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Heavenly dreamy pop – and one of our favorite A&M albums by the legendary Chris Montez! Chris was unlike any other 60s singer we can think of – an artist who was at once pop, but also had a unique depth too – despite a lightly floating voice that was really unique! The great Nick DeCaro arranged and produced – giving the whole record a breezy, bouncy sparkle that's completely sublime – one of those rare totally-perfect meetings of talents in the music industry that would never have the artist sounding as great otherwise. Titles include "The Face I Love" (a great Marcos Valle song!), "Nothing To Hide", "Spooky", "Where Are You Now", "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars", and "Look Of Love". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

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The Move are looking a bit fuzzier here than in their earlier years – and they're sounding a bit fuzzier too, but in a way that's totally great! The group's down to a quartet, which seems to bring even more focus on the great vocals of Carl Wayne, and heady guitar of Roy Wood! There's a brashness here the group didn't have before – a direction that points more towards some of Wood's later solo work, but which still has the core crispness and wit that makes The Move so wonderful – even as they blossom here into a more full-formed psychedelic act. Tunes are longer, and definitely trippier – but in a wonderfully playful way that's never too full of itself. The group produced themselves this time around, and get some great help on arrangements from Tony Visconti – on titles that include "Fields Of People", "Hello Susie", "The Last Thing On My Mind", "Don't Make My Baby Blue", and "Beautiful Daughter". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked set from the new wave years of A&M! LP, Vinyl record album

Was there a more tragic figure in the 60s scene than Phil Ochs? Perhaps, but this is still a wonderful piece of his odd and sad career, a great portrait with his unrelenting political stance still in place, though not as raw as some of his other LPs. More arranged than any of his other LPs, but not without spare moments, the orchestrations still never get in the way of Ochs' occasionally delicate voice or clutter the picture too much. Eight tunes: "Cross My Heart", "Flower Lady", "Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends", "I've Had Her", "Miranda", "The Party", "Pleasures Of The Harbor" and "The Crucifixion". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A gritty little gem in the Gram Parsons/Burritos catalog – mostly covers of classic honky tonk tunes! Many of the tracks were recorded for what would have been an honest, earnest, hard country album that was never fully realized – eventually paired with a few other tracks of similar vintage and some outtakes with Emmylou, then released as a posthumous Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Bros LP. Gram is hardly acknowledged by the country music establishment to this day, but this set shows that he loved and respected the songs of Merle Haggard (Gram's supposed cultural opposite at the time, so little did the world actually know), Buck Owens, The Louvin Brothers and the endless lost highway of roadhouse jukebox classics – played here with a boozy after hours swagger! Tracks include "Brand New Heartache", "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down", "Sing Me Back Home", "Crazy Arms", "Close Up The Honky Tonks", "Honky Tonk Women", "Dim Lights" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The first album from Shawn Phillips – featuring Phillips recording in London with members of Traffic backing him up – in a style that's a great extrapolation of folksy and bluesy roots with some of the hipper styles going down in England at the end of the 60s. Phillips does a great job of expanding his bag way past simple acoustic folk for the record – and manages to do so with a simple, personal quality that's quite different than most of his contemporaries – a sound that should have made him as big as labelmate Cat Stevens, but which has also held up a fair bit better over the years, thanks to Shawn's somewhat obscure status. Titles include "Not Quite Nonsense", "Screamer For Phlyses", "For JFK RFK & MLK", "Lovely Lady", "Withered Roses", "L Ballade", and "No Question". LP, Vinyl record album

Their runaway hit – with titles that include "King Of Pain", "Every Breath You Take", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Tea In The Sahara", and "Synchronicity". LP, Vinyl record album

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Maybe our favorite album from Procol Harum – a set that adds in some wonderful use of strings to the group's unique style – almost moving forward on the promise of the earlier single "Whiter Shade Of Pale", moving into much deeper territory overall! There's something about Procol Harum on their early album's that's really indescribable – certainly an influence from blues and roots, but this really striking step forward with their song ideas and overall construction – not into jamming or progressive modes, like some of their contemporaries – although they're certainly never afraid to rock – but almost this balance between personal poetry and brashness, with kind of a slightly creepy current at times – as illustrated beautifully by the image on the cover. Titles include the completely wonderful "A Salty Dog", p0lus "Wreck Of The Hesperus", "Boredom", "The Devil Came To Kansas", "Too Much Between Us", "All This & More", and "The Milk Of Human Kindness". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Hunter & The Hunted", "Colors Fly & Catherine Wheel", "Someone Somewhere In Summertime", "New Gold Dream", "King Is White & In The Crowd", "Big Sleep", and their classic "Promised You A Miracle". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Alive & Kicking", "All The Things She Said", "Once Upon A Time", "Oh Jungleland", "I Wish You Were Here", and "Sanctify Yourself". LP, Vinyl record album

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Spooky Tooth have grown their hair since the cover of their first album – and they've also grown their sound a bit too – into a brew that's even headier and more powerful than before! The album's still got an undercurrent of soul – and begins with a fantastic drumbreak on the first cut – but these guys are also swirling their basslines, guitars, and keyboards into territory that's unabashedly hard rock – a mode that really has singer Gary Wright opening up with soaring vocals on most of the tracks! The album really represents that full turning of the UK scene from beat group modes into badass territory that's completely unique – a sound that Island Records was perfect to usher in for the group – and the whole thing's got an instant classic sort of vibe, and we've always wondered why it never had a greater place in the rock canon of the period. Titles include "That Was Only Yesterday", "Waiting For The Wind", "Feelin Bad", "Evil Woman", "Lost In My Dream", and "Hangman Hang My Shell On A Tree". LP, Vinyl record album

70s issue of this masterpiece of psychedelic pop – a set that really captures that key shift from R&B-influenced sounds to much headier territory on the UK scene! Spooky Tooth came to this debut with a fair bit of previous activity in other groups – and there's a core energy here that still holds onto the soul-influenced grooves of the mod scene – which makes for some romping cuts that are almost freakbeat tunes, but which are twisted nicely with some fuzzier production and longer-haired expressions! The vocals have a nice undercurrent of soul – unabashedly powerful, but years before such a style would sound cliche – and the drums, bass, and guitar leap into the fray with equally wonderful energy. The approach is a bit like Procol Harum at the start, but more individual – and titles include "Too Much Of Nothing", "Society's Child", "Bubbles", "Forget It I Got It", "It Hurts You So", "Sunshine Help Me", and "Love Really Changed Me". LP, Vinyl record album

An onslaught of fuzz from the reformed version of Spooky Tooth – a group that has Gary Wright very firmly back in the lead on vocals, and the new addition of Mick Jones on guitar – whose lead lines give the group a whole new sense of power! Wright and Jones worked together in Wonderwheel, and are a perfect pair here – with Mick's well-crafted lines underscoring Wright's vocals perfectly – all at a level that prefaces some of the bigger arena rock to come by a few years, but which also falls into none of its cliches at all! Wright's ear for a well-penned tune is still very firmly intact – and the rest of the group deliver some mighty heavy energy on the rhythms – on titles that include "Old As I Was Born", "Wild Fire", "Holy Water", "Times Have Changed", "Moriah", and "Cotton Growing Man". LP, Vinyl record album

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Features flute from a young Peter Gabriel! Titles include "Time", "Katmandu", "I Wish I Wish", "Lillywhite", "Pop Star", "Maybe You're Right", "Lady D'Arbanville", and "I Think I See The Light". LP, Vinyl record album

Featuring their Billboard number one hit, "Babe"! LP, Vinyl record album

Includes their big early hit "Lorelei" – plus "Suite Madam Blue", "Prelude 12", "Lonely Child", "Light Up", and "Mother Dear". LP, Vinyl record album

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Includes the great title track – plus "Give A Little Bit", "Fools Overture", and "From Now On". LP, Vinyl record album

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The third album from The Tubes – weird, fun and satrical sets that sounds to us like they were recorded a good decade later than that! Now is another blend of insistently catchy songs savvy, somewhat sneering lyricism. There wasn't another band like the Tubes, that's for sure! Includes "Smoke (La Vie En Fumer)", "Hit Parade", "God Bird Change", "I'm Just A Mess", "Pound Of Flesh", "Cathy's Clone", "You're No Fun", a nutty, synthy cover of Lee Hazlewood's "This Town" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the real standouts in the late 70s run of records from The Tubes – a set that's not only got the tunes united by a concept, but which also features some impeccable production from Todd Rundgren! The group's fuzz on the guitars is turned up nice – almost like they're trying to give a nod to the new wave generation, while Rundgren ups the catchiness of their tunes, and finds a way to make the whole thing not get bogged down in the larger concept of the record – which is a commentary about television in the modern age. Titles include "TV Is King", "Prime Time", "Getoverture", "I Want It All Now", "No Way Out", "Only The Strong Survive", and "Telecide". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "White Punks On Dope"! LP, Vinyl record album

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Early 80s synthy soul and new wave sounds from Joan Armatrading – really taking her earlier, kind of folk soul based sound confidently into the early 80s keyboard heavy grooves with some pronounced Caribbean flourishes! Lots of punchy rhythms and neon bright 80s sounds, but it's the songs that transcend here – the tunes are always insistent, and Joan's voice is as warm and inviting as ever. Titles include "At The Hop", "I Wanna Hold You", "I'm Lucky", "The Weakness In Me", "No Love", "Romancers", "Ican't Lie To Myself", "Only One" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

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A landmark album from Joe Cocker – and a set that took blue-eyed soul in a whole new direction at the end of the 60s! The album's a surprising stunner all the way through – one that really gets past some of the overdone Cocker cliches that held on a bit too strongly in later years – served up here in relative simplicity, with core backing by Chris Stainton and The Grease Band, plus some key LA help from Leon Russell, and a bevy of backup singers that includes Merry Clayton, Bonnie Bramlett, Rita Coolidge, and Patrice Holloway. Russell co-produced the set, and his soulful touch definitely helps do a lot for Cocker's already-amazing vocals – adding in an undercurrent of funk that wasn't heard on Joe's first album. Titles include a classic remake of "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window", plus "Delta Lady", "Something", "That's Your Business Now", "Hitchcock Railway", "Dear Landlord", "Darling Be Home Soon", and "Hello Little Friend". LP, Vinyl record album

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A record that really has Fairport Convention knocking it out of the park – making a bold turn towards British traditional music, but in a way that imbues these relics with a whole new life of their own! The album came at a key turning point – after an accident that took one of their members, and which almost saw the group disband – but instead turn towards the past for even deeper inspiration than some of their contemporaries, whom they'd covered on other records – at a level that seems to set Sandy Denny free into this sublime territory of her own! Denny's vocals are incredible – like a thing unlocked from some ancient vault – and they're given this wonderful focus through the growing complexity of Richard Thompson's guitar work, and the understated brilliance of Ashley Hutchings' bass – both of which bring in these modal inflections that are very 60s, and hardly conceived of as accompaniment with the original tunes. The result is tremendous – tunes that are completely transformed, as a touchstone for generations. Titles include "Matty Groves", "Reynardine", "Come All Ye", "The Deserter", "Tam Lin", and "Crazy Man Michael". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Arguably one of the most successful double live albums ever! Includes the classic "Baby I Love Your Way", and "Show Me The Way". LP, Vinyl record album

Arguably one of the most successful double live albums ever! Includes the classic "Baby I Love Your Way", and "Show Me The Way". LP, Vinyl record album

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A heck of a great record – and we don't mind saying it! After knocking around in territory that ran from new wave to neo ska, retro swing, and other assorted genres, Joe Jackson really emerged with a strong voice on this 1982 classic. The album's a loving tribute to New York – and is steeped in Jackson's growing knowledge of Latin and jazz music – performed here by a great group that really sets things up right, and recorded in a warmly acoustic mode that was quite striking for the time! The tracks on the set hold up incredibly well over the years – getting past the cliches that later plagued Jackson's career, and reminding us of how great he was at his best. LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "Driven To Tears", "Man In A Suitcase", "Shadows In The Rain", "Voices Inside My Head", "Bombs Away", and "Don't Stand So Close To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "Angelsea", "Boy With A Moon & Star On His Head", "18th Avenue", "Freezing Steel", and "O Caritas". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Tuesday's Dead", "How Can I Tell You", "Morning Has Broken", "Peace Train", and "The Wind". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first full-on concept albums from Dennis DeYoung and Styx – a set that uses the metaphor of an aging theater to tell the tale of a changing world in the 20th Century! Titles include "The Best Of Times", "Lonely People", "Nothing Ever Goes As Planned", "Snowblind", "Too Much Time On My Hands", "Rockin The Paradise", "She Cares", and "State Street Sadie". LP, Vinyl record album

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A hell of a record from Supertramp – the set that catapulted them into global stardom after a late 70s run of really great, but overlooked albums! The album is a pure pop masterpiece all the way through – catchy tunes with slightly deeper ideas – a nice sense of striving in the lyrics, but never too overdone – and maybe as many great keyboard lines as the one classic album to precede it by the group – Crime Of The Century! Every cut's a classic – and titles include "Child Of Vision", "Take The Long Way Home", "Oh Darling", "Breakfast In America", "Goodbye Stranger", "Gone Hollywood", "The Logical Song", and "Just Another Nervous Wreck". 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". LP, Vinyl record album

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One of the key concept albums recorded by keyboard genius Rick Wakeman away from Yes – a tribute to the lost wives of Henry The 8th! With other members of Yes on some tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

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A classic – with titles that include "Baby It's You", "We've Only Just Begun", "Reason To Believe", "Close To You", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Mr Guder", and "Another Song". LP, Vinyl record album

This album set a new level for live music at the time – and is quite possibly one of the greatest presentation of Cocker's talents on record – a set that gives him plenty of space to open up, let loose, and really dig into his repertoire of soul-drenched work. The group on the album's quite tight – with Leon Russell on piano and guitar, Don Preston on rhythm guitar, Bobby Keys on tenor, and Chris Stainton on piano and organ – as well as a huge backing choir of musicians and soul singers backing Joe up, plus solo vocal performances by Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Don Preston, and others. Titles include a number of soul, rock, and R&B classics, plus originals by Russell and others. LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Higher & Higher", "Good Times", "Words", "I Don't Want To Talk About It", "We're All Alone", "The Hungry Years", "Southern Lady", and "Who's To Bless & Who's To Blame". LP, Vinyl record album

A mellow masterpiece of sunshine country rock from Dillard & Clark – a duo that featured Gene Clark of the Byrds and Doug Dillard of the Dillards – in a wonderful blend of Cali longhair harmonies, back porch psych, and expert Byrds-y tunefulness! Dillard provides lots of great banjo and some chirping fiddle – along with mandolin and chiming acoustic guitars that bring a bit of bluegrass into the sound – but the record has California written all over it thanks to the vocal harmonies and wistful tune craft. Really close to perfection – and deserves as much praise as the better known country rock benchmarks of the era – including the early two classics by Flying Burrito Brothers. Tracks include "Out On The Side", "She Darked The Sun", "Train Leaves Here This Mornin", "With Care From Somewhere", "Git It On Brother", "In The Plan", and "Don't Come Rolling". LP, Vinyl record album

(Soundtracks, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

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Some of the most hard-hitting work ever recorded by Humble Pie – and that's saying a lot, given the power of the group on other albums! The performance is very unbridled – really open-ended, at a level that showcases not just the mindbending early guitar talents of Peter Frampton (something you'd never guess if you only knew his hits), but also the raw power that Steve Marriott could unleash in the group – quite a change from his work with the Small Faces. The tunes include a number of non-Humble Pie tracks, given a raw bluesy workout on extended versions – and titles include "Four Day Creep", "Stone Cold Fever", "I'm Ready", "Rollin Stone", and "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". LP, Vinyl record album

A real step forward for Joe Jackson, and a record that has plenty of jazz in the mix – as you might guess from its cover's hommage to a Sonny Rollins 50s album on Blue Note! Titles include "You Can't Get What You Want", "Be My Number Two", "Loisaida", "Happy Ending", "Not Here Not Now", "Cha Cha Loco", and "The Verdict". LP, Vinyl record album

Stunning early work from Joe Jackson – much more hard-edged than you might expect! There's a nice bite here – and tracks include "Fools In Love", "Pretty Girls", "Happy Loving Couples", "Sunday Papers", "One More Time", and "Is She Really Going Out With Him". LP, Vinyl record album

Stunning early work from Joe Jackson – much more hard-edged than you might expect! There's a nice bite here – and tracks include "Fools In Love", "Pretty Girls", "Happy Loving Couples", "Sunday Papers", "One More Time", and "Is She Really Going Out With Him". LP, Vinyl record album

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The Move are looking a bit fuzzier here than in their earlier years – and they're sounding a bit fuzzier too, but in a way that's totally great! The group's down to a quartet, which seems to bring even more focus on the great vocals of Carl Wayne, and heady guitar of Roy Wood! There's a brashness here the group didn't have before – a direction that points more towards some of Wood's later solo work, but which still has the core crispness and wit that makes The Move so wonderful – even as they blossom here into a more full-formed psychedelic act. Tunes are longer, and definitely trippier – but in a wonderfully playful way that's never too full of itself. The group produced themselves this time around, and get some great help on arrangements from Tony Visconti – on titles that include "Fields Of People", "Hello Susie", "The Last Thing On My Mind", "Don't Make My Baby Blue", and "Beautiful Daughter". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful! Shawn Phillips started his career as a shaggy folk rocker with a bit of a jazzy twinge – but this album collects odd bits and pieces that were left off of earlier albums, and works perfectly as a record that shows a whole new side of his genius! The album shows Phillips as a master of the funky jazz groove – and although he's still singing on some of the songs, he also lets loose with a number of instrumental cuts, laid out in a tight well-produced mode that puts them up there with some of the best work coming out on labels like Fantasy or Blue Note during the mid 70s. The centerpiece of these is the massive long cut "We Came To Say Goodbye", which builds and builds over the course of 15 minutes, with cool keyboards, great guitar, and the kind of tightly compressed grooves you'd expect to find on a Headhunters album (no surprise, since Headhunters Mike Clark, Bill Summers, and Paul Jackson are on the cut!) Other instrumental tracks include "Prelude To A Leaving" and "Italian Phases" – and strong vocal numbers include "Parisian Plight 1" and "Your Eyes". LP, Vinyl record album

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A fantastic fifth album from Procol Harum – one that really demonstrates the ever-changing energy of the group, and the way they seemed to find a fresh new focus with each of their early albums! The vocals of Gary Brooker are even more wonderful than ever – rejoined here with the talents of organist Keith Reid, who is back in the group – cementing a musical partnership that pushes forward with stronger, more rockish modes throughout – a lean quality that really seems to bring out the best in everyone! The set begins with the fantastic "Simple Sister" – the moves on through other great numbers that include "Luskus Delph", "Power Failure", "Memorial Drive", "Song For A Dreamer", "Broken Barricades", and "Playmate Of The Mouth". LP, Vinyl record album

Procol Harum are definitely on home turf here – really honing, really focusing their energy – with a sound that seems to create this almost perfect interplay between the guitars of Robin Trower and vocals of Gary Brooker – two key elements of the group's sound that are even better here than on previous elements, especially when augmented by all the cool, unusual elements they always give us with their music. Brooker's got this bluesy quality, but the lyrics by Keith Reid often have this uniquely poetic vibe – one that's never overdone or pretentious, maybe because of the vocal quality – and which finds its own special space here on tunes that include "The Dead Man's Dream", "Whisky Train", "Barnyard Story", "Whaling Stories", "Your Own Choice", and "Still There'll Be More". LP, Vinyl record album

The stunning second album from Procol Harum – a record that takes everything that's wonderful about their debut, and pushes it even farther – to a very unique space that's completely the group's own! The songcraft here is magical – with great work from the team of vocalist Gary Brooker and Keith Reid – and the production continues the group's unusual blend of bluesy elements with these dramatic, ambitious arrangements – never pop orchestrations, but just these ways of putting together a tune that make familiar fuzz guitar, piano, and organ explode in really new sort of ways. The whole thing's wonderful – hardly any hits, but all wonderful songs throughout – and titles include "Quite Rightly So", "Shine On Brightly", "Skip Softly", "Magdalene", "Glimpses Of Nirvana", "Grand Finale", and "In The Autumn Of My Madness". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "I Got You", Shark Attack", "Double Happy", "Missing Person", "Poor Boy", and more! LP, Vinyl record album