Really fantastic later work from Bobby Darin – material that's quite different than the simple pop of his early Atco years, and even the jazzier style he used earlier on in the 60s! The set is one of two issued by the Direction label – and features Bobby taking off from some of the Tim Hardin-inspired modes he was using later on at Atlantic – picking up some of the deeper themes of the earlier singer-songwriter years – and singing in a very moody, contemplative style! According to some, Darin was aware that his health only gave him a few more years to live – which was part of the introspection of the music – and although the style owes a lot to Tim Hardin and some of his contemporaries, the songs are all originals by Darin – with some elements that are very different than before. Tracks include "Hey Magic Man", "Light Blue", "Distractions", and "Song For a Dollar". Features four bonus tracks too – "Sweet Reasons", "Maybe We Can Get It Together", "Baby Man", and "RX Pyro (Prescription Fire)". LP, Vinyl record album

Really fantastic later work from Bobby Darin – material that's quite different than the simple pop of his early Atco years, and even the jazzier style he used earlier on in the 60s! The set is one of two issued by the Direction label – and features Bobby taking off from some of the Tim Hardin-inspired modes he was using later on at Atlantic – picking up some of the deeper themes of the earlier singer-songwriter years – and singing in a very moody, contemplative style! According to some, Darin was aware that his health only gave him a few more years to live – which was part of the introspection of the music – and although the style owes a lot to Tim Hardin and some of his contemporaries, the songs are all originals by Darin – with some elements that are very different than before. Tracks include "Hey Magic Man", "Light Blue", "Distractions", and "Song For a Dollar". Features four bonus tracks too – "Sweet Reasons", "Maybe We Can Get It Together", "Baby Man", and "RX Pyro (Prescription Fire)". CD

Four classic albums from Jackie DeShannon – all in a single set! First up is Me About You – sophisticated Jackie at her best – working with great arrangements from Jack Nitzsche and Nick DeCaro – both cats from the California scene we can really trust for "cut-above" pop work like this – music that goes way past the simple sounds of DeShannon's start – into cool adult territory that really makes the album great. Jackie's vocals are surprisingly soulful in the setting – even more so than before – and the tunes include lots of gems, including versions of Van Dyke Parks' "High Coin", John Sebastian's "Didn't Want To Have To Do It", and Tim Hardin's "Baby Close Its Eyes". Also includes "I Keep Wanting You", "Me About You", and "Nicole". Next is Laurel Canyon – heady work from Jackie DeShannon's later years in 60s pop – an album with themes and styles that go way beyond her earlier recordings – as you might guess from the hip Laurel Canyon reference in the title! Jackie's working here in a mode that's much more strongly in a singer-songwriter style than before – with arrangements and backings that are a lot more organic, and less pop-tuned than ever – almost in a Laura Nyro approach on some numbers. As usual, a good portion of the tracks were written by Jackie herself – including "Holly Would", "Come & Stay With Me", "LA", "Too Close", and "Laurel Canyon" – and the album also features a few well chosen tracks by other writers too, like "Bitter Honey" by Paul Williams & Roger Nichols, "I Got My Reason" by Barry White, and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" by Smokey Robinson. Put A Little Love In Your Heart is quite possibly the last great hit from singer Jackie DeShannon – an album built around the righteous spirit of the title track – filled with really wonderful original tunes penned by Jackie and soul singer Jimmy Holiday! The album may well be the best to explore the space between pop and soul that often characterized Jackie's work – and the overall sound is somewhat similar to some of Dusty Springfield's best pop/soul work from the same stretch. 10 of the album's 12 tracks are originals by Holiday and DeShannon – all set to soaring orchestrations by James Langeford, which often have a pronounced influence from the sound of Atlantic Records in the late 60s! Titles include "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", "You Are The Real Thing", "River Of Love", "Movin", "You Can Come To Me", "You Have A Way With Me", and "I Let Go Completely". To Be Free is an interesting little record – with kind of a crossover California soul feel overall – recorded with Rene Hall arrangements that echo a few rootsy modes at times, mixed in with fuller orchestrations that step a bit back towards Jackie's earlier years on Imperial – a surprisingly nice blend, with a fresh sound for the 70s. The album features a number of great tracks co-written with Jimmy Holiday – a fellow Imperial talent – and titles include "Mediterranean Sky", "Sooner Or Later", "What Was Your Day Like", "Livin On The Easy Side", "Brighton Hill", and "When Morning Comes Again". (Rock, Vocalists) CD

A real breakthrough moment for Marianne Faithfull – a singer who'd already been doing some incredible music in the 60s, but who moves here into deeper territory that makes her way more than just a female British singer with a bit of an edge – and really opens up that talent that would stay strong for decades! The backings are mostly acoustic – a bit rootsy, a bit folksy – in ways to match the album's collection of material by Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin, Phil Ochs, and other intellectual giants of the time – music that has a perfect fit for that strange phrasing that always marked Faithfull's later years – far more transformative to a tune than just a few years before. Titles include "Chords Of Fame", "Visions Of Johanna", "Long Black Veil", "Beware Of Darkness", "Crazy Lady Blues", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", and "Sad Lisa". CD also includes 6 tracks from 1978's Faithless album. (Rock, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant record – Kenny Rankin's first, and a really unique mix of styles that's completely different from his more famous later albums! The album has a gentle folksy style with touches of jazz – a bit like some of Tim Hardin's work for Verve, but without as much of a sad loser finish. Arrangements are by the great Artie Schroeck, and they're a mix of jazz, strings, acoustic guitar – all wrapped up in the light and breezy style of Artie's great late 60s work on Verve. Rankin's voice has a really unique quality – sparkling with a harmonic mode that's got definite ties to folk, but bubbling with the jazzy phrasing that you'd expect to hear more from Tim Buckley or Nick Drake. Titles include "Cotton Candy Sandman", "The Dolphin", "Every Passing Moment", "In Never Changes", "Song For A Winter's Night", "The Girl I Left Behind", and "Minuet". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible late album from Bobby Darin – and a real treasure! The record was cut after Darin's mid 60s fascination with the work of Tim Hardin, most of which he re-recorded for Atlantic during that time – but it's got a similar style to the Hardin years, yet features some stunning original compositions by Darin. After the confidence of his early show days, it's amazing to hear Bobby D singing songs like this – filled with sadness, insecurity, and kind of a mind-numbing inability to cope with the times. Of course, part of this has to do with Darin's increasingly poor health conditions (he was predicted to live a very short life at an early age) – and the raw honest experimental quality of the album's a real testament to Darin's perpetual struggle to combine a strong professional bent to be a crossover entertainer with an increasing (and surprising) desire to emerge as a creative force on his own. Includes the sublime "I Can See The Wind", plus "Change", "Sunday", "Questions", and "The Proper Gander". LP, Vinyl record album