John Carlton License to Steal

In 2000, BGO released Notice to Appear/A Banquet in Blues, which contained two complete albums – Notice to Appear (1976, originally released on ABC) and A Banquet in Blues (1975, also originally on ABC) – by John Mayall on one compact disc.

This disc by John Mooney stretches his boundaries without compromising his music at all. He adds some New Orleans rhythm & blues/funk to the solid, deep Delta blues foundation on which his music is based. It works yet he doesn't seem quite comfortable with it all yet even though he wrote nine of the 13 songs (some of his strongest songs yet). Of course, he has enlisted some of the finest, such as Dr. John to plink the ivories, and some friendly familiar faces like Jeff Sarli on bass, to assist him in this endeavor. This is more a group-orientated effort and it is excellent in that respect, however, that means Mooney's guitar work is not as prominent in the mix and, thus, it requires more attention by the listener because he has not lost any of his ferocity at all. His guitar playing is some of the most savage and ferocious ever. A big plus on this disc is Mooney's singing because he is sounding more comfortable each time out and he has a voice perfectly matched in passion to the raw and fervid nature of his Delta-based material.

In 2000, BGO released Notice to Appear/A Banquet in Blues, which contained two complete albums – Notice to Appear (1976, originally released on ABC) and A Banquet in Blues (1975, also originally on ABC) – by John Mayall on one compact disc.

Having cut an album of standards on his first Warner Brothers album, In a Sentimental Mood (1989), Dr. John turned for its follow-up to a collection of New Orleans standards. On an album he described in the liner notes as "a little history of New Orleans music," Dr. John returned to his hometown and set up shop at local Ultrasonic Studios, inviting in such local musicians as Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and the Neville Brothers and addressing the music and styles of such local legends as Jelly Roll Morton, Huey "Piano" Smith, Fats Domino, James Booker, and Professor Longhair. The geography may have been circumscribed, but the stylistic range was extensive, from jazz and blues to folk and rock. And it was all played with festive conviction - Dr. John is the perfect archivist for the music, being one of its primary proponents, yet he had never addressed it quite as directly as he did here.

Gone To Stay is the 9th album by John Norum. John Norum mostly known as the founder and lead guitarist from the rock band Europe that quickly took the name as Sweden´s biggest rock export with the songs 'The Final Countdown', 'Carrie' and 'Rock The Night' and has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. Norum has collaborated with many known musicians such as Don Dokken, Marcel Jacob, Glenn Huges to name a few. On 'One By One' we can hear the voice of Åge Sten Nilsen from Wig Wam.

Released as part of Apple/EMI’s extensive 2010 John Lennon remasters series, the single-disc Power to the People: The Hits covers familiar territory, but then again, that’s the point of this collection. It’s not designed to dig deep into John's catalog, it’s designed as the latest iteration of the canon, replacing 1997’s Lennon Legend, the last big-budget single-disc compilation. Power to the People is five cuts shorter than Lennon Legend, ditching album cuts “Love” and “Borrowed Time,” swapping the charting singles, “Mother” and “Nobody Told Me,” for the non-charting “Gimme Some Truth” and the actual number 18 hit “Mind Games,” but the end result is the same: Power to the People feels interchangeable with its predecessors because it is another collection with “Imagine,” “Instant Karma,” “Whatever Gets You Through the Night,” “Jealous Guy,” “(Just Like) Starting Over,” “Watching the Wheels,” “Stand by Me,” “#9 Dream,” “Give Peace a Chance,” “Power to the People,” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” The remasters are excellent so if you are in need of a tight Lennon comp this is a good choice but if you already have a hits collection, there’s no reason to replace it.