Ernie Graham - Ernie Graham 1971

This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful solo albums to come out of the whole English pub rock scene, and references to Bob Dylan and the Band are appropriate because the rootsy/folk-like intersections with their work are here. It's also a rival to the best work of Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe, Eggs Over Easy, et al. (and no surprise -- the Brinsleys played on this album). Opening with the gorgeous, Dylanesque "Sebastian," built on a lyrical acoustic guitar part, Graham reveals himself a songwriter and player of extraordinary sensitivity -- he might easily have been another Alan Hull, or even bigger than that, had he been able to join a band with legs or hold his own career together. As it is, from that Dylan-like start, he and the Brinsleys deliver a brace of full electric numbers that rival the classic sound of the Band, starting with "So Lonely" -- the roots rock sound here is so authentically American that it will fool lots of listeners about its origins and source. For this album, "The Girl That Turned the Lever" and "For a Little While" are two of the finest working-class/folk-style compositions this side of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and "Blues to Snowy" takes Graham into Lynyrd Skynyrd territory. "Belfast" finally takes listeners to Graham's real roots, in a bracing, fiddle-driven folk-based piece from that side of the Atlantic. AMG. Thanks to Rockasteria.

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Elephant's Memory - Elephant's Memory 1969

This is the 1969 debut long-player from the extended Big Apple-based ensemble Elephant's Memory. As such, it should not be confused with their 1972 release on the Apple Records label, featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Instead, this 11-song collection is from an earlier lineup that would, among other things, gain significant visibility for their contributions to the film Midnight Cowboy and its subsequent soundtrack (1969). Musically, the combo were multi-faceted; on the jazzy "R.I.P." and the uptempo opener, "Don't Put Me on Trial No More," they display a soulful horn-driven vibe, while "Super Heep," "Brief Encounter," and "Jungle Gym at the Zoo" are decidedly trippier and slightly reminiscent ofthe Electric Flag or the incipient incarnation of Al Kooper's Blood, Sweat & Tears. Incidentally, "Jungle Gym at the Zoo" and "Old Man Willow," an ethereal seven-plus minute psychedelic waltz, were chosen for the aforementioned Midnight Cowboy and even spawned Songs from Midnight Cowboy Plus Their Hit Singles (1969), an album that was little more than a profit-motivated retread to cash in on the name recognition. Two of the more interesting pieces on Elephant's Memory are the catchy pop ditty "Crossroads of the Stepping Stone," a song that could easily be mistaken for a Sopwith Camelouttake, and the pseudo-ragtime "Yogurt Song," which is as much a sly parody of the granola-lovin' generation as it is a stab at the jug band sound that inspired artists such as the Charlatans and New Vaudeville Band. Although they would continue, by the mid-'70s Elephant's Memory had gone through radical personnel changes and the name was eventually retired after the release of Angels Forever(1974). [In 2004, Elephant's Memory was issued on CD by Collector' Choice Music, sporting a great liner note essay by Richie Unterberger.] AMG.

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Cosmic Dealer - Child Of Tomorrow 1971

Rare and unreleased 1971 and 1973 material by incredible Dutch band comes to life on CD and Vinyl thanks to German reissue label World In Sound! Recommended.

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Claudia Lennear - Phew 1973

Claudia Lennear (also rendered as Linnear and Lenier when she appeared on Stephen Stills' albums) is an American soul singer. Claudia Lennear has worked with many acts including Ike and Tina Turner, Humble Pie and Joe Cocker. She was part of a trio of backup singers for Delaney and Bonnie, that also included Rita Coolidge. Lennear's meetings with Mick Jagger and David Bowie are often cited as inspiration for The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" (1971) and Bowie's "Lady Grinning Soul" (1973). NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray noted in 1981 that she was "yet to reply in song to either Mick or David". However, in a 1973 article in Rolling Stone, she was quoted as saying that she wrote the song "Not At All" "to inform Mick Jagger of his dispensability". Claudia Lennear was one of Leon Russell's Shelter People. She sang back-up vocals on Joe Cocker's 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and live album, on Leon Russell and the Shelter People, released in 1971 and on George Harrison's The Concert for Bangla Desh. In 1973, Lennear recorded a solo album of her own (her one and only) entitled Phew! (tracks 1,2 & 4 with Ry Cooder).

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Leo Wright - Soul Talk 1963

A first-rate bop-oriented alto saxophonist, Wright was also one of the finest flutists jazz has known. He studied saxophone under the tutelage of his father. His first recording was made in 1958 with vibist Dave Pike; the next year, he played the Newport Festival with bassist Charles Mingus' group. Wright joined Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1959, remaining until 1962. In addition to his sideman work, Wright established himself as a leader in the early '60s, leading New York-based bands that included the likes of bassist Ron Carter, pianist Junior Mance, drummer Charlie Persip, and guitarist Kenny Burrell, among others. In 1960, he recorded the record for which he is perhaps best-known -- Blues Shout for the Atlantic label -- with a group consisting of himself, Mance, Persip, bassist Art Davis, and trumpeter Richard Williams. After leaving Gillespie's band, Wright went on to play and record with pianist/composer Lalo Schifrin and organist Jack McDuff; with the latter he recorded Screamin' for the Prestige label. He also worked with composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, trumpeter Johnny Coles, and singer Jimmy Witherspoon before moving to Europe later in the decade. There he worked with pianist/composerGeorge Gruntz and he also played with saxophonist Lee Konitz in an all-star group called Alto Summit and with trumpeter Carmell Jones. Wright eventually moved to Berlin, where he played in a studio band and worked freelance. In May 1978, Wright co-led a studio session in New York City with pianist Red Garland for Muse Records. He essentially retired from music around 1979, before re-emerging in the mid-'80s. In 1986, Wright played gigs with the Paris Reunion Band, which also included trombonist Grachan Moncur III, cornetist Nat Adderley, and pianist Kenny Drew Sr. In the years before his death, Wright worked and recorded with his wife, singer Elly Wright. His autobiography, God Is My Booking Agent, was published posthumously by Bayou Press in the fall of 1991. His last recording was made with his wife on her CD Listen to My Plea. AMG.

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Malo - Evolution 1973

Evolution was Malo's third album within a year. Perhaps because of that rapid pace and another shift in supporting players around the core trio of Jorge Santana, Pablo Tellez, and Arcelio Garcia, the band was starting to sound more formulaic and anonymous. There was a heavier reliance on fusion jazz keyboards and a lower fire in Jorge Santana's guitar than there had been on the band's initial two albums. It's still competent and often pleasing Latin rock/jazz, given as ever to lengthy but taut, well-structured instrumental sections. And there was, again, a soul-slanted romantic song that seemed more pointed toward the singles market than most of their repertoire, "I Don't Know." The most Latin-oriented facets of the band came to the fore on "Merengue" and "Dance to My Mambo," as their sappiest pop leanings did on "All for You." When set against tougher, funkier items like "Street Man," the band did not seem to be maintaining their eclecticism as much as starting to lose some of their focus. The album has been reissued on CD as one of the discs in Rhino Handmade's Celebracion box set, with the addition of single edits of "I Don't Know" and "Merengue." AMG.

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Lumbee - Overdose 1970

Lumbee wasn't, as the opening song on Overdose suggests, tone deaf, but their music wasn't particularly tuneful either, meaning there isn't really anything on this straight CD reissue that you can live without. Even hardcore fans of '70s hard rock will find the songwriting largely undistinguished and the recording surprisingly lacking in excitement. The band seems unable to muster up a high level of energy, and as a result, the songs have a tendency to sink into plodding, Southern blues-by-the-numbers rock. Despite the dynamic multicultural makeup of the band, the music doesn't manage any sort of unique angle or edge, which is a genuine disappointment. The album does have its merits.Lumbee erupts into a sizzling but far-too-brief jazzy break toward the end of "People Get Ready," which segues directly into "You Gotta Be Stoned," a lumbering but tripped-out psychedelic jam. The single, "Streets of Gold," has an inviting, back-to-the-country gait, and Carol Fitzgerald Lowery's hard rock hollering on the strong blues "Whole World Is Down on Me" recalls Janis Joplin, although it can also descend into affectation at times. Each of the other songs has some truly nice bits of interplay and stretches where the band hits upon nice grooves that make you wonder how impressively this music might have come off in a ballroom or club setting. But at only about 33 minutes, it still manages to feel like a bit of an overdose, which certainly isn't the highest recommendation possible. AMG. Thanks to the rockasteria blog Plain and Fancy! 

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Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town 1969

It took several tries before Kenny Rogers became a star. As a member of the First Edition (and the New Christy Minstrels before that), he shared in some million-sellers, among them "Reuben James" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," an excellent Mel Tillis song about a disabled veteran. But superstardom lay ahead for this Texan, and it arrived in the late '70s. His experience with the two previous pop groups had prepared him well: he knew the easy listening audience was out there, and he supplied them with well done middle-of-the-road songs with a country flavor. Having gone solo, in 1976 Rogers charted with "Love Lifted Me." But it was with an outstanding song by writers Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum, "Lucille," that his star shot upward.

The rest (as they say) is history: award-winning duets with Dottie West and Dolly Parton, 12 TV specials, another song of the year with "The Gambler," "Daytime Friends," "Coward of the County," "We've Got Tonight," "Crazy," "Lady" (his first pop number one), etc., etc., etc. And that's just the musicalside of Rogers. In 1980, the made-for-TV movie The Gambler blasted the competition, followed quickly by Coward of the County, then enough sequels to The Gambler to get him to Roman numeral IV. Throughout the '80s, Rogers remained a celebrity, even when his sales were declining. Even during the '90s, when he rarely charted, his name, face, and music were recognizable in a series of concerts, television specials, films, and even fast-food restaurants.

Like many country superstars, Rogers came from humble roots. Born in Houston, Texas, Rogers and his seven siblings were raised in one of the poorest sections of town. Nevertheless, he progressed through high school, all the while learning how to play guitar and fiddle. When he was a senior, he played in a rockabilly band called the Scholars, who released three singles, including "Kangewah," which was written by Louella Parsons. Following his graduation, he released two singles, "We'll Always Fall in Love Again" and "For You Alone," on the local independent label Carlton. The B-side of the first single, "That Crazy Feeling," was popular enough to earn him a slot on American Bandstand. In 1959, he briefly attended the University of Texas, but he soon dropped out to play bass in the jazz combo The Bobby Doyle Three. While he was with the group, Rogers continued to explore other musical venues and played bass on Mickey Gilley's 1960 single "Is It Wrong." The Bobby Doyle Threereleased one album, In a Most Unusual Way, before Rogers left the group to play with the Kirby Stone Four. He didn't stay long with Stone and soon landed a solo record contract with Mercury.

Rogers released a handful of singles on Mercury, all of which failed. Once Mercury dropped the singer, he joined the New Christy Minstrels in 1966. He stayed with the folk group for a year, leaving with several other bandmembers -- Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma Lou Camacho -- in 1967 to form the First Edition. Adding drummer Mickey Jones, the First Edition signed with Reprise and recorded the pop-psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)." The single became a hit early in 1968, climbing to number five. Within a year, the group was billed asKenny Rogers & the First Edition, and in the summer of 1969, they had their second and final Top Ten hit, "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." The country overtones of the single hinted at the directionRogers was taking, as did the minor hit follow-up, "Ruben James." For the next two years, the First Edition bounced between country, pop, and mild psychedelia, scoring their last big hit with Mac Davis' "Something's Burning" in early 1970. By the end of 1972, the group had its own syndicated television show, but sales were drying up. They left Reprise the following year, signing to Rogers' new label, Jolly Rogers. None of their singles became major hits, though a version of Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" reached the lower regions of the country charts late in 1973. Rogers left the group in 1974, and the band broke up the following year.

At the time the band broke up, Rogers was severely in debt and Jolly Rogers was out of business. In order to jump-start his career, he signed to United Artists in 1975, and with the help of producer Larry Butler, he devised an accessible, radio-ready, and immaculately crafted take on country-pop that leaned toward adult contemporary pop, not country. "Love Lifted Me," his debut single for the label, was a minor hit early in 1976, but it took a full year for Rogers to have a genuine breakthrough hit with "Lucille." Climbing to number one early in 1977, "Lucille" not only was a major country hit, earning the Country Music Association's Single of the Year award, but it also was a huge crossover success, peaking at number five on the pop charts. For the next six years, Rogers had a steady string of Top Ten hits on both the country and pop charts.

By the beginning of the '80s, Rogers' audience was as much pop as it was country, and singles like his cover of Lionel Richie's "Lady" confirmed that fact, spending six weeks at the top of the pop charts.Rogers also began performing duets with pop singers like Kim Carnes ("Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer," number three country, number four pop, 1980) and Sheena Easton ("We've Got Tonight," number one country, number six pop, 1983). Rogers also began making inroads into television and film, appearing in a number of TV specials and made-for-TV movies, including 1982's Six Pack and two movies based on his songs "The Gambler" and "Coward of the County." Late in 1983, he left United Artists/Liberty for RCA Records, releasing a duet with Dolly Parton called "Islands in the Stream" as his first single for the label. Written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb, the record became one of his biggest hits, spending two weeks on the top of both the country and pop charts.His crossover success is important -- his lush, easy listening productions and smooth croons showed that country stars could conquer the pop audience, if produced and marketed correctly. During the late '70s and early '80s, much of country radio was dominated either by urban cowboy or country-pop in the vein of Rogers' own singles. Between 1978 and 1980, he had five straight number one country singles -- "Love or Something Like It," "The Gambler," "She Believes in Me," "You Decorated My Life," "Coward of the County" -- most of which also reached the pop Top Ten. In addition to his solo hits, he had a series of Top Ten duets with Dottie West, including the number one hits "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (1978), "All I Ever Need Is You" (1979), and "What Are We Doin' in Love" (1981). Not only did his singles sell well, but so did his albums, with every record he released between 1976's Kenny Rogers and 1984's Once Upon a Christmas going gold or platinum.

Rogers stayed at RCA for five years, during which time he alternated between MOR, adult contemporary pop, and slick country-pop. The hits didn't come as often as they used to, and they were frequently competing with releases from Liberty's vaults, but he managed to log five number one singles for the label, in addition to "Islands in the Stream": "Crazy" (1984), "Real Love" (1985), "Morning Desire" (1985), "Tomb of the Unknown Love" (1986), and the Ronnie Milsapduet "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" (1987). Despite his country successes, he no longer had pop crossover hits. Nevertheless, Rogers' concerts continued to be popular, as did his made-for-TV movies. Still, the lack of blockbuster records meant that RCA failed to renew his contract when it expired in 1988. Rogers returned to his first label, Reprise, where he had one major hit -- 1989's Top Ten "The Vows Go Unbroken (Always True to You)," taken from the gold albumSomething Inside So Strong -- before his singles started charting in the lower half of the Top 40.

Throughout the late '80s and '90s, Rogers kept busy with charity work, concerts, his fast-food chain Kenny Rogers' Roasters, television specials, movies, and photography, publishing no less than two books, Kenny Rogers' Americaand Kenny Rogers: Your Friends and Mine, of his photos.Rogers continued to record, releasing albums nearly every year, but they failed to break beyond his large, devoted fan base and only made a slight impact on the charts. With 1998's Christmas from the Heart, he established his own record label, Dreamcatcher; She Rides Wild Horses followed a year later, and There You Go Again was issued in mid-2000. A&E Live by Request appeared in 2001, followed by Back to the Well in 2003, Me & Bobby McGee in 2004, and Water & Bridges in 2006. At this point in his career, unable to hit the pop or country charts any longer, Rogers repositioned himself as a nostalgic brand in the middle, releasing 2011's The Love of God, a collection of gospel hymns and inspirational songs, only through Cracker Barrel locations (the album was re-released a year later by the Gaither Music Group under the titleAmazing Grace). In 2012 Rogers issued an autobiography, Luck or Something Like it: A Memoir. A year later, Rogers signed to Warner Bros. Nashville and released You Can't Make Old Friends, his first major-label, big-budget release in seven years. Preceded by the title track duet with Dolly Parton, the record was released in October 2013. AMG.

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Mike Bloomfield - I'm With You Always 1977

This release, recorded at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA, in 1977, captures a superb live show, with Bloomfield in top form as he performs before an appreciative audience in an intimate setting. Michael's singing is spirited and his guitar playing is precise and inventive as he plays favorite songs from his repertoire. Highlights include solo acoustic performances of two songs written byShelton Brooks in the early 1900s, a piano/guitar duet demonstrating the rapport he had with pianistMark Naftalin, and hot performances by Bloomfield, Naftalin and a rhythm section of Buddy Helm on drums and Buell Neidlinger on bass. Bloomfield shows what he had been doing all those years out of the spotlight -- refining his technique and researching the music he loved. AMG.

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Bill Staines - The Whistle of the Jay 1979

The American landscape has been a major theme for New Hampshire-based singer/songwriter Bill Staines. His songs have captured the beauty of rivers, mountains, and the open space of the American West. Staines' ability to write songs that seem like traditional folk songs has made him a favorite source of new material. His original tunes, including "The Roseville Fair," "River," "Wild, Wild Heart," "Yellowstone Winds," and "A Place in the Choir (All God's Critters)," have been covered by such artists as Nanci Griffith, Jerry Jeff Walker, Grandpa Jones, Fairport Convention, Priscilla Herdman,Gordon Bok, and Mason Williams.

Although his country-folk tunes reflect on the personalities, lifestyle, and environment of such places as Wyoming, Colorado, and Alaska, Staines hails from Lexington, MA, a small city northwest of Boston. As a youngster, Staines was heavily inspired by the folk scene in Boston and Cambridge in the early '60s. Together with a junior high school friend, Dick Curtis, and his younger brother, John, who later played with the Pousette-Dart Band, Staines formed a folk band, the Green Mountain Boys. Although the Curtis brothers preferred old-timey string music and bluegrass, Staines remained tied to romantic folk ballads. Staines later organized and ran a student folk music coffeehouse, The Barn, at Lexington High School. The experience prepared him when he became the host of a weekly open-mike hootenanny at the folk music venue Club 47 in Harvard Square. Staines gained popularity as a songwriter when Randy Burns & the Skydog Band recorded his first original song, "That's the Way It's Going to Go in Time," in 1966. He released his debut album, Bag of Rainbows, the same year.

Staines' song "A Place in the Choir (All God's Critters)" has become a children's music classic. In the '80s, Stainesperiodically performed with the Passim All-Stars, an informal folk group that also included Mason Daring, Jeanie Stahl,Billy Novick, and Guy Van Duser. In 1993, he released an album of children's songs, The Happy Wanderer on the Red House Records label, that included "The Hound Dog Song" and "I Can Feel the Sweet Winds Blowing (Bless My Soul)" as well as interpretations of "Home on the Range," "The Gypsy Rover," and "Kookaburra." Staines continued recording for Red House during the remainder of the 1990s and into the 21st century, releasing such albums as Going to the West (1993), the aforementionedLooking for the Wind (1995), One More River (1998), October’s Hill (2000), Journey Home (2004), and Old Dogs (2007). Staines' songs have been featured in the songbooks If I Were a Word Then I'd Be a Song (Folk-Legacy, 1980), All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir (Puffin, 1989), River (Viking, 1993), and Music to Me (Hal Leonard, 1994)Staines initially attracted national attention with his yodeling. In 1975, he won the prestigious National Yodeling Championship at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, TX. His album Miles, released the following year, included the heartfelt ballad "Sweet Wyoming Home." A self-taught fingerstyle acoustic guitarist, Staines was heavily influenced by the playing of Jackie Washington, a regular performer at Club 47, and Tom Paxton. Staines uses a right-handed Martin D-18 guitar that he turns over and plays left-handed.Staines has been increasingly inspired by his experiences as an amateur pilot. His 1995 album Looking for the Windincluded several aviation-themed songs, including "Bill Hosie," about a builder of airplanes, and "Song for Tingmissartaq," written for Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In 1993, Staines composed The Alaska Suite, a 15-tune instrumental suite for strings and brass that was inspired by his many flights to Alaska. AMG. Thanks to B. 

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