The great early double album from Tom Waits! This is peak Asylum era Waits, getting into that charismatic, drunken bluesy poet mode – essentially working live in the studio with a small audience , giving it a genuine sounding latenight cabaret vibe, and embracing his wit and style as brilliantly as he'd done to this point. Brilliant vintage Waits and a loose, yet nicely rhythmic backing combo. Titles include "Better Off Without A Wife", "Emotional Weather Report", "On A Foggy Night", "Eggs & Sausage", "Spare Parts", "Big Joe & Phantom 309", and "Putnam County". CD

One of the all time great albums from Tom Waits – possibly the pinnacle of his earlier drunken poet style of songcraft – and with some of the most achingly beautiful songs he ever laid down! It features the classics "Tom Traubert's Blues" and "Step Right Up" to kick it off, followed by boozy ballads and sly, bedraggled ne'er-do-well tales, and old school strip club-dweller love songs like no others. If more tender ballads were pulled off with such a gruff voice in the 1970s we haven't heard 'em. Other tracks include "I Wish I Was In New Orleans", "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)", "Invitation To The Blues", "The One That Got Away", "Small Change" and more. CD

One of the all time great albums from Tom Waits – possibly the pinnacle of his earlier drunken poet style of songcraft – and with some of the most achingly beautiful songs he ever laid down! It features the classics "Tom Traubert's Blues" and "Step Right Up" to kick it off, followed by boozy ballads and sly, bedraggled ne'er-do-well tales, and old school strip club-dweller love songs like no others. If more tender ballads were pulled off with such a gruff voice in the 1970s we haven't heard 'em. Other tracks include "I Wish I Was In New Orleans", "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)", "Invitation To The Blues", "The One That Got Away", "Small Change" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An wonderful mid 70s outing from Jimmy Webb – his only album for the Asylum label, and done in a fuller mood than his other solo work – in a style that recalls modes used by Asylum labelmate Jackson Browne at the time! The songs are all beautifully penned – at a level that lives up to Jimmy's reputation – and in a way, the richer backdrops actually seem to work better with his vocals than the styles used before – giving them more focus and direction, and creating a comfortable warmth that is a better accompaniment to the dark corners of Webb's tunes than some of his starker arrangements. There's a depth here that easily makes the record one of Jimmy's finest on wax under his own name – and the set is very much worth rediscovery many decades later! Titles include "Ocean In His Eyes", "Alyce Blue Gown", "Lands End/Asleep On The Wind", "Just This One Time", "Crying In My Sleep", and "It's A Sin". LP, Vinyl record album

An early gem from Warren Zevon – his first for Asylum and a creative peak – with some of his best remembered songs, and deeper album cuts that are just as great! Zevon's dark sense of humor comes through here, especially on the all time classic "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", but there's some sweeter and more tender material, too. Produced by Jackson Browne and featuring a hell of a great group on the sessions, from Phil Everly, to Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, Carl Wilson, Bobby Keyes and others. "Frank & Jesse James", "Mohammed's Radio", "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", "Carmelita", and "Backs Turned Looking Down The Path". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, The Go-Go's, Sammy Hagar, Don Henley, Graham Nash, Oingo Boingo, :Poco, Quartetflash, Stevie Nicks, Billy Squier, Donna Summer, Joe Walsh, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

Soundtrack to the much-hyped full length animated feature film – based on the popular sci-fi magazine of the time! The music here has little to do with the story, but there are plenty of great late 70s major label rockers in the lineup – on a set of tracks that includes "I Must Be Dreamin" and "Reach Out" by Cheap Trick, "Heavy Metal" by Sammy Hagar, "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" by Blue Oyster Cult, "Mob Rules" by Black Sabbath, "True Companion" by Donald Fagen, "Prefabricated" by Trust, "Blue Lamp" by Stevie Nicks, "Crazy" by Nazareth, "Open Arms" by Journey, "Queen Bee" by Grand Funk Railroad, "All Of You" and "Heavy Metal" by Don Felder, "Radar Rider" by Riggs, and "Working In The Coal Mine" by Devo. LP, Vinyl record album

Features performances by the Doobie Brothers, Jackson Browne, Sweeth Honey In The Rock, James Taylor, Chaka Khan, Gil Scott-Heron, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty, Poco, Bruce Springsteen, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. CD

Four lost albums from David Blue – a really compelling singer/songwriter, ripe for rediscovery! First up is These 23 Days In September, recorded for Reprise – a really moody little record from David Blue – a folksy singer who's got a style that definitely lives up to the melancholy promise of his name! Blue's definitely an artist with a difference – working in the familiar mode of vocals and acoustic guitar, but with an edge and distinctness that really sets him apart from the folkies of a few year before – that sense of different that really set apart a new wave of contemporaries, like Leonard Cohen, Fred Neill, or Tom Rapp. Titles include "These 23 Days In September", "The Sailor's Lament", "Scales For A Window Thief", "You Will Come Back Again", "Slow & Easy", and "The Grand Hotel". Stories is an overlooked early set on Asylum – the kind of really special singer/songwriter material that really set the label apart at the start of the 70s! David Blue has this compelling vocal style that's moody, but down to earth – inflected here and there with guitar contributions from Ry Cooder, who's understated, but really brings out some special qualities in the tunes. Jack Nitzsche adds in some light strings at points – but overall, things are pretty spare and personal – and titles include "Looking For A Friend", "Another One Like Me", "Sister Rose", "The Blues", "Come On John", "Marianne", and "Fire In The Morning". Nice Baby & The Angel shows David Blue really starting to get some star power in his mix – a fuller set, produced by Graham Nash – with work from Nash on guitar, plus more guitar from Dave Mason and David Lindley – in a nice mix of roots elements, but which never overwhelm that unique sense of songwriting and vocals that set David Blue apart from the rest. Titles include "Darlin Jenny", "Troubadour Song", "Train To Anaheim", "True To You", "On Sunday Any Sunday", and "Outlaw Man". On the cover of Cupid's Arrow, David Blue might look a bit cheesy, what with his open shirt and all – but he's definitely the real deal, and very down to earth in his singer/songwriter approach – with a quality that's only underscored by the lineup on the set – a group that features Levon Helm on drums, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, David Lindley on mandolin and slide, and Barry Goldberg on piano and organ, and also handling production of the album too. The shift from David's roots is a bit like that taken by other contemporaries who once started in more folksy territory, then found a new way to grow in the west coast singer/songwriter scene – and that means that things are more electrified, but still quite far from mainstream music – with original tunes from Blue throughout, and titles that include "I Feel Bad", "Maria Maria", "Primeval Tune", She's Got You", "Tom's Song", and "Run Run Run". CD

Massively jazzy soul from Donald Byrd – two "love" tunes from the early 80s! "Love Has Come Around" goes in a whole new direction than his earlier Mizzell-styled work – snapping a sweet clapping groove, yet still keeping enough acoustic touches to keep things real – and coming across with the best mix of modes you'd hear in a classic Rodney Franklin track! "Love For Sale" is the Cole Porter tune – but completely remade here in a nicely snapping 80s groove mode! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Massively jazzy soul from Donald Byrd – two "love" tunes from the late 70s and early 80s! "Love Has Come Around" goes in a whole new direction than his earlier Mizzell-styled work – snapping a sweet clapping groove, yet still keeping enough acoustic touches to keep things real – and coming across with the best mix of modes you'd hear in a classic Rodney Franklin track! "Loving You" is modern soul genius, a crisp stepping number with Byrd's trademark jazzy flourishes, soaring high on sweet strings, while keeping a really funky groove at the bottom – really one of the best mainstream blends of 70s club and soulful fusion from the time! 12-inch, Vinyl record

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! CD

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! 2CD version features a whole bonus set of instrumental tracks from the album sessions – and alternate versions of "Transit A Marilou", "Lunatic Asylum", "Meurtre A L'Extincteur", and "Ma Lou Marilou". CD

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! 2LP version features a whole bonus set of instrumental tracks from the album sessions – and alternate versions of "Transit A Marilou", "Lunatic Asylum", "Meurtre A L'Extincteur", and "Ma Lou Marilou". LP, Vinyl record album

Vintage 70s & 80s recordings from the George-Edwards Group – whose recorded legacy, we thought, was held almost completely by the cosmic psych/synth folk rarity 38:38 LP – but here's more from their personal Archives! Ed and Ray both provide vocals, keyboards and percussion – piano, acoustic and electric bass by Ed and acoustic guitar by Ray. Overall, it's a weird mix of chiming or fuzzed out guitars and squeeling keyboards – but always oddly tuneful! Includes "Once Upon A Moog", "Nevada", "Shattered Heart", "Puppetman", "It's All Right", "The Blowing Wind", "Midnight Asylum" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The first proper album by Americana rock supergroup Golden Smog – featuring members of Wilco, The Jayhawks & Soul Asylum among others – very much living up to the kind of trends-be-damned album that would come from these guys circa 1995 – inspired by the best acoustic-leaning classic rock of the 70s, sans cliche and feeling fresh all over again! There's a lot to love here for fans of pre-Summerteeth era Wilco and American Recordings era Jayhawks – which is to say it soundly ignores the noisier sounds of the rock mainstream at the time for a more down home vibe. Includes "V", "Pecan Pie", "Glad U Sorry", "He's A Dick", "Red Headed Stepchild", "Williamton Angel", "Friend", "Nowhere Bound", "Radio King" and more. CD

Wynton Marsalis is working in lean quartet formation here – no sax from brother Branford, whose own star was rising – and instead lots more room to really stretch out on his own languid lines on trumpet! The rest of the quartet features Marcus Roberts on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, and Jeff Watts on drums – all of whom work in subtle ways to match Marsalis' shadings in sound – a rich tapestry of colors and tones that lies somewhere in a space between early Miles and modern Freddie Hubbard. Titles include "J Mood", "Insane Asylum", "After", "Much Later", "Skain's Domain", and "Melodique". CD

A beautiful way to dive right into the some of best work ever by Joni Mitchell – a 10CD set that brings together her first 10 albums in a single set – including her great couple of early efforts for Reprise and her incredible Asylum work from throughout the 70s! These albums travel from gentle folk pop and rock, to an ambitious blend of jazzy experimental instrumental touches as a backdrop – and feature some of very best songcraft of the era by anyone! The titles include Songs For A Seagull, Clouds, Ladies Of The Canyon, Blue, For The Rose, Court And Spark, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Mingus – and nearly every one is essential! CD

Great late 70s work from John Prine – a set that signals his shift to Asylum Records from Atlantic, but with a quality that's still got all the best open, honest touches that Prine brought to American music when he emerged from the Chicago scene! Production is by Steve Goodman – an old buddy from Chicago – and the presentation is mostly pretty stripped-down, and with a focus on Prine's always-biting lyrics, and his wonderful vocal presentation. Titles include "Fish & Whistle", "Iron Ore Betty", "If You Don't Want My Love", "The Hobo Song", "Crooked Piece Of Time", "Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone", and "That's The Way That The World Goes Round". CD

A pair of albums from Rain Parade – back to back on a single set! First up is Emergency Rail Power Trip – an undisputed treasure from the early 80s west coast scene – a trippy little record that was one of the shining jewels in the new psych underground – quite a shift from the LA hardcore sound of a few years before! Yet unlike some of their contemporaries, Rain Parade were hardly copping any sort of easy retro modes – as their approach here is leaner, maybe a bit colder, and almost influenced by post-punk styles in the same way that some of the better UK bands were at the time – almost as if there was a synchronous explosion of fuzzy energy between the group and the Creation Records generation to come. The whole thing holds up wonderfully over the years – maybe even more so, given the passage of time, and the legions of other groups who never made the music this well. Titles include "Talking In My Sleep", "I Look Around", "This Can't Be Today", "Look At Merri", "Saturday's Asylum", and "Kaleidoscope". Explosions In The Glass Palace is fuzzy magic from The Rain Parade – an EP, but one that's every bit as important to their catalog as their full length debut! In fact, the record might be an even purer distillation of their sound – recorded by a four member lineup, with a nice focus on the more subtle elements of their songwriting skills, and sometimes augmented by just a bit of light strings, in a really nice way. Titles include "Broken Horse", "Prisoners", "You Are My Friend", "Blue", and "No Easy Way Down". CD

Tracks include "The Perils Of Self-Betterment", "I want To Be Cholorphylled I: Corpos Conductor", "Gutbucket Asylum", and "Compassion Montage". CD

Pure mainstream 70s pop genius, the most fully-formed of all early Supertramp albums – and a record that's filled with a surprising amount of great Fender Rhodes moments too! The set's a masterpiece from start to finish – filled with themes of loss and loneliness, but served up by the group with an incredibly redemptive sense of majesty and power – really fresh for the time, and still wonderful all these many years later – despite the fact that so many of these songs have gone onto become classics. The keyboards on the set work perfectly with the oddly-timed rhythms of the tunes – and there's a great blend here between high concept and straight ahead pop – on titles that include "School", "Bloody Well Right", "Asylum", "Dreamer", "Rudy", and "Crime Of The Century". LP, Vinyl record album

Pure mainstream 70s pop genius, the most fully-formed of all early Supertramp albums – and a record that's filled with a surprising amount of great Fender Rhodes moments too! The set's a masterpiece from start to finish – filled with themes of loss and loneliness, but served up by the group with an incredibly redemptive sense of majesty and power – really fresh for the time, and still wonderful all these many years later – despite the fact that so many of these songs have gone onto become classics. The keyboards on the set work perfectly with the oddly-timed rhythms of the tunes – and there's a great blend here between high concept and straight ahead pop – on titles that include "School", "Bloody Well Right", "Asylum", "Dreamer", "Rudy", and "Crime Of The Century". CD

Landmark work by one of the hippest gals on the Chicago scene of the past 50 years – blues singer Koko Taylor, an artist who also had a heck of a lot of soul as well! Titles include "I Got What It Takes", "Um Huh My Baby", "Twenty Nine Ways", "I Don't Care Who Knows", "Blue Prelude", "What Came First The Egg Or The Hen", "Insane Asylum", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Bills Bills & More Bills". CD

Tom Waits' final album for Asylum – and one that clearly points the way towards the rawly rhythmic, murky atmospherics of his wilder Island years to come – while still bringing out the woozy, gruff balladeer of the earlier albums! It's kind of amazing that the record works as well as it does, as you can sense the creative restlessness in the distinctly different styles. A great one! Includes "Heart Attack And Vine", "In Shades", "Saving All My Love For You", "Jersey Girl", "Downtown", "Mr. Diegal", "On The Nickel", "Ruby's Arm" and more. CD

The great early double album from Tom Waits! This is peak Asylum era Waits, getting into that charismatic, drunken bluesy poet mode – essentially working live in the studio with a small audience , giving it a genuine sounding latenight cabaret vibe, and embracing his wit and style as brilliantly as he'd done to this point. Brilliant vintage Waits and a loose, yet nicely rhythmic backing combo. Titles include "Better Off Without A Wife", "Emotional Weather Report", "On A Foggy Night", "Eggs & Sausage", "Spare Parts", "Big Joe & Phantom 309", and "Putnam County". CD

Really special sounds from a short-lived label – Tumbleweed Records, a company that was conceived in LA, and born in early 70s Denver – perfectly suited to focus on the hipper strands of singer/songwriter material of the time! The vibe here is a bit like the best work on the early Asylum Records, with maybe more of the diversity of Blue Thumb – and, like both of those special imprints, there's an above-the-usual level of quality going on here – great songwriting, understated production, and artists who really feel free to do their thing in the best way possible! Many of the tracks have kind of a homespun vibe, but top-shelf presentation – tight, but never slick – and the occasional twang really brings the right sort of humanity from time to time. Titles include "Turn Of The Century" and "Abyss" by Robb Kunkel, "Colorado" and "Hick" by Danny Holien, "Rosewood Bitters" by Michael Stanley, "Sweet As Spring" and "Do On My Feet" by Dewey Terry, "Late Letter" by Pete McCabe, "Plain Talk" by Arthur Gee, and "Sunday Sherry" by Arthur Gee Whizz Band. CD