Stephen Barry Band

Two of Barry Goldberg's best albums from the late '60s, Reunion and Two Jews Blues, are combined on this single disc. There's some very hot playing on these two albums, particularly from Mike Bloomfield on Two Jews Blues, but they sound a little dated and don't quite burn as hot as some blues-rock albums from the late '60s. Nevertheless, this does capture Goldberg's two best records, which makes it both a good summary of his peak and a good introduction to his sound.

Althogh the packaging leaves something to be desired, all of Barry McGuire's hits, including "Eve of Destruction" and many similar-sounding protest folk-rockers, are featured on Anthology.

As the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) had done a year earlier, Super Session (1968) initially ushered in several new phases in rock & roll's concurrent transformation. In the space of months, the soundscape of rock shifted radically from short, danceable pop songs to comparatively longer works with more attention to technical and musical subtleties. Enter the unlikely all-star triumvirate of Al Kooper (piano/organ/ondioline/vocals/guitars), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), and Stephen Stills (guitar) – all of whom were concurrently "on hiatus" from their most recent engagements. Kooper had just split after masterminding the groundbreaking Child Is Father to the Man (1968) version of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Bloomfield was fresh from a stint with the likewise brass-driven Electric Flag, while Stills was late of Buffalo Springfield and still a few weeks away from a full-time commitment to David Crosby and Graham Nash. Although the trio never actually performed together, the long-player was notable for idiosyncratically featuring one side led by the team of Kooper/Bloomfield and the other by Kooper/Stills.

The Complete Capitol Singles Collection is a 1996 box set by the American singer Frank Sinatra. This four-disc set contains all the singles —A-sides and B-sides—that Sinatra recorded for Capitol Records between 1953 and 1960. Among them are duets with Bing Crosby, Keely Smith, June Hutton, and the Nuggets, who provided vocal backing at a 1955 session where Sinatra made two forays into rock 'n' roll. Those songs, along with about 20 others, make their first appearance on compact disc with this set. The packaging includes many photographs, detailed session notes, and a long essay by Will Friedwald, who explains that Sinatra followed a "singles aesthetic" that set these songs quite apart from the "concept" albums he was recording simultaneously for Capitol.