The other side of Bob Dylan referred to in the title is presumably his romantic, absurdist, and whimsical one – anything that wasn't featured on the staunchly folky, protest-heavy Times They Are a-Changin', really. Because of this, Another Side of Bob Dylan is a more varied record and it's more successful, too, since it captures Dylan expanding his music, turning in imaginative, poetic performances on love songs and protest tunes alike. This has an equal number of classics to its predecessor, actually, with "All I Really Want to Do," "Chimes of Freedom," "My Back Pages," "I Don't' Believe You," and "It Ain't Me Babe" standing among his standards, but the key to the record's success is the album tracks, which are graceful, poetic, and layered.
Discovered by Dizzy Gillespie (whose 40's rhythm section left to form the initial line-up of the esteemed Modern Jazz Quartet) , Milt "Bags" Jackson was a preeminent vibes virtuoso and enjoyed over forty years as one-fourth of the MJQ (Milt Jackson Quartet). Jackson also enjoyed decades of solo work for great jazz labels such as Savoy, Riverside and Atlantic and one of his crowning achievements occurred over a three day session booked for Riverside in 1962. Answering his 'invitation' were fellow all-starts Kenny Dorham, Jimmy Heath, Ron Carter and Tommy Flanagan. The trumpet/tenor tandem uniquely augment Jackson' vibraphone, creating a driving, free-wheeling, classic blowing session.
Legendary vibraphonist Milt Jackson needed only three sessions to record the gem that is 1963’s Invitation, an album on which the longtime Modern Jazz Quartet member paired the enviable cast of trumpeter Kenny Dorham, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Connie Kay. No, you don’t need to be a jazz aficionado to recognize those musicians. Household names all, they and Jackson deliver in spades, performing a satisfyingly diverse set that spans Hollywood film scores, Broadway showtunes, and jazz standards.
Whether on the gently swaying title track, Thelonious Monk’s contemplative “Ruby, My Dear,” or swinging “The Sealer,” you are transported to a universe of mellow moods and playful optimism…
Foreigner - Foreigner (1977). Blissful feelings arise at the mere mention of 70s arena rock. It gives listeners the permission to have fun, sing along to aircraft-hangar-size choruses, play air guitar solos, forget about any troubles, recall the experience of a first kiss, and quite simply, rock out. Few albums better instill these pleasures than Foreigner’s 1977 self-titled debut album, a five-times platinum blockbuster chock full of salacious riffs, soaring vocals, edgy beats, and lyrics that practically demand to be shouted.
Spearheaded by guitar hero Mick Jones, fresh off success with Spooky Tooth, Foreigner rallied around a talented collective pulled from the U.S. and U.K…
For roughly half a decade, from 1968 through 1975, the Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the public) as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Their albums were analyzed and reviewed as intensely as any records by their one-time employer and sometime mentor Bob Dylan. Although the Band retired from touring after The Last Waltz and disbanded several years later, their legacy thrived for decades, perpetuated by the bandmates' respective solo careers as well as the enduring strength of the Band's catalog…
Gram Parsons - GP (1973). GP is American singer-songwriter Gram Parsons' debut solo album. Working with a crack band of L.A. and Nashville's finest (including James Burton on guitar, Ronnie Tutt on drums, Byron Berline on fiddle, and Glen D. Hardin on piano), he drew from them a sound that merged breezy confidence with deeply felt Southern soul, and he in turn pulled off some of his most subtle and finely detailed vocal performances; "She" and "A Song for You," in particular, are masterful examples of passion finding balance with understatement. Parsons also discovered that rare artist with whom he can be said to have genuinely collaborated (rather than played beside), Emmylou Harris; Gram and Harris' spot-on harmonies and exchanged verses on "We'll Sweep out the Ashes in the Morning" and "That's All It Took" are achingly beautiful and instantly established her as one country music's most gifted vocalists…
Love broadened their scope into psychedelia on their sophomore effort, Arthur Lee's achingly melodic songwriting gifts reaching full flower. The six songs that comprised the first side of this album when it was first issued are a truly classic body of work, highlighted by the atomic blast of pre-punk rock "Seven & Seven Is" (their only hit single), the manic jazz tempos of "Stephanie Knows Who", and the enchanting "She Comes in Colors", perhaps Lee's best composition (and reportedly the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow"). It's only half a great album, though; the seventh and final track, "Revelation", is a tedious 19-minute jam that keeps Da Capo from attaining truly classic status.
…Skynyrd was nothing but rockers, and they were Southern rockers to the bone. This didn't just mean that they were rednecks, but that they brought it all together – the blues, country, garage rock, Southern poetry – in a way that sounded more like the South than even The Allmans…
Although chronologically the last to be issued, this collection includes some of the best performances from the tapes which would produce the albums Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and ultimately, Steamin'. A primary consideration of these fruitful sessions is the caliber of musicians – Miles Davis (trumpet), Red Garland (piano), John Coltrane (tenor sax), and Philly Joe Jones (drums) – who were basically doing their stage act in the studio…
In a debut consisting of covers, nobody could accuse Vanilla Fudge of bad taste in their repertoire; with stoned-out, slowed-down versions of such then-recent classics as "Ticket to Ride," "Eleanor Rigby," and "People Get Ready," they were setting the bar rather high for themselves. Even the one suspect choice – Sonny Bono's "Bang Bang" – turns out to be rivaled only by Mott the Hoople's version of "Laugh at Me" in putting Bono's songwriting in the kindest possible light. Most of the tracks here share the common structure of a disjointed warm-up jam, a Hammond-heavy dirge of harmonized vocals at the center, and a final flat-out jam. Still, some succeed better than others: "You Keep Me Hanging On" has a wonderfully hammered-out drum part, and "She's Not There" boasts some truly groovy organ jams. While the pattern can sound repetitive today, each song still works as a time capsule of American psychedelia.