Don Toliver Hardstone Psycho

In another of those two-fers that are going to tangle discographies for some time to come, this bears the title of a Don Patterson album, The Boss Men, and includes all of the material from that LP. However, this CD, though it's also called The Boss Men, is billed to both Sonny Stitt and Don Patterson, and combines the original Patterson The Boss Men LP with another album cut in 1965, Night Crawler, that was billed to Sonny Stitt, although it featured the exact same lineup (Stitt on alto sax, Patterson on organ, Billy James on drums) as The Boss Men. Not only that, the CD adds two cuts from a Patterson 1964 LP, Patterson's People, also featuring the Stitt-Patterson-James trio. As for the original The Boss Men, it's a respectable straight-ahead jazz-with-organ session…

In 2000, Koch reissued Don Covay's two classic mid-'60s albums, Mercy and See-Saw, on one tremendous CD. The term "classic" is thrown around haphazardly in pop music, but these are two sublime records that earn the term, even if they're not as roundly celebrated as platters from Otis Redding or even cult favorite James Carr. Though he racked up a number of singles on the R&B charts, he never had a huge crossover hit, but his music stands as some of the most effervescent, infectious soul of the '60s (not to mention that his vocal style was a clear inspiration to Mick Jagger). What makes his music so remarkable is how it's earthy Southern soul, kicking really hard in its rhythms and with plenty of growl in Covay's voice, but is as nimble, tuneful, and sunny as the sounds coming out of Chicago and Detroit during the mid-'60s. Perhaps that's why he never quite got a huge single – he straddled the two popular sounds without fully being part of either. It may have not resulted in big singles, but it resulted in splendid music. If there's not much difference stylistically between Mercy and See-Saw – they're both pretty much cut from the same cloth – there's also little difference in quality. It's all tremendous, enjoyable, sweet Southern soul. Razor & Tie's Mercy Mercy: The Definitive Don Covay provides the definitive overview, but for a pure concentration of Covay at his peak, this is irresistible and essential.

"The Essential" Don Johnson might be stretching it. Still, Johnson's two albums had their merits, particularly Heartbeat, his debut. Of the 16 cuts on this set, nine of the ten original tracks from Heartbeat are included here. Of the tracks that come from Let It Roll, only the best make the cut, such as Johnson's versions of "Tell It Like It Is," "Your Love Is Safe With Me," "Heartache Away," etc. Johnson was smart about his singing career. He enlisted help form major-league songwriters like Bob Seger ("Star Tonight") and Tom Petty ("Lost in Your Eyes"), and of course his biggest hit, "Heartbeat," was written by Eric Kaz and Wendy Waldman. Throughout this collection there are surprises, and Johnson's voice is steady, rock-solid even. The material isn't always great, but it is never less that reliably sound pop/rock played by a host of aces, with guest stars including Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Ron Wood. Pretty cool, kitsch or not.

Donald Smith Airey is an English musician who has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, after the retirement of Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Saxon, Wishbone Ash, Colosseum II, Ten, Sinner, Michael Schenker, Rainbow, Empire, Brian May, Divlje jagode and Living Loud. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"The Essential" Don Johnson might be stretching it. Still, Johnson's two albums had their merits, particularly Heartbeat, his debut. Of the 16 cuts on this set, nine of the ten original tracks from Heartbeat are included here. Of the tracks that come from Let It Roll, only the best make the cut, such as Johnson's versions of "Tell It Like It Is," "Your Love Is Safe With Me," "Heartache Away," etc. Johnson was smart about his singing career. He enlisted help form major-league songwriters like Bob Seger ("Star Tonight") and Tom Petty ("Lost in Your Eyes"), and of course his biggest hit, "Heartbeat," was written by Eric Kaz and Wendy Waldman. Throughout this collection there are surprises, and Johnson's voice is steady, rock-solid even. The material isn't always great, but it is never less that reliably sound pop/rock played by a host of aces, with guest stars including Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Ron Wood. Pretty cool, kitsch or not.