Second volume to complete the anthology of Wicked Lady recordings, their final tracks recorded in 1972, just before the band split up and guitarist Martin Weaver left for Dark (of "Round the Edges" fame). Another batch of excessive, over-the-top doomy psychedelic hard-rock including underground classics like "I'm a Freak" and the 21 minute epic "Ship of Ghosts".

"El Paso" brought the country music out of Marty Robbins into the pop limelight in 1959 and this, together with all of his resonantly impressive "Gun Ballads" album of the same year and the best of the rest of his 50s recordings are all present here in a budget priced double CD pack.

In contrast to the two previous albums that were more on the heavy side, "Daydream Illusion" is a bit more melancholic and magical, which is also reflected in the vocals that are less aggressive and cleaner on this album. Special attention was paid to catchy melodies and lyrics, and for the first time a ballad made it onto an Thornbridge album.
The concept album tells the story of a boy who tries to save his dream world and its characters from the destruction and violence he is confronted with in his real life in the form of questionable and inhumane 'healing methods' and surgeries in a mental asylum set in the early Victorian era.

Gene Chandler's second LP for Brunswick suffers from comparisons to its predecessor, but consider how difficult it must have been to top an album padded with several tracks previously released as Constellation singles. The two singles here, "Those Were the Good Old Days" and "There Was a Time," are as good as anything he'd recorded for the label. Though the titles evoke similar themes, they're radically different songs. The first is (as expected) a good-time nostalgia tune with a sweet female chorus, but the second is a torrid horn-driven salute to the best dances of recent years; one looks back to the heady Chicago soul of the Impressions, while the other looks ahead to the increasingly intense urban funk of Curtis Mayfield. Chandler again displays an amazing mastery of voice control, adding brilliant tossed-off vocals between lines on the choruses…

In lieu of picking up one of the trumpeter's fine Blue Note releases (Una Mas, Whistle Stop), listeners new to the work of Kenny Dorham should definitely consider this somewhat overlooked Riverside date from 1959. The set features plenty of Dorham's varied and sophisticated horn work and four of his top-drawer originals. The theme is spring, and Dorham responds with his soon to be jazz standard "Spring Is Here" and three other fine seasonal tributes: the title track, "Poetic Spring," and "Spring Cannon." This last cut is also a tribute to Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, who guests in fine style here with a bevy of fleet and highly melodic solos. Rounding out the group, baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne, French horn player David Amram, and pianist Cedar Walton add very nicely to the album's breezy yet provocative air. Essential listening for Dorham fans.

Travellin' Tracks is a great collection of lively blues by slide guitar specialist Roy Rogers and harmonica wiz Norton Buffalo. Of the 11 songs recorded 5 are live recordings with Mercury Blues; Down In Mississippi; and Move On Way From Here recorded from The Sierra Nevada Taproom in Chico, CA (Love the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale too).
The song Hey There Grandpa is an appropriate change of pace mellow one otherwise Travellin' Tracks is all fast and fun and cool blues with a hip country tinge.

Jethro Tull and Comus had a baby, and they named it Gravy Train. That's not strictly accurate, of course, but as the band's eponymous debut opens with the fluid changes of "The New One," it's not too far of a reach, either. Richly harmonic, daringly jam-laden, and peppered with guitar roars that simply defy comparison, Gravy Train is the sound of the British underground at its most joyously liberated peak - a time when a bunch of apparent freaks could simply go into a major recording studio and let rip. Except Gravy Train's concept of "letting rip" has more in common with a symphony orchestra than the Edgar Broughton Band. Without, of course, the orchestra. But there's a moment in the midst of "Think of Life" that cannot help but put one in mind of later Deep Purple, as the flute and guitar battle for supremacy, while the blues workout "Coast Road" is as breathtaking as any of that genre's better-feted exponents…

In 1991, Klaus Schulze performed three concerts to celebrate his 20 years as a solo recording artist. The Dome Event: Cologne Cathedral is the third concert and the third CD. Like the other two CDs, this disc has an extra track, composed to match the live material and recorded in the studio. Schulze is a prolific live performer, and his music loses nothing in the translation to the concert stage. This disc features his signature heavy sequences, some very gentle acoustics, and deep atmospheres. Strange vocal samples take the set over the top.

Soft Machine are an English rock and jazz band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966, named after the novel The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs.Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist Daevid Allen moved to Paris in 1960. Inspired by the emerging 'Beat Generation' of writer's works he'd discovered whilst working in a Melbourne bookshop he moved into a room in Paris's 'Beat Hotel' and spent time around the city's Latin Quarter. There, he rubbed shoulders with Terry Riley and William S. Burroughs, gaining free access to the area's jazz clubs. Influenced by the music philosophies of Sun Ra he formed the Daevid Allen Trio, a free-jazz outfit which performed in Burroughs' theatre pieces based on that writer's novel 'The Ticket That Exploded'.In 1961 Allen travelled to Canterbury, England, where he met 16 year-old Robert Wyatt (who was the son of his landlord). Their mutual interest in jazz resulted in a few gigs, in London in 1963, as the Daevid Allen Trio (with Hugh Hopper on bass and Mike Ratledge occasionally guesting on piano). Around the same time, Wyatt formed the Wilde Flowers with the Hopper brothers, Hugh and Brian Hopper, with Kevin Ayers on vocals.

Blood, Sweat & Tears didn't get around to cutting an official live album until they were well past their prime years - in this case, 1975, long after every original member (and even most of their first-generation successors) except for drummer Bobby Colomby (a true founding member, going back to the Al Kooper lineup) and vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, was gone. But, as Clayton-Thomas was back for the accompanying album, New City, and was with the group on this tour, one supposes that Columbia Records decided to take advantage of its good fortune by taping several shows. For his part, the singer is more mannered and pretentious than ever on most of this album, his singing powerful enough but his instincts pushing him more toward loud, ultimately over-the-top soul strutting, lacking any hint of subtlety…

Jazz critic Will Friedwald has stated that Julie London's records were so popular in the 1950s mainly because she looked so drop-dead gorgeous on the album covers. The marketing hook behind Calendar Girl may just be the main example for those critical of London's musical career, since its sleeve has made it a prized collector's item. The famous wraparound cover depicts cheesecake shots of London posed for every month of the year, while original issues of the album included a more-than-suggestive insert photo of the singer stretched out in bed. While Friedwald's correct about London's physical beauty, he's wrong in suggesting that the vocalist didn't have the talent to go along with her looks. Like Chet Baker, Julie London had an extremely limited vocal range but she did the most with what she had, possessing a special knack for torch songs that cast her in the role of a woman constantly being destroyed by love in general and by men in particular…

The Everly Brothers were American country-influenced rock and roll singers, known for steel-string guitar and close harmony singing, formed by brothers Don Everly (born February 1, 1937 - died August 21, 2021) and Phil Everly (born January 19, 1939 - died January 3, 2014). They had their greatest success between 1957 and 1964. They were inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 (Performer).

The Everly Brothers Fils d'un musicien et animateur radio, Don Everly (né le 1er février 1937 à Brownie dans le Kentucky) et Phil Everly (né le 19 janvier 1939 à Chicago, dans l’Illinois), décident de se produire en duo dès 1955, sous le nom The Everly Brothers. L'année suivante, un ami de la famille, le guitariste Chet Atkins, obtient pour eux un contrat avec la maison de disques Columbia qui publie le simple « Keep-a-Lovin’ Me ». L’essai n’étant pas concluant, ils signent ensuite chez Cadence Records, le label avec lequel ils connaissent leurs premiers succès : « Bye Bye Love » (n° 2 aux États-Unis), « Wake Up Little Susie » (n° 1) en 1957, réunis dans leur premier album homonyme, puis « All I Have to Do Is Dream » (n° 1), « Bird Dog » (n° 2) en 1958 ou « (Till) I Kissed You » (n° 4) l’année suivante.

George Benson's two-disc Anthology from Rhino ultimately manages to encapsulate Benson's career. These 32 tracks not only highlight the obligatory vocal pop hits "Turn Your Love Around," "Give Me the Night," and "On Broadway," but dish out a heavy dose of his early jazz recordings that followed in the footsteps of Wes Montgomery, and his many appearances throughout the years with Brother Jack Mcduff, Lonnie Smith, Hubert Laws, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Smith, Earl Klugh, and the Count Basie Orchestra. If you're only accustomed to Benson's pop/jazz crossover work, check out this definitive overview.

Pickin’ on Pink Floyd delves into the extensive catalog of the world’s premiere cosmic rock band. This experimental and unique approach marries excellent bluegrass instrumental interpretations with the psychedelic space rock of Pink Floyd. Featuring some of America’s finest on mandolin, acoustic guitar, 5-string banjo and fiddle, this collection is a journey into the world of Pink Floyd in an organic improvisational nature. Pickin’ on Pink Floyd will take listeners on a ride through the imagination on a trip that is both mystical and fun.