Brilliant work from Tim Hardin – two albums recorded for Columbia after his years on Verve, showing him still growing tremendously as an artist, moving past the short folksy style of early hits, into a broadly-expressed singer/songwriter mode, one that shows traces of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and other folk rock luminaries of the time. Suite For Susan Moore is especially great – a full suite of tracks dedicated to wife Susan (aka The Lady Came From Baltimore) and Hardin's new son Damion. The piece has a shaky brilliance – as Hardin unsurely expresses his joy and insecurity at the thought of having a family. There's a pain in the work that runs deeper than that in most of Hardin's earlier work – possibly because of his own personal trouble at the time, possibly because the depth of his emotions runs greater than in earlier love songs. Whatever the case, the album's a tremendous one – and it's well-matched here with Bird On A Wire, a record that features shorter tracks, a few covers, and others that show Hardin still capable of proudly expressed tunes in a more conventional mode. Titles include "First Love Song", "Everything Good Become More True", "Loneliness She Knows", "Magician", "Susan", "Love Hymn", "Andre Johray", "If I Knew", and "Soft Summer Breeze". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Brilliant work from Tim Hardin – two albums recorded for Columbia after his years on Verve, showing him still growing tremendously as an artist, moving past the short folksy style of early hits, into a broadly-expressed singer/songwriter mode, one that shows traces of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and other folk rock luminaries of the time. Suite For Susan Moore is especially great – a full suite of tracks dedicated to wife Susan (aka The Lady Came From Baltimore) and Hardin's new son Damion. The piece has a shaky brilliance – as Hardin unsurely expresses his joy and insecurity at the thought of having a family. There's a pain in the work that runs deeper than that in most of Hardin's earlier work – possibly because of his own personal trouble at the time, possibly because the depth of his emotions runs greater than in earlier love songs. Whatever the case, the album's a tremendous one – and it's well-matched here with Bird On A Wire, a record that features shorter tracks, a few covers, and others that show Hardin still capable of proudly expressed tunes in a more conventional mode. Titles include "First Love Song", "Everything Good Become More True", "Loneliness She Knows", "Magician", "Susan", "Love Hymn", "Andre Johray", "If I Knew", and "Soft Summer Breeze". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Johnny Cash's first record for Rick Rubin's American Recordings label – and a late career reviving masterpiece for the great, distinctly American legend. Rubin's genius idea for Johnny Cash was to strip the sound to it's barest essence, and let Cash's deep, bass-vibrating baritone voice bring genuine, authoritative soul to a great batch of handpicked songs. Recorded for the most part in Cash's own Tennessee cabin, and backed by just acoustic guitar, Cash brings a soulful depth to seeming oddball covers and his own great songs alike. Titles include "The Man Who Couldn't Cry", "The Beast In Me", "Oh, Bury Me Not", "Bird On A Wire", "Tennessee Stud", "Like A Soldier", "Redemption", and "Delia's Gone". (Cassettes, Folk/Country) Cassette

Leonard Cohen's first live album, featuring material captured in London, Brussels, Paris and Berlin in 1972, plus a couple of recordings from 1970 – including Cohen's legendary appearance at Isle Of Wight! Live Songs never really got its due respect in its day, but it's pretty much an essential document of Cohen's transition from poet turned recording artist into a poet turned guitar wielding troubadour – and excellent stuff even without the slow building cultural relevance. Essential Cohen! Titles include "Passing Thru", "Bird On The Wire", "Nancy", "Improvisation", "Story Of Isaac", "Please Don't Pass Me By", "Tonight Will Be Fine", "Queen Victoria" and more. (Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

Features the "Song to the Siren" from the final episode of The Monkees plus two other live recordings – packaged with a 120 page chapbook in English and Italian. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

A totally wonderful batch of cuts from the early years of Liberty Records, and related labels – cuts that really bristle with the kind of energy that was exploding in all sorts of styles on the LA scene at the end of the 50s! Liberty may not have the cred as Sun or Chess Records, but the company was really at the crossroads of music on the west coast, and had both the ears and the studio talent to really turn out some great singles at the time – often the sort of material that was very different than the vocals and mood music on its full length LPs. If you don't know this side of Liberty's legacy, you'll really in for a surprise – and even if you do, you'll still discover some overlooked gems in this 37 track set – presented complete with detailed notes on all the artists too. Titles include "Lies" by Lee Ross, "Buddy" by Jackie Dee, "Willa Mae" by Al Casey, "Little Bit" by Bobby Lonero, "You've Done It Again" by Andy & The Live Wires, "Sweet Baby Doll" by Johnny Burnette, "Ain't That Somethin" by Larry O'Keefe, "She's So Fine' by Andy Caldwell, "Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down" by Johnny Olenn, "Billy Billy" by Dee Dee Dorety, and "Hey Baby" by Bill Lawrence. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD