Wonderful easy grooves – from an orchestra leader who couldn't read a note of music! During the 60s, Andrew Oldham was probably best known to the world as the flamboyant manager of the Rolling Stones – but during the same period, or at least the earliest stretch of it, he also headed up his own studio orchestra – working with pop arranger David Whittaker to craft some incredibly groovy albums! This one's the ensemble's fourth and final effort – a magical transformation of familiar Rolling Stones numbers into some sweet easy instrumentals – all asparkle with the best styles of mid 60s Brit easy, served up with orchestrations that run from baroque to breezy! Titles include "Blue Turns To Grey", "You Better Move On", "Heart Of Stone", "Time Is On My Side", "The Last Time", "Theme For A Rolling Stone", and "Tell Me". CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Essentially early Stones! 12 X 5 is The Rolling Stones at a very early, hard grooving peak, way back in '64. It's ground breaking stuff, in they they truly pave the way for so much of the soul, blues and R&B loving Anglos to come out of the Brit and US scenes in the months and years to come. It's a covers-heavy set, given that they were just beginning to do doing original material at this early point – and the tracks include the Jagger/Richards penned "Good Times, Bad Times", "Congradulations" and "Grown Up Wrong" – plus "Time Is On My Side", "Around And Around", "2120 South Michigan Avenue", "Susie Q" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include "Paint It Black", "Stupid Girl", "Lady Jane", "Under My Thumb", "Flight 505", "High & Dry", and "Going Home". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums ever from The Rolling Stones – a set that still draws on all the bluesy roots of their best 60s material, yet which also shows a sharper, nastier edge as well! The album shows the tremendous sense of focus and power the Stones had in this crucial late 60s stretch – a bold step forward that would give them some of their most memorable moments ever, launched by this sublime set of tracks that includes "Sympathy For The Devil", "Street Fighting Man", "Dear Doctor", "Parachute Woman", "Prodigal Son", "Factory Girl", and "Stray Cat Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Ruby Tuesday", "Let's Spend The Night Together", "Complicated", "She Smiled Sweetly", "Connection", "All Sold Out", and "My Obsession". CD

Titles include "Ruby Tuesday", "Let's Spend The Night Together", "Complicated", "She Smiled Sweetly", "Connection", "All Sold Out", and "My Obsession". LP, Vinyl record album

All the great early hits – including "Play With Fire", "Satisfaction", "19th Nervous Breakdown", "The Last Time", "As Tears Go By", "Get Off My Cloud", "Not Fade Away", "Good Times Bad Times", "Time Is On My Side", and "It's All Over Now". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

... CD

Titles include "Get Off My Cloud", "I'm Free", "As Tears Go By", "I'm Moving On", "Look What You've Done", "Talkin About You", "She Said Yeah", "Route 66", and "Blue Turns To Grey". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The Rolling Stones at their rawest, most shambling, sleazy and brilliant – the epic, unimpeachable Exile On Main Street! What can we say about one of the most iconic LPs of all time other than chime in with our agreement that it's one of the greatest rock albums ever! Big choruses come and go, but the easy hooks of earlier and later Stones hits are buried in mud, grit and a sleazy bluesy groove. Titles include "Rocks Off", "Rip This Joint", "Tumbling Dice", "Sweet Virginia", "Loving Cub", "Torn And Frayed", "Let It Loose", "All Down The Line", "Shine A Light", "Soul Survivor" and more. CD

The Rolling Stones at their rawest, most shambling, sleazy and brilliant – the epic, unimpeachable Exile On Main Street! What can we say about one of the most iconic LPs of all time other than chime in with our agreement that it's one of the greatest rock albums ever! Big choruses come and go, but the easy hooks of earlier and later Stones hits are buried in mud, grit and a sleazy bluesy groove. Titles include "Rocks Off", "Rip This Joint", "Tumbling Dice", "Sweet Virginia", "Loving Cub", "Torn And Frayed", "Let It Loose", "All Down The Line", "Shine A Light", "Soul Survivor" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The Rolling Stones at their rawest, most shambling, sleazy and brilliant – the epic, unimpeachable Exile On Main Street! What can we say about one of the most iconic LPs of all time other than chime in with our agreement that it's one of the greatest rock albums ever! Big choruses come and go, but the easy hooks of earlier and later Stones hits are buried in mud, grit and a sleazy bluesy groove. Titles include "Rocks Off", "Rip This Joint", "Tumbling Dice", "Sweet Virginia", "Loving Cub", "Torn And Frayed", "Let It Loose", "All Down The Line", "Shine A Light", "Soul Survivor" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Back before he was found floating face-down in a swimming pool, ex- (or late-) Stones member Brian Jones put together this landmark bit of trippiness for the Rolling Stones label. Although the music is largely ethnographic, the whole thing's got this neo-colonialist hipster edge to it – as Brion Gysin wrote the liner notes, Jones wrote an introduction (and included his picture), and the whole thing was made possible by the presence of British junkies in Morrocco. The music is very trippy and trance-like, with lots of pinched reed sounds and haunting throbbing pulsing. Wild stuff, and a cool cross-pollination of cultures. LP, Vinyl record album

A classic from Merry Clayton – and a record whose title follows from her big fame of singing on the original version of "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones! The sound here is a lot more soul-based, as you'd guess – arranged beautifully by Gene Page, with a really righteous feel that's perfect for Merry's deeply soulful vocal approach – and produced to perfection by Lou Adler, with some surprising help from Curtis Amy – one of our favorite saxophonists ever. Music is by a hip cast of top-shelf talents from the coast – including Billy Preston on organ, Joe Sample on piano, David T Walker on guitar, and Paul Humphrey on drums – all nice and tight, but totally right in the pocket with their grooves. Titles include Merry's classic version of "Gimme Shelter", plus "Tell All The People", "I've Got Life", "Here Come Those Heartaches Again", and "Good Girls". LP, Vinyl record album

A second sublime set from Ruth Copeland – a funky female singer from the Detroit scene of the early 70s, with key ties to the P-Funk universe, and a unique groove that mixes singer/songwriter modes with the fuzzier funkier elements of artists like Betty Davis or Yvonne Fair! There's a bit more emphasis on soul here than the funk of Copeland's previous efforts – but in a way that makes for an even more impressive record overall, especially when you realize that Ruth arranged and produced the whole thing. George Clinton and Eddie Hazel both had a hand in co-writing songs with Copeland – and instrumentation features Hazel on guitar, plus Bernie Worrell on piano – so there's still a key P-Funk link. Titles include the breakbeat track "Suburban Family Lament", the fuzzy stoner funk number "Don't You Wish You Had", and covers of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and "Play With Fire" – plus "Crying Has Made Me Stronger", "Hare Krishna", and "The Medal". LP, Vinyl record album

A wealth of wonderful work from Marianne Faithfull, all pulled from those key early years when she was part of the musical world of Andrew Loog Oldham and the Rolling Stones! Yet right from the start, despite the fact that she sang a few Stones songs on her own (and wrote a few for the group, too) – Marianne was always very much her own singer, and had a way with a song that was quite different than most of the other UK girl pop artists of the time too! Faithfull sometimes has a trill, and always has a sense of darkness on these singles – almost in the territory of the young Nico, but more tuneful and less moody – and superbly set up in just the right sort of arrangements by Mike Leander, David Whitaker, and even the great Jack Nitzsche. 2LP set features all the a and b-sides of these early singles – 22 tracks that include "Morning Sun", "Sister Morphine", "As Tears Go By", "Summer Nights", "The Sha La La Song", "Something Better", "I'd Like To Dial Your Number", "Counting", "That's Right Baby", "Tomorrow's Calling", "This Little Bird", "What Have I Done Wrong", and "Go Away From My World". LP, Vinyl record album

Screamin Jay Hawkins caught at the height of one of his first "revival" periods – the late 60s, when he was opening for the Rolling Stones, and popping out of the same sort of coffin pictured on the cover! The style of the record takes the older R&B mode of Hawkins' 50s singles, and maybe gives it a bit more of a kick with some of the younger blues generation – but in a way that only seems to open up his music more than before. The album was recorded live in a Hollywood club, where Hawkins was clearly trying out the act that was winning him appeal with the new crowds – and players include Lyle Ritz on bass, Plas Johnson on tenor, Earl Palmer on drums, and even a bit of piano from Grahame Bond. Titles include "Ask Him", "Thing Called Woman", "Dig", "I'm Lonely", "What That Is", "Constipation Blues", and "Feast Of The Mau Mau". LP, Vinyl record album

The rare second album from Clydie King – recorded at a time when she was lending her backing vocals to artists like The Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, and Humble Pie – but a set that firmly puts Clydie in the lead! King's got an amazing style of singing – deep and raspy at one moment, with key southern soul roots – yet also totally tight and together, too – with a focus that really shines on the album's more upbeat tracks – groovers that almost have an east coast club vibe at times, quite similar to material that Clydie recorded with the group Brown Sugar! Titles include "Rushing To Meet You", "Loving You Is So Easy", "Steal Your Love Away", "Punish Me", "Our Love Is Special", and "Morning Sun". CD

A pretty great idea for a late 60s rock record – even if the record itself is even better than its idea! The whole concept of the "masked marauders" was that the group was supposedly formed by big rockers of the time – unable to be listed on the cover, because of contractual obligations. And in truth, the set does sound a lot like it could have been lifted from sessions by The Rolling Stones, or Get Back-era Beatles – plus maybe a few other contemporaries too – yet it's all actually the work of some great unknowns, who came up with a sweet gimmick to get the record out there! On its own, the set's a real charmer – and has a mix of rootsy modes and tighter, deeper ideas that's not unlike some of the George Harrison/Phil Spector work – save for those moments when the Marauders are clearly trying to sound a bit more like a big name act. Titles include "I Can't Get No Nookie", "Cow Pie", "Duke Of Earl", "I Am The Japanese Sandman", "Later", "More Or Less Hudson's Bay Again", and "Season Of The Witch". Also features two mono single tracks – "Cow Pie" and "I Can't Get No Nookie". CD

American 60s hits, completely recast by the orchestra of Andrew Oldham – a cat you might know best as the manager of the Rolling Stones, but who also has a great way with a groove in the studio! The style is bouncy Brit pop of the 60s – which has these American songs really coming across in a cool and different sort of way – arranged to perfection by David Whittaker, who may well be the real leading talent of the set – able to beautifully balance electric basslines with larger orchestrations, and still keep things all tight and compact! There's some weird vocals buried in the mix, but most songs are instrumental – and titles include "Wendy", "Warmth Of The Sun", "Girls On The Beach", "Don't Worry Baby", "Big Man In Town", "Ronnie", "Save It For Me", and "Dawn Go Away". CD also features mono and stereo mixes of the whole album – and a version of the "Theme From The Dick Van Dyke Show". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge double-length live set of the groovy Tiny Tim at the height of his powers – and one that maybe offers up the fullest document of his surprisingly strong impact on the late 60s scene! The album's overflowing with tracks, all recorded by producer Richard Perry while Tim was strumming and singing at London's Royal Albert Hall – reworking old songs with a very strange vibe, leaving his imprint on some more contemporary numbers, and acting maybe more like an entertainer than you'd hear on record. Titles include "Save Your Sorrows For Tomorrow", "Welcome To My Dream", "Livin In The Sunlight Lovin In The Moonlight", "I Gave Her That", "Where Does Daddy Go When He Goes Out", "I Got You Babe", "Mr Tim Recalls His Visit With The Rolling Stones/I Can't Get No Satisfaction", "Nowhere Man", "I'll See You Again", and "The Other Side". CD

During the mid 70s, a number of major label rock stars had their dalliance with reggae, and after inviting him to tour with them, the Stones decided to start releasing Peter Tosh's LPs. This record was the first of Tosh's released by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger on their Rolling Stones label and they guest on a couple of tracks. Despite their presence, the album is a fairly solid roots effort, if a bit uneven, though not quite as radical or grooving as Equal Rights or Legalize It. Tracks include "Pick Myself Up", "Soon Come", "Moses The Prophets", "Stand Firm", "Dem Ha Fe Get A Beaten", and "Creation". LP, Vinyl record album

A heavy little set that looks at the big rise of blues modes on the UK scene in the late 60s – but one that should be thought of more as the sound of rock in transition, rather than a lavish adherence to American blues modes! In fact, half of these groups are ones that you might not think of as blues-based at all – but who, like the Rolling Stones a few years before, drew heavy inspiration from the guitar giants in the US blues scene – yet quickly took their own music in very different directions, and even different than the Stones. There's a quality here that's almost more like a pre-progressive sound at times, but also an evolution from some of the R&B and soul that the mod scene were into too – and the whole thing captures a really exciting, really revolutionary time in British music – along with a big booklet of notes on all the many groups included. The set list is great – not big hits, but lots of overlooked gems – big groups mixed with smaller, forgotten acts – with 56 tracks by artists who include Icarus, Bloodwyn Pig, Killing Floor, Free, Zany Woodruff Operation, Ten Years After, Duster Bennett, The Deviants, Alexis Korner, Dr K's Blues Band, Mike Cooper, Sam Apple Pie, Black Cat Bones, Siren, Steamhammer, Liverpool Scene, Skid Row, Stack Waddy, Heavy Jelly, Jasper, Christine Perfect, Shakey Vick, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Love Sculpture, and many others. CD