A collection of classic country that's got way more to offer than the "depressing" in the title might make you think – not tracks that are purposely over the top and full of bad feeling – but instead the kind of well-crafted work that makes postwar country some of the most carefully emotive music of the time! The set's overflowing with themes of love and loss, but handled with a mature, honest, very human approach – never wallowing too much in depression, and instead often coming across with a slightly redemptive spirit in the realization of the loss. The set features 30 tracks in all – and titles include "Letter Edged In Black" by Hank Snow, "Teardrops & Empty Arms" by Texas Ruby, "A Church A Courtroom & Then Goodbye" by Patsy Cline, "Lonely Street" by Don Gibson, "Call Of The Wedding" by Goldie Hill, "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight by George Jones, "Tramp On The Street" by Carlisle Brothers, "The Old Crossroad Is Waitin" by Rose Maddox, "Lonely Side Of Town" by Kitty Wells, "Are You Afraid To Die" by Stanley Brothers, and "I'm Reading Yaur Letter Again" by Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper. (Folk/Country, Rock) CD

A record that has The Animals at the crossroads – working without the piano and organ of Alan Price, but with an even more rising sense of power from Eric Burdon – who's really coming into his own as a singer, and turning out to be a surprisingly great songwriter too! The group still bring in tunes that are from some of their blues and R&B inspirations – but Burdon's phrasing is very personal, and really transforms the material and makes it work wonderfully with the original tunes – on titles that include "Cheating", "She'll Return It", "See See Rider", "Inside Looking Out", "Gin House Blues", "What Am I Living For", "I Put A Spell On You", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "One Monkey Won't Stop The Show". LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "I Feel Free", "Politician", "Badge", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Crossroads", "White Room", "Strange Brew", and "Swlabr". CD

A pretty wild set from Elephants Memory – one that's as trippy as you'd guess from the group's image on the cover – and equally collaborative too! There's a strong mix of male and female vocals here – over guitar and rhythms that move effortlessly between blues rock and psych – all with a pretty loose, freewheeling sense of production – but enough tightness to make some of the chorus moments snap out nicely! Wes Farrell produced, but seems to really let the band do their thing – and in addition to songs written by group members Stan Bronstein, Michal Shapiro, and Richard Sussman – there also seems to be some song contributions from Tony Visconti too. Titles include "Hot Dog Man", "Talkin A Walk", "RIP", "Jungle Gym At The Zoo", "Don't Put Me On Trial No More", "Crossroads Of The Stepping Stones", "Band Of Love", and "Brief Encounter". LP, Vinyl record album

A Jerry Garcia solo album, but one with a fair bit of help from the Grateful Dead as well – as the group play on album half the album's tracks! Some of the music still has that slinky vibe of solo Garcia – and a number of tracks are warmed up by Fender Rhodes from Larry Knechtel – but there's also that fuller spirit that the Dead can bring to the music, yet delivered in a way that's nicely laidback compared to some of their own records. A nice meeting at the crossroads – with titles that include "They Love Each Other", "Catfish John", "Comes A Time", "It Must Have Been The Roses", "Might As Well", and "Mission In The Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

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A record with a strange mix of elements on the outside – a confusing title, a proggy-cover image – but one that's got a sound that's a perfect maturation of the fantastic sound of Alexis Korner in the 60s! Korner's one of the overlooked heroes in British music – a strong devotee of American blues, and maybe so much so that sounds more like his inspirations than most – but never in a slavish way, as Alexis is always able to full absorb the sound, and make you feel like it's coming from his own deep soul – and over the years, he really shifted things in these slight, but powerful ways – making his music a huge influence on a big generation of UK rock acts to come. Here, the double-length set is almost a "thanks back" affair – as Korner records with a huge all-star array that includes folks like Robert Plant, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Graham Bond, Lol Coxhill, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Harry Beckett, and many more – a fantastic crossroads of all that's hip in British rock, blues, and jazz at the start of the 70s. Titles include "I Got A Woman", "Rockin", "She Foold Me", "I Wonder Who", "Dee", "Love Is Gonna Go", "Clay House Inn", "Evil Hearted Woman", "Mighty Mighty", "Sunrise", and "Hellhound On My Tail". LP, Vinyl record album

A searing standout from Mountain – a studio album, but one that also really captures some of the freewheeling energy that made the group such a great live act at the time – especially given that the studio sessions here are mixed with a bit of improvisation from a live concert too! The double-headed team of Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi are very firmly in charge – the latter with loads of heavy bass, the former with that fuzzy guitar that mixes so well with the heavy drums of the group and titles include "Flowers Of Evil", "King's Chorale", "One Last Cold Kiss", "Crossroader", and "Pride & Passion" – plus a long improvisation that blends together "Dream Sequence Guitar Solo/Roll Over Beethoven/Dreams Of Milk & Honey/Variations/Swan Theme" – and a live take on their classic "Mississippi Queen". LP, Vinyl record album

The amazing debut of NRBQ – a set that might come as quite a surprise if you only know some of this group's later work! The New Rhythm & Blues Quintet were maybe one of the first great groups to hail from Louisville – an early part of the legacy that would later include Squirrel Bait, Palace Brothers, Slint, and many others – and the group already show a unique placement at the crossroads – working sometimes in rootsy modes with a bit of twang, sometimes in rawer styles with a bit of garage, and even taking stops along the way for bits of influence from Sun Ra and Carla Bley! The mix of modes here is maybe a lot more along the lines of what was happening in the Bay Area scene of the late 60s – but is even more revolutionary as a lone sound from the heartland – and titles include "Ids", "C'Mon Everybody", "Stomp", "Hymn Number 5", "Stay With Me", "Hey Baby", "You Can't Hide", and a surprising version of Sun Ra's "Rocket Number 9". CD

A record that gave Rare Earth one of their biggest hits ever – their hard-burning "I Just Want To Celebrate" – a killer classic that played big on both sides of the fence, and which definitely established the group as a soulful force that kept on going! At some level, the set almost seems to have them bringing in as much influence from the cultural crossroads of the Bay Area scene as the Detroit influences of their earlier work – maybe in part because the congas are really up in the mix on many tracks, which creates some slight Latin currents along with the Family Stone sort of energy that has the group rising up together on most of the cuts! Titles include "I Just Want To Celebrate", "If I Die", "The Seed", "Road", "Any Man Can Be A Fool", "Someone To Love", and very cool reworking of "What'd I Say". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that gave Rare Earth one of their biggest hits ever – their hard-burning "I Just Want To Celebrate" – a killer classic that played big on both sides of the fence, and which definitely established the group as a soulful force that kept on going! At some level, the set almost seems to have them bringing in as much influence from the cultural crossroads of the Bay Area scene as the Detroit influences of their earlier work – maybe in part because the congas are really up in the mix on many tracks, which creates some slight Latin currents along with the Family Stone sort of energy that has the group rising up together on most of the cuts! Titles include "I Just Want To Celebrate", "If I Die", "The Seed", "Road", "Any Man Can Be A Fool", "Someone To Love", and very cool reworking of "What'd I Say" – plus the bonus track "Hey Big Brother"! CD

A record that gave Rare Earth one of their biggest hits ever – their hard-burning "I Just Want To Celebrate" – a killer classic that played big on both sides of the fence, and which definitely established the group as a soulful force that kept on going! At some level, the set almost seems to have them bringing in as much influence from the cultural crossroads of the Bay Area scene as the Detroit influences of their earlier work – maybe in part because the congas are really up in the mix on many tracks, which creates some slight Latin currents along with the Family Stone sort of energy that has the group rising up together on most of the cuts! Titles include "I Just Want To Celebrate", "If I Die", "The Seed", "Road", "Any Man Can Be A Fool", "Someone To Love", and very cool reworking of "What'd I Say". CD

Doug Sahm in the studio is already pretty darn great – as you'll know from his Sir Douglas Quintet albums – but live, he's maybe even more amazing – as he really opens up with a personal style that showcases all those mixes of modes from the Texas roots that helped make him one of the most unique figures in rock and roll! The first CD here features Sahm working in a live setting in Philly in 1973 – a well-recorded set that has all sorts of slices of his already-long career coming into play in a really great way. Titles on that set include "San Antone", "I'm Glad For Your Sake", "She's About A Mover", "Are Inlaws Really Outlaws", "The Rains Came", "Wolverton Mountain", and "Mendocino". The second set here is even better – recorded in Houston with a nicely gritty edge – very much the kind of confident south Texas setting that has Sahm setting fire to everything that drives him! Titles include "Texas Tornado", "Rain Rain", "At The Crossroads", "Wasted Days & Wasted Nights", "Papa Ain't Salty", and "Georgia". CD

One of the very best rock albums of the late 60s from overlooked genius Doug Sahm and his Sir Douglas Quartet – a brilliant hybrid of the laconic country and rural rock ragged glory that was piping through so many under appreciated groups at the time (and went on to be bastardized by crap factories like The Eagles) and classical Spanish and Mexican folk guitar playing. Sahm plays fiddle, guitar, pedal steel and just about anything with strings, along with the amazing Augie Meyers (who you may remember from the beautiful organ work he contributed to Bob Dylan's late masterpieces Time Out Of Mind and Love And Theft) and others. Beautiful stuff! Includes "Mendocino", "I Don't Want", "I Wanna Be Your Mama Again", "At The Crossroads", "Lawd, I'm Just A Country Boy In This Great Big Freaky City", "She's About A Mover" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse". (Jazz, Rock) CD

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse". (Jazz, Rock) CD

A creative left turn for Waits – written for an ambitious theatrical project, which to a certain degree takes him into surprising new territory and is all the more exciting for it – but still comes through as great late Island-era Tom Waits album in its own light! The Black Rider stage work was written in collaboration with Waits, director Robert Wilson and William Burroughs, and while the songs have the overtures and shaggy orchestral flourishes inherent to and geared to theater, the songs are still so distinctively Waits-ian in all its woozy glory. Includes "November", "Just The Right Bullets", "Black Box Theme", "Russian Dance", "I'll Shoot The Moon", "Crossroads", "Ain't No Sin", "Lucky Day", " The Briar And The Rose" and more. CD

A creative left turn for Waits – written for an ambitious theatrical project, which to a certain degree takes him into surprising new territory and is all the more exciting for it – but still comes through as great late Island-era Tom Waits album in its own light! The Black Rider stage work was written in collaboration with Waits, director Robert Wilson and William Burroughs, and while the songs have the overtures and shaggy orchestral flourishes inherent to and geared to theater, the songs are still so distinctively Waits-ian in all its woozy glory. Includes "November", "Just The Right Bullets", "Black Box Theme", "Russian Dance", "I'll Shoot The Moon", "Crossroads", "Ain't No Sin", "Lucky Day", " The Briar And The Rose" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Heaven might be a blast, but The Wilson McKinley are having a plenty good time on earth, too – really honing their craft for this obscure album of spirit-filled rock from the Seattle scene! The album's got the same gentle message of faith as the group's previous records, but also has the group picking up a bit more bite on their guitars, too – solos that are maybe a bit more prominent in the mix, and played with surprising intensity for a combo who also dedicated some of their time to street level ministry in the city. Vocals often have a nice sense of harmony – almost Grateful Dead-like at times – and titles include "Never Cry No More", "A Warm Summer Day", "Standin At The Crossroads", "I'm Only Smilin", and "Words To Tell You". LP, Vinyl record album

A really groundbreaking set, and one that goes past all the southern rock cliches you might know – to find that special place in southern music where elements of soul, rock, funk, and country all come together – served up here in the hands of some key artists from the end of the 60s and the start of the 70s! Given that the Soul Jazz label usually digs deep into the worlds of reggae, soul, and global styles, we can really trust them on a musical journey like this – one that almost completely rewrites this generation of southern rock as you may know it from a mainstream perspective – especially the sort put forth in music magazines and classic rock radio! As usual, the presentation and notes are great – and titles include "If Love Was Money" by Dan Penn, "Out In The Woods" by Leon Russell, "Be What You Want To" by Link Wray, "Please Be With Me" by Cowboy, "Stone Fox Chase" by Area Code 615, "Hush" by Joe South, "Smokies" by Barefoot Jerry, "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" by Cher, "Ain't Wasting No Time" by The Allman Brothers, "Papa Won't You Let Me Go To Town" by Bobbie Gentry, "Thirteen" by Big Star, "Big D" by Waylon Jennings, "I'm Leaving Here Tomorrow Mama" by Billy Vera, "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" by Travis Wammack, and "Polk Salad Annie" by Tony Joe White. (Funky Compilations, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album