The Asylum Years

Judee Sill - Abracadabra: The Asylum Years (2006) {2CD Set Rhino 8122 79534 2 rec 1971-1973}
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© 1971-73, 2006 Asylum Records / Rhino | 8122 79534 2
Folk Rock / Singer-Songwriter

Now compiled into a single handy package, Judee Sill's first two albums here resurface with extensive bonus tracks included. Sill's place in history is assured by the fact that she was the very first artist to sign to David Geffen's Asylum label at the beginning of the '70s, recording the two now legendary albums (her eponymous 1971 debut and 1972's Heartfood) found on this release. Sill's lyrical concerns tended to converge upon particularly eccentric Christian themes, never more successfully than on her debut single 'Jesus Was A Crossmaker', produced by Graham Nash.

Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology (2020) {6CD Set, Esoteric Recordings QECLEC 72722}
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© 2020 Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red / Warner | QECLEC 72722
Rock / Pop Rock / Soft Rock / Classic Rock

As a solo artist and a collaborator, Andrew Gold defined a strand of mainstream pop during the late 1970s. His work with Linda Ronstadt – he led her band and arranged her blockbuster albums of the mid-'70s – catapulted him to a position where he was given the chance to score his own hits, which he did with 1977's "Lonely Boy" and 1978's "Thank You for Being a Friend," not to mention "Never Let Her Slip Away," which was a U.K. smash in '78. Gold stepped away from this solo career after 1980's Whirlwind, re-emerging in the late 1990s when he was acknowledged as the cult figure he is.

The second British Tom Waits compilation was a more extensive look at the 1973-1980 Asylum Records catalog than the first, Bounced Checks from 1981 (four more tracks), but it was another idiosyncratic selection. Waits' stellar first two albums were better represented, with three strong tracks drawn from The Heart of Saturday Night and two from Closing Time, but "Ol' 55" was ignored again, and nothing was included from the third album, Nighthawks at the Diner, which is the favorite of many Waits fans. Three tracks were repeated from Bounced Checks - "Burma Shave," "I Never Talk to Strangers," a duet with Bette Midler, and "Tom Traubert's Blues" - and they were worthy, but where was "Jersey Girl"? The choices from the later albums were spotty: why use Waits' questionable cover of "Somewhere" from West Side Story and leave out a brilliant story-song like "Romeo Is Bleeding"…

Originally formed as a side project towards the last couple of years of Motörhead by Phil Campbell, the former Motörhead guitarist of 32 years, the band decided to take it up a level and revealed the new name of Phil Campbell and the Bastard sons at Wacken Open Air 2016. A self-titled EP was released a few months later. Led by one of the genre’s most respected guitarists and completed by his sons Todd, Tyla and Dane the band emerged onto the 2017 touring circuit powered by a huge amount of good will, a smattering of Motörhead covers and a handful of new songs that crackled with passion and swagger. Landing themselves a prestigious support slot on Guns 'n' Roses 2017 summer stadium run, the Bastard sons hit the ground running.

Joni Mitchell was at a turning point 50 years ago. After making four acclaimed albums with Reprise Records, including her 1971 masterpiece Blue, she left the label to join the brand-new Asylum Records in 1972. Over the next seven years, Mitchell would record some of the most acclaimed music of her career while changing her musical direction by adding more jazz elements into her songwriting. The evolution culminated in 1979 with Mingus, her collaboration with jazz titan Charles Mingus, and her studio last album for Asylum.