Interesting little hodgepodge of various Freddie King recordings between 1974 and 1976. Freddie was one of the all time Blues greats. Even Eric Clapton was quoted as saying "Until I met Freddie, I just played the guitar. Freddie taught me how to make love to it." And with such great players like Eric Clapton, George Terry, Jamie Oldecker, & Carl Raddle, and the song "Sugar Sweet", produced by the late great Tom Dowd, this album is a must have to any Blues music library.
For a band that rescued rock & roll from the Uriah Heeps of the world in the late '70s, and made a mark on everything that followed, the Sex Pistols left behind precious little in terms of their recorded legacy. Their only official release being the earth-shattering NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, enthusiasts have to turn to collections of outtakes and live material to further satisfy their Pistols jones. This brings us to the mysterious NO FUTURE U.K. With virtually nothing to go on in terms of liner notes or credits, it's hard to determine exactly where these alternate version of well-known Pistols songs like "Pretty Vacant" and "Liar" are from. Are they rehearsal recordings? Demos? Outtakes? We may never know for sure, but one thing is for certain, they are relatively well-recorded, full of patented Pistols energy, and among the band's finer performances, all of which puts NO FUTURE towards the front of the posthumous Pistols pack.
It is here, on this 1977 blockbuster, that Steve Miller shored up his "Space Cowboy" moniker and cosmic persona: from the winged horse on the album cover to a judicious smattering of synthesizers in the music, Book of Dreams bridged the gap between blues-rock and the indulgences of prog rock. Things do go awry when Renaissance Faire whimsy takes over clunkers like "Wish Upon a Star" and "Babes in the Wood," but luckily the balance of the record offers a satisfying blend of meaty blues and country riffs and tasteful atmospherics. The well-known suspects include "Swingtown," "Winter Time," and "Threshold," with relatively straightforward rock & boogie highlights coming by way of "True Fine Love," "Jet Airliner," and "Jungle Love"…
A&M's 1977 collection The Best of Joan Baez doesn't chronicle her most influential work, but that doesn't mean it's not without merit. Far from it, actually. This is a concise recapping of her poppier recordings for A&M, which include such classic Baez moments as her original "Diamonds and Rust" and a definitive reading of Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." The rest of the album splits the difference between covers (including Stevie Wonder's lovely "I Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate") and originals, providing an entertaining, enlightening encapsulation of her '70s recordings.
From the release of their first album in 1974, Bad Company were one of the biggest hard rock bands of the '70s. Featuring former members of Free (vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke), Mott the Hoople (guitarist Mick Ralphs), and King Crimson (bassist Boz Burrell), Bad Company's straightforward but swaggering attack earned them a steady run of hits. While Bad Company never released a live album with their classic lineup, Atlantic/Rhino Records has delivered something special for the group's fans.
MILLIONS LIKE US is the first-ever box set to properly document the Mod Revival scene of the late Seventies and Eighties. Across 100 tracks by all the key bands, the story of the Mod Revival is told, from its roots in Punk/New Wave through to its commercial heyday in 1979 with bands like Secret Affair and The Lambrettas and its resurrection in 1985 with The Untouchables and Makin Time.