The recent exploration of Canned Heat here on TheVinylPress generated some real enthusiasm among readers, one of whom turned out to be Rebecca Davis, the author of “Blind Owl Blues,” an authoritative biography of Alan Wilson. Several readers had asked for a follow up piece on “Hooker ‘n Heat” (which I mentioned only in passing). Rebecca and I  also had started to correspond. Who better, I thought, to write about this album than the biographer of Alan Wilson? The album came together in part because of the “Blind Owl’s” love for John Lee Hooker. It not only helped... Read More

  The second in a series of essays I have contributed to the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress, this piece focuses on a blues recording from the mid-‘60s that is almost always on lists of “essential” blues records. And for good reason: Hoodoo Man Blues captures, like almost no other, the sound and feel of what real electric blues, played live, sounds like. It features Junior Wells and a young Buddy Guy (who was un-credited on original issues of the record).The essay is brought to life by the insights of Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records, who... Read More

I had a ball working on this piece with Jeff Gold, the owner of Recordmecca. He is known for offering the rare and desirable:  rock records and memorabilia. Jeff’s book, 101 Essential Rock Records, ranging from the Beatles, to early psych, electric blues, prog, glam and punk, not only covers some of the most coveted pressings, […]

Joni, Neil and Tull, plus more; continuing to explore the golden era of the Warner catalog The exploration of Warner during the early 70’s continues- we are going to look at Joni Mitchell (briefly) during this era, with one under-rated “pick” from me. We are also going to pay some attention to a few of the early Neil Young recordings that are hardly obscure, but are great musically, along with a few notes on pressings.   Finally, and as part of a more elaborate write-up, we will be doing a “shoot-out” among the various pressings of Tull’s Aqualung in my possession. (I... Read More

The story of Island Records extends far back, and well beyond, the “pink label” era addressed here. Even within the “pink label” era there were soul, blues, and Caribbean records that I have not mentioned. I have not attempted to cover the breadth of the Island catalog within even this limited time period (roughly 1967- 1970). Instead, the focus is on Island’s tectonic shift to the “new” music emerging out of the UK: psych/folk rock/blues rock/progressive and other genres in which Island Records was at the vanguard. I have thus used the “pink label era” as synonymous... Read More