Really wonderful work from The Pretty Things – a vastly-underrated group who work here with a depth that rivals bigger contemporaries like The Kinks or The Who! Like both of those groups, The Pretty Things have a heck of a lot going on musically – a real range of styles that goes beyond simple catchy pop – showing a growth in style and sound that's really tremendous, given the way they sounded just a few albums back. The songs are almost all originals, and filled with themes that run from the fierce to the fragile – often pointed pictures of the human condition, delivered with surprising sensitivity. The album features some added orchestrations from Reg Tilsley, and titles include "Tripping", "My Time", "One Long Glance", "House Of Ten", "Out In The Night", "Death Of A Socialite", "The Sun", "Children", and "Bright Lights Of The City". CD features 7 bonus tracks – including "Progress", "House In The Country", "My Time", "Photographer", and "The Sun". CD

Titles include "Sad Sad Sad", "Terrifying", "Mixed Emotions", "Slipping Away", "Break The Spell", "Blinded By Love", "Can't Be Seen", "Hold On To Your Hat", and "Rock & A Hard Place". CD

The short but brilliant career of The Runaways, served up here in a really great box set – one that features all four of their studio albums (including one not released in the US at the time), and their more obscure live album from Japan! Together, the five records tell the tale of a group who forever transformed the sound of female rock and roll – a searing hard rock outfit who were almost punk, and certainly did a great job of playing with emotions and expectations, while also having a hell of a lot of fun in the process! And sure, Joan Jett went on to become a superstar in the following decade, but here alongside the young Cherie Currie and Lita Ford, she's part of a well-formed, super-tight group who brought a much harder edge to female rock than anyone might have expected in the generation of girl groups and singer/songwriters! The box set features the full albums The Runaways, Queens Of Noise, Live In Japan, Waitin For The Night, and And Now The Runaways – all with original cover art, and a nice booklet of notes. CD

Blue-tinged work for those days when your heart is breaking and your soul is aching – a really wonderful batch of tracks that are heavy on those late 60s/early 70s moments when male singers were starting to open up a bit and let their emotions show! The vibe here is very different than Bobby Gillespie's own music – and the set brings together bits of country, roots rock, and soul – really special tracks that have a perfect blend of heartfelt vocals, well-penned lyrics, and the kind of arrangements and production that really send the whole thing over the top! The best thing about the collection is that it brings together songs we never would have thought to combine like this – a masterful set list that includes "I Don't Want To Talk About It" by Crazy Horse, "Wait & See" by Lee Hazlewood, "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" by Thin Lizzy, "The Coldest Days Of My Life" by The Chi-Lites, "Roll Um Easy" by Little Feat, "Magnolia" by JJ Cale, "I Still Can't Believe You're Gone" by Willie Nelson, "Love Sick" by Bob Dylan, I'll Be Long Gone" by Boz Scaggs, "Strong As Death" by Al Green, "Kind Woman" by Percy Sledge, "Dark End Of The Street" by Ry Cooder, "I Feel Like Goin Home" by Charlie Rich, "When My Mind's Gone" by Mott The Hoople, and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" by Nick Cave. CD

Where the girls are is right here – served up in a beautiful blend of rare tracks from the mid 60s – almost all of them in a female group mode, at a time when that style was really hitting new heights in American popular music! The work here is a mixture of rock and soul, and almost all of it features female harmonies set to sublime pop production – modes that range from west coast dreamy to Brill Building groovy – all laid out in an extended track list that also includes a few never-issued tracks as well! This series has been running for quite some time, but it's always a great one – and we're amazed at how the folks at Ace keep turning up nuggets we never would have heard otherwise – all presented with wonderful sound, and full notes to support the whole collection – a lot more than you can say for dodgier sets on the market. Titles include "Billy Sunshine" by Evie Sands, "With A Kiss" by The Bluezettes, "Don't Forget" by The Murmaids, "That's The Way It Is" by The Sweet Three, "Moon Walking" by The Blossoms, "More Than A Friend" by The Wooden Nickels, "On A Rainy Night" by The Flowers, "What Did You Do Last Night" by The Drake Sisters, "I Can Tell I'm Losing Your Love" by Lena Calhoun & The Emotions, "You Better Stop It" by The Lovelites, "Ballyhoo" by Ramona King, "Bad Boy" by Christine Cooper, and "Baby I Miss You" by The Popsicles. (Soul, Rock) CD

Includes the songs "Start Me Up", "Brown Sugar", "Harlem Shuffle", "It's Only Rock N' Roll", "Mixed Emotions", "Angie", "Tumbling Dice", "Fool To Cry", "Rock And A Hard Place", "Miss You", "Hot Stuff", "Emotional Rescue", "Respectable", "Beast Of Burden", "Waiting On A Friend", "Wild Horses", "Bitch", and "Undercover Of The Night". CD

Titles include "Sad Sad Sad", "Terrifying", "Mixed Emotions", "Slipping Away", "Break The Spell", "Blinded By Love", "Can't Be Seen", "Hold On To Your Hat", and "Rock & A Hard Place". 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". 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". CD

The Drive-In here is located in Texas, but seems to host a set of groups from the Florida scene – coming together in a set that's overflowing with the kind of cool underground energy that was flowing out of the 60s scene in the south! There's a few echoes of British Invasion styles here, mixed with more garagey moments – and all the tracks here are pretty darn obscure, originally issued only as small label singles. Includes work by The Surftones, Mixed Emotions, Offbeats, Katie Froelich, The Hallmarks, Deadbeats, and Bytel Lums – 14 tracks in all! CD

That's a young Isaac Hayes on the cover, sitting at the piano next to David Porter – his key songwriting partner at Stax Records in the 60s – at a time before both artists had gone onto their own solo recordings for the label! The Hayes/Porter team gave Stax some of their best songs during the second half of the 60s – often numbers that have a hip, hard-grooving style that really pushed the boundaries of Memphis soul – and as you'll hear here, the duo's work was not just recorded for their main label, but also handled by a wealth of other artists too – mostly soul singers of the late 60s, but also featured here on a few later tracks as well. Those later cuts are ever bit as soulful as the 60s material that makes up most of the collection – and the package also features some unissued numbers too –served up here in a list of 24 titles that include "Can't Trust Your Neighbor" by Freddie King, "60 Minutes Of Your Love" by Homer Banks, "I'll Understand" by Edwin Starr & Blinky, "Left Over Love" by Ruby Johnson, "Hold On I'm Coming" by The Righteous Brothers, "You Got Me Hummin" by The Hassles, "I'm Dedicating My Life" by Danny White, "Love Is After Me" by Charlie Rich, "Your Good Thing" by Mable John, "You Don't Know Like I Know" by Keith Powell & Billie Davis, "Wrap It Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Baby" by Rachel Sweet, "As Long As I've Got You" by The Emotions, "I Take What I Want" by The Bishops, "The Sweeter He Is (parts 1 & 2)" by Soul Children, and an unreleased alternate of "Toe Hold" by Johnnie Taylor. (Soul, Rock) CD