... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

An overlooked 60s pop gem from Kenny O'Dell – a great mix of twangy vocals and Sunshine Pop production – all served up with a really unique sort of sparkle! In another world, Kenny might have been a country singer – but here, he's working with some cool Cali backings that push O'Dell far from his Bakersfield roots – into the sound of sunny late 60s LA, with some great guitar, organ, and vibes in the backings. Titles include "Beautiful People", "Kentucky Woman", "Sunshine Dreamin", "Massachusetts", "You'll Break Me Yet", and "Next Plane To London". LP, Vinyl record album

A simple title, but a classic album – arguably one of Kenny Rankin's biggest hits of the 70s, but every bit as great as his lesser-known work! Don Costa arranged the set, but the sound is still wonderfully intimate – with a focus on Kenny's vocals and acoustic guitar, steeped in folksy roots, but carried off with plenty of warmer, chromatic tones that have a great dose of jazz in the mix. The core group's a quartet, with electric piano and organ from Wendy Haas – and titles include the megahit "On And On", plus "House Of Gold", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Through The Eye Of The Eagle", "Make Believe", "I Love You", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant record – Kenny Rankin's first, and a really unique mix of styles that's completely different from his more famous later albums! The album has a gentle folksy style with touches of jazz – a bit like some of Tim Hardin's work for Verve, but without as much of a sad loser finish. Arrangements are by the great Artie Schroeck, and they're a mix of jazz, strings, acoustic guitar – all wrapped up in the light and breezy style of Artie's great late 60s work on Verve. Rankin's voice has a really unique quality – sparkling with a harmonic mode that's got definite ties to folk, but bubbling with the jazzy phrasing that you'd expect to hear more from Tim Buckley or Nick Drake. Titles include "Cotton Candy Sandman", "The Dolphin", "Every Passing Moment", "In Never Changes", "Song For A Winter's Night", "The Girl I Left Behind", and "Minuet". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Includes the songs "This Is It", "Whenever I Call You "Friend"", "Footloose", "Heart To Heart", "Danger Zone", "Meet Me Half Way", "I'm Alright", "Return To Pooh Corner", "Don't Fight It", "Forever", "Conviction Of The Heart", "The Real Thing", "For The First Time", "Celebrate Me Home", and "The Rest Of Your Life". CD

Mellow magic from Kenny Rankin – an album that follows nicely from his Kenny Rankin album of a few years before, and which has a relatively similar approach! Like that one, Don Costa's at the helm – producing as well as arranging – and most instrumentation is from a core small combo that includes some great keyboard work from Wendy Haas, who warms up Kenny's sound a bit, but never in a too-smooth sort of way. A few tracks bring in some bigger strings, but still keep up the rasp and personal feel of Rankin's music – and titles include "Down The Backstairs Of My Life", "Woman Woman", "Lyin Eyes", "Strings", "After The Roses", and "What Matters Most". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Indescribably beautiful work from Kenny Rankin – a jazzy blend of vocals and folk – delivered with a warm and soulful tone that's unlike anyone else! The whole thing's great – really very much its own spirit, and kind of a bright light after a host of doom and gloom late 60s folk-based singers in popular music. Of course, Kenny's still got something of a righteous feel, and lets his politics sneak out from time to time – but his overall sound is wonderfully redemptive, without being cloying in kind of a James Taylor sort of way. The instrumentation is great too – with just the right use of acoustic guitar in warm chromatic tones, plus nice touches on flute and saxes from Jim Horn, and gently groovy backings that never dampen Kenny's light. Titles include "Sometimes", "Peaceful", "Stringman", "You Are My Woman", "I Was Born", and "Yesterday's Lies". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

(Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

(Folk/Country, Rock) CD

Two jazz rock classics – back to back as a 2CD set! Solar Plexus was a pivotal album in the career of British jazzman Ian Carr – one that had him really opening up into some trippy, spacey grooves – adding in a lot of keyboards, kicking up the grooves, yet still never losing the strong jazzy finish that was the best part of his earlier work. Players on the set include trumpeters Harry Beckett and Kenny Wheeler, guitarist Chris Spedding, and keyboardist Karl Jekins, who really throws in some groovy lines on the set! Titles include "Elements 1 & 2", "Snakehips Dream", "Torso", "Spirit Level", and "Bedrock Deadlock". Belladonna is one of the heaviest electric sets from UK trumpeter Ian Carr – and that's really saying a lot, given how much heavy work he cut with his group Nucleus! The sound here is a groundbreaking mix of acoustic horns and keyboards – trumpet from Carr, and a mix of tenor, soprano, alto, and flute from Brian Smith – coming into contact with the Fender Rhodes of Dave MacRae and the Hohner electric of Gordon Beck! The pairing of keys is wonderful – and the whole thing is sewn together by the guitar of a young Allan Holdsworth, who's very much in the sway of Carr's sound here, instead of the later directions he'd take as a leader. The set might be worth it alone for the massive "Summer Rain" – a slow funk track that trips along beautifully – but the whole thing's great, and other titles include "Belladonna", "Mayday", "Suspension", and "Hector's House". (Jazz, Rock) CD

Proof that blues rock can be turned towards a useful end – and a landmark album from one of the greatest Brit groups of the post-beat era! CCS (Collective Consciousness Society) were more of a studio project than anything else – but their first few records sparkled with a groove and energy level that surpassed most other work going at the time – thanks to large backings from arranger Johnny Cameron, of Brit Easy and soundtrack fame – working here with UK bluesman Alexis Korner in a format that mixed big funky backings with Korner's down-home blues rock! The Cameron touches really help get away from any blues cliches of the genre – and the inclusion of jazz players like Harry Beckett, Henry Lowther, Kenny Wheeler, and Ray Warleigh makes for a really hip approach to instrumentation that goes way beyond simple studio support. Most tracks are instrumental, but the set does include some vocals – and the group scored a standout hit with the album's cover of "Whole Lotta Love", and followed up with other covers that include "Satisfaction", "Living In the Past", "Wade In The Water", and "Bom Bom". Also includes the original tracks "Waiting Song", "Dos Cantos", and "Lookin For Fun". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful, easygoing live set by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band – a short-lived 80s project that featured a whole new side of the Grateful One's musical explorations! In a way, the music here almost goes back to some of Garcia's roots – which were occasionally a bit bluegrass-oriented – and joyous cheers of the crowd really add the listening experience here. The group features Jerry and David Nelson on guitar and vocals, with Kenny Kosek on fiddle, and Sandy Rothman on mandolin, dobro, and banjo – and the titles include "Deep Ellum Blues", "I've Been All Around This World", "Oh The Wind & Rain", "I'm Troubled", "Diamond Joe", "Gone Home" and "Ripple". LP, Vinyl record album

Early work by Kenny Loggins. LP, Vinyl record album

Mother Lode has a somewhat more fuller sound overall – one that's got bits of the western touches you might expect from the prospecting reference in the title – tunes that almost have a Deadwood way of echoing the past, but which come across with a much more 70s LA vibe overall. The setting's a good one to help Kenny Loggins avoid the pitfalls of cliche – and tracks include "Growin", "Be Free", "Changes", "Fever Dream", "Move On", and "Get A Hold". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful blend of folksy vocals and light jazz touches – all in a laidback and blue-tinged mode that's not unlike some of the best late 60s Tim Buckley work for Elektra! Like Tim, Gary Marks has a real respect for jazz in the mix – and he allows plenty of space here for vibes from David Samuels, guitar from John Scofield, and piano from Michael Cochrane – all of which serve as a lovely backdrop for Gary's beautifully stretched-out vocals. There's a quality here that's almost a bit like Kenny Rankin at times – but a bit looser, and a bit bluer – and the record's a real under-discovered gem from the prime years of the American singer/songwriter era, only briefly issued on Carla Bley's JCOA label. Titles include "Gathering", "First Snowfall", "Him Sometimes", "A Gina Theme", "Secret She", "Seasons", "We Free", and "Sailing". (Vocalists, Rock) CD

Features tracks by Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Kenny Loggins, Teddy Pendergrass, Dr John, Janis Ian, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

22 songs from Kenny Parchman, Barbara Pittman, Ray Harris, Slim Rhodes, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Riley, Sonny Burgess, Glenn Honeycutt, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. CD

Label sampler with cuts by Faces, Captain Beefheart, Halfnelson, Malo, Dionne Warwick, Little Richard, Kenny Young, America, Ry Cooder, Peter Yarrow, Judy Collins, Doug Kershaw, Jerry Garcia, Crazy Horse, and Tracy Nelson. LP, Vinyl record album

In-store play sampler with selections by Emerson Lake & Palmer, Peter Gabriel, Foreigner, Steve Hunter, Hall & Oates, Bad Company, Mama's Pride, Led Zepellin, Spinners, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Kenny Rankin, and Bryan Ferry. LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal album for Bob Dylan – a record that continues the Nashville experiment of Blonde On Blonde, but which compresses it a bit more – almost like he's re-folding the electric energy back into the darkness of the spare sound of Times They Are A-Changin! Bob plays guitar, harmonica, and piano – in a core trio that just features Charlie McCoy on bass and Kenny Buttrey on drums – plus a bit of added steel guitar from Pete Drake. The album's filled with complicated dark little numbers like "All Along The Watchtower", "The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest", "I Am A Lonesome Hobo", "I Pity The Poor Immigrant", "The Wicked Messenger", "As I Went Out One Morning", and "Down Along The Cove". CD

One of those great 80s albums that really helped Jerry Garcia demonstrate his commitment to deeper currents of American acoustic music – sounds that always colored his contributions to the Grateful Dead, but which by this point have emerged as a fantastic second side of Jerry's genius! And sure, the guy's a superstar, so most folks would lend their ears to anything he does – but the sounds here are really balanced so that Garcia is hardly the leading light of the set – trading guitar lines and vocals with David Nelson, in a group that also features John Kahn on bass, Kenny Kosek on fiddle, David Kemper on snare drum, and Sandy Rothman on mandolin, dobro, and banjo – all of which really add a lot to the set. Titles include "Bright Morning Stars", "Turtle Dove", "Rosa Lee McFall", "Deep Elem Blues", If I Lose", "Ragged But Right", and "I Ain't Never". LP, Vinyl record album