Rock — CDs  

Mid 60s surf grooves from Jerry Cole – blazing guitar-led instrumentals, though this is not a simple, quickie cash-in on the surf trend – it's a actually a top notch taste of expert LA studio genius! Cole is a brilliant guitarist, and the Spaceman he assembled for the Surf Age record features the crème of the crop of LA studio geniuses from the period – including Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Steve Douglas and others. The mix of searing guitars with a raw rhythms with virtuoso musicianship really puts this record above and beyond most others! Includes "Surf Age", "Martian Surf", "Night Rumble", "Night Rumble", "Power Surf", "Bronze Surfer", "Jerry's Jump", "Deep Surf", "Racing Waves", "One Color Blues", "Ride-Um!" and more. CD includes 6 bonus tracks, too: "Boss Dance", "Super Charged", Drag Shot", "Wild Willys", "The Screamer" and more!

A motherlode of mid-to-late 60s Killer – 5 whole albums for Smash Records – I'm On Fire, Return Of Rock, Memphis Beat, Soul My Way and Together (with Linda Gail Lewis) – in a 2CD set! The heart of the collection are the records Jerry Lee cut for Smash from '65-'67 – and they're classic to us, but actually quite overlooked in the canon – with some blistering takes on Memphis rock, soul and boogie woogie – great records that didn't sell a ton of copies at the time, leading up to his stellar run as a country music star. It also includes '69's I'm On Fire compilation of singles from the earlier 60s, and his decent country duets album with sister Linda Gail Lewis. 58 songs and almost 2 1/2 hours of vintage Jerry Lee Lewis! Includes "Memphis Beat", "I'm On Fire", "This Must Be The Place", "Hit The Road Jack", "Flip, Flop And Fly", "Baby, Hold Me Close", "Sexy Ways", "Mathilda", "Sticks And Stones", "Big Boss Man", "The Urge", "Shotgun Man", "I Bet You're Gonna Like It", "Secret Places", "Jackson", "We Live In Two Different Worlds" and many more!

Sweet folksy pop from the glory days of A&M! Evie has a voice that's emotive in a folk rock way, but which is here produced with smoother west coast arrangements that are more in an LA mode. The overall sound of the album is very hip – with that cool late 60s approach that never gets picked up by oldies stations, and which is only the province of records like this, odd mis-shots in the pop economy that often got cut out as soon as they were produced, shunned by an uncaring record buying public. Titles include "Crazy Annie", "It's This I Am", "Shadow Of The Evening", "Close Your Eyes, Cross Your Fingers", "Any Way That You Want Me", "One Find Summer Morning", and "I'll Hold Out My Hand". Also includes the bonus track "Maybe Tomorrow".

Swinging British pop tracks by two of England's loveliest ladies of the 60s – neither of which is well known as a singer, but both of whom sound pretty darn groovy here! The first 4 tracks on the CD are from a 1966 EP by Twiggy – recorded early in her fame as a model, and with some especially nice backings from Johnny Hawksworth! Twiggy's vocals are surprisingly nice – kind of sweet and light, but also with a sense of darkness that we like a lot – but the Hawksworth arrangements are what really make the album groove, as they're filled with the weird touches we've come to love over the years in Johnny's own instrumental work. Twiggy tracks include "When I Think Of You", "Beautiful Dreams", "Over & Over", and "I Need Your Hand In Mine". Linda Thorson's probably best known as the actress who followed Diana Rigg's run on The Avengers, but here she emerges as a groovy little singer in her own right – working in late 60s Brit female modes that clearly borrow from Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, and others – and which actually have some surprising soul-based touches as the set rolls on. And while we're not about to say that Linda's vocals are as strong as Dusty or Sandie's, we can say that the album's thoughtful arrangements from Kenny Lynch keeps things on very solid footing – pushing the tunes forward with a mixture of baroque, mod, and swinging styles that should have gotten Thorson another date or two in the studio. Titles include "Here I Am", "Better Than Losing You", "Wishful Thinking", "Pick Up My Heart", "You Will Want Me", and "Bad Time To Stop Loving Me".

Rumblin' numbers from late 50s Louisiana – a bit of rockabilly, some that are more rock/less 'billy, still others with the swampier sound you'd expect to be bubbling up outta the bayou! You can feel the influence of 40s New Orleans R&B in the DNA – particularly on the numbers with brass – but there's also some rugged rockers here that would sound right at home in Memphis, or anywhere else – with singles by Tommy Todd, Al Ferrier, Rod Bernard & The Twisters, Arnold Broussard, Jay Chevalier & The Long Shots, Rocket Morgan and others. 28 tracks in all: "Tag Along" by Tommy Todd, "She's Mine" by Johnny Jano, "Linda Gail" by Rode Bernard & The Twisters, "Some Other Time" by Arnold Broussard, "Release Me" by Rocket Morgan, "Boogie Children/Walking With Frankie" by The Playboys, "Rattlesnake" by Wiley Barkdull with Rusty & Doug, "Kansas City" by Warren Storm and more.

The insane debut of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band – an amazing late 60s Brit ensemble who were almost to music what Monty Python were to TV! This first effort by the group is a mad array of sounds and styles that come together with a great sense of play and joy – a real delight in quick turns, witty phrases, and parodic re-castings of earlier modes – inspired by dada work of the early 20th century, but also handled with a lot more of a post-modern feel overall. Most tracks are short, and many echo earlier music styles, filtered through a slightly psyche filter – and titles include "Death Cab For Cutie", "In San Francisco", "Jollity Farm", "Equestrian Statue", "Cool Brittania", "I'm Bored", "Piggy Bank Love", "Big Shot", "Mickey's Son & Daughter", and "The Sound Of Music". CD also features 7 more bonus tracks – including "My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies", "I'm Gonna Bring A Watermelon To My Girl Tonight", "Alley Oop", "On Her Doorstep Last Night", and "Ali Baba's Camel".

Pulsating Krautrock from Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger – essential stuff that stretches out the dynamics of the first couple of classic LPs! Then first half of the album features Klaus' brother Thomas on drums, and second features Hans Lampe, but the grooves are stripped down and spacious enough that the personality behind the Ur-drumming doesn't matter so much. Stripped down keys and electronics move more into the forfront on 75 – hardly diminishing the power, and actually prefiguring 80s sounds by a longshot – with guitars blending in with the synths to form the bedrock of the pioneering sound! 6 tracks in all: "Isi", "See Land", "Leb Wohl", 'hero", "E-Musik" and "After Eight".

A pair of overlooked albums from Clover – a great Bay Area group from the start of the 70s – best known for later work with Elvis Costello and Huey Lewis! Clover is a great start for a very cool group – a set that definitely draws on some of the "out of the city" sounds of the post-Haight scene in SF – as you might guess from the cover – but which also has some funkier undercurrents too, and almost a garagey mix of soul amidst the rootsy elements – one that really shows the evolution of a group like this from the styles of a few years before! Titles include a cover of "Shotgun", plus "Come", "Could You Call It Love", "Southbound Train", "Going To The Country", and "Stealin". Fourty Niner shows a wonderful growth in Clover – a record that really has the group coming into their own, and hitting some of the best Marin County vibes of the time! There's a definite rootsy feel to the record – some of those Bay Area transmogrifications of sounds from the south, into much more hippie-oriented styles – but there's also a sense of confidence and care with songwriting that should have made these guys huge – a quality that easily rivals the best work from the late Byrds or early Eagles camp – with maybe a bit to challenge The Band too – served up with a great Fantasy Records rock approach all the way through. Titles include "Mr Moon", "Harvest", "Old Man Blues", "Sound Of Thunder", and "Love Is Gone".

Glorious power pop from South London – driving work from the Exits! The spectre of early Elvis Costello hovers over The Exits, particularly in the vocal department – but the uber catchy hooks and buzzing guitars have more of an all purpose sheen. Strong stuff from the power pop underground of the end of the 70s! 13 tracks in all: "The Fashion Plague", "Cheam", "Fool To Fall In Love", "Holiday Shots", "We Broke Up Today", "School Of Intrigue", "Index Linked", "Mood Walk", "Revolt Into Style", "This Toytown Word", "Chantelle" and more.

The first album from The English Beat – and not only is it one of the most essential of the English ska revival era of the late 70s and early 80s – it's one the most enduring records of 1980 in any genre! The English Beat, like the best of their peers, used ska and rocksteady inspiration to fuel their own contemporary UK sound – and it sounds great to this day! The rhythms are tighter and punchier here than on later records, with some pop, mod and soul lacing their songwriting and vocal. A landmark! Includes "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Hands Off. . .She's Mine", "Twist & Crawl", "Big Shot", "Best Friend", "Jackpot" and more. This 2012 CD version also includes "Ranking Full Stop" – which wasn't on the original UK release.