I keep being reminded of Curtis Mayfield’s genius in the music of others: Jimi Hendrix’s broken chord stylings, the soul beat of the great Stevie Wonder, the funk of Sly Stone and the spirituality of Bob Marley. I don’t have a clear picture of the man, but only fragments: his early material, including the powerful “People Get Ready” (see note 2, below) when he was recording with the Impressions, the huge success of Superfly, his long-enduring activism and tragic last years. Trying to get a handle on his music in a couple of records isn’t easy; I have a few compilations on vinyl... Read More

  In spite of his considerable talents, Terry Reid is often best remembered as the guy who passed up an invitation from Jimmy Page to become the singer of a new group Page was forming out of the ashes of the Yardbirds. This bit of lore may be as legendary as the story of the Decca executives who passed on signing The Beatles. But Reid takes credit for referring Page to Robert Plant, who with John Bonham, formed the core of Page’s new band, with fellow session man, John Paul Jones. The “what if’s” are, in my estimation, irrelevant, and seemed to have affected Reid’s artistry not... Read More

  Garnet Mimms is another example of the Brits helping us tap into our own musical legacy. Often classified as “Northern Soul,” Mimms was actually a black man from West Virginia who had a few hits with his group, The Enchanters, including the song “Cry Baby,” written by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragavoy. (It’s the same song that Janis Joplin made far more famous a few years later). As a solo artist, Mimms recorded a number of good songs, but few are better than “As Long As I Have You.” That song took hold in the UK and was covered by Led Zeppelin in early tours. Mimms was... Read More

Alas, Detroit, that city of industrial might, now known for blight and bankruptcy. Despite its current woes, Detroit (and Michigan at large) has always been fertile ground for the musical arts—and I’m not just talking about the legendary Detroit Symphony Orchestra or Motown—but something that had just as great a reach, but far less recognition: the “garage rock” scene of the ‘60s, which led to a variety of different and significant musical threads: early punk, as represented by Iggy Pop, rock, of the type played by Bob Seger and Mitch Ryder, the famously loud, raucous MC-5, and... Read More

 I’ve now had the opportunity to listen more fully to the Blue Horizon two-record set of Elmore James’ late studio tracks contained on To Know a Man. As described in my efforts to track down the origin of James’ recording of “Sunnyland” that I first heard in 1970, To Know a Man contains the “late” Elmore James sessions recorded near the end of his life. Although by no means “audiophile” recordings, this record set is not just something for completists. If you like the gritty, distorted sound of Elmore’s slide playing, you’ll like this set for a couple reasons:... Read More

  On the heels of my recent retrospective about Whitley, I have been seeking out good copies of some of his repertoire. This is not as easy as you might think. Living with the Law was his first, and most popular album; that one was released on vinyl in Europe and reissued recently. The original pressing is good; I haven’t listened to the reissue, which comes from Music On Vinyl. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got my hands on a copy of National Steel, a promotional record tied to the release of Living with the Law. It contains select tracks from Law and sounds... Read More

I know that Aja gets all the attention from audiophiles, but musically, the first two Steely Dan albums –Can’t Buy a Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy—represented something very innovative at the time of their release in the early ‘70s and hold up extremely well more than forty years later. Thrill presents a band that can play really well- doing pop rock suitable for radio play that didn’t sound contrived; no song was the same- the styles, rhythms, instrumentation, and mood changed, sometimes dramatically, from track to track and each song was delivered with deft touches that were... Read More

  Radio overplay of “Maggie May” at the time of this album’s release proved that familiarity can breed contempt (at least when it comes to music). As a result, I never got “into” early Rod Stewart solo material at the time it was released. But with the passage of time, exposure and perhaps a bit of nostalgia, I started listening to his early albums. (The same thing happened with Elton John but that’s another story and a different article). Rod had already proven his mettle as a blues wailer on Truth, and had a couple interesting albums on Vertigo while also working with the... Read More