RIP Michael Jackson

Denny Doherty - Waiting For A Song [1973]

After a lackadaisical country-rock album in 1971 and a Mamas & the Papas contract-fulfilling reunion disc later that year, Denny Doherty laid low for a couple years before issuing this obscure effort. Waiting for a Song is a rather depressing record, Doherty being mired in melancholia more or less from beginning to end. The title of "Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling," paired with the album's title, provide the intertwined recurring lyrical themes: Doherty as the lost artist looking for a song to sing and a reason to live -- the concepts becoming interchangeable after a while -- and continually looking to the past for fear of looking forward. This motif is underscored by the presence of his former bandmates, Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips, on backing vocals throughout the record. Their harmonizing voices are in fine form, but the arrangements are far less novel than those from the group's heyday, and Doherty doesn't hit notes as brightly with his tenor as he once did. Less-than-stunning material and poor distribution rendered this album an instant obscurity, though collectors and Doherty fans were delighted by its reissue on the Varese Vintage imprint in 2001. In hindsight, the record is remarkable for its naked honesty, Doherty making little secret, either in the tunes or in the liner photos, of how much of a wreck he is, but on its own merits, Waiting for a Song is too much of a buzzkill to tout unreservedly. Highlights include the minor AC hit "You'll Never Know" and the Larry Weiss-penned ballad "Lay Me Down (Roll Me Out to Sea)."

Track list:

01.Simone
02.Children Of My Mind
03.You'll Never Know
04.Toghether
05.It Can Only Happen In America
06.Southern Comfort
07.You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
08.Good Night And Good Morning
09.Lay Me Down (Roll Me Out Ot Sea)
10.Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling
11.I'm Home Again

LINK

Denny Doherty - Watcha' Gonna Do? [1970]

Denny Doherty, the voice of numerous Mamas & Papas hits such as "California Dreamin,'" and "Monday, Monday," has been one of the greatest and most underrated lead vocalists of the rock era. While he had not completely explored the area of songwriting during his fame with the Mamas & Papas, he was the one member of the group who was truly at loose ends by the groups' demise in the late 1960s. This, his fist solo album, while perhaps a contractual obligation, has numerous charms. The record has a loose, party-in -the-studio feel, and much of that adds to the overall effect of this slightly country-oriented platter. Tracks such as "Gathering of the Words" and "Don't You Be Fooled" are quite remarkable, and show Doherty to be a sensitive artist in the singer-songwriter vein. A remake of ""Got a Feelin'" features Doherty's world class talent as a vocalist as well. The album's closer, a medley of "Here Comes the Sun" and "The Two of Us" ends the record in grand style, with Jimmy Haskall's exquisite string arrangement taking the listener into a wonderful and warm place.

Track list:

01.Watcha' Gonna Do?
02.Neighbors
03.Gathering The Words
04.Don't You Be Fooled
05.Got A Feelin'
06.Tuesday Morning
07.Still Can't Her The Music
08.Hey Good Looking
09.The Drummer's Song
10.Here Comes The Sun

LINK

Carole King - Tapestry [Bonus Tracks]

Carole King brought the fledgling singer/songwriter phenomenon to the masses with Tapestry, one of the most successful albums in pop music history. A remarkably expressive and intimate record, it's a work of consummate craftsmanship. Always a superior pop composer, King reaches even greater heights as a performer; new songs like the hits "It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move" rank solidly with past glories, while chestnuts like "You've Got a Friend," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" take on added resonance when delivered in her own warm, compelling voice. With its reliance on pianos and gentle drumming, Tapestry is a light and airy work on its surface, occasionally skirting the boundaries of jazz, but it's also an intensely emotional record, the songs confessional and direct; in its time it connected with listeners like few records before it, and it remains an illuminating experience decades later. [The 1999 CD reissue on Sony adds two bonus tracks: the previously unreleased outtake "Out in the Cold" and a previously unreleased live 1973 version (on solo piano) of "Smackwater Jack."]

Track list:

01.I Feel The Earth Move
02.So Far Away
03.It's Too Late
04.Home Again
05.Beautiful
06.Way Over Yonder
07.You've Got A Friend
08.Where You Lead
09.Will You Love Me Tomorrow
10.Smackwater Jack
11.Tapestry
12.(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
13.Out In The Cold
14.Smackwater Jack

LINK

Curtis Mayfield - Do it All Night [1978]

The last Curtis Mayfield album distributed by Warner Bros., during Curtom Records' declining years of 1977-1978, was a maddening album, a complete break in style as Mayfield moved into a pure disco vein. It was his most successful album in three years, but it alienated many longtime fans because he deliberately dumbed down his writing -- he traded his core audience, who couldn't abide the album, for a slightly larger disco audience that had previously eluded him, painting himself into an artistic and career corner. The title track was indicative of the artistic nadir to which Mayfield had to descend to find where the mass audience had gone, a number without an ounce of poetry that he wouldn't have wasted his time with in the studio, much less completed or released, in years past; the beat and the arrangements rather overwhelm anything that Mayfield is saying or singing throughout this album. The closest one gets to the old Curtis Mayfield sound, which is to say, to Curtis Mayfield at all, is "In Love, In Love, In Love," a relatively subdued and soulful number which would have been a secondary track on almost any album that preceded this one, and it is practically lost here, sandwiched in between the commercial dance numbers "Keeps Me Loving You" and "You Are, You Are." Mayfield would adapt his style better to the needs of disco with Heartbeat, his next album.

Track list:

01.Do it All Night
02.No Goodbyes
03.Party, Party
04.Keeps Me Loving You
05.In Love, In Love, In Love
06.You Are, You Are

LINK

Jackie DeShannon - Jackie [Jackie...Plus]

Release Date: Jan 1, 2004
Recording Date: Apr 11, 1973-Sep 27, 1973
The first of two albums on Atlantic records for the singer with an immaculate voice, Jackie was produced by Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd, and Jerry Wexler, one less producer than her What the World Needs Now Is Love album had helping craft the sounds. The festivities start off with John Prine's song "Paradise," a folksy title, not to be confused with the Perry Botkin, Jr./Harry Nilsson/Gil Garfield tune that Bette Midler and the Ronettes covered as the Jackie album tends to stay in an interesting space that could be described as "adult contemporary folk." "Vanilla 'Olay" moves brightly, a rare spirited pop vocal which is one of four compositions by the singer/songwriter here, two-thirds of the 12 selections coming from a dizzying array of songwriters. John Hurley and Ron Wilkins' "Heavy Burdens Me Down" is a beautiful gospel number, and the version of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is one of the album's highlights. It certainly is interesting hearing someone with a traditional voice putting some polish on a Neil Young staple. This album is as smooth and dreamy as Dusty Springfield's Cameo, though the three producers don't let the singer break out of the controlled mood they've set. DeShannon's original "Laid Back Days" tries to escape those confines, and "Vanilla 'Olay" actually does, John Stewart's xylophone bringing the latter to another level. Steve Goodman's "Would You Like to Learn to Dance" has ace Bee Gees co-producer Albhy Galuten adding a distinguished harpsichord -- it really is special, and what the album cries out for is one of those extraordinary songs that the Bee Gees gave to so many artists, from Samantha Sang to Dionne Warwick and Rare Earth. Galuten could have made this very good album even better had he contributed his production skills. Cissy Houston adds some magic to the Donna Weiss/Mary Unobsky composition "I Won't Try to Put Chains on Your Soul," more gospel-pop which is another notable track here. Weiss would of course go on to co-write "Bette Davis Eyes" with DeShannon when the singer moved on to Columbia records for the adult contemporary album New Arrangement. Unlike the string of albums on Imperial where this extraordinary talent got to try new things and get into a groove, this '70s period has work spread across multiple labels, and as the music changed hands the sounds took bigger leaps than they might have had all this activity progressed under a single record company umbrella. Van Morrison's "I Wanna Roo You" works, as do the two Jackie DeShannon originals that conclude the album, "Peaceful in My Soul" and "Anna Karina." DeShannon plays acoustic guitar on "Anna Karina," "Laid Back Days," "Vanilla 'Olay," and "I Wanna Roo You," adding her personality to the musical mix. Jackie is an interesting and worthwhile collection of 12 songs falling stylistically somewhere between her albums What the World Needs Now Is Love from the '60s and You Know Me from the '90s. Her voice is in great shape, and the music is created with loving care, making for a satisfying chapter in the singer's impressive body of work. [Rhino Handmade's 2004 reissue included 12 bonus tracks.]

Track list:

01.Paradise
02.Heavy Burdens Me Down
03.Brand New Start
04.Only Love Can Break Your Heart
05.Laid Back Days
06.Full Time Woman
07.Vanilla O'Lay
08.Would You Like to Learn to Dance
09.I Won't Try to Put Chains on Your Soul
10.I Wanna Roo You
11.Peaceful in My Soul
12.Anna Karina
13.When I'm Gone
14.Drift Away
15.All the Love That's In You
16.Speak Out to Me
17.Hydra
18.Your Old Lady's Leaving
19.Grand Canyon Blues
20.Sweet Sixteen
21.Flamingos Fly
22.Santa Fe
23.The Wonder of You
24.Through the Gates of Gold

LINK

Cass Elliot - Don't Call Me Mama Anymore [1973]

Despite her background in folk music and her popular emergence as "Mama Cass" in the folk-rock group the Mamas & the Papas, Cass Elliot was really a traditional pop entertainer in the pre-rock tradition, and she gradually turned to that field in her solo career of the late '60s and early '70s, putting together a Las Vegas cabaret act and appearing frequently on television. On this live album, recorded at Mister Kelly's, the prestigious Chicago nightclub, in the summer of 1973, she performed her act, which she was polishing in preparation for its adaptation into a television special in the fall. The album was released concurrently with the broadcast of the special, and the album cover describes it as "recreating selected highlights from her CBS television special," which isn't exactly accurate, but never mind. She sings several songs that were written for her and for this act, among them the title song, Earl Brown's extrapolation of her desire to escape the "Mama Cass" moniker. "Extraordinary," borrowed from the Broadway musical Pippin, is given special lyrics to relate to Elliot, and "I'm Coming to the Best Part of My Life" is an optimistic statement of her view of the future. The heart of the show is "The Torch Song Medley," which allows her to exercise her pipes on standards like "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" and "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," demonstrating her abilities with such material for anyone who might have missed her treatments of "Glad to Be Unhappy" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Unfortunately, Elliot's successful transition into being a middle-of-the-road entertainer meant that she had to suffer the fate of her fellow pop singers, banishment from the charts. More tragically, this turned out to be her final album before her death.

Track list:

01.Introduction Dream A Little Dream Of MeExtraordinary
02.I Think A Lot About You
03.Audience Rap, Pt. 1
04.Don't Call Me Mama Anymore
05.My Love
06.I'm Coming To The Best Part Of My Life
07.The Torch Song Medley I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues_Come Here To Sing A Torch Song
08.Audience Rap, Pt. 2
09.The Night Before
10.I Like What I Like
11.I'll Be Seeing You
12.Theme From L'Amour [Reprise]
13.I Think A Lot About You [Studio Version]
14.Listen To The World

LINK

Cass Elliot - Cass Elliot [1972]

ass Elliot's departure from ABC Dunhill Records and their bubblegum marketing of her was probably the greatest career move that this awesome vocalist ever made. RCA obviously has better things for her in mind, treating her with the same sort of care that they bestowed on Harry Nilsson. The company let this pair of world class vocalists choose their own material and brought them together with great musicians and arrangers. The end result with Elliot was possibly her finest solo album. She was certainly more comfortable with the material. One of the best performances is Judy Sill's "Jesus Was a Crossmaker," which is vaguely reminiscent of Laura Nyro's fine work of the period. Elliot's version of Randy Newman's "I'll Be Home" is also a standout. Elliot's sister, Leah Kunkel emerges as a sensitive songwriter on this record, and Elliot's reading of "When It Doesn't Work Out" is absolutely graceful. Arranger/conductor Benny Golson's work perfectly frames one of the voices of a generation.

Track list:

01.I'll Be Home
02.Baby I'm Yours
03.Jesus Was A Cross Maker
04.That Song
05.When It Doesn't Work Out
06.I'll Be There
07.Disney Girls
08.I Think It's Going To Rain Today
09.Cherries Jubilee
10.It's All In The Game

LINK

Mama Cass - Dream a Little Dream of Me [1968]

At the time the Mamas & the Papas broke up in 1968, it was painfully obvious that Dunhill Records was placing all their bets on Elliot as far as a successful solo recording career. They certainly had good reason. While Elliot wasn't always the lead voice on the hits (Denny Doherty usually was), she provided the sound that brought the vocal majesty together, as well as an image. The "final" Mamas single, "Dream a Little Dream" was now billed as a "Mama Cass" single, and Dunhill quickly brought her into the studio for an album. The result is one of her finest, and an important sociological record, too. It can easily be described as the sound of Laurel Canyon in 1968, with songs by Graham Nash (whom Elliot was in the process of introducing to Stills and Crosby), John Sebastian, and Robbie Robertson. John Simon exquisitely produced this album, employing his "nuts and bolts" technique that was so effective on his work with The Band. It was a great start for her solo career. Unfortunately after this, Elliot fell into the record industry machinery, and quickly began turning out bubblegum hits that weren't really where she was at. This sounds like a place closer to her heart, and to listeners' hearts as well.

Track list:

01.Dream A Little Dream Of Me
02.California Earthquake
03.The Room Nobody Lives In
04.Talking To Your Toothbrush
05.Blues For Breakfast
06.You Know Who I Am
07.Rubber Band
08.Long Time Loving You
09.Jane, The Insane Dog Lady
10.What Was I Thinking Of
11.Burn Your Hatred
12.Sweet Believer

LINK

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds [40th Anniversary] [2006)

Release Date: Aug 29, 2006
Recording Date: Jan 22, 1965-Mar 11, 1966
The best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more. It wouldn't have been a classic without great songs, and this has some of the group's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes which evoke both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well). The spiritual quality of the material is enhanced by some of the most gorgeous upper-register male vocals (especially by Brian and Carl Wilson) ever heard on a rock record. "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," "Caroline No," and "Sloop John B" (the last of which wasn't originally intended to go on the album) are the well-known hits, but equally worthy are such cuts as "You Still Believe in Me," "Don't Talk," "I Know There's an Answer," and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." It's often said that this is more of a Brian Wilson album than a Beach Boys recording (session musicians played most of the parts), but it should be noted that the harmonies are pure Beach Boys (and some of their best). Massively influential upon its release (although it was a relatively low seller compared to their previous LPs), it immediately vaunted the band into the top level of rock innovators among the intelligentsia, especially in Britain, where it was a much bigger hit.

Track list:

01.Wouldn't It Be Nice
02.You Still Believe In Me
03.That's Not Me (Mono)
04.Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
05.I'm Waiting For The Day
06.Let's Go Away For Awhile
07.Sloop John B
08.God Only Knows
09.I Know There's An Answer
10.Here Today
11.I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
12.Pet Sounds
13.Caroline No
14.Hang On To Your Ego
15.Wouldn't It Be Nice [Stereo]
16.You Still Believe In Me [Stereo]
17.That's Not Me [Stereo]
18.Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) [Stereo]
19.I'm Waiting For The Day [Stereo]
20.Let's Go Away For Awhile [Stereo]
21.Sloop John B [Stereo]
22.God Only Knows [Stereo]
23.I Know There's An Answer [Stereo]
24.Here Today [Stereo]
25.I Just Wasn't Made For These Times [Stereo]
26.Pet Sounds [Stereo]
27.Caroline No [Stereo]

LINK

Aretha Franklin - Sweet Bitter Love [1970]

Some uneven, but superbly sung, light pop, overproduced R&B, and soul from Aretha Franklin's days on Columbia. The label has been steadily recycling Franklin material, and while much of it deserves a second listen, there are some better anthologies than this one. The title track, however, is an excellent number, and there are some others that are equally solid.

Track list:

01.All Night Long
02.Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
03.Nobody Like You
04.Today I Sing the Blues
05.Sweet Bitter Love
06.Try a Little Tenderness
07.Skylark
08.Johnny
09.God Bless the Child
10.If Ever I Would Leave You

LINK

Eddie Hinton - Very Extremely Dangerous

Recording Date: Nov 1977
In his book Sweet Soul Music, Peter Guralnick described Eddie Hinton as "the last of the great white soul singers," and his debut album, 1978's Very Extremely Dangerous, sounds like a glorious throwback to the salad days of the Muscle Shoals, AL, R&B hit factory of the 1960s, where Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin cut some of their most memorable songs. Hinton had already earned an estimable reputation as a session guitarist by the time he finally got to step up to the mic as a solo artist, and Very Extremely Dangerous features him backed up by the always-expert Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and Hinton's strong and wiry guitar runs fit the group's emphatic support like a glove. (Hinton and his friends also knew how to bring a solid rock drive to these songs without losing their soulful groove in the process.) As a singer, Hinton was never afraid to step on the gas, and if his vocals are sometimes a bit over the top, they're also consumed with a raw and sweaty joy; like Wilson Pickett, Hinton is able to bring a surprising musicality to a shouting style that can express the pleasures of a hard-partying Saturday night ("Shout Bamalama") as well as the tender agony of love ("I Got the Feeling"). It was Eddie Hinton's poor fortune to cut a great blue-eyed soul album just as disco and funk had bumped deep soul off the charts, but Very Extremely Dangerous still stands as a fine example of latter-day soul at its most accomplished.

Track list:

01.You Got Me Singing
02.Concept World
03.I Got The Feeling
04.Shout Bamalama
05.Get Off In It
06.Brand New Man
07.Shoot The Moon
08.We Got It
09.Yeah Man
10.I Want It All

LINK

Mavis Staples - Only for the Lonely [Compilation]

Release Date: Mar 21, 1993
Recording Date: Feb 24, 1969-Sep 29, 1969
This 21-track anthology collects songs recorded in 1969 and issued on three albums. The roster includes a strong duet with Johnnie Taylor called "That's The Way Love Is" and her signature tune, "A House Is Not A Home." Steve Cropper produced and arranged 11 cuts, with Don Davis producing another eight. Staples' energy, delivery, timing and technique were consistently awesome. Unfortunately, only a few of these songs got much attention outside R&B circles, but their quality shows Staples' greatness as a soul vocalist.

Track list:

01.Until I Met You
02.Sweet Things You Do
03.The Choking Kind
04.You're Driving Me (To the Arms of a Stranger)
05.A House Is Not a Home
06.Security
07.Son of a Preacher Man
08.Pick Up the Pieces
09.Chained
10.Good to Me
11.You Send Me
12.I Have Learned to Do Without You
13.How Many Times
14.Endlessly
15.You're the Fool
16.Since I Fell for You
17.What Happened to the Real Me
18.Since You Became a Part of My Life
19.It Makes Me Wanna Cry
20.Don't Change Me Now
21.That's the Way Love Is

LINK

The Mamas & The Papas - Monterey International Pop Festival [1971]

With the lengthy title of Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival, this 1971 release was recorded at the event held at Monterey, CA, between June 16-18 in 1967. Six of the eight tunes appear on the box set Rhino released of the mega concert, excluding "Somebody Groovy" and "Spanish Harlem." John Phillips' arranging and songwriting genius has never been properly recognized as the inspiring force that it was and continues to be, and though this Wally Heider remote recording (mixed in the studio by Erick Weinberg) is deficient, the performance by the original group at this important point in time is enthusiastic and worthwhile. As this writer put it in the liner notes requested by Dinky Dawson for his production of the latter-day version of the band's Sold Out: Live at the Savoy 3/12/82 on Rykodisc, "The highly influential group has not had the luxury of each and every live cassette and studio outtake traded the way Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones get studied, sought after, and talked about." At Monterey the band included many of the musicians from the Deliver album -- future Bread keyboard player Larry Knechtel was utilized along with Joe Osborne on bass and Dr. Eric Hord on guitar. Replacing Captain & Tennille drummer Hal Blaine was Chicago area percussionist Fast Eddie. The disc is vocal-heavy, as it should be for a harmony quartet, and the bootleg quality actually adds a sort of charm. Dunhill/ABC was desperate for more Mamas & Papas product and the drive of the live version of "Got a Feeling" didn't deny the label something substantial to offer the fans. A band so slick in the studio is fun heard letting it all hang out at this monumental event, and the bottom line is that for fans this is a wonderful, if all too brief, glimpse of the four in performance at the height of their fame. It's 33 minutes and 29 seconds -- including on-stage chatter -- that becomes more valuable as time goes by. Listen to the band cook on "California Dreamin'" and John Phillips belt it out with Mama Cass countering his moves. As credible as any garage rock group churning out "Pushin' Too Hard" and hoping for stardom, these stars shine perhaps because the performance is somewhat ragged. Who wants a clone of the studio stuff anyway?

Track list:

01.Straight Shooter
02.Got a Feelin'
03.California Dreamin'
04.Spanish Harlem
05.Somebody Groovy
06.I Call Your Name
07.Monday, Monday
08.Dancing in the Street
09.(Outro) Instrumental

LINK

The Mugwumps - The Mugwumps [1967]

The Mugwumps sole album -- not issued until well after the principal members had achieved fame in other groups -- is a quilt of pop, folk-rock, and R&B tunes with an awkward, unfinished feel. A glimmer of the folk-rock that would flower in 1965-1966 is evident in the tender ballad "Here It Is Another Day," an Elliot-Hendricks original. But the covers of the Coasters and Bo Diddley are substandard, and some of the other tracks are uneasy collisions of New York pop and Merseybeat. There's not much evidence to indicate the Mugwumps would have developed into anything special, though it has its historical interest, particularly to fans of the Lovin' Spoonful and the Mamas & the Papas.

Track list:

01.Searchin
02. I Don't Wanna Know
03.I'll Remember Tonight
04. Here It Is Another Day
05.Do You Know What I Mean
06.You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover
07.Everybody's Been Talkin'
08.Do What They Don't Say
09.So Fine

LINK

Diana Ross - Diana! Original TV Soundtrack

Release Date: Mar 29, 1971
The very fact that Diana Ross' third album was Diana! The Original TV Soundtrack and not a full-fledged studio record was ample proof that she was more concerned with being an all-around entertainer than simply a singer. Fortunately, she was very good as an entertainer, as Diana! illustrates. True, a few moments — namely the Bill Cosby and Danny Thomas sequences and her duets with the comedians — fall flat without visuals, but her showtunes and covers are all quite enjoyable. Nevertheless, they can't help but be overshadowed by the Jackson 5's medley, which captures the group at their dynamic prime. Even if Diana is eclipsed on Diana!, the best moments on the record prove that she is a fine showwoman in her own right.

Track list:


01. Intro
02. Diana Ross - Don't Rain On My Parade
03. The Jackson 5 - Medley: Mama's Pearl / Walk On By / The Love You Save
04. Diana Ross - (They Long To Be) Close To You
05. Bill Cosby - (Segment)
06. Diana Ross & Bill Cosby - Love Story
07. Diana Ross - Remember Me
08. The Jackson 5 - Medley: I'll Be There / Feelin' Alright
09. Danny Thomas - (Segment)
10. Diana Ross - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
11. Diana Ross - I Love You (Call Me)

LINK

Studio 99 - The Doors A Tribute

Release Date: Feb 14, 2006

Track list:

01.Light My Fire
02.L.A. Woman
03.Alabama Song
04.Back Door Man
05.Love Me Two Times
06.Touch Me
07.Break On Through
08.Hello I Love You
09.When The Music's Over
10.People Are Strange
11.Love Her Madly
12.Riders On The Storm
13.Been Down So Long
14.The Crystal Ship
15.The Unknown Soldier
16.Road House Blues

LINK

Dan Penn - Singles and Demos

Compilation of Dan Penn's Singles and Demos

Track list:

01.Crazy Over You (Earth 1013)
02.You Don't Treat Me Right (Earth 1013)
03.Close To Me (Fame 6402)
04.Let Them Talk (Fame 6402)
05.Just As I Am (Fame 6409)
06.Diamonds (Fame 6409)
07.I'm Your Puppet (MGM K13415)
08.Is A Bluebird Blue (MGM K13415)
09.Willie And The Hand Jive (MGM K13458)
10.I Need Someone (MGM K13458)
11.Nice Place To Visit (Atlantic 2595)
12.Love Is Strange (Atlantic 2595)
13.Skin Deep (Instrumental) (Beautiful 1001)
14.Buckaroo Bill (Happy Tiger HT 538)
15.Stony (Bell 45,327)
16.Blind Leading The Blind (Bell 45,327)
17.How's The World Treating You (United Artists 508) aka Danny Lee
18.Stop Calling Me Baby (United Artists 508) aka Danny Lee
19.My Faraway Cow (Crazy Cajun ) aka Abel
20. Unknown Title (Crazy Cajun ) aka Abel
21.Cheater Man (Demo)
22.Don't Lose Your Good Thing (Demo)
23.It's Only Me (Demo)
24.Success (Demo)
25.Hurt Me, I Don't Cry
26.What Will I Do When I See Her Again

LINK

Jackie DeShannon - You Know Me

Release Date: Sep 26, 2000
It takes a few spins to understand, and it is one of this prolific singer's many, many recordings, but when you spend some quality time with You Know Me, it starts unraveling its secrets in ways that only a truly great recording can. "Any Heart" is pure power, with the band weaving textures around Jackie DeShannon's distinctive vocal, the guitar relentless as it sustains the wall of sound. A true labor of love, few artists can produce a song this strong, and the fact that it follows three equally powerful compositions is evidence of the majesty that sweeps across all 14 tracks. "Steal the Thunder" opens the album with authority -- the resonating grandeur Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" contained, with a better hook. DeShannon places everything in perfect order, the vocal gliding over a groove that is rock-solid. "Wing Ryder" changes the pace, and you get the idea that this major songwriter is building an album more complex than Carole King's Tapestry -- sheer art for art's sake. It ebbs and flows with an elegance younger musicians are too impetuous to seek out. The keyboards and guitars in "Wing Ryder" fuse styles that Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles were employing. And that's the secret here: DeShannon hasn't made another singer/songwriter album, she has shouldered a project akin to filming a major motion picture. "Somewhere in America" has a smart guitar riff and a wailing sax in the distance for one of the few ecology songs that isn't hampered by bulky words. "Song for Sandra Jeanne (Rites of Passage)" is for the singer's poet mom. It's just beautiful, the album changing moods like a photo album with pages turning before you on the silver screen. Each song is an episode, with the title track a defiant affirmation of someone who has been with listeners through the years, from "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" to "Bette Davis Eyes." While Lou Adler's sparse production on Tapestry allowed Carole King to bare her soul, DeShannon gives us a dense production, thick and rich, a wide range of sounds that could reinvent AAA radio if given the chance to be heard with the same presence as her best-known tunes. "Just How Right You Are" and "Red Montana Sky" are both driving and two of the more commercial tracks, with subtle hints of past work slipping into the lyrics. At close to 60 minutes, the 14 tracks are very much like a double LP. "There Goes the One" is a pensive recommitment, as graceful saxophone blends with the keyboards and the charming line, "I love the books that he reads." "Vanished in Time" is clear and measured, a youthful exuberance embracing the wisdom of years. This is a transformation for the veteran songwriter, and she seems to be driven more by her incredible instincts than by record company mandate. Where You're the Only Dancer, To Be Free, and earlier albums had an agenda most artists have to deal with, "Raze" is sound and performance, which shows real control. The drums drive the vocals and guitar backs DeShannon up with more dominance than maybe any album she's ever made. "Red Montana Sky" keeps surfacing as the tune that should be embraced by radio. "Here On" seems out of place, the reggae too dramatic a departure for all the elements that came before. It throws the listener for a loop and has a different character than all the other tracks on You Know Me, but that's either the luxury or the downside of artistic freedom, take your pick. Covering the Beach Boys' "Trader," however, is a perfect conclusion, and a perfect vehicle for Jackie DeShannon's timeless voice on an album that may take years before it is fully appreciated.

Track list:

01.Steal the Thunder
02.Wing Ryder
03.Somewhere In America
04.Any Heart
05.Song For Sandra Jeanne (Rites Of Passage)
06.You Know Me
07.Just How Right You Are
08.There Goes the One
09.Vanished In Time
10.Keeper Of the Dream
11.Raze
12.Red Montana Sky
13.Here On
14.Trader

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George Soule - Take a Ride

Release Date: Oct 17, 2006

Track list:

01.Something Went Right
02.I'll Be Your Everything
03.Take a Ride
04.Shoes
05.Find the Time
06.My World Tumbles Down
07.Bend Over Backwards
08.Come on Over
09.Get Involved
10.Trust
11.Wait and See
12.A Man Can't Be a Man (bonus track)

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