Boy 1977

Leon Redbone followed up his debut long-player On the Track (1975) with Double Time (1977), an equally enchanting, if not somewhat eclectic blend, of jazz, folk, blues and pop standards – all in Redbone's undeniably distinct throaty baritone. While the tunes may be familiar, these renderings are steeped in the artist's unique sensibilities. The results are uniformly ingenious and commence with a New Orleans ragtime flavored interpretation of Blind Boy Blake's dirty "Diddy Wa Diddie" blues. Augmenting Redbone's acoustic guitar is an extended cast of session stalwarts and a host of other musical notables – such as Milt Hinton (bass), Jonathan Dorn (tuba), Vic Dickenson (trombone) and Jo Jones (drums). Don McLean (banjo) sits in, supplying his criminally underutilized instrumental versatility on the endearing revamp of Jimmie Rodgers' "Mississippi Delta Blues." The decidedly demented reading of "Sheik of Araby" is nothing short of inspired insanity. Redbone incorporates a Screamin' Jay Hawkins-esque persona belting out a variety of hoots, snorts, howls and hob-gobbles set behind a hot-steppin' fret board flurry à la Django Reinhardt.

Disky boils down the wild and varied career of Willy DeVille and concentrates on his legendary New York band, Mink DeVille, and their brand of no-nonsense, razor-blade Spanish stroll Jersey soul; it was a musical blend that had more in common with Phil Spector's 1960s than the CBGB '70s, but that's where it came from and it connected with the punks big time. This is roots rock with soul, swagger, and slither; it's a combination of catchy hooks, sweeping early rock crescendos, and DeVille's in-the-cut vocals that could melt the pants off a teenage girl at 50 paces – well, at least back in the day they could…

The Thrillington album is one of the few genuinely rare, legitimate commercial LP releases in Paul McCartney's output, mostly a result of its never having been officially credited to McCartney or publicized as one of his releases. An orchestral/instrumental version of Paul & Linda McCartney's Ram album, Thrillington is a very potent work in its own right…