The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology

Unquestionably the finest collection of a major band that did much to launch American folk-rock in the mid-'60s. Anthology jams 26 cuts onto a single CD, including all of their hits and some of their strongest album tracks, drawing mostly from their 1965-1966 prime…

The Lovin' Spoonful had a marvelous run on the pop charts in the mid- to late '60s, and hits like "Do You Believe in Magic," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Daydream," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind," and "Summer in the City"…

Privé II provides elegance manifested as sound, the successor to the first memorable volume released in late 2009. Here we find a selection of the smoothest sounds in chill out, lounge, hip and trip hop and deep house spread over 6 discs. The packaging and sound mastering only serve to enhance what is truly a collector’s item for the high end consumer. Beauty and lush beats create a parallel atmosphere anywhere you play it.

All but one of these 19 tracks were recorded in December, 1964, as Paul Butterfield Blues Band's projected first LP; the results were scrapped and replaced by their official self-titled debut, cut a few months later. With both Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop already in tow, these sessions rank among the earliest blues-rock ever laid down. Extremely similar in feel to the first album, it's perhaps a bit rawer in production and performance, but not appreciably worse or different than what ended up on the actual debut LP. Dedicated primarily to electric Chicago blues standards, Butterfield fans will find this well worth acquiring, as most of the selections were never officially recorded by the first lineup (although different renditions of five tracks showed up on the first album and the What's Shakin' compilation).