Three classic albums from Gary Lewis & The Playboys – all brought together in a single set! First up is You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture – wonderfully groovy work from Gary Lewis and his Playboys – just the sort of west coast pop masterpiece that Liberty Records could come up with when they were doing things this right! Production is by Snuff Garrett, with lots of Leon Russell arrangements in the studio – and although Gary's vocals are great and super-catchy, the guitars, basslines, and all the other great bits recorded for the backings hold our attention just as much! Titles include "String Along", "Tina", "My Heart's Symphony", "Looking For The Stars", "When Summer Is Gone", "Where Will The Words Come From", and "You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture". New Directions is a set that doesn't really have Gary Lewis taking that many new directions – he doesn't grow his hair and become a hippie – but a set that does have a few nice changes from his other Liberty work at the time! Arrangements here are by Jack Nitzsche and Nick DeCaro – both of whom bring in some superb LA touches to the tunes – and Gary himself seems to take a bit more time with some of the lyrics, almost as if he's been listening to the maturing side of the British scene, and wants to get past the simple catchiness of his hits. The whole thing makes for a nice change – and titles include "Girls In Love", "Double Good Feeling", "Here I Am", "Hello Sunshine", "New In Town", "Slow Movin Man", and "Me About You". Now is one of the last albums in Gary Lewis' famous 60s run for Liberty Records – and a set that makes for a nice sendoff overall! A lot of the material here was handled by other artists first – and it's bit like Lewis is letting the others of the groovy 60s set the tone for him here – but with great Snuff Garrett production and Al Capps arrangements, things are rock-solid throughout – and Gary's got no trouble bringing out the catchiest corners of tunes that include "Windy", "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight", "Sealed With A Kiss", "Young Girl", "Judy In Disguise", Sunny", and "What Am I Gonna Do". CD

One of the strangest things about Abbey Lincoln's career is the fact that, despite her hip affiliations with the left end of the jazz spectrum, she's actually been slotted into a fair number of straighter projects, not only in music, but in film as well. This album's a perfect example of that – and may well be the reason for Abbey's later leanings towards the left – as here, in her debut LP, she comes off as a dreamy girl singer, recorded by Liberty almost in a mode that's similar to Julie London or some of their other gal stars – with complicated backings from Benny Carter and Marty Paich. The record is lacking the stark captivating quality of Abbey's later records, but it does have a certain kind of charm – especially as the love themes in the set are all-adult, at a mature level that you'd really only hear from a rare few other singers, like Shirley Horn or Lorez Alexandria. Titles include "Two Cigarettes In The Dark", "Take Me In Your Arms", "No More", "Affair", "This Can't Be Love", "I Wake Up Smiling", and "Love Walked In". CD

Two early albums from Julie London – back to back on a single CD! First up is Julie Is Her Name – a landmark album in 50s vocal jazz – spare, moody, and evocative tunes from Julie London – sung in a stripped-down setting that few other singers would dare at the time! The sound of the set is as sexy as the cover – intimate, personal, and breathily sung in a mode that comes across with a brashly adult presentation of the material. Backing only features Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Leatherwood on bass – leaving Julie plenty of room to take over the record with her vocals – a real masterpiece of understatement, given the setting! Titles include her famous version of "Cry Me A River" – virtually THE version of the tune – plus "I Should Care", "Say It Isn't So", "Gone With The Wind", "Laura", and "Can't Help Loving That Man". Volume 2 is a lesser-known follow-up to Julie London's classic Julie Is Her Name album. The approach here is similar to the first set – with Howard Roberts backing up Julie's vocals, in a style that's quite similar to that used by Barney Kessel the first time around. Red Mitchell's bass is really the only other instrumentation – and the spareness of the set is stunning – with a nakedness that gets past even Julie's heavy turtleneck on the cover! Titles include "If I'm Lucky", "Little White Lies", "Hot Toddy", "Blue Moon", "Goody Goody", and "Spring Is Here". CD

A sweet little swinger from Julie London – a record that goes for a bit of a Latin vibe, in ways that change things up nicely – and makes for more of a kick than you'd normally hear on some of the mellower records that were initially London's calling card in the 50s! Ernie Freeman handles the music, so the groove isn't really straight Latin – but more of a syncopated approach that's different from the smoother London sounds on other Liberty albums, topped with some bold trumpet flourishes and marimba bits, too – ala the sounds starting up over at A&M Records! Titles include "Perfida", "Adios", "Vaya Con Dios", "You Belong To My Heart", "Sway", and "Yours". CD

Old songs, but swung the Julie London way – and given a really cool feel here, thanks to jazzy backings from the great Jimmy Rowles! The group's clearly got some key west coast hornmen in the lineup – as some points feature some standout sax or trumpet bits that really help flavor the tunes – taking them way past Julie's usual sensual style, and offering up a great second element that really makes the record worth checking out! The tunes come across in ways you'd hardly expect – and titles include "Row Row Row", "By The Beautiful Sea", "Comin Thru The Rye", "After The Ball", "Cuddle Up A Little Closer", and "Old Folks At Home". CD

The other side of the sixties – the Barry Goldwater, Middle America one. The follow-up LP to Victor Lundberg's hit single "An Open Letter to My Teenage Son", a Vietnam-era spoken word track in which a conservative father explains to his son that although rebellion is in the tradition that made America great, "If you burn your draft card, then I have no son!". Loads of conservative rants with music..."Dear Son, you asked my reaction to long hair or beards on young people". Well son, Victor's gonna give you an earful! LP, Vinyl record album

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Kick-ass, drum-heavy instrumentals from Earl Palmer – the player who made some of David Axelrod's work sound great in the late 60s, but who's hitting even harder here! The style's a mix of rock instrumental and R&B modes – with pounding drums from Palmer on all numbers, and bits of sax, guitar, and occasional chorus vocals too. Titles include "What'd I Say", "Honky Tonk (part 2)", "One Mint Julep", "Raunch", "Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On", and "Teen Beat". LP, Vinyl record album

A wild little record from this little-known American singer – a set recorded in Germany at the end of the 60s, with a compelling mix of jazz, bossa, psychedelic, and funky touches! Don's got this weird sort of raspy vocal approach a times – a rumbling style of putting over a lyric that's a nice contrast to the sweeter blend of jazz and Latin instrumentation used in the backdrop! The set features some wonderful work from key talents on the German groove scene at the time – including guitar from Sigi Schwab, and arrangements from Ingfried Hoffmann – both of whom contributed a number of original tunes to the set! Titles include "Danza", "Titicaca", "Ananas", "Inca Uyu", "Blue Bossa", "Duerme Negrito", "Sugar Cane", and "Charangito". Also features 2 bonus cuts – "On The Road Again" and "In My Fantasy". CD

One of the few albums ever cut as a leader by crack drummer Charlie Persip – and a great record that you might have missed because Howard Rumsey's name is bigger on the cover than Charlie's! The album's one of Rumsey's "Lighthouse Series" sides of the 50s – but it's a lot harder-driving and more energy-filled than most of the other Lighthouse-related sides coming out of LA at the time. Half the record features Charlie's group – a set of east coasters that includes Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, and Wynton Kelly – and the other part features some of the players from that ensemble mixing it up with drummer Stan Levey and other LA talents that include Frank Rosolino, Conte Candoli, Bob Cooper, and others. In all, the album's a great meeting of east and west coast hardbop styles – with short driving tracks that include "Reggie Of Chester", "Celedia", "Moto", "The Champ", and "Wildwood". CD

Great stuff by one of the most dynamic vocal groups ever! Titles include "Papa Oom Mow Mow", "My Reward", "Love Pill", "The Bird's The Word", "Cherry", "Little Sally Walker", and "Standing In The Love Line". LP, Vinyl record album

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A nicely pivotal album by Ike & Tina Turner – one that has them still retaining some of the earthiness of earlier years, yet also honing their groove for the crossover audience that was digging them big at the end of the 60s! The best results of this shift is the increasing funk component in their music – a move away from R&B into a tighter 60s groove, one that often featured very strong guitar parts in its best incarnation. The set includes the classic "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter", plus "Ooh Poo Pah Doo", "Let It Be", "Goodbye So Long", "You Can Have It", "The Way You Love Me", "Get Back", and "Workin Together". LP, Vinyl record album

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An amazing little set that's as compelling as the title and cover might imply – and easily one of our favorite Martin Denny albums ever! There's a sound here that is, actually, quite "hypnotique" – as Denny's core combo is expanded by some larger arrangements, Japanese instrumentation, and even some cool vocals by the Jack Halloran singers – all of which serve to create these pulsating musical lines that shift and sway with an extremely dreamy quality, one that can easily hypnotize us with its musical magic! The added sound really adds a lot to Denny's core group – and the record has some great tracks like "Jungle Madness", "American In Bali", "Chinese Lullaby", "Hypnotique", "Scimitar", and "Voodoo Dreams". CD

An amazing little set that's as compelling as the title and cover might imply – and easily one of our favorite Martin Denny albums ever! There's a sound here that is, actually, quite "hypnotique" – as Denny's core combo is expanded by some larger arrangements, Japanese instrumentation, and even some cool vocals by the Jack Halloran singers – all of which serve to create these pulsating musical lines that shift and sway with an extremely dreamy quality, one that can easily hypnotize us with its musical magic! The added sound really adds a lot to Denny's core group – and the record has some great tracks like "Jungle Madness", "American In Bali", "Chinese Lullaby", "Hypnotique", "Scimitar", and "Voodoo Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Martin Denny's greatest albums – thanks to some extra special added elements! For the record, Denny's classic quartet is augmented by a wealth of odd added percussion – including gongs, cymbals, tuned logs, steel drums, chimes, and "chromatic bamboo"! All of these elements take Denny's exotica sound way further than ever before – and if that's not enough, the legendary Tak Shindo plays a bit of Koto on the record too! Titles include "M'Bira", "Burma Train", "Kalua", "M'Gambo Mambo", and "Mau Mau". LP, Vinyl record album

Very hip work from one of the coolest cats of the 50s – the amazing Bobby Troup, heard here at the height of his powers in a very sweet setting! The group's actually a quartet – given that Bobby's on piano, alongside Howard Roberts on guitar, Bob Enevoldsen on bass, and Don Heath on drums – and all players have a sweet, spare groove that leaves plenty of room for Troup's wonderfully charming vocals – sung in that uniquely personal way that always seems to transform a tune with its playfulness. Titles include "That's All", "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "Dream Of You", "The Hucklebuck", "Yes Sir That's My Baby", "Thou Swell", and "They Didn't Believe Me". LP, Vinyl record album

We love Bobby Troup, and we love records like this that show what a lost link he was in styles of male jazz vocal singing that keep turning up with singers like Harry Connick Jr and some of his contemporaries! Bobby wrote every track on this one, and the set's got lots of his cool little hipster ditties, like "Do Re Mi", "One October Morning", "Daddy", "Snootie Little Cutie", and "Baby, Baby All The Time". The backing's by a cool west coast ensemble with Red Norvo on vibes and Jimmy Rowles on piano, and they give the set a nice lively feel that has more swing than some of Bobby's other LPs. A great set of vocal tracks, and the kind of stuff we wish they'd start reissuing more in this country. LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool late recording from Bob Wills – with some excellent guest vocals from Merle Haggard! CD

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A record with a space age cover, but a set that's every bit as raw and rootsy as all of the previous Liberty Records releases by Canned Heat! The group have really upped their chops here – and guitarist Harvey Mandel really sounds amazing, and is bringing in some of the funky elements that he was using on his own records at the time – almost even making things more complex at times, at a level that hides some of the bluesy elements at the core – a factor that's OK with us, because we love the funky bits so much! But there's also plenty of blues, too – and the vocals of Bob Hite sound as nice as ever – on titles that include "Let's Work Together", "Sugar Bee", "That's All Right Mama", "Skat", "London Blues", "So Sad", and "Shake It & Break It". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's early in the career of Canned Heat, but one that already has the group exploding past their roots – stretching out in a double-length set that takes the combo way past any sort of standard blues rock modes! Some folks love the record for the classic "Going Up The Country" – one of the signature Canned Heat tunes – but there's also some insane jams on here, including the 20 minute "Parthenogenesis", and the amazing "Refried Boogie" – which takes up all of sides three and four, and which is one of the clearest examples of the way that artists of their generation were inspired by blues, but soon opened up into psych and prog modes! Other titles are shorter, and include a version of the classic "One Kind Favor" – plus "Sandy's Blues", "Walking By Myself", "My Mistake", and "Pony Blues". CD

A record that's early in the career of Canned Heat, but one that already has the group exploding past their roots – stretching out in a double-length set that takes the combo way past any sort of standard blues rock modes! Some folks love the record for the classic "Going Up The Country" – one of the signature Canned Heat tunes – but there's also some insane jams on here, including the 20 minute "Parthenogenesis", and the amazing "Refried Boogie" – which takes up all of sides three and four, and which is one of the clearest examples of the way that artists of their generation were inspired by blues, but soon opened up into psych and prog modes! Other titles are shorter, and include a version of the classic "One Kind Favor" – plus "Sandy's Blues", "Walking By Myself", "My Mistake", and "Pony Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

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If you ever doubted the blues chops of Canned Heat, take a listen to this album – as the group are joined by the great John Lee Hooker, who they let stand strongly in the spotlight and almost make the album his own! Previous sets by Canned Heat were already pretty darn great – a huge cut above blues-inspired rock groups of the late 60s years – but with Hooker in the lineup here, the sound gets even more raw and sensitive – so much so that a number of these cuts almost feel like some of the early Detroit 78rpm recordings the older blues musician recorded at the start of his career – hardly the watered-down blues rock you might expect. Titles include "Burning Hell", "Send Me Your Pillow", "Messin With The Hook", "Boogie Chillen No 2", "Peavine", "Just You & Me", "Whiskey & Wimmen", and "I Got My Eyes On You". CD

If you ever doubted the blues chops of Canned Heat, take a listen to this album – as the group are joined by the great John Lee Hooker, who they let stand strongly in the spotlight and almost make the album his own! Previous sets by Canned Heat were already pretty darn great – a huge cut above blues-inspired rock groups of the late 60s years – but with Hooker in the lineup here, the sound gets even more raw and sensitive – so much so that a number of these cuts almost feel like some of the early Detroit 78rpm recordings the older blues musician recorded at the start of his career – hardly the watered-down blues rock you might expect. Titles include "Burning Hell", "Send Me Your Pillow", "Messin With The Hook", "Boogie Chillen No 2", "Peavine", "Just You & Me", "Whiskey & Wimmen", and "I Got My Eyes On You". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor and "Gonna Fly Now", plus two tunes sung by Frank Stallone! LP, Vinyl record album

The second album in Denny's legendary Exotica trilogy – a set of records that provided the extreme definition of the small sub-genre that today has become the stuff of legend! Denny's still working here in his classic format – a small group with heavy piano lines, playful percussion, and some birdcalls sung by the members of the group! The set's a mix of strange songs from strange sources, all given the sublime Denny twist – and titles include "Singing Bamboos", "Escales", "August Bells", "Ebb Tide", "Rush Hour In Hong Kong", and "Soshu Night Serenade". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Martin Denny's greatest albums – thanks to some extra special added elements! For the record, Denny's classic quartet is augmented by a wealth of odd added percussion – including gongs, cymbals, tuned logs, steel drums, chimes, and "chromatic bamboo"! All of these elements take Denny's exotica sound way further than ever before – and if that's not enough, the legendary Tak Shindo plays a bit of Koto on the record too! Titles include "M'Bira", "Burma Train", "Kalua", "M'Gambo Mambo", and "Mau Mau". LP, Vinyl record album

An undisputed classic in the exotica genre – and the record that yielded Martin Denny his biggest hit! The title track "Quiet Village" was originally written by Les Baxter, but it was Martin Denny's approach that really managed to send the tune over the top – using spare percussion, rhythmic piano, and just the right amount of vibes and bird calls to give the track a really haunting feel. That approach is echoed throughout the set – with shifting instrumentation that includes celeste, bongos, marimbas, and marimbula as well! Titles include "Quiet Village", "Paradise Found", "Sake Rock", "Martinique", "Tune From Rangoon", and "Pagan Love Song". LP, Vinyl record album

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Earl Klugh steps along with a smooth and soulful groove here – one that mixes his own acoustic guitar with warm electric instrumentation, and some nice use of strings as well! Arrangements are by a few different folks who all help shape the sound of the set – Greg Phillinganes, Patrick Williams, Dave Matthews, and Johnny Mandel – all talents who know how to hit the right balance of soul and sophistication to work well with Klugh's guitar! Titles include "I'm Ready For Your Love", "Soft Stuff", "Broadway Ramble", "Calypso Getaway", "Crazy For You", and "Twinkle". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Julie London's wildest albums – and one of her sexiest too! The record has Julie running through the calendar – singing a song a month, dedicated to January, February, March, and so on – a really great concept for a record like this, in ways that set the album apart from some of London's other classics of the time! The record's certainly one of her campier efforts – but in a great way – and it's further augmented by a great cover that has pinup images of Julie in a setting specific to each month – a cheesecake spectacular that's almost worth the price of admission alone. Titles include "June In January", "February Brings The Rain", "Melancholy March", "Memphis In June", and "Time For August". LP, Vinyl record album

Near-lost work from Julie London – a later album for Liberty, the kind of record that should have become a classic – had she not recorded so much at the time that they got buried in the rush of all her releases! Julie's working in a nice upbeat, swinging style – with some great big band arrangements from west coast maestro Gerald Wilson – who really brings new life into Julie's style with the set! The tunes are mostly familiar 60s numbers on the set, but Wilson's lively backings are plenty playful, and show us a side of Julie that we'd never heard before. Titles include "She's Just A Quiet Girl", "Summertime", "Watermelon Man", "Girl Talk", "I Bruise Easily", and "Won't Someone Please Belong To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

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Right from the start, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were wonderful in the studio – but as this album will show, they were even more vibrant in a live setting – a format that would give them some of their best records over the years! This set has the group working at a level that's both technically sharp and whimsically goofy – completely respectful of their roots, but also with enough perspective on their career to never take themselves too seriously – a charm that would only deepen as the years moved on. The instrumentation is wonderful – at a level that almost puts these guys in heady country/roots rock territory of groups like Dillard & Clark or Flying Burrito Brothers – but with an approach that's definitely NGDB all the way through. Titles include "Fat Boys Can Make It In Santa Monica", "Candy Man", "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", "Crazy Words Crazy Tunes", "Buy For Me The Rain", and "Rock Me Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Noel Pointer gets some great help here from Chicago soul maestro Richard Evans – and the result is one of Pointer's greatest albums ever! Noel's jazzy violin style is mixed with fuller strings and a warmly soulful groove – of the style that Evans was laying down on his own solo work of the period, in a way that really gives the album a tremendous sense of drive and focus. Most cuts groove along in a rolling midtempo mode – just the right pace to hold onto all of the most sophisticated elements of Evans' arrangements, but keep things moving smoothly along too. Pointer sings lead vocals on most numbers, and the use of strings here – mixed with his own violin – is almost a modern soul update of Evans' older Soulful Strings approach! Titles include "Classy Lady", "All The Reasons Why", "Brookline", "Savin It Up", "Virgie", "Oh What A Beautiful City", and "Land Of Make Believe". LP, Vinyl record album

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About as classic as you can get for Amon Duul – a double-length set that virtually defined the sound of prog rock for the 70s! Tracks are long, and mighty jamming – with a strong undercurrent of jazz alongside the heavy drums and guitars – set loose at a level that's much madder than most American work of the time – always threatening to trip itself up at various points, but incredibly on track over the length of the extended 2LP package. There's a few improvisational moments, and the whole thing has a fluid feel that even makes us swallow the vocals easily, as they fit right in with the rest of the tripped-out instrumentation. Instruments include 12 string guitar, organ, and some especially nice bongos – and titles include "Burning Sister", "Eye Shaking King", "Yeti Talks To Yogi", "Cerberus", and "Archangels Thunderbird". LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from that time when Johnny Burnette turned his early rocking energy into a bit more of a pop-styled approach – yet still at a level that was a cut above most of his contemporaries! Titles include the hit "Big Big World", plus "Little Boy Sad", "I'm Still Dreamin", "Ballad Of The One Eyed Jacks", "Blue Blue Morning", "The Fool", and "Pledge Of Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a space age cover, but a set that's every bit as raw and rootsy as all of the previous Liberty Records releases by Canned Heat! The group have really upped their chops here – and guitarist Harvey Mandel really sounds amazing, and is bringing in some of the funky elements that he was using on his own records at the time – almost even making things more complex at times, at a level that hides some of the bluesy elements at the core – a factor that's OK with us, because we love the funky bits so much! But there's also plenty of blues, too – and the vocals of Bob Hite sound as nice as ever – on titles that include "Let's Work Together", "Sugar Bee", "That's All Right Mama", "Skat", "London Blues", "So Sad", and "Shake It & Break It". CD

A great groover from Vikki Carr – one of the biggest voices on Liberty Records after Julie London – and one with a heck of a great style for the 60s! Carr has a strong range in her vocals, but always holds back from the heavy trills you might have heard a decade before – and instead packs all her punch into the rhythmic elements of the songs, which often makes the music sound plenty darn groovy! Of course, it helps that arrangements are by Bob Florence and Mort Garson – both of whom really recast things in a cool 60s mode. Titles include "Heartaches", "Them There Eyes", "Everything I've Got", "Put On A Happy Face", and "That's All". CD

About as classic as you can get for the great Eddie Cochran – no surprise, since the album was put together to mourn his untimely early passing, and is filled with some of the best tracks he ever cut for Liberty Records! The music here is Cochran at his prime – that post-country, pre-pop sound that has Eddie drawing on a lot of southern roots, but really giving the music a raw focus – with that sound that went onto make him a huge influence for years to come – through mod scenes, punk years, and beyond! Titles include "Lovin Time", "Drive In Show", "Teenage Heaven", "Sittin In The Balcony", "Summertime Blues", "C'Mon Everybody", "Cut Across Shorty", and "Somethin Else". LP, Vinyl record album

Weird and wonderful work from the great Martin Denny – and a record that adds in some great extra elements to his core exotica groove! The depth of the album is apparent on the very first tune – "Tsetse Fly", which features a buzzing variation on the sound of the insect in the title – then shows up even more strongly through the heavier rhythms and added vocals that appear on many of the album's other tracks. There's a style here that's almost Afro-Cuban at times – but which still glides across nicely with that heavenly Denny approach to melody and rhythm! Titles include "Tsetse Fly", "Ma'Chumba", "Simba", "Raftero", "Swamp Fire", and "Cubano Chant". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album in Denny's legendary Exotica trilogy – a set of records that provided the extreme definition of the small sub-genre that today has become the stuff of legend! Denny's still working here in his classic format – a small group with heavy piano lines, playful percussion, and some birdcalls sung by the members of the group! The set's a mix of strange songs from strange sources, all given the sublime Denny twist – and titles include "Singing Bamboos", "Escales", "August Bells", "Ebb Tide", "Rush Hour In Hong Kong", and "Soshu Night Serenade". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing little set that's as compelling as the title and cover might imply – and easily one of our favorite Martin Denny albums ever! There's a sound here that is, actually, quite "hypnotique" – as Denny's core combo is expanded by some larger arrangements, Japanese instrumentation, and even some cool vocals by the Jack Halloran singers – all of which serve to create these pulsating musical lines that shift and sway with an extremely dreamy quality, one that can easily hypnotize us with its musical magic! The added sound really adds a lot to Denny's core group – and the record has some great tracks like "Jungle Madness", "American In Bali", "Chinese Lullaby", "Hypnotique", "Scimitar", and "Voodoo Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

An undisputed classic in the exotica genre – and the record that yielded Martin Denny his biggest hit! The title track "Quiet Village" was originally written by Les Baxter, but it was Martin Denny's approach that really managed to send the tune over the top – using spare percussion, rhythmic piano, and just the right amount of vibes and bird calls to give the track a really haunting feel. That approach is echoed throughout the set – with shifting instrumentation that includes celeste, bongos, marimbas, and marimbula as well! Titles include "Quiet Village", "Paradise Found", "Sake Rock", "Martinique", "Tune From Rangoon", and "Pagan Love Song". LP, Vinyl record album

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74 tracks in all – including some unissued material and a lot of very cool radio spots! CD

An oft-overlooked gem from Julie London – a dreamy album of Cole Porter tunes, and one that has her singing with small group backing, very much in the mode of some of her best early work for the Liberty label! The group on the album's the Bud Shank Quintet – with Shank on alto and flute, Joe Pass on guitar, Russ Freeman on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums – a great little combo who give the work a light, lyrical feel, and a bit less of the sadness of other London albums. Freeman did the arrangements, and titles include "So In Love", "Get Out Of Town", "Easy To Love", "At Long Last Love", and "In The Still Of The Night". CD

A record that has Julie London already hitting that great "Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast" mode of later years – the adult, informed approach that showed that the teasing nude of the 50s had turned into a pleasing woman of the 60s – capable of frank presentation of material and assumption of desire that other singers often still just toyed with. Peter King handles the arrangements, and mixes soft strings with lighter modes to really flesh out Julie's simple but effective delivery of the tunes. Titles include "Love On The Rocks", "Where Did The Gentleman Go", "What's New", "How Did He Look", "The End Of A Love Affair", and "Where Are You". LP, Vinyl record album

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Stan and Max are about as unlikely a pair as you could imagine – both jazz drummers, but one with a cooler, more laidback sound (Levy), the other with a harder, more full-on and bop driven approach (Roach). This set features each drummer alternating track to track – supporting a core group with Bill Perkins on tenor, Conte Candoli on trumpet, and Frank Rosolino on trombone. Given that such a setting is more Levy's territory than Roach's, he actually fits in a bit more with the sound – but even on the Roach tracks, the west coast jazz vibe pervades – so don't expect a super-huge change in the style. Titles include "Breadline Blues", "Facts About Max", "Royal Garden Blues", "The Count's Blues", and "Blues In The Night". LP, Vinyl record album

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The overlooked second album from The Vapors – a set that's every bit as tuneful and catchy as their first – a blend of early punk modes with a growing sense of songcraft – maybe in the same place at the moment as work by The Undertones, or even The Jam – with whom the group have a bit of a connection! As with their debut, the set's filled with catchy songs that should have gotten them a lot more play at the time – a nice edge, and never too polished for a bigger label – with titles that include "Can't Talk Anymore", "Johnny's In Love Again", "Spiders", "Isolated Case", "Live At The Marquee", "Daylight Titans", and "Magnets". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest albums ever from Bobby Vee – thanks to late 60s arrangements from Artie Butler! LP, Vinyl record album

A bouncing, bassy groover from Xavier – set to some great arrangements by Rhani Harris that are made even better by a bit of Shep Pettibone mixing! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A much more solidly American album than some of Vicki Benet's other efforts of the time – which were usually more French-styled than this one! This time around, Vicki's got a great breathy style that's right up there with Julie London on Liberty – a late 50s sexiness that perfectly matches her ice blond look on the cover, and her slinky slinky dress! Arrangements are relatively gentle – strings, but never too lush – and Vicki hangs mostly in a ballad mode that's perfect for the breathiness of the recording. Titles include "Our Very Own", "The Boy Next Door", "Love Me", "There's A Small Hotel", "A Shade Of Blue", and "Heartstring Melody". CD

The Chipmunks take on The Beatles – in an early version of fab four fun! Titles are almost all early Lennon/McCartney numbers, sung by Alvin and the gang with a surprisingly nice groove! LP, Vinyl record album

The great Aynsley Dunbar on drums – with lots of piano and organ from Tommy Eyre and guitar solos from John Moorshead. Produced by John Mayall too! LP, Vinyl record album

Hot rod culture hits the high seas – in this sweet set of instrumentals from The Hornets! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Earl Klugh's definitely got his heart on his strings here – working in this warm, mellow mode that's mighty nice – set to gentle orchestrations by Dave Matthews, which work perfect for Klugh's groove! There's nothing too over the top here, and Earl mixes acoustic and electric in a great sort of blend – using the former instrument to help keep a sort of soul to the proceedings, and never let things get too slick. Titles include "Heart String", "Spanish Night"," Pretty World", "Rayna", "Waiting For Cathy", "I'll See You Again", and "Acoustic Lady (parts 1 & 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the strangest things about Abbey Lincoln's career is the fact that, despite her hip affiliations with the left end of the jazz spectrum, she's actually been slotted into a fair number of straighter projects, not only in music, but in film as well. This album's a perfect example of that – and may well be the reason for Abbey's later leanings towards the left – as here, in her debut LP, she comes off as a dreamy girl singer, recorded by Liberty almost in a mode that's similar to Julie London or some of their other gal stars – with complicated backings from Benny Carter and Marty Paich. The record is lacking the stark captivating quality of Abbey's later records, but it does have a certain kind of charm – especially as the love themes in the set are all-adult, at a mature level that you'd really only hear from a rare few other singers, like Shirley Horn or Lorez Alexandria. Titles include "Two Cigarettes In The Dark", "Take Me In Your Arms", "No More", "Affair", "This Can't Be Love", "I Wake Up Smiling", and "Love Walked In". CD

One of Julie London's wildest albums – and one of her sexiest too! The record has Julie running through the calendar – singing a song a month, dedicated to January, February, March, and so on – a really great concept for a record like this, in ways that set the album apart from some of London's other classics of the time! The record's certainly one of her campier efforts – but in a great way – and it's further augmented by a great cover that has pinup images of Julie in a setting specific to each month – a cheesecake spectacular that's almost worth the price of admission alone. Titles include "June In January", "February Brings The Rain", "Melancholy March", "Memphis In June", and "Time For August". CD