Record Reviews

ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND ~ FILLMORE EAST, FEBRUARY 1970 (DELUXE EDITION) ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND 821229000011 (Barcode: 821229000011) ~ USA ~ Blues-Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2018 This is an expanded reissue / remaster of the live album by the iconic American Rock group The Allman Brothers BandFind albums by this artist, released originally as a single CD in 1996. It presents the first lineup of the group, which included the six founding members: guitarist Duane AllmanFind albums by this artist, vocalist / keyboardist Gregg AllmanFind albums by this artist, guitarist Dickey BettsFind albums by this artist, bassist Berry OakleyFind albums by this artist, drummer / percussionist Jai Johanny JohansonFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. JaimoeFind albums by this artist) and drummer Butch TrucksFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded at the Fillmore East in NY almost exactly one year before the iconic live album “At Fillmore EastFind albums with this title” album was recorded. The music was recorded by the great soundman Owsley StanleyFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Owsley “Bear” StanleyFind albums by this artist), who was Grateful DeadFind albums by this artist’s soundman for many years, and his recordings were released under the “Bear’s Sonic Journals” moniker, including this album. The original 1996 edition, which is a compilation of material recorded during the three nights Allmans played at the Fillmore East, February 11,13 and 14, 1970, was expanded by additional 2 CDs with the entire surviving material from those three nights, all restored and remastered, offering a superb sound quality. The imminent comparison between this album and the “At Fillmore East” is pretty redundant. One year later the band was at the absolute peak of its form, following many concerts and common experiences, and as such produced the ultimate Rock album of all times. But already at the time this music was recorded, Allman Brothers Band were an exceptionally gifted group of musicians, who played their hearts out and all this is evident herein. As far as Blues-Rock is concerned, this is simply a brilliant live album. And no, I never get enough of this band… Overall, this is a brilliant document of an exceptional band, and the times, when Rock was King and Gods were smiling at the gifted musicians, who produced timeless anthems, such as this. Rock improvisation, which was the name of the game here, never sounded better and is still light-years ahead of anything played today.

Updated: 24/03/2023Posted: 20/02/2023

CD 3 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend

CROSBY & NASH ~ GRAHAM NASH / DAVID CROSBY ATLANTIC 081227992538 (Barcode: 081227992538) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1972 Released: 2008 This is the debut album by the celebrated team of singer / songwriter friends, American David CrosbyFind albums by this artist and British Graham NashFind albums by this artist. After the first split of Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist following the release of the seminal "Déjà VuFind albums with this title" album, all four members released solo albums and later on Crosby and Nash decided to form a duo and started to perform together with great artistic and commercial success, which led to the decision of formalizing the Crosby & NashFind albums by this artist moniker by recording an album together. After all it was the special affinity, both musical and personal, between Crosby and Nash, which led to Nash leaving The HolliesFind albums by this artist and moving to the US to join Crosby and Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist in order to create the magical triumvirate of Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist. On the album, in addition to both of them singing, Crosby also played guitars and Nash played keyboards. Many friends and musical peers took part in the recording, like guitarist Dave MasonFind albums by this artist, members of The Grateful DeadFind albums by this artist, the famous quartet of studio musicians called The SectionFind albums by this artist, which consisted of guitarist Danny KortchmarFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Craig DoergeFind albums by this artist, bassist Leland SklarFind albums by this artist and drummer Russell KunkelFind albums by this artist, and many others. The album presents eleven songs, six by Nash and five by Crosby. The album is dedicated to Joni MitchellFind albums by this artist. The songs written by Crosby were quite different from those Nash wrote; Crosby, a dreamer and melancholic, wrote heartwrenching, Bluesy tunes, which caused depression and gloom, whereas Nash was his spiritual "nemesis" and wrote absolutely perfect love songs and romantic ballads. It was the combination of the two, which created the special magic, which this album exemplifies, expressed by their vocal harmonies, which are unparalleled to this very day. These songs are all absolutely timeless and withstand the tides of time like stainless steel. Perfectly crafted, beautifully executed, full of harmony and offering meaningful lyrics, they are the epitome of song weaving, which is simply beyond trends, fads and fashions. In retrospect this album stands among the best achievements of the fruitful legacy created by Crosby and Nash, both individually and collectively. It is an absolute must in any decent Rock record collection and a part of music history that is out there waiting to be discovered by younger generations of music lovers. They don´t make music like this any more, but at least we can still enjoy these gems, before we are all covered by heaps of garbage and dirt.

Updated: 21/01/2019Posted: 03/06/2018

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend

DAVID CROSBY ~ IF I COULD ONLY REMEMBER MY NAME (DELUXE EDITION) RHINO 081227320423 (Barcode: 081227320423) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2006 This is a reissue of the seminal debut album by legendary American singer / songwriter David CrosbyFind albums by this artist, recorded in the months following the release of Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist album "Déjà VuFind albums with this title", which saw all four members of the group releasing their debut solo albums. The album was recorded in San Francisco and features members of several groups associated with the SF scene at the time, like Jefferson AirplaneFind albums by this artist, Grateful DeadFind albums by this artist and SantanaFind albums by this artist, as well as solo artists like Joni MitchellFind albums by this artist. The combined list of musicians participating on this album reads like the who´s who of American Rock at the time. The original album presented nine original songs by Crosby (one co-written with Nash and Young and one arrangement of a traditional song) and this reissue adds one bonus track, which is an outtake from the original sessions. It also includes a DVD-A with hi-res mixes of the album and some bonus textual material and new liner notes with Crosby´s commentary on the album´s songs. Of course this album is way beyond just a classic Rock masterpiece from the period when music thrived on Earth – it is a unique symbol of an era. This music symbolizes a generation, a social movement and a state of mind, which includes Flower Power, Psychedelia, Woodstock, Social Awareness and Enlightenment, all happening within a brief period of few years, which was the only Renaissance the American people experienced in their entire history, and which was over before it could achieve anything or change the brutal reality of the Corporate Nation. This music touched millions of people at the time but sadly managed to transfix only a handful of them in the long range, absurdly more outside of the US than Americans themselves. Musically the album is also a document of the period, when everything was conceivable, allowed and welcomed. The album mixes American Folk, Rock, Psychedelia, Jazz and European Folk influences completely naturally and mostly subconsciously, which creates a unique, one time experience, never to be repeated again. Crosby´s hesitance results in his vocal theatrics and the distinctive way he delivers the lyrics as spoken word rather than singing them at the dramatic peaks of some of the songs. The instrumental accompaniment, which features intensive guitar improvisations in the background, delivered often by more than one guitarist at the same time, is another dimension of this complex and multilayered music. Although the trademark vocal harmonies, which dominate Crosby´s earlier work with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, are present here as well, they are definitely not the centerpiece of this album, which offers a much wider musical scope. The mayhem that dominated Crosby´s personal life in the years that followed the recording of this album had of course major consequences and as a result his next solo album ("Oh Yes I CanFind albums with this title") was released almost twenty years later, when the world was already changed beyond recognition. Crosby still performs and writes songs and his fifth solo album ("LighthouseFind albums with this title") was released recently (2016), but the magic spark glitters mostly in the hearts of those, like myself, who experienced this music in real time. An anthem of a generation, a bright star in a dark night sky, a sweet memory… whatever one might consider this album to be, it still has everything great music is supposed to have and once you open your heart to it, it will pay back handsomely. The choice is yours!

Updated: 11/08/2019Posted: 14/01/2017

CD+DVD 2 HDCD Remastered Bonus Tracks Essential Recommend To A Friend

DAVID CROSBY ~ LIVE AT THE MATRIX, DECEMBER 1970 KEYHOLE 9024 (Barcode: 5291012902429) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2014 This is an archival album by the iconic American singer / songwriter David CrosbyFind albums by this artist recorded at the legendary Matrix club in San Francisco shortly before Crosby released his debut solo album. Recorded in a tight quartet setting with three members of the Grateful DeadFind albums by this artist: guitarist Jerry GarciaFind albums by this artist, bassist Phil LeshFind albums by this artist and drummer Mickey HartFind albums by this artist, the album presents eight songs, some of which are Blues standards and other are his originals which appear on the above mentioned debut album. Crosby sings the lead vocals and plays guitar. The recording quality is acceptable, but far from being up to par with formal album releases. The music is a Psychedelic, blues soaked Rock, typical of the time and the place, which reflects the talents of the four musicians involved and the extensive jamming and long guitar improvisations, which were more characteristic of the Grateful Dead than of Crosby´s more concise and beautifully lyrical songs. Nevertheless the album presents the brilliant songwriting Crosby so wonderfully weaves and his heartfelt vocal delivery, in a raw environment devoid of studio trickery, i.e. WYHIWYG (What you hear is what you get). As all recordings of this kind, this album is of primary interest to either the devoted fans of Crosby and his music or connoisseurs of the West Cost Psychedelia of the time. In spite of the far from perfect sound and the somewhat incidental set list, there is still a lot of great music here, which is definitely worth being discovered. Side Note Obiterdictum Ltd, a company based in Cyprus (oh well you know the story… copyright laws and legal issues) releases mostly live recorded radio broadcasts from the 1960s on and offers an amazing source of music which was never officially released by some of the best Classic Rock and Jazz artists. The catalogue offers five hundred releases, which is an absolute treasure chest of music history, often appearing for the first time. Although the sound quality and sometimes also music quality range from absolutely brilliant to pretty poor, most of the material is surely listenable, especially after being remastered recently, and more importantly offers music which is not available elsewhere. The company releases the albums under several sub-labels: Air CutsFind albums on this label, EchoesFind albums on this label, Hi HatFind albums on this label, HotspurFind albums on this label, InterferenceFind albums on this label, KeyholeFind albums on this label, KlondikeFind albums on this label, Live On VinylFind albums on this label, London CallingFind albums on this label, OrbitFind albums on this label, Rox VoxFind albums on this label and Sound StageFind albums on this label. There is no ironclad logic as to what material appears on which label, except perhaps some internal considerations by the Obiterdictum owners. Approach with caution, but keep in mind that some of these releases are absolutely brilliant!

Updated: 15/05/2019Posted: 10/07/2018

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

MOUNTAIN BUS ~ SUNDANCE GEAR FAB 115 (Barcode: 645270011525) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1971 Released: 1998 Only album by US (Chicago) band Mountain BusFind albums by this artist, originally called just MountainFind albums by this artist but forced to change their name as a result of a law suite by the "other" much more famous and backed up by corporate lawyers band of the same name. Blues-based, they played some really cool music with guts and a lot of talent, sometimes sounding like Grateful DeadFind albums by this artist, but mostly sounding just like themselves. Although obscure, this album is as good as anything recorded at the time and deserves to be re-discovered.

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

STEPPENWOLF ~ EARLY STEPPENWOLF / FOR LADIES ONLY BGO 691 (Barcode: 5017261206916) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1967 - 1971 Released: 2005 4th and 8th albums by US group SteppenwolfFind albums by this artist, which are in fact the earliest and the latest recordings by this band during their initial period of activity. It is quite astonishing to see how the group developed and changed in the short period of four years, with this change reflecting well the overall music scene dramatic developments during that period. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) "Early SteppenwolfFind albums with this title" was not really recorded by Steppenwolf, but by the group SparrowFind albums by this artist, which is the first outfit formed by vocalist John KayFind albums by this artist in Canada, and which eventually settled down on the West Coast and changed the name to Steppenwolf (with some minor lineup changes). Recorded live at the legendary SF "Matrix" club (owned by Jefferson AirplaneFind albums by this artist´s Marty BalinFind albums by this artist), the album is a phenomenal document of the West Coast music scene in 1967, when Rock music, heavily spiced by Psychedelic influences, was breaking all the barriers and moving forward at an incredible pace. The album includes an 21+ minutes version of "The Pusher", which is in fact a freely improvised modern music, having really very little to do with Rock per se, and being closer to Free Improvised Music or Contemporary Classical Music, with extended instrumental improvisations, sound effects, dramatic crescendos, etc. The atmosphere is not far removed form what other West Coast bands were doing at the time, with similar live recordings by the DoorsFind albums by this artist, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful DeadFind albums by this artist serving as proof. "For Ladies OnlyFind albums with this title", in complete contrast to its companion, presents a completely different musical approach, although separated by mere four years. The group was now past its commercial peak, reached with the release of their first two albums, and with a solid Blues-Rock / Hard Rock image and strong songwriting serving as their forte. For their swan song they mellowed up quite a bit, dedicating the album to the ladies in their lives and expressing a strong feminist view, quite contrary to usual chauvinistic approach of most Rock musicians. The songwriting and playing is still very strong, but it´s quite clear that the band was running out of wind and it was time to quit. Kay and various version of Steppenwolf were to appear again in the future and record more albums, but nothing ever would come close to the first eight glorious albums. A classic!

CD 2 Slipcase Remastered Recommend To A Friend