Double Suicide 1969

A sequel to the 2015 box Five Years 1969-1973, 2016's Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) covers just three years but this stretch in the mid-'70s happens to be the peak of David Bowie's superstardom. That much can be gleaned from the number of albums within the set: three studio albums – Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station to Station, each released in a subsequent year – along with the double live album David Live from 1974…

Singer/actress Judy Garland had a varied career that began in vaudeville and extended into movies, records, radio, television, and personal appearances. She is best remembered as the big-voiced star of a series of movie musicals, particularly The Wizard of Oz, in which she sang her signature song, "Over the Rainbow."

One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her generation, Lucinda Williams was also a fiercely independent artist who had to fight for the creative freedom that allowed her to do her best work. The daughter of a well-respected poet, Williams brought a literacy and sense of detail to her work that was unpretentious but powerfully evocative and emotional, which led to a number of major artists covering her tunes while she was still establishing herself as a performer. As a vocalist, Williams used the rough edges of her instrument to her advantage, allowing the grit of her voice to heighten the authenticity of her performance.

SIXTY-NINE is a little known German progressive rock duo formed in 1969 by Armin Stöwe (organ, piano, synthesizer, guitar, vocals) and Roland Schupp (drums, percussion, gongs). SIXTY-NINE gained significant popularity as a live act and consequently had the opportunity to play, often as an opening act, at a variety of rock festivals with the likes of popular bands such as GOLDEN EARRING, AMON DÜÜL II, UFO, BEGGAR'S OPERA, PETE YORK, WEST BRUCE & LAING, BIRTH CONTROL, JUD'S GALLERY, AGITATION FREE, FRUMPY, and GURU GURU.

Despite the fact that there are multiple recordings of Shostakovich's deeply moving Symphony No. 14, this rather old but remastered recording is unique in the quality of performance: Bernard Haitink conducts his Concertgebouw Orchestra and elected to use non-Slavic singers Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who in turn sing the poems in their original languages rather than the Russian translations used in the original premiere. The effect is staggeringly beautiful and if one must choose a single recording of this symphony, this would be the one that captures the essence of Shostakovich's vision.