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Three great albums from Alice Coltrane – all late 70s albums for Warner Brothers that really show her taking off as both a solo performer and a spiritual force! First up is Eternity – seminal 70s work from one of the most righteous jazz musicians ever! On this set, Alice Coltrane moves past the rawer spiritual sound of her Impulse albums – working with a more focused vision and an approach to jazz that takes her way past the identity of just being "Mrs Coltrane", into territory that's a more perfect expression of her spiritual vision. The approach calls for more ambitious orchestrations, yet never in a way that overwhelms the jazz basis of the music – and Alice herself is on Fender Rhodes, organ, and harp – working with players who include Fred Jackson and Hubert Laws on reeds, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, George Bohannon on trombone, Charlie Haden on bass, Ben Riley on drums, and Armando Peraza on congas. Titles include "Spiritual Eternal", "Om Supreme", "Morning Workshop", "Wisdom Eye", and "Los Caballos". Radha Krsna Nama Saknirtana is pure spiritual loveliness from Alice, and a record that features a lot of additional playing by Indian musicians! Clearly, the Hari Krishnas have gotten to the lady here – as you can tell by the orange robe she's wearing on the cover, and the blank stare in her eyes – but that doesn't stop the album from being a nice one, filled with the soaring spiritualism of her best 70s work, and infused with a cross-cultural approach to jazz that makes for a wonderfully expansive sound. Tracks include "Om Namah Sivaya", "Hare Krishna", and "Govinda Jai Jai". Transcendence is a beautiful record from Alice Coltrane – a swirling mix of spiritual jazz and themes from Indian music! Alice plays organ, Fender Rhodes, and harp – building the sound as the album progresses, from simple airy strings to an earthier groove that features vocal refrains in unison with the keyboards, chanting away, over and over, stretching to the heavens in a cosmic groove! The record features a lot of variations on traditional Indian themes – including "Sivaya", "Ghana Nila", and "Bhaja Govindam" – plus the original tracks "Transcendence" and "Vrindavana Sanchara". CD

Essential set that brings together all of Herbie's key transitional recordings for Warner Brothers! Herbie started his years for the label playing in a more straight-ahead funky style – with perennial sample fave recordings like "Wiggle Waggle", "Fat Mama", and "Tell Me A Bedtime Story". Soon, however, he moved into more spacey territory – of the sort that he would later examine fully on his Columbia recordings of the early 70s. Tracks in this vein include "Sleeping Giant", "Water Torture", and "Wandering Spirit Song". The whole set features 3 full albums – Fat Mama, Crossings, and Mwandishi – and it's a great 2CD set filled with hard to find jazz funk classics! CD

Peter Ivers's entire output for Warner Brothers in the mid 70s – including the original LPs Terminal Love & Peter Ivers, plus the Nirvana Peter compilation, which didn't appear until the mid 80s and STILL sounded ahead of its time – in a complete 2CD set! Peter has a distinctive voice and offbeat lyrical sensibility that feels a lot more akin to the arty fringe of the major labels in the early 80s than it does to 1974 or 1976, he's really a pioneer. It's no surprise at all that he'd end up being the host of LA television's legendary music program New Wave Theatre in the early 80s, but it's surprising he doesn't get more credit these days for influencing the kind thing that'd come to be called "new wave" years after his contributing work! Disc 1 includes the Terminal Love and Peter Ivers LPs, with "Alpha Centauri", "OO Girl", "Modern Times", "Holding The Cobra", "Even Stephen Foster", 'Audience Of One", "I'm Sorry Alice", "Eighteen And Dreaming", "Peter", "Rock And Roll Embarrassment", "Child In A Chair" and more. Disc 2 (the Nirvana Peter comp) features a few tracks from his 2 proper LPs and rarities. The 2CDs have 33 tracks in all. CD

A pair of early 70s albums from the mighty Alexis Korner – back to back in a single set! First up is Bootleg Him – a record with a strange mix of elements on the outside – a confusing title, a proggy-cover image – but one that's got a sound that's a perfect maturation of the fantastic sound of Alexis Korner in the 60s! Korner's one of the overlooked heroes in British music – a strong devotee of American blues, and maybe so much so that sounds more like his inspirations than most – but never in a slavish way, as Alexis is always able to full absorb the sound, and make you feel like it's coming from his own deep soul – and over the years, he really shifted things in these slight, but powerful ways – making his music a huge influence on a big generation of UK rock acts to come. Here, the double-length set is almost a "thanks back" affair – as Korner records with a huge all-star array that includes folks like Robert Plant, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Graham Bond, Lol Coxhill, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Harry Beckett, and many more – a fantastic crossroads of all that's hip in British rock, blues, and jazz at the start of the 70s. Titles include "I Got A Woman", "Rockin", "She Foold Me", "I Wonder Who", "Dee", "Love Is Gonna Go", "Clay House Inn", "Evil Hearted Woman", "Mighty Mighty", "Sunrise", and "Hellhound On My Tail". Accidentally Borne In New Orleans (title correct, by the way!) is a record that really has Alexis Korner stretching out from the straighter blues of his 60s material – using his fantastic style on a set of tunes that show as much New Orleans influence as you might guess from the title – but also an evolved British roots rock quality too! The group is very interesting – relatively lean, and with loads of saxophone solos from Mel Collins – the reedman who made some early 70s King Crimson albums so great – plus second guitar from Peter Thorup, who also adds a bit of slide, and makes for a strongly guitar-based groove amidst some of the slightly funky rhythms. Titles include "Gospel Ship", "Lo & Behold", "County Shoes", "Don't Change On Me", "Rock Me", and "Sweet Sympathy". CD

A trio of albums from Taj Mahal – and some unreleased live tracks as well! First up is Music Fuh Yah – a sweetly soulful set that has Taj Mahal really trying on some new flavors – yet still keeping things strongly in the bluesy territory of his roots! In addition to the lead vocals and lots of acoustic guitar, the set also features key contributions from Rudy Costa on a range of saxes, plus flute and kalimba too – plus other unusual elements that include steel drums, timbales, and banjo – all of which inflect different moments with freshly playful sounds, and a surprisingly Caribbean vibe at times. Titles include "You Got It", "Sailin", "Truck Driver's Two Step", "Curry", and "The Four Mills Brothers". Brothers is one of the better records that Taj Mahal cut during in the later 70s – probably because it was a soundtrack, and pushed the groove into some interesting places – with Taj's gruff vocals working over some Caribbean rhythms and modern blues, and more smoothed out moments! The latter moments actually creep near or even cross over the line into kind of a fusiony soul feel, with the tightly thumping electric bass and rolling sax, but Taj keeps the overall vibe as uncommonly diverse as his other records for Columbia. Tracks include "Malcolm's Song", "David & Angela", "Night Rider", "Brother's Doin Time", "Free The Brothers", "Love Theme In The Key Of D", and "Funky Butt". Evolution is a well-titled set – given that the record really shows an evolution in the style of Taj Mahal! Some cuts are still in an older bluesy mode, but a few others feature some great backings from Leon Pendarvis – who creates this fuller, soaring sort of style that takes off with plenty of power! The approach is a great way to use Taj's vocals in a richer 70s soul setting – and those cuts are balanced by some more stripped-down numbers that include a few that follow in the recent Mahal use of steel drums. Titles include "Sing A Happy Song", "Lowdown Showdown", "Why You Do Me This Way", "Highnite", and "Salsa De Laventille". 2CD set also features 7 bonus live tracks recorded in Chicago in 1977 – but not issued at the time! CD

A massive package of funky music – and maybe one that no home should be without – as the set includes all the classic Josie Records and Warner Brothers albums by legendary New Orleans funk group The Meters – plus a fair bit of bonus tracks too! The Josie albums are incredible – a lean, powerful blend of funky drums, bass, guitar, and organ – almost the New Orleans answer to Booker T & The MGs, but with a sound that's far funkier overall – and which continues to bring new ears to the magic of The Meters as the years go by! Their Warner work is a bit fuller – as the group were part of a big wave of Nola talent to get the nod from LA – which means that The Meters were able to add in vocals, experiment with arrangements, use additional instrumentation – yet all without ever losing that core groove that made them so great! This package is the first time all the records have been brought together, and many are presented here in the "expanded edition" versions with bonus tracks – which makes for a whopping 116 titles on 6CDs – bonus tracks, plus the full albums The Meters, Look Ka Py Py, Struttin, Cabbage Alley, Rejuvenation, Fire On The Bayou, Trick Bag, and New Directions – plus some singles too! CD

A pair of amazing albums – and a huge amount of bonus material too – all from one of the coolest groups on Warner Brothers at the end of the 60s! First up is the record The Moth Confesses – one of our favorite albums ever from the genius moment of late 60s Warner Brothers – a set we'd rank right up there next to our favorites by Van Dyke Parks and Harper's Bizarre! The set's billed as a "phonograph opera", written by Tupper Saussy – and it's served up with these fantastic arrangements that are ambitious, but nicely handled, too – with lots of groovy currents that keep the whole thing far from soppier territory of cats like Rod McKuen, and always done with that great sense of wit that makes this Warner era so great! There's definitely a few tuneful tracks that could spin as Sunshine Pop hits – but the whole thing's really better taken as a whole, as the way everything comes together with a sense of mood and tone is completely sublime – really a lost aesthetic, and one that deserves new discovery all these many years later. Titles include "Morning Girl", "Brilliant Colors", "Little Sparrow", "The Last Time I Saw Jacqueline", "Cowboy", and "The New Life Out There". Next Is Neon Philharmonic – the second sublime album from Neon Philharmonic – and one that seems to go even deeper than the first in its blend of ambitious musical themes and mature lyrical ideas! The presentation here is even more symphonic than on the first record – but at a level that's never soppy or sleepy – as there's a gentle groove on most tracks, loping around in these really lovely modes that make the tunes sparkle and glisten with the best sort of late 60s Warner Brothers wit! There's this wonderful mix of longing, nostalgia, and a kind of new vision for post-60s adulthood to the record – very hard to describe, but completely wonderful – at once completely heartfelt, but also with a great sense of distance on itself. Titles include "Long John The Pirate", "Do You Remember Dresden", "You Lied", "Forever Hold Your Peace", "Harry", and the wonderful "F Scott Fitzgerald & William Shakespeare". The 22 bonus tracks are especially amazing – rare singles, b-sides, and even some radio spots too – a huge amount of added genius from this incredible group. Bonus titles include "Letters Crossing", "Jody", "Better Times", "A Little Love", "Flowers For Your Pillow", "Snow", "Clouds", "To Be Continued", and "Keep The Faith In Me". CD

A big overview collection of work from the key years of reedman David Sanborn – a player who certainly knew how to hit the heights with the sales of his records, but also had a surprisingly strong, rich career over the years! If you only think of Sanborn as a smooth jazz pioneer, then you'll find plenty to open up your mind here – as David first recorded as a solo act for Warner Brothers at a time when he was making key contributions to sessions for other artists, then found ways to consistently stay ahead of the fusion and electric jazz mainstream – to the point where in the later recordings here, he's almost back to basics in a really surprising way! As with other great anthology collections on this label, there's a really strong track selection – one that not only features key album tracks, but singles and even a few live cuts too – a really well-chosen batch of 46 tunes that include "Believer (12" mix)", "Love & Happiness (live)", "High Roller", "Flight", "Heba", "Short Visit", "This Masquerade", "Lesly Ann (radio)", "Smile (live)", "Infant Eyes", "Naked Moon", "Brother Ray", "Imogene", "Come To Me Nina", "Lotus Blossom (live)", "Daydreaming", "Same Girl", "Bang Bang (single)", "Summer", "I Do It For Your Love", "The Water Is Wide", "Got To Give It Up (rmx edit)", "Slam (7" version)", and "Duck Ankles". CD

The complete Warner Brothers recordings of Sly Stone – and a much-needed look at an oft-ignored side of his career! The set features the full tracks from the albums Back On The Right Track and Ain't But The One Way – as well as 5 previously unissued demos, which have a rough and ready feel that almost makes them the best of the bunch! The work on the albums is surprisingly great – not classic early Sly, but with this warmly compressed groove that extends his sound nicely – and which has a really great mainstream funk appeal. Sly's using the studio as an instrument more than ever before – getting some great sounds out of the way he brings the vocals, drums, and guitars all together in the mix – and reinventing himself a bit, without losing his groove. Titles include "The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry)", "Shine It On", "It Takes All Kinds", "Who's To Say", "Sheer Energy", "LOVINU", "One Way", "High, Y'All", "Ha Ha Hee Hee", "You Really Got Me", "Sylvester", "You're The One (inst demo)", "In Other Words (demo)", "Hand Of Love (demo)", and "Get Back (backing track takes 2 & 3)". CD

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Features Devo, Groupo Sportivo, Jakob Magnusson, Arlo Guthrie, Adam Mitchell, Jr Walker. 7-inch, Vinyl record

This great Japanese series moves farther into the 70s than before – and brings together a great array of pop rock nuggets from the mighty Warner Brothers vaults! The music is partly soft rock of the post Sunshine years, but also shares other sweet 70s modes – maybe a pre-AOR sort of vibe, when tuneful songs could be well-produced, but still sound relatively personal presented here by artists with a surprising mix of original styles. There's a few giant hits here, but they're mixed with lots of overlooked 70s pop gems – in a lineup of 21 tracks that include "Let There Be Music" by Orleans, "Motorcycle Mama" by Sailcat, "Please Sent Me Someone To Love" by Paul Butterfield's Better Days, "We May Never Pass This Way Again" by Seals & Crofts, "One Woman Man" by The Ides Of March, "Tighter Tighter" by Alive & Kicking, "Popsicle Toes" by Michael Franks, "I Don't Wanna Go" by Bruce Roberts, "Love Is The Answer" by England Dan & John Ford Coley, "Never Let Her Go" by David Gates, "Cherry Pie" by The Hagers, and the surprising "Five Years On" by Laverne & Shirley. CD

Includes "I Second That Emotion", "The Harder They Come", "Mission In The Rain", "Mystery Train", and the Dylan covers "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". CD

A trio of wonderful records – plus rare bonus tracks too! First up is the classic Oh Good Grief – one of the coolest, grooviest albums that pianist Vince Guaraldi ever recorded – a set that's got the same Peanuts theme as his earlier dates for Fantasy Records, but which also features some sweet electric touches that only make things even better than before! In addition to his warmly vamping piano, with all those lyrical touches we love so much, Vince is playing an electric harpsichord too – which makes for some very groovy moments – in a cool quartet that features guitar from Eddie Duran, bass from Stanley Gilbert, and drums from the great Carl Burnett! All tunes are Peanut-themed – the music that Guaraldi wrote for the TV specials – but they're sometimes taken at a looser style that's even jazzier overall – as you'll hear on the classic "Linus & Lucy", plus "Red Baron", "Peppermint Patty", "Great Pumpkin Waltz", and "Rain Rain Go Away". The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi nicely expands Vince's sound of earlier years – by taking his lyrical piano groove and adding in a bit of electric harpsichord – plus slightly larger arrangements that feature a bit of electric bass, guitar, and just the right light touches of strings. The resulting sound is wonderful – as deeply reflective as some of Vince's better-known work, but with some cool late 60s touches that really give the album a fresh kind of feel. And heck, Vince even sings on 2 Tim Hardin tracks – "Black Sheep Boy" and "Reason To Believe" – using a great raspy style of vocals that we didn't even know he had! Other titles include a great electric version of "The Beat Goes On", plus cool originals "Nobody Else", "Coffee and Doe-Nuts", and "Lucifer's Lady". Alma-Ville was cut during Vince's late 60s hipster phase – and it combines work on piano with a bit of electric playing, plus hip LA arrangements that include drums by Dom Um Romao, guitar by Herb Ellis, and added percussion by Rubens Bassini. Tracks are mostly originals – short groovers and sing-song numbers, a lot cooler than some of Vince's earlier work – all dancing along in a sweetly breezy groove that makes for a heck of a delightful little album! Titles include "Rio From The Air", "Cristo Redentor", "Uno Y Uno", "Detained In San Ysidro", "Jambos", "Alma Ville", and "The Masked Marvel". 2CD set features 4 bonus tracks – "Oh Happy Day", "The Sharecropper's Daughter", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose (take 15)", and 'The BEat Goes On (alt take 14)". CD

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The flute sound of the Andes gets a bit of a hip 70s twist – in this album produced by Paul Simon, caught somewhere between his version of "El Condor Pasa" and his later South African pop. The group's got a traditional Peruvian feel – pan flutes, percussion, and a bit of guitar – augmented by some larger production touches that expand the sound past the folkloric. Titles include "Campanas De Santa Cruz", "Buena Nueva", "Una", "Canten Cantores", and "Urumbamba". LP, Vinyl record album

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One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s – even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here – drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would mire down performance art in years to come. Instead, she's got a clean, clear style that's simply amazing – spoken passages that are poetic and pointed, but which also have a slight undercurrent of wit – a charming quality that never takes itself too seriously, even when the sounds and styles are somewhat dark. Instrumentation includes some great rhythm passages from David Van Tieghem, plus surprising performances from Rufus Harley on bagpipes and George Lewis on trombone. Titles include "From The Air", "Big Science", "O Superman", "Born Never Asked", "Walking & Falling", "Example #22", "Let X = X", and "It Tango". LP, Vinyl record album

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Recorded live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, February 7-10, 1983. A HUGE amount of material! Includes the tracks "Say Hello", "Walk The Dog", "Violin Solo", "Closed Circuits", "For A Large And Changing Room", "Pictures Of It", "Language Of The Future", "Reverb", "If You Can't Talk About It, Point To It", "City Song", "Finnish Farmers", "Democratic Way", "Private Property", "Neon Duet", "Difficult Listening Hour", "So Happy Birthday", "Dance Of Electricity", "Sax Duet", "Born, Never Asked", "From The Air", "Beginning French", "Talkshow", "Cello Solo", "Blue Lagoon", "Stiff Neck", "Hothead", "Telephone Song", "Sweaters", "We've Got Four Big Clocks", "I Dreamed I Had To Take A Test", "Big Top", "It Was Up In The Mountains", "Big Science", "Red Map", "Strike", "False Documents", and many, many more! LP, Vinyl record album

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Near-perfect work from Ashford & Simpson – really grooving in full powerhouse mode here, and never missing a beat! By all rights, the team should have run out of steam by this point, but the album's another winner from their sublime Warner years – caught in a unique space between chart soul, ensemble funk, and disco – taking all the best elements of each, and really sending the whole thing home with some incredible vocals and impeccable production and arrangements! Titles include "Rushing To", "Love Don't Make It Right", "We'll Meet Again", "Get Out Your Handkerchief", and "I Ain't Asking For Your Love". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Love Don't Make It Right (12" disco mix)" and "Love Don't Make It Right (Joey Negro mix)". CD

A groovy groovy soundtrack that contains one of the Association's greatest songs! "Goodbye Columbus" may not be as famous as some of their bigger hits – but we love it to death, and it's the kind of catchy groover they'll find us singing in the coffin long after we've passed away! The soundtrack features the vocal version of the track – as well as some other vocal numbers like "It's Gotta Be Real" and "So Kind To Me". Plus, the soundtrack's also got some excellent instrumental numbers that are in the best spirit of the group's music – with loads of dreamy arrangements and light lilting pop melodies. Tunes include "Love Has A Way", "A Moment To Share", "A Time For Love", and "How Will I Know You?". LP, Vinyl record album

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A hell of a debut from The B-52s – and a record that's become surprisingly timeless over the years, despite a retro-styled approach by the group! These guys aren't the silly group of later years here – and instead, they've got this moody darkness that's wonderful – a re-envisioned postwar America, one in which the neuroses are all on the outside – served up with instrumentation that's stark, but incredibly tight – snapping drums, riffing guitar, and these great organ lines that sound beautiful next to the vocals of Fred and the girls. The set gave the group their perennial hit "Rock Lobster" – but taken as a whole, it's an incredibly different landscape – as you'll discover on tracks that include "Planet Claire", "52 Girls", "Dance This Mess Around", "Lava", "There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)", "Hero Worship", "6060-842" and "Downtown". LP, Vinyl record album

They may look goofy on the cover, but the young B-52s are incredible here – working with this spare sense of power that almost makes us think that we didn't need most of what happened in rock and roll during the 70s – given the way these guys can distill a mood or moment down to just a few deft instrumental turns and offbeat lyrics! The record's not punk, but it's also not new wave either – at least in the conventional way – and there's a darkness here that goes way past any simple cliches you may have associated with the band – a haunting feel that transcends most of what they were ever capable of in later years. We might even say this one tops their debut – and titles include "Party Out Of Bounds", "Dirty Back Road", "Runnin Around", "Give Me Back My Man", "Private Idaho", "Devil In My Car", "Quiche Lorraine", "Strobe Light" and "53 Miles West Of Venus". LP, Vinyl record album

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The kind of overlooked, understated gem that should have put Badfinger at the top of the charts in the mid 70s – a record of impeccable songwriting, really great production, and a refinement of an earlier musical ideal that really points the way forward – all while avoiding most of the pitfalls of some of the group's UK contemporaries! There's a quality here that almost reminds us of the more straightforward elements of Wings, but with a rootsy vibe too – almost a bit like Little Feat, but definitely British in terms of the way the vocals come across. The album's overflowing with hooks, and the kinds of songs that should have been huge – and maybe that's what makes it such a treat all these many years later. Titles include "Just A Chance", "Got To Get Out Of Here", "Dennis", "No One Knows", "In The Meantime/Some Other Time", "King Of The Load", "Love Time", and "Meanwhile Back At The Ranch/Should I Smoke". LP, Vinyl record album

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A very groovy set of cop show jazz from the classic TV show 77 Sunset Strip – every bit as tasty as some of Henry Mancini's work for similar programs at the time! Warren Barker's got a really playful approach to the tunes on the set – mixing together straight jazz with some nice bachelor pad touches in the arrangements – often giving instruments like piano or trombone a slightly off-kilter feel, thanks to the way they're recorded. Most of the tunes have swinging and jaunty rhythms that groove around in a cool late 50s sort of way – and although there's a few standards thrown into the mix, the overall presentation is fresh enough to make them feel like originals! Titles include "Late At Bailey's Pad", "Cleo's Theme", "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "Kookie's Caper", "Stu Bailey's Blues", "Caper At The Coffee House", "77 Sunset Strip Cha Cha", and "Blue Night On The Strip". LP, Vinyl record album

Hip groovy loungey sounds from the guy who arranged and conducted the music to 77 Sunset Strip! Tracks have goofy names like "Cappucino", "Cafe Expresso", and "Hit The Road to Dreamland" – and the album's got a beatnik jazz feel that's very nice! LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty compelling John Barry score – written for this strange semi-comedy which starred George C Scott and Julie Christie, and which was directed by Richard Lester. The music is a mixture of groovy themes and slower numbers that still have a modulated groovy approach – strings gliding with a gentle submerged groove, in a warm easy fashion, but not as dramatic as more conventional soundtracks. There's plenty of great moments on the set – and the soundtrack's a good example of the way that Barry increasingly began to explore space within his compositions as the 60s went on. Titles include "Eat Topless", "Comprehendo", "Petulia", "Motel", "Highway 101", and "Friends Of The Evergreen". LP, Vinyl record album