... CD

... CD

The complete Monument recordings of southern soul-tinged swamp rock trailblazer Tony Joe White – in a wonderful box set from the deep catalog explorers at Rhino Handmade! Swamp Rock contains everything from the Black & White, Continued and Tony Joe LPs – with dozens of previously unreleased work from the era. Unlike the most famous dude we can think of who wears the swamp rock genre tag, Tony Joe White really was reared in the swamp country of Louisiana – and genuineness shows on these fine recordings! His vocals here have a bit of that laconic storyteller vibe of a Bobby Bare type character – but the production and arrangements have a real feel for the Stax and Muscle Shoals sounds. It's a blend of styles that's quite unique – and well worth rediscovery! Includes all the tracks from Tony Joe's 3 LPs for Monument plus a swampful of great bonus numbers from those sessions and more – a whopping 81 tracks on four CDs! Disc one includes the Black & White LP and much more: "Willie And Laura Mae Jones", "Soul Francisco", "Whompt Out On You", "Wichita Lineman" and more. Disc 2 features the Continued LP and more: "Elements And Things", "Woodpecker", "Old Man Willis", "Woman With Soul" and much more. Disc 3 includes the Tony Joe LP tracks and more: "Stud-Spider", "Widow Wimberly", "Save Your Sugar For Me", "Hard To Handle" and more. Disc 4 includes a slew of previously unreleased material cut at Barclay Studios in Paris, plus live work from Tony Joe at the Isle Of Wight: titles include "Mississippi Delta", "Chain Of Blues", "Ballad Of Hollis Brown" and more from the Barclay sessions, plus "Boom Boom", "I Want You", "Groupy Girl" and more from Isle Of Wight. CD

Some of our favorite work ever from the mighty Lee Hazlewood – material recorded under his own name for Reprise Records – during a stretch when he was also producing for the label with Nancy Sinatra and Dean Martin! The 2CD set features 3 full albums, plus great bonus tracks too – and the package is as great of a tribute to Hazlewood's genius as we've ever seen! First up is The NSVIPs – a set that follows up the same sort of "story song" format that Lee laid down on his wonderful Trouble album for Mercury – but done here with themes that are a bit hipper, and more wry – in keeping with his Reprise persona. Next is Friday's Child, which has some of Hazlewood's most beautifully-penned tunes – tracks that mix the whimsy of his bigger hits with some great darker elements. Last up is the amazing Love & Other Crimes – one of our favorite albums of the 60s, magically recorded in Paris with a very unique sound – and a style that's a bit different than some of Hazlewood's other records. Titles include "First Street Blues", "I Had A Friend", "Everybody Calls Me Something", "Me & Charlie", "A Real Live Fool", "Hutchinson Jail", "By The Way", "Houston", "Morning Dew", "The House Song", "Love & Other Crimes", "Pour Man", and "Wait & See". Bonus tracks are great too – and include Hazlewood tracks "Ode To Billie Joe", "Rainbow Woman", "I Am You Are", and "Charlie Bill Nelson" – plus other gems that include "Just Bluesin" and "Houston" by Sanford Clark, "A Stranger In Town" by The Vanguards, "The Whisk" by The Whisk Kids, "Zapata" by Jack Nitzsche, "What Are We Gonna Do In 64" by The Wildcats, "Our Man Flint" by The Ring A Dings, and "This Town" by Duane Eddy. 55 tracks in all – in a beautiful package with a gorgeous book! CD

A pretty great idea for a late 60s rock record – even if the record itself is even better than its idea! The whole concept of the "masked marauders" was that the group was supposedly formed by big rockers of the time – unable to be listed on the cover, because of contractual obligations. And in truth, the set does sound a lot like it could have been lifted from sessions by The Rolling Stones, or Get Back-era Beatles – plus maybe a few other contemporaries too – yet it's all actually the work of some great unknowns, who came up with a sweet gimmick to get the record out there! On its own, the set's a real charmer – and has a mix of rootsy modes and tighter, deeper ideas that's not unlike some of the George Harrison/Phil Spector work – save for those moments when the Marauders are clearly trying to sound a bit more like a big name act. Titles include "I Can't Get No Nookie", "Cow Pie", "Duke Of Earl", "I Am The Japanese Sandman", "Later", "More Or Less Hudson's Bay Again", and "Season Of The Witch". Also features two mono single tracks – "Cow Pie" and "I Can't Get No Nookie". CD

Includes the albums Have A Marijuana and The American Revolution. CD

Rare funk doesn't get any better than this – massive music, all of it unreleased – recorded by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band at the tail end of their classic years for Warner Brothers! This is the kind of stuff you read about in history books, but hardly ever get to hear on record – the full, unedited studio work of a hard-jamming funk group in all its glory – no edits, no overdubs, just live funky energy! Some of the key cuts here run for over 20 minutes in length – showing the Rhythm Band to be every bit as creative in long form format as the JBs were at the time – and the shorter tracks have a nicely gritty edge that takes us back to the best early 45 years of the group. The vocals are secondary here to the instrumentation, but that's ok with us, given the grooves! Titles include "Puckey Puckey", "Jam #3", "Watts Towers", "Brothers & Sisters", "Hard To Handle", "Sagittarius", "I Love You Girl", "Wine (early version)", "Gemini", "Jam #2", "Express Yourself (alt version)", "Till You Get Enough/Do Your Thing (alt)", and "Jam #1". CD

The second album from the young Iggy Pop and The Stooges – and the record where the whole thing really comes together – a set that was an instant legend, even though it hardly sold many copies at the time! Instead, the album's like work by the Velvet Underground – probably every copy that was sold went into the hands of someone who took the music as a key influence, then went on to create something amazing of their own – drawing key inspiration from Iggy's vocals, the guitar work of Ron Asheton, and the overall frenzy of the album's approach. Titles include the paranoid genius of "TV Eye", the romping "Down On The Street", the insane "Fun House", and the cuts "Loose", "Dirt", "1970", and "LA Blues". Disc 2 features over an hour of rare outtakes, alternate versions and mixes – some of the best moments from the notoriously rare Rhino Handmade Fun House box set from a few years back! Includes alternate takes of "TV Eye", "Loose", "Lost In The Future", "Down On The Street", "Slide (Slidin' The Blues)", "Fun House", "1970" and more! CD

Wonderfully tripped-out pop from the late 60s – served up by a few famous names and an even better band of lesser-knowns – all of whom recorded for Warner Brothers and related labels at the time! The package does a great job of showing the "pop" side of psychedelia – a sound that's a lot harder than the Sunshine Pop end of the spectrum, but which also shares a similar love of groovy themes, sweet vocals, and cool production techniques! A few of the tunes get a bit way out, but most of the numbers manage to pack a whole trip's punch within a short little 3 or 4 minute song – leaving us to marvel even more at the deft economy in the studio, and the wonderful quality this kind of music had before it succumbed to too many of its own excesses. Titles include "Her Name Is A Melody" by Adrian Pride, "It's Love" by The Misty Wizards, "Break Away" by Next Exit, "Hallucinations" by Baker Knight & The Knightmares, "That's The Way It's Gonna Be" by Lee Mallory, "Wildflowers" by The Holy Mackerel, "Smell Of Incense" by West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, "My Mind Goes High" by MC2, "Straight Aero" by Jeff Thomas, and "The White Pony" by Ellen Margulies. CD