A classic run of records from Waylon Jennings – brought together in a single package! First up is Lonesome Onry & Mean – a pivotal album for Waylon Jennings – the record where he really found the new direction that would finally get him the fame he deserved – delivered in a way that's free from all the later cliches, and which also ties Waylon pretty strongly to the hipper currents of the underground – especially that point where singer/songwriter genius intersected with country! The production is his own, and vastly different than the late 60s records – even though we love those to death too – and that magical Jennings vocal approach does fantastic things to tunes by Steve Young, Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson, and others! Titles include the fantastic "Lonesome Onry & Mean", plus "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues", "Freedom To Stay", "Lay It Down", "You Can Have Her", "Pretend I Never Happened", "San Francisco Mabel Joy", "Sandy Sends Her Best", and a great take on "Me &Bobby McGee". Honky Tonk Heroes is genius material from Waylon Jennings – one of those career-defining records from the early 70s that completely put him on top, and heralded a whole new generation in country music! The set's maybe equally noteworthy as a showcase for the up-and-coming Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote much of the songs on the record – and it's also a great showcase for the important production talents of Tompall Glaser, who really gets the spirit of the music right! Titles include great versions of "Honky Tonk Heroes", "Old Five & Dimers Like Me", "Ride Me Down Easy", "Black Rose", "Willy The Wandering Gypsy & Me", "Omaha", and "Ain't No God In Mexico". This Time is one of those Waylon Jennings records from a time when he could do no wrong – fighting the stronger powers at RCA to really find his voice – recording at the studio of Tompall Glaser, with great production help from Willie Nelson – who was enjoying his own transformation at the time too! As with the previous two gems from this period, the choice of material and presentation is great – songs by Willie, JJ Cale, and Billy Joe Shavers – in a set of titles that include "Heaven Or Hell", "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way", "This Time", "Pick Up The Tempo", "If You Could Touch Her At All", "Walkin", "Slow Rollin Low", "Louisiana Woman", and "Slow Movin Outlaw". Ramblin Man is Waylon Jennings at peak mid 70s perfection! Ramblin' Man fits in stylistically with the gruff honky tonk hero mode he first fully realized a couple albums earlier, but he's still fiercely blazing trails here, pairing his gruff lead vocals with sweeter female harmonies on some tracks, changing the groove from laidback swagger to fast-paced honky tonk, working in some tender ballads with the gruffer numbers...Waylon at his best. Starts up with the eternal title track and equally classic "Rainy Day Woman" and hardly lets up in greatness from there, with "Cloudy Days", "The Hunger", "It'll Be Her", a great cover of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider", "Memories Of You And Me", "Amanda" and more. Features bonus tracks too – "Laid Back Country Picker", "The Last One To Leave Seattle", "Big Big Love", "Got A Lot Going For Me", "The Last Letter", and "The One I Sing My Love Songs To". CD

The Incredible String Band are paired down to the core duo of Mike Heron & Robin Williamson for their third and possibly best album – the truly incredible Hangman's Beautiful Daughter – using the studio as a most impressive adjunct member of the group at this point! This is an extremely talented pair – each playing myriad instruments – sitar, organ, guitar, hammer dulcimer, harpsichord, gimbri, whistle, pipe, oud, mandolin, mouth harps and more. Previous vocal collaborator Licorice sings on one song, and Dolly Collins and David Snell contribute flute organ, piano and harp – but the main duos incredible way of layering their magic with multitracking in the studio the real masterstroke of the effort. Titles include "Koeoaddi There", "Witch's Hat", "The Water Song", "Swift As The Wind", "Nightfall", "Waltz Of The New Moon", "Three Is A Green Crown" and more. CD

A really beautiful little record from John Martyn – a set in which he's really perfected his talents, and found a way to stand out from just about anyone else in the pack – including the best of his British folk rock contemporaries! Martyn plays acoustic guitar, but the record's hardly folk at this point – because his vocals have all these jazzy changes, maybe a bit like Joni Mitchell was hitting at the same point in her career – more sophisticated, but very organic and never forced – with this quality that makes just about every word that comes from Martyn's voice resonate with a really fantastic quality. His guitar playing is as wonderful as ever – and again, filled with jazzy phrasing without ever being jazz at all – and the whole thing is maybe a record to proudly put Martyn in the company of Nick Drake on his few classics for Island. Titles include "Solid Air", "Over The Hill", "I'd Rather Be The Devil", "The Easy Blues", "The Man In The Station", "Dreams By The Sea", and "Don't Want To Know". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

The first full album from the great Fred Neil – recorded for Elektra Records in the years before his underground fame on Capitol – and with a sound that's maybe a bit more bluesy overall, but in a very cool way! Fred's songwriting strengths are very much at play here – as almost all songs are originals – but there's also a tighter focus that compresses most numbers to the 2/3 minute range – instead of making them more of the wispier workouts of later years. The group's quite an interesting one – with on guitar and dobro from Pete Childs, bass from Felix Pappalardi, and harmonica from John Sebastian – all at a young point that has them bringing plenty of folk blues inflections to their performances, but in a way that's completely free of any hoke or cliche. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD