The Rolling Stones - Some Girls 1978

During the mid-'70s, the Rolling Stones remained massively popular, but their records suffered from Jagger's fascination with celebrity and Keith's worsening drug habit. By 1978, both punk and disco had swept the group off the front pages, and Some Girls was their fiery response to the younger generation. Opening with the disco-blues thump of "Miss You," Some Girls is a tough, focused, and exciting record, full of more hooks and energy than any Stones record since Exile on Main St. Even though the Stones make disco their own, they never quite take punk on their own ground. Instead, their rockers sound harder and nastier than they have in years. Using "Star Star" as a template, the Stones run through the seedy homosexual imagery of "When the Whip Comes Down," the bizarre, borderline-misogynistic vitriol of the title track, Keith's ultimate outlaw anthem, "Before They Make Me Run," and the decadent closer, "Shattered." In between, they deconstruct the Temptations' "(Just My) Imagination," unleash the devastatingly snide country parody "Far Away Eyes," and contribute "Beast of Burden," one of their very best ballads. Some Girls may not have the back-street aggression of their '60s records or the majestic, drugged-out murk of their early-'70s work, but its brand of glitzy, decadent hard rock still makes it a definitive Stones album. AMG.

listen here

Atila - The Beginning Of The End 1975

The Catalan group from Girona was formed in 1973. This is one of the most legendary and sought-after bands in Spain, they have released three albums. Too frequent line-up changes led to the breakup in 1978. In 1999, the group gathered again, already in an updated line-up. 

listen here

Pharoah Sanders - Karma 1969

Pharoah Sanders' third album as a leader is the one that defines him as a musician to the present day. After the death of Coltrane, while there were many seeking to make spiritual music that encompassed his ideas and yearnings while moving forward, no one came up with the goods until Sanders on this 1969 date. There are only two tracks on Karma, the 32-plus-minute "The Creator Has a Master Plan" and the five-and-a-half-minute "Colours." The band is one of Sanders' finest, and features vocalist Leon Thomas, drummer Billy Hart, Julius Watkins, James Spaulding, a pre-funk Lonnie Liston Smith, Richard Davis, Reggie Workman on bass, and Nathaniel Bettis on percussion. "Creator" begins with a quote from "A Love Supreme," with a nod to Coltrane's continuing influence on Sanders. But something else emerges here as well: Sanders' own deep commitment to lyricism and his now inherent knowledge of Eastern breathing and modal techniques. His ability to use the ostinato became not a way of holding a tune in place while people soloed, but a manner of pushing it irrepressibly forward. Keeping his range limited (for the first eight minutes anyway), Sanders explores all the colors around the key figures, gradually building the dynamics as the band comps the two-chord theme behind with varying degrees of the timbral invention. When Thomas enters at nine minutes, the track begins to open. His yodel frees up the theme and the rhythm section to invent around him. At 18 minutes it explodes, rushing into a silence that is profound as it is noisy in its approach. Sanders is playing microphonics and blowing to the heavens and Thomas is screaming. They are leaving the material world entirely. When they arrive at the next plane, free of modal and interval constraints, a new kind of lyricism emerges, one not dependent on time but on rhythm, and Thomas and Sanders are but two improvisers in a sound universe of world rhythm and dimension. There is nothing to describe the exhilaration that is felt when this tune ends, except that "Colours," with Ron Carter joining Workman on the bass, was the only track that could follow it. You cannot believe it until you hear it. AMG.

listen here

Justen O'Brien & Jake - Time Will Tell 1978

Ignored at the time of its release in 1978, the word is now finally out on the Time Will Tell album by Justen O'Brien & Jake. In recent years it's appeared on the want lists of serious collectors, and even playlists of some underground radio stations in the U.S. Maybe they're onto something? Well, if U.S. West Coast-style rock with a tinge of psychedelic is to your liking, look no further.

Comparisons have been made to Bob Smith, Michael Angelo, and Dr. Hooker, but you can dig deeper than that. There are certainly Arthur Lee's vocal stylings in there, and some of the rhythms of the music recall Love's Forever Changes period. On other tracks, there is the haunting quality of H.P. Lovecraft, but this is no homage to the past: the sound of Time Will Tell is very much it's own.

listen here

Willie Hutch - Fully Exposed [1973]

A versatile figure during Motown's "golden years," Willie Hutch penned hits for other artists, as well as issuing albums on his own. Born Willie McKinley Hutchinson in 1946 in Los Angeles, CA, Hutch was raised in Dallas, TX, where he began singing as a teenager (as a member of an outfit called the Ambassadors). It was also during his teenage years that Hutch began penning his own songs, and in 1964 issued a debut solo single, "Love Has Put Me Down." Soon after, his songwriting talents attracted the attention of the soon-to-be renowned '60s pop-soul outfit the 5th Dimension, for whom Hutch penned several tracks, as well as earning a co-production credit for the group's 1967 debut full-length Up, Up and Away. In 1970, producer Hal Davis asked Hutch to help finish off a song he desperately needed to be completed for the Jackson 5, "I'll Be There." Hutch delivered; the band recorded Hutch's version the next day, as it eventually became one of the 5's biggest early hits, and led to Motown head honcho Berry Gordy hiring Hutch to act as a songwriter/producer for other Motown artists on a regular basis.

Hutch then produced albums for Michael Jackson and Smokey Robinson during the early '70s, during which time Hutch penned the soundtrack to the 1973 blaxploitation flick The Mack on his own. The soundtrack is often considered to be one of the era's finest, as it spawned such funk-soul classics as the title track, "Brother's Gonna Work It Out," and "Slick." Hutch continued to issue solo releases for Motown, including such titles as Fully Exposed (1973), Foxy Brown, (1975), The Mark of the Beast (1975), Concert in Blues (1976), and Color Her Sunshine (1976), among others. After briefly relocating to the Whitfield record company for a few releases, Hutch returned back to Motown, where he issued further solo albums and worked with others, including a duet between the Four Tops and Aretha Franklin (1983's "What Have We Got to Lose"), Sammy Davis, Jr.'s "Hello Detroit" (1984), and a soundtrack album for the 1985 movie The Last Dragon. Hutch sporadically issued further solo sets in the '90s (1994's From the Heart and 1996's The Mack Is Back), before returning six years later with 2002's Sexalicious. He passed away on September 19, 2005, at his home outside Dallas, TX. AMG.

listen here

The Kinks - You Really Got Me 1965

The Kinks' American debut found them under the spell of the same bluesy American rock & roll that fueled both the Merseybeat bands and their grittier counterparts (most notably the Rolling Stones). Even with a pair of tried-and-true Chuck Berry numbers, Ray Davies' title song and a handful of other notables announced the emergence of a confident and original voice. His "Stop Your Sobbing" is a true gem. "Just Can't Go to Sleep" and "I Took My Baby Home" find Davies crafting top-flight Beatlesque pop. The band itself is a tough little rhythm machine, with guitarist Dave Davies' fist-sized chords churning away in tandem with the drums and bass. Though Ray Davies went on to find a broader base as a songwriter, the Kinks' first several albums are still as startling and convincing as they were decades ago. AMG.

listen here

Gene Chandler - Just Be True 1964

Gene Chandler is remembered by the rock & roll audience almost solely for the classic novelty and doo-wop-tinged soul ballad "Duke of Earl"; the unforgettable opening chant of the title leading the way, the song was a number-one hit in 1962. He's esteemed by soul fans as one of the leading exponents of the '60s Chicago soul scene, along with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. Born Eugene Dixon, he was a member of the doo-wop group the Dukays, and "Duke of Earl" was actually a Dukays recording; Dixon was renamed Gene Chandler and the single bore his credit as a solo singer. Chandler never approached the massive pop success of that chart-topper (although he occasionally entered the Top 20), but he was a big star with the R&B audience with straightforward mid-tempo and ballad soul numbers in the mid-'60s, many of which were written by Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis. Chandler's success became more fitful after Mayfield stopped penning material for him, although he enjoyed some late-'60s hits and had a monster pop and soul smash in 1970 with "Groovy Situation." His last successes were the far less distinguished disco- and dance-influenced R&B hits "Get Down" (1978) and "Does She Have a Friend?" (1980). AMG.

listen here

The Motions - Electric Baby 1969

A pretty typical Dutch "beat" group of the 1960s, the Motions were pretty popular in their native land, releasing seven albums and over 27 singles in their eight-year career. Far from the best Dutch group, and far from the worst, most of their hits were fairly ordinary fare, ranging from dippy folkish ballads to tough mod rockers. Their best cut is the positively ferocious mod stomper "Everything That's Mine" (1966), with a searing feedback break worthy of the early Who. They're really most remembered for their lead guitarist and songwriter, Robby van Leeuwen, who left in 1967 to form Shocking Blue, and penned that group's international smash, "Venus." AMG.

listen here

Iron Butterfly - Metamorphosis 1970

On Ball, Iron Butterfly began to expand their sound, attempting to write more concisely. On Metamorphosis, the group continued their musical explorations, adding a layered production to their sound. However, only keyboardist/vocalist Doug Ingle was enthusiastic about the band's new musical direction and most of the group refused to participate in the recording of the album, claiming it strayed too far from Iron Butterfly's signature sound. The truth of the matter is the rest of the band was right -- under Ingle's direction, the group tries stylistic diversions that they do not have the ability to accomplish, including funk and acoustic ballads. Nevertheless, this ambition makes for an interesting listen, since Iron Butterfly's albums can be weighed down by their relentless heaviness. Despite a handful of strong tracks -- particularly the single "Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way)" -- most of the album doesn't hold up on repeated plays. AMG.

listen here

Ten Years After - Ssssh 1969

Ssssh was Ten Years After's new release at the time of their incendiary performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. As a result, it was their first hit album in the U.S., peaking at number 20 in September of that year. This recording is a primer of British blues-rock of the era, showcasing Alvin Lee's guitar pyrotechnics and the band's propulsive rhythm section. As with most of TYA's work, the lyrics were throwaways, but the music was hot. Featured is a lengthy cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," with reworked lyrics leaving little doubt as to what the singer had in mind for the title character. Also included was a 12-bar blues song with the ultimate generic blues title "I Woke Up This Morning." Ssssh marked the beginning of the band's two-year run of popularity on the U.S. album charts and in the underground FM radio scene. AMG.

listen here

Alice Cooper - Pretties For You 1969

Pretties for You is the debut studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on June 25, 1969, by Straight Records. At this time, the name "Alice Cooper" referred to the band and not its lead singer Vincent Furnier. The album has a psychedelic flavor to it; the group had yet to develop the more concise hard rock sound that they would become famous for. Most of the tracks feature unusual time signatures and arrangements, jarring syncopation, expressive dynamics, sound effects, and an eclectic range of musical influences. A few songs, such as "Levity Ball", show the influence of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, with whom the band hung out during the British group's U.S. tour. Alice Cooper guitarist Glen Buxton stated he could listen to Barrett's guitar playing for hours on end.

The artwork for this album is a painting by Edward Beardsley. It was originally hanging on the wall of the living room in Frank Zappa's house. Pretties for You was a critical and commercial failure, only briefly appearing on the Billboard Top 200, and none of its songs have ever been played live by Cooper since the release of the band's breakthrough album Love It to Death. The song "Reflected", Alice Cooper's first single, was later rewritten as "Elected", which features on their 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies.

listen here

Black Merda - Black Merda 1967

Usually linked in with the brief explosion of "black rock" bands that followed Jimi Hendrix in the late '60s and early '70s, Black Merda's formula was a good bit more complicated than most, and their debut album blends elements of hard rock, blues, soul, folk, and embryonic funk with a tough and uncompromising political consciousness that makes the disc at once a product of its time and not quite like anything else around back in the day. The guitar work from Anthony Hawkins and Charles Hawkins is tough and organic, whether they're stretching out on extended blues jams such as "Over and Over" and "Windsong" or cutting some hard R&B-accented rock on "Cynthy-Ruth" and "Prophet." Bassist Vessee L. Veasy (who also contributes most of the lead vocals) and percussionist Tyrone Hite generate a lean but effective groove throughout as they jump from the streetwise soul of "Reality" to the acoustic meditation of "Think of Me." But as good as the music is on this album (and despite bland production from someone named Swan, most of it is very good indeed), what really sets it apart is the dark vibe reflected in the minor-key tenor of the melodies and the bitter realities of the lyrics. Grinding poverty, racism, political and social inequality, the ongoing nightmare of Vietnam, the growing schism between youth culture and the establishment, and the absence of any easy answers to the dilemmas of a nation spinning out of control dominate songs such as "Reality," "Ashamed," and "That's the Way It Goes," and the grim but wholly appropriate fable of "I Don't Want to Die" ends this album as if a lid were being slammed shut on a coffin. Black Merda anticipates the grim consciousness-raising session of Sly & the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On, which wouldn't arrive in stores until a year after this album, and if it isn't the stark masterpiece that Sly's album was, it's good enough that this group deserves to be regarded as much more than a footnote in the black music scene of the early '70s. AMG.

listen here

Canned Heat - Living The Blues 1968

Canned Heat's third collection, Living the Blues (1968), was likewise their first double-LP, heralding the rural hippie anthem "Going Up the Country" as well as the nearly three-quarter-hour "Refried Boogie." However, rather than distracting their audience, it became one of rock & roll's first two-LP sets to make a substantial showing on the charts, reaching the Top 20. Not surprising as the rest of the album -- essentially all of disc one -- is as solid (if not arguably more so) as their previous long player Boogie with Canned Heat (1968). Featured is the "classic" Heat lineup of Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/harmonica/vocals), Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass), Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar), Adolfo "Fido" de la Parra (drums), and Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals), who unleash another batch of strong originals and engaging overhauls of a few blues staples -- including the solid cover of Charley Patton's "Pony Blues" that commences the effort. Right out of the gate, the formidable team of Wilson and Vestine explore their musical passions with a focused drive that would significantly diminish in the years and on the records to follow. One of the primary factors in the package's commercial success was their update of Henry Thomas' "Going Down South," which they turned into the breezy "Goin' Up the Country." The song not only became one of their biggest hits, it was also used in the Woodstock (1970) documentary and a live version -- from the actual concert -- was presented on the soundtrack. Canned Heat is joined by one of their contemporaries as Brit bluesman John Mayall contributes to the compact reading of Jimmy Rogers'"Walking By Myself," not on guitar, but rather piano. He also tosses around the '88s during the "Bear Wires" movement of the side-long "Parthenogenesis" suite. While on the subject of guest keyboardists, Mac Rebbenack (aka Dr. John) joins in on the groovy ode to "Boogie Music." "One Kind Favour" (aka "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean") drives hard with Hite belting out behind the ensemble's propelling rhythms. Aside from the slightly indulgent "Refried Boogie," Living the Blues (1968) stands as a testament to Canned Heat's prowess as a modernizer of the blues and is recommended as one of the most cohesive works from this incarnation. AMG.

listen here

The Yardbirds - Having A Rave Up 1965

In its original U.S. vinyl release, this album, comprised of several singles and B-sides plus excerpts off of Five Live Yardbirds, was one of the best LPs of the entire British Invasion, ranking on a par with the greatest mid-'60s work of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones; it was also just a step away from being a best-of the Yardbirds as well. No collection has ever outdone the sheer compactness and high quality of Having a Rave Up. AMG.

listen here

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers - Indestructible 1964

Lee Morgan once again became part of the Jazz Messengers after replacing Freddie Hubbard, who left after replacing Morgan originally. The band is rounded out by pianist Cedar Walton, a steaming Wayne Shorter on tenor, Curtis Fuller on trombone, and bassist Reggie Workman with Art Blakey on the skins, of course. Indestructible is a hard-blowing blues 'n' bop date with Shorter taking his own solos to the outside a bit, and with Blakey allowing some of Fuller's longer, suite-like modal compositional work into the mix as well ("The Egyptian" and "Sortie"). There are plenty of hard swinging grooves-- an off-Latin funk à la Morgan's "Calling Miss Kadija," Shorter's killer "Mr. Jin," and Walton's ballad-cum-post-bop sprint "When Love Is New" -- and the Blakey drive is in full effect, making this album comes closest in feel to the Moanin' sessions with Bobby Timmons. Here the balance of soul groove and innovative tough bop are about equal. Morgan lends great intensity to this date by being such a perfect foil for Shorter, and their trading of fours and eights in "Sortie" is one of the disc's many high points. Morgan's blues-out modal frame is already in evidence here as he was beginning to stretch beyond the parameters of the 12-bar frame and into music from other spaces and times. AMG.

listen here

Dillinger - Dillinger 1974

Dillinger (not to be confused with the reggae band of the same name) was a Canadian progressive band from Toronto, Ontario. The band's debut self-titled album was originally released on the Daffodil Records label in 1974. The album contains three original songs composed by the band and a superb cover of the song "Nature's Way," originally done by Spirit on The 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus album. Dillinger's music is a complex, guitar-and-organ fronted progressive sound that moves from jazz to blues and features a variety of instruments including piano, synthesizers, flute, sax, acoustic and electric guitars bass, and percussion. In places, the band sounds like Santana, while in other places like Iron Butterfly or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Dillinger has a unique sound for a Canadian band that attracted more attention in Europe than it did in North America. With long songs and drawn-out solos, Dillinger is more or less one of your typical early-'70s progressive bands, nothing special, but nonetheless interesting and typical of the genre. This release by Unidisc is a straight reissue of the original album at a budget price and contains no bonus tracks. AMG.

listen here

The Groundhogs - Live at Leeds '71 (1971)

Although this nugget clocks in at only a hair over half an hour, it reveals the Groundhogs at what was arguably the crest of the Brit blues power trio's creative peak. The band featured the strong sonic personalities of Tony T.S. McPhee (guitar/vocals), Peter Cruickshank (bass), and Ken Pustelnik. Their straight-ahead heavy rock was more than a simple extension of 12-bar blues as their penchant for incendiary improvisation and strong original material rate among their assets. Live at Leeds '71 was recorded on April 13, 1971, as they opened up a series of U.K. concerts for the Rolling Stones. According to urban legend, this live set was documented and pressed in a very limited edition at the behest of Mick Jagger, and as a professional courtesy of sorts. As the Stones were taping themselves, Jagger commissioned engineer/producer Glyn Johns to record the Groundhogs and press up copies for friends and promotional use. The band had been around for several years and initially gained notoriety as the backing combo for a few of John Lee Hooker's mid-'60s British tours. The partial setlist here indicates that the Groundhogs were supporting not only the Stones but also their fifth long-player, Split (1971). Both the aggressive opener "Cherry Red" as well as "Split, Pt. 1" -- the first movement of the title track -- are given open-throttled workouts. The extemporaneous interaction allows them to explore a bit more behind McPhee's blazing leads and recall equal measures of Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad. They also reach back to their previous album, Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970), for both "Garden" as well as a fiery, albeit abbreviated " Eccentric Man...the Story of a Man Who...." Sadly, the proceedings fade out, just as they do on the promo vinyl acetate from which the audio was derived. That said, the official CD releases sound infinitely better than the heavily bootlegged and traded copy of a surface-noise-laden disc. Adding insult to injury, the unauthorized version was also mastered at the wrong speed. As the Groundhogs did not record many of their live shows during this seminal era, Live at Leeds '71 stands as a unique timepiece of an equally distinctive band. AMG.

listen here

Blackfoot - Strikes 1979

After missing the boat with Lynyrd Skynyrd (for whom he played drums early on), guitarist/singer Rick Medlocke formed Blackfoot, arguably the first all-Native American rock group. The band struggled for almost a decade, playing run-of-the-mill Southern rock that they eventually injected with extra volume and attitude before signing with Atco, for whom they recorded their 1979 breakthrough Strikes. Known as a ferocious live unit and probably the heaviest of Southern rock bands (see opener "Road Fever"), Strikes also proved that Blackfoot could write great melodies for the gloomy "Left Turn on a Red Light" and the inspired cover version of Free's "Wishing Well." But the band's biggest hit would come in the form of the seven-minute "Highway Song," a tune that was admittedly very reminiscent of Skynyrd's "Freebird" and that helped drive the album to gold status. Also of note is the harmonica performance of Shorty Medlocke (Rick's grandfather) on his own blues, "Train, Train." AMG.

listen here

Paul Chambers - Whims Of Chambers 1956

Of the seven songs on this Blue Note date, four are more common than the other three because they contain solos by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and have therefore been reissued more often. Actually there are quite a few solos in the all-star sextet (which includes the bassist-leader, Coltrane, trumpeter Donald Byrd, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Horace Silver, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) and all of the players get their chances to shine on this fairly spontaneous hard bop set. Coltrane's two obscure compositions ("Nita" and "Just for the Love") are among the more memorable tunes and are worth reviving. "Tale of the Fingers" features the quintet without Coltrane, the rhythm section stretches out on "Whims of Chambers," and "Tale of the Fingers" is a showcase for Chambers' bowed bass. This is a fine effort and would be worth picking up by straight-ahead jazz fans even if John Coltrane had not participated. AMG.

listen here