Rickie Lee Jone’s self-titled album was an auspicious debut in many respects: “Chuck E.’s in Love” generated almost constant airplay here in the States and elsewhere. (I spent the summer of 1980 in London and remember it as a radio constant there too). But it contained far more: moody, jazzy pop with a “hipster” (read: beatnik, not millennial) streak; studied reflections on emptiness (“Last Chance Texaco”), beat-driven jive (“Danny’s All-Star Joint”); stylized retro-pop from the 1940s (“Easy Money”) and street-smart cool (“Coolsville” and “Weasel and The... Read More

Roy Harper’s Stormcock is another one of those significant, but sorely underrated, albums that deserves renewed attention. Roy Harper was never a commercial success on this side of the Atlantic, and even in the UK, was considered an acquired taste. But he was hugely influential to bands like Led Zeppelin (whose “Hats Off to Roy Harper” is really a take on Bukka White’s old “Shake ‘Em on Down”) and is known to Pink Floyd fans as the lead vocalist of the song, “Have a Cigar” on the great Wish You Were Here. He also influenced Ian Anderson, whose baroque-like folk... Read More

I have mixed emotions about this album for several reasons- it has moments of greatness, but is not my all-time favorite Tull album (if I had to pick one, it would probably be Stand Up, released in the UK on the Island pink label, reviewed here). It is also not a great recording. Which is why I wound up with so many pressings of Aqualung over the years, including UK and U.S. (on Reprise here in the States), a fairly rare set of Classic Records copies cut at 45 rpm on both “Clarity” and Quiex “black vinyl” (I believe these were originally sent out to reviewers as partial sets with a... Read More

Neil Young is another polarizing figure, musically. It took me time to cozy up to him, and the albums I come back to now are his early solo records on Reprise: Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush and Harvest. These are, in my estimation, essential early Neil on Reprise. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere has some hits that remained in Young’s repertoire for decades, including “Down by the River,” “Cowgirl in the Sand” and “Cinnamon Girl.” My copy is an early 1A pressing.    After the Gold Rush has more, including “Southern Man.” There is a fair amount... Read More

Yes, she is legendary. And somewhat polarizing- some find nothing that draws them in, and even among fans, there is no consensus on her best work- Blue is recognized as her major folk work, Court and Spark for breaking barriers into pop and Hejira as a high point in her art. (Like I said, you’ll find little consensus among listeners- and part of this may be due to the range and diversity of her work as well as the large body of studio albums). Ms. Mitchell recorded for Reprise, Asylum and, for a period, on Geffen’s eponymous label. Her peak years, commercially (if not artistically)... Read More

Somewhere between “Dylan” and “Elvis” on my shelves rest quite a few albums by a band called “Eagles.” Though the song “Hotel California” from the album of the same name, an anthem of the excesses of modern West Coast life, is probably what comes to mind when you mention the band, the first two albums– Eagles, and Desperado, are something quite different. (I play Hotel California about as often as I play Stairway to Heaven. Neither represents the breadth of these bands or their roots, but those are the songs to which their legacy attaches).       The... Read More

As a singer-songwriter, Jackson Browne had an impressive run in the early 70’s. Though his career extended long after that and included albums later in the decade that sold even better than these, the first three albums—Jackson Browne (a/k/a “Saturate Before Using”), For Everyman, and Late for the Sky captured something very essential. I’m going to focus on these early records, for now.   The first album is a goldmine of great songs that can be listened to, from front to back, as an “album” should. It has the hit “Doctor My Eyes,” as well as the Browne-penned... Read More

Man, these guys really did it for me back in day. Hard driving boogie, with a Zappa-esque twist. Lowell George, Roy Estrada (on the first two albums) Richie Hayward and the incredibly funky keyboard chops of Bill Payne. There were few bands that could pull this off- a sort of unpolished, but “right in the groove” sound, any looser and it would fall apart but these guys were tight. The first album, with the Lowell George-penned “Willin’” may be the rawest of the bunch- not a fabulous recording, but lot’s of good songs: “Truck Stop Girl” takes the standard big rig lament to... Read More

Van Morrison is a quixotic character, even by the standards usually applied to artists- a mercurial personality who has had some huge radio hit songs, but performs publicly with great reluctance; a man who created new paths for “soul” music and R & B who hails from Belfast and revels in his Celtic roots; an artist whose most critically acclaimed work was, for decades, far less commercially successful than the “pop” tunes for which he is most often recognized. My introduction to Van Morrison’s work began with four albums released between 1970-72: Moondance, His Band and the... Read More