A classic run of records from Waylon Jennings – brought together in a single package! First up is Lonesome Onry & Mean – a pivotal album for Waylon Jennings – the record where he really found the new direction that would finally get him the fame he deserved – delivered in a way that's free from all the later cliches, and which also ties Waylon pretty strongly to the hipper currents of the underground – especially that point where singer/songwriter genius intersected with country! The production is his own, and vastly different than the late 60s records – even though we love those to death too – and that magical Jennings vocal approach does fantastic things to tunes by Steve Young, Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson, and others! Titles include the fantastic "Lonesome Onry & Mean", plus "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues", "Freedom To Stay", "Lay It Down", "You Can Have Her", "Pretend I Never Happened", "San Francisco Mabel Joy", "Sandy Sends Her Best", and a great take on "Me &Bobby McGee". Honky Tonk Heroes is genius material from Waylon Jennings – one of those career-defining records from the early 70s that completely put him on top, and heralded a whole new generation in country music! The set's maybe equally noteworthy as a showcase for the up-and-coming Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote much of the songs on the record – and it's also a great showcase for the important production talents of Tompall Glaser, who really gets the spirit of the music right! Titles include great versions of "Honky Tonk Heroes", "Old Five & Dimers Like Me", "Ride Me Down Easy", "Black Rose", "Willy The Wandering Gypsy & Me", "Omaha", and "Ain't No God In Mexico". This Time is one of those Waylon Jennings records from a time when he could do no wrong – fighting the stronger powers at RCA to really find his voice – recording at the studio of Tompall Glaser, with great production help from Willie Nelson – who was enjoying his own transformation at the time too! As with the previous two gems from this period, the choice of material and presentation is great – songs by Willie, JJ Cale, and Billy Joe Shavers – in a set of titles that include "Heaven Or Hell", "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way", "This Time", "Pick Up The Tempo", "If You Could Touch Her At All", "Walkin", "Slow Rollin Low", "Louisiana Woman", and "Slow Movin Outlaw". Ramblin Man is Waylon Jennings at peak mid 70s perfection! Ramblin' Man fits in stylistically with the gruff honky tonk hero mode he first fully realized a couple albums earlier, but he's still fiercely blazing trails here, pairing his gruff lead vocals with sweeter female harmonies on some tracks, changing the groove from laidback swagger to fast-paced honky tonk, working in some tender ballads with the gruffer numbers...Waylon at his best. Starts up with the eternal title track and equally classic "Rainy Day Woman" and hardly lets up in greatness from there, with "Cloudy Days", "The Hunger", "It'll Be Her", a great cover of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider", "Memories Of You And Me", "Amanda" and more. Features bonus tracks too – "Laid Back Country Picker", "The Last One To Leave Seattle", "Big Big Love", "Got A Lot Going For Me", "The Last Letter", and "The One I Sing My Love Songs To". CD

A fantastic early 70s album from Jim Sullivan – one of the few that he ever gave us before departing the planet, and a set that was one of a handful of albums issued by the Playboy Records imprint! The sound is a lot more rootsy than anything you'd ever hear at Hugh Hefner's mansion, though – very faithful to the spirit of Jim's classic UFO album, but also with these added light arrangements that really open up the lyrics too – in a way that maybe seems to let Sullivan focus even more strongly on his own vocal interpretation of his words, all with a sound that makes the whole thing one of the overlooked singer/songwriter masterpieces of the time. Arrangements are by Jim Hughart, who also plays bass in the core combo – and the songs are Jim Sullivan material of the highest quality – with titles that include "Amos", "Tea Leaves", "Don't Let It Throw You", "Lonesome Picker", "Sandman", "I'll Be Here", and "Plain To See". CD

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Feauring "Wild Bill" Davison on cornet, Jimmy Archey on trombone, Ralph Sutton on piano, Danny Barker on banjo and Baby Dodds on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy album that has a number of vocal tracks from the Hair soundtrack, plus other late 60s groovy pop titles – all performed by the obscure California Poppy Pickers (who we seem to remember being someone else, but we're not sure.) Titles include "Good Morning Starshine", "Narrow People", "Hair", "Sunshine Summer Days", "Clean Up Your Own Backyard", and "Oh Happy Day". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent set of 50s west coast chamber jazz – featuring a quintet that includes Harry Babasin on cello, Terry Gibbs on vibes, Demsey Wright on guitar, Ben Tucker on bass, and Bill Douglass on drums. The pairing of cello and vibes in the frontline is really great – and with additional support from guitar, the instruments really swing nicely on the set. The album's the sort that you might miss, because the Premier label was sort of a budget operation – but it's a really nice little side that grooves with a keen late 50s approach that's very much in the manner of similar albums on Dawn or Bethlehem – but arguably better, as it's recorded with an open feel, and some really great sound. Titles include "Hoppy", "De Ge", "On Bear Hill", "Pee Wee", and "Wingo". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Chump Man's Blues", "Southern Rag", "Hard Pushing Papa", "Georgia Bound", "Police Dog Blues", "Hey Hey Daddy Blues", "Seaboard Stomp", "Hastings Street", and "You Gonna Quit Me Blues" – 23 tracks total. CD

With Benny Carter on clarinet and alto saxophone, Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, Fats Waller on piano, and John Nesbitt on trumpet! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Charlie Louvin's amazing late career creative upswing continues with these Murder Ballads And Disaster Songs – the kind he's sung for 50 something years – done wonderfully this time for Tompkins Square! Back in the 50s, the Louvin Brothers put out 2 widely disparate theme albums in a short stretch, the ominous Tragic Songs Of Life and the spiritual Satan Is Real – and Charlie does a similar thing with this record and its counterpart Steps To Heaven. He does magic with a few numbers from Tompkins Square's superlative People Take Warning box set of archival folk & blues recordings, and a few other gems, with sly honky tonk arrangements. Mark Nevers staffs the sound with some of the best young pickers and players in Nashville, including Chris Scruggs, William Tyler, Ben Hall & others – and as a bonus, we always love it when Andrew Bird lays off the whistling, the live looping and gimmickry, and just fiddles – as he does wonderfully here on "Darling Corey". Other tracks include "Wreck Of Old 97", "Katy Dear", "Down With The Old Canoe", "The Little Grave In Georgia", "My Brother's Will", "Dixie Boll Weavel", "Is This My Destiny", "Mary Of The Wild Moor", "My Texas Girl" and more. CD

Music from Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Casa Loma Orchestra, Mills Blues Rhythm Band, Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra, Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra, Andy Kirk And His Clouds Of Joy, Roy Eldridge And His Orchestra, and more. CD