records! In addition to "Hawaii Five O", other titles include "The Letter", "Don't Give In To Him", "A Summer Place", "Lovin Things", "Stormy", and "I Can Hear Music".

A cooking set of live performances by The Ventures – key proof that their searing guitar sounds weren't just the result of some studio trickery! The set features the group in three different settings – at home in the US, over in the UK, and in Japan – where they enjoyed a huge amount of fame in the 60s! All cuts are mighty smoking – core grooves that are heavy on tight, fuzzy guitar lines – and driven by drums that are arguably even more pounding than on the studio albums. The applause is quite high at times – possibly dubbed in – and titles include "Driving Guitars", "Yellow Jacket", "Wipeout", "Journey To The Stars", "Caravan", and a sweet medley of "Walk Don't Run/Perfida/Lullaby Of The Leaves".