Who? (1973)

This two-fer compiles albums issued in 1971 and 1973, respectively, and offers all the strengths of the Randy Bachman-era Guess Who even though there are no massive hits on these sides. The band were at a creative peak in both performance and production as evidenced by such tracks as "Rain Dance," and "Life in the Bloodstream" from So Long, Bannatyne, and "Musiconé" and "Miss Frizzy" from #10.

How does an instant multimillion-selling album become an underrated minor masterpiece? George Harrison's follow-up to the triple-disc All Things Must Pass (which had been comprised of an immense backlog of great songs that he'd built up across the last years of his time with the Beatles), Living in the Material World was necessarily a letdown for fans and critics, appearing as it did two-and-a-half-years after its predecessor without that earlier album's outsized songbag from which to draw…

After the musical uncertainty of Waterloo Lily, Caravan returned with their most inspired recording since In the Land of the Grey and Pink. The splendidly titled For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night is several steps ahead in terms of fresh musical ideas that wholly incorporate the band's trademark humor within the otherwise serious and challenging sonic structures. Two of the more dominant reasons for the change in Caravan's sound were the return of keyboardist Dave Sinclair and the addition of violist Peter Geoffrey Richardson. Die-hard fans gladly welcomed Sinclair back, however, Richardson was met with heckles from enthusiasts during live appearances. They were soon silenced as his place on For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night easily ranks among Caravan's watershed moments…

Long Hair is proudly to present for the first time as official reissues the legendary album 'All Bumm' by German supergroup 18 Karat Gold. Studio musician Keith Forsey on drums (Hallelujah/Amon Duul II), Bass genius Lothar Meid (Amon Duul II), Jorg Evers (guitar) from Embryo and American - German guitar talent Klaus Ebert on lead guitar born out of the prolific Munich music scene. Famous German music magazine Sounds praised the album as a landmark, a pioneering feat, and came to the euphoric conclusion that German popmusic has only just begun! The idea behind 18 Karat Gold seems to have been to present a Krautrock influenced musical direction of english icons like David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Roxy Music and perhaps T. Rex and Slade, who partly played a very mainstream, but at the same time sophisticated pop sound, also surnamed Glam Rock…

Moving over to the CTI label with Creed Taylor, Paul Desmond injects a bit of the 1970s into his sound, obtaining agreeable if not totally simpatico results. Here, the cool altoist is teamed with the progressive-slanted drumming of Jack DeJohnette (who might have been too busy a drummer for his taste), and Bob James' electric and acoustic pianos, with Ron Carter as the bass anchor, Gene Bertoncini on rhythm guitar, and, most interestingly, another individualist, Gabor Szabo, on solo electric guitar…

Long Hair is proudly to present for the first time as official reissues the legendary album 'All Bumm' by German supergroup 18 Karat Gold. Studio musician Keith Forsey on drums (Hallelujah/Amon Duul II), Bass genius Lothar Meid (Amon Duul II), Jorg Evers (guitar) from Embryo and American - German guitar talent Klaus Ebert on lead guitar born out of the prolific Munich music scene. Famous German music magazine Sounds praised the album as a landmark, a pioneering feat, and came to the euphoric conclusion that German popmusic has only just begun! The idea behind 18 Karat Gold seems to have been to present a Krautrock influenced musical direction of english icons like David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Roxy Music and perhaps T. Rex and Slade, who partly played a very mainstream, but at the same time sophisticated pop sound, also surnamed Glam Rock…

This album was unusual on several counts. For starters, it was a soundtrack (for Sam Peckinpah's movie of the same title), a first venture of its kind for Bob Dylan. For another, it was Dylan's first new LP in three years – he hadn't been heard from in any form other than the single "George Jackson," his appearance at the Bangladesh benefit concert in 1971, in all of that time. Finally, it came out at an odd moment of juxtaposition in pop culture history, appearing in July 1973 on the same date as the release of Paul McCartney's own first prominent venture into film music, on the Live and Let Die soundtrack (the Beatles bassist had previously scored The Family Way, a British project overlooked amid the frenzy of the Beatles' success).

This album was unusual on several counts. For starters, it was a soundtrack (for Sam Peckinpah's movie of the same title), a first venture of its kind for Bob Dylan. For another, it was Dylan's first new LP in three years – he hadn't been heard from in any form other than the single "George Jackson," his appearance at the Bangladesh benefit concert in 1971, in all of that time. Finally, it came out at an odd moment of juxtaposition in pop culture history, appearing in July 1973 on the same date as the release of Paul McCartney's own first prominent venture into film music, on the Live and Let Die soundtrack (the Beatles bassist had previously scored The Family Way, a British project overlooked amid the frenzy of the Beatles' success).

April Lawton's short rock & roll moment in the sun takes a better turn on Ramatam's second attempt, In April Came the Dawning of the Red Suns. Acoustic ramblings like "Excerpt From Guitar Concerto #1," where she plays solo for 44 seconds, are more inviting than much of what was on the group's self titled debut. Since her prowess was a big part of the hype, why those introspective glimpses weren't extended is the mystery. There's also a pretty interlude, "Rainy Sunday Evening," which comes between two awful moments on side one, "Betty Lou" and "I Can Only Love You," proving the previous point.