Super Session

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.

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…

This CD reissues a session that teams together three "super" players: pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Elvin Jones. On two of Flanagan's better originals ("Minor Perhaps" and "Rachel's Rondo") and four jazz standards (including "Django" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be"), the musicians communicate quite well (Flanagan and Jones had played together back in the mid-'50s in Detroit) and often think as one. Fine straight-ahead music.

Super deluxe edition of "News Of The World" from Queen consists of 3 CDs, a DVD, and a LP. Disc 1 (original album) includes "All Dead, All Dead" featuring Freddie Mercury on vocal. *The original album version features Brian May. Disc 2 (raw sessions) consists of alternate takes, demo ones, and rough mix versions, including "We Are The Champions" with entirely different rendition and vocal from the previous recordings…

Super deluxe edition include the three disc (two CDs + DVD) edition plus vinyl picture disc LP pressing, the white tape replica pre-contract demo cassette containing remastered versions of four original demo tracks, an extra bonus CD containing further previously unreleased studio, live and BBC session and remastered tracks…

The Appetite For Destruction: Super Deluxe Edition features 4CDs including the album newly remastered for the first time ever; B-sides N’ EPs newly remastered; the previously unreleased 1986 Sound City Session N’ More recordings; a Blu-ray Audio disc with the album, bonus tracks and music videos in brand new 5.1 surround sound along with the unearthed music video for “It’s So Easy” originally shot in 1989 but never finished; and a 96-page hardcover book showcasing unseen photos from Axl Rose’s personal archive and wealth of memorabilia…