One of the best early albums from the Mystic Moods – largely because it really ups the use of sound effects that was begun on the group's first album. The record is a smooth blend of train sounds, beach sounds, night sounds, and a million other weird noises – all filtered through late 60s pop hits like "Sound of Silence", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose", "Listen To The Warm", "Homeward Bound", "Cloudy", and "Trains, Boats, & Planes", played by a tight swinging group that even features some moog by Paul Beaver! LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal moment for the Nashville scene – a time when the city was able to turn its country production talents to the world of pop – and provide the perfect setting for the amazing vocals of Roy Orbison! Roy had recorded previously for Sun, but despite the great track record of that label, it was his handling by Monument on records like this that really set his star on the rise – using Orbison's deep, dark twang amidst some light strings and echoey production that's never schmaltzy at all – just this fantastic echo of all the blue moods at the core of the tunes! Titles include Roy's originals "Only The Lonely", "Blue Avenue", "Come Back To Me", "Blue Angel", "I'm Hurtin", and "I'll Say It's My Fault" – plus versions of "Bye Bye Love", "Cry", and "I Can't Stop Loving You". CD

The earliest incarnation of the Plastic Ono band, and more or les a one off, with an all star line up that included Eric Clapton and Klaus Voorman alongside Lennonand Ono. One side of the rootsy rock that was the old school Beatles stock in trade, and one side of Yoko Ono doing her thing on the mic. Titles include "Blue Suede Shoes", "Money", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", "Yer Blues", "Cold Turkey", "Give Peace A Chance", "Don't Worry Kyoko" and "John, John". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

One of the most searing, soaring albums ever from Santana – a set that takes all the power of the previous two records, and packs it into one tight little set! There's plenty of Latin influences going on – mixed with heavy fuzz from Carlos, and lots of jazz and funky touches too – way more happening on the rhythm tip than most of Santana's contemporaries – which is why the record continues to find such a wonderfully wide audience over the years. Drop cuts like "Batuka","Toussaint L'Overture", "Jungle Strut", or "Para Los Rumberos" next to tracks by War, Mandrill or Tower Of Power and you'll see what we mean – and titles also include "No One To Depend On","Taboo", "Guajira" and "Everything's Coming Our Way". CD

... CD

... CD

Classic! Fragile is the one that catapulted Yes to unlikely stardom, and in so doing, it brought adventurous, proggy rock to a mainstream audience – pretty much changing the face of rock for at least a decade to come! Rick Wakeman's arrival and his spacier electronic keyboards have a lot to do the Yes ascension, but beyond that that, the songs mix of anthemic, stadium-ready immenseness and trippier, oddball touches makes it a win for both pop/rock fans and prog lovers – win-win! Titles include "Roundabout", "Cans & Brahms", "We Have Heaven", "Mood For A Day", and "The Fish". CD

A landmark album – even if it was the only session that Cannonball Adderley ever cut for Blue Note! The album was recorded at a time when Adderley was working with Miles Davis – and as such, the session features a group that includes Miles, blowing in a cool tone that's a perfect offset to Cannonball's more soulful style. The rest of the group includes Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey – and like John Coltrane's Blue Train, the record's more of an "special session" than the usual Blue Note album, but the strength of the players make it one of the more memorable records of its day! Titles include "Somethin' Else", "One For Daddy-O", and a nice moody take on "Dancing In The Dark". Includes bonus track "Alison's Uncle". CD

A great two-in-one set from Bobby Bland! CD

... CD

... CD

Dr John's Gumbo is a distinctly roots-oriented effort – and one in which he reprises a number of classic New Orleans R&B tracks, and gives them his unique funky twist. The record features versions of Sugarboy Crawford's "Iko Iko", Huey Smith's "Blow Wind Blow", and other classics like "Mess Around", "Let The Good Times Roll", "Junko Partner", "Tipitina", and "Stack A Lee". The band includes Melvin Lastie, Harold Battiste, Alvin Robinson, and other great southern funk players. On In The Right Place, Dr. John gets backed by The Meters, and the result is a record that yielded his biggest hit – the title cut "Right Place Wrong Time", which has a nice funky break that still sounds great 25 years after hearing it on AM radio. Lots of other nice ones with a good funky feel, too, including "Life", "Traveling Mood", "Same Old Same Old", "Just The Same", and "Shoo Fly Marches On". Allen Toussaint produced, and what more could you ask for? CD

2 albums on one CD – and a gold CD at that! Aretha Now is one of a handful of crucial early Aretha Franklin albums for Atlantic – and a key example of her genius pairing with arranger Arif Mardin! Instrumental backing is by a hard burning Memphis/Muscle Shoals lineup that includes Spooner Oldham on electric piano and organ, Tommy Cogbill on guitar, Andrew Love and Charles Chalmers on tenor, Wayne Jackson on trumpet, and Roger Hawkins on drums – and even Aretha herself gets to play a bit of piano on the set. But the really amazing thing here is the way that this core live mode of backing is also given some airier, loftier overtones by Mardin and co-arranger Tom Dowd – in a way that lifts up the tunes a bit more, and pushes them away from straight indie southern soul – into the range of greatness that made Franklin stand apart from most of her contemporaries. A key example of this is the album's seminal reading of "I Say A Little Prayer" – but all cuts are great, and other tunes include "Think", "A Change", "You're A Sweet Sweet Man", "I Take What I Want", "See Saw", "Hello Sunshine", and "You Send Me". Lady Soul is one of Aretha's undisputed classics – a seminal session that furthered her deep soul agenda with key backings from Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd! The Sweet Inspirations provide sublime backing vocals behind Franklin's maturing delivery of the lyrics – and the music is by an all-star group of players that includes Spooner Oldham, Bobby Womack, Jimmy Johnson, King Curtis, Tommy Cogbill, Roger Hawkins, and even Eric Clapton! Cuts include "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman", "Chain Of Fools", "Money Won't Change You", "Come Back Baby", and "Ain't No Way". CD

The second part of Guns N' Roses' twin follow-up to the mindblowing and untoppable success of Appetite For Destruction! Use Your Illusion II has more piano, stadium-ready ballads and overall moodier takes on Guns' distinctive brand of LA sleaze rock – along with another surprising classic rock cover tune – their respectful Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". Ultimately the record is kind of a weird mix of soul-baring hard rock ballads, straight forward rockers, and angry revenge tunes by this most uncontrollable band of rich misfits! Includes "Cival War", "14 Years", "Yesterday", "Get In The Ring", "Shotgun Blues", "Pretty Tied Up", "Locomotive", "Estranged", "You Could Be Mine", "My World" and more. CD

Late work from the great Billie Holiday – the kind of mature set that made Verve Records such a perfect home for the singer in the 50s! Where other labels might have pushed too much to try to get Billie into more commercial, or more straightforward modes – Verve just relaxes into the kind of small combo sound that usually had the singer at her best – pairing Holiday with a great lineup that includes Harry Edison on trumpet, Ben Webster on tenor, Jimmy Rowles on piano, and Barney Kessel on guitar. The songs are short and focused – with Billie at the top of her form on familiar standards like "Comes Love", "Darn That Dream", "Body & Soul", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and "Embraceable You". CD

... CD

Classic work from Howlin Wolf – tunes recorded with incredibly raspy vocals, set to a folksy electric guitar sound – one that instantly conjures up images of the south side blues scene that Chess documented so well during the 50s and 60! The work here was recorded over a number of different years – from 1956 to 1965 – and the later tunes show the more trademark style that Wolf was adapting in the mid 60s as his star was beginning to rise with younger audiences around the world. Tracks were penned by Wolf or Willie Dixon – and titles include "Killing Floor", "Tail Dragger", "Natchez Burnin", "Ooh Baby, Hold Me", "Built For Comfort", "My Country Sugar Mama", and "Sittin On Top Of The World". CD

A heck of a great record – and we don't mind saying it! After knocking around in territory that ran from new wave to neo ska, retro swing, and other assorted genres, Joe Jackson really emerged with a strong voice on this 1982 classic. The album's a loving tribute to New York – and is steeped in Jackson's growing knowledge of Latin and jazz music – performed here by a great group that really sets things up right, and recorded in a warmly acoustic mode that was quite striking for the time! The tracks on the set hold up incredibly well over the years – getting past the cliches that later plagued Jackson's career, and reminding us of how great he was at his best. CD

A great later album from Jefferson Airplane – done with an allstar roster of fellow counterculture heroes and late 60s icons in the studio – including David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Steven Stills, and Nicky Hopkins! It's an incredible mix of breezy harmonies and killer melodies, but those serve politically strident lyrics. It's a brilliant approach – full of disarmingly tuneful, yet lyrically defiant songs. Amazing stuff – and a heck of a way to cap off the 60s for this legendary band. Titles include "Wooden Ships", "Eskimo Blue Day", "We Can Be Together", "A Song For All Seasons", and "Volunteers". CD

... CD

... CD

The classic! With "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Drain You", "On A Plain", "Lithium", "Polly", "In Bloom", "Come As You Are", and "Lounge Act". CD

... CD

In the past 30 years, this one's gone from being a fierce outpouring of the Bay Area underground, to a cliche of classic rock, to a brilliant example of west coast Latin rock/funk/fusion in action! Features a stellar cover of "Oye Como Va", plus "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen", "Se A Cabo", "Samba Pa Ti", "El Nicoya", and "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts". CD

The last album in the classic run of Steely Dan – the final taste we'd have of the group until their surprising revival in the 90s! Gaucho picks up beautifully where Aja left off – warmly produced with a deep undercurrent of jazz, but perhaps a bit more down to earth feel at times too – not in the music, which is still up there in the heavens, but in some of the subject matter of the tunes, which almost takes us back to Royal Scam territory. Donald Fagan's vocals are wonderful throughout – a sound for which there's no referent or real description – and the balance in the instrumentation is near perfect on tunes that include "Babylon Sisters", "Hey Nineteen", "Time Out Of Mind", "My Rival", "Glamour Profession", and "Gaucho". CD

... CD

Titles include "Rock & Roll Stew", "Rainmaker", "Many A Mile To Freedom", "Hidden Treasure", and "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone". CD

... CD

... CD

Mid 70s magic from the team of Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz – playing together here with an even sharper edge than their recordings of two decades before! The recordings are all live – done at the Club Montmartre in December of 1975 – but they've got a clarity that's almost studio-worthy, which really captures the tone of the players. Marsh is especially great – working with that stretched-out sense of freedom he was hitting in the 70s – and Konitz is pretty swinging himself, with a bit less of the more modern tones of that decade. Rhythm is from a trio that features Dave Cliff on guitar, Peter Ind on bass, and Alan Levitt on drums. Titles include "Two Not One", "Two Part Invention No 13", "Sound Lee", "Foolin Myself", and "Kary's Trance". CD

Features Mel Brown on rhythm guitar and Jimmy McGriff on keyboards – plus work by The Uptown Horns! Titles include "I Ain't Drunk", "Cash Talkin", "Bending Like A Willow Tree", "Lights Are On But Nobody's Home", and "Fake ID". CD

... CD

... CD

A record we'd never part with – and easily our favorite album ever from The Who! Quadrophenia represents the group at its peak from all perspectives – songwriting, performance, and even studio presence – as the album's got a sonic sensibility that few other albums of the time can match! The set's a concept record – a story, like Tommy – yet it remains incredibly lean, without any overcluttered rock opera feel – so much so that most tunes stand mightily on their own, but also have a dense sense of texture when taken together as part of the double-length album. And we'll also say that the record's one of the few extended sets we always end up breezing through from start to finish – almost surprised by the time it comes to a close – and often hitting repeat to hear the whole thing over again! Titles include "I Am The Sea", "The Real Me", "Cut My Hair", "The Punk & The Godfather", "Sea & Sand", "5:15", "Bell Boy", "Love Rein O'Er Me", and "Is It In My Head". CD