Canned Heat

With 100 hit tracks spanning five discs, this budget set, which has a decided British lean, has no real discernible theme, but features plenty of rock and pop classics like Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street," Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman," Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle," Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat," and the Band's "The Weight," as well as British hits from the Buzzcocks, the Ruts, and the Waterboys.

'Seasons Of Change II: More Happening Hits Of The Hippy Era' is the much-anticipated sequel to the original instalment released a couple of years ago. This second volume once again plugs into the 'vibe' and musical mood of that late-60s/early-70s period - focusing on those tracks that became local charts hits, and album cuts that received lots of radio airplay during those heady years.

Chet Atkins recorded way too often, in way too many dubious contexts; wanting to showcase the depth and breadth of his playing, he instead buried himself. So what's a fan to do? This two-disc set is beautifully programmed, keeping all emphasis on Chet himself, from the delicate drive of 1947's "Canned Heat" to the four-guitar interplay of 1978's "Carolina Shout."

Finland’s Wentus Blues Band released their self-titled debut album in 1989. The band leads the thriving blues scene in Scandinavia and has twelve previous albums. 2011’s “Woodstock”, on Ruf Records, was recorded at The Levon Helm Studios. Their last album was 2016’s “Lucky Strike Mama”. They play 150 gigs annually and have hosted and toured with many well known blues artists…

Albums that combine live and studio tracks can, in some cases, be inconsistent. Some artists are so reliant on studio technology that they fall apart in a live setting; they sound stiff and awkward the minute they take the stage. And on the other hand, some artists are so fond of playing live that they become inhibited in the studio. But there is nothing inconsistent or uneven about Walter Trout's debut album, Life in the Jungle, a collection of live and studio recordings from 1989; on this release, the blues-rocker is as focused and inspired on-stage as he is in the studio. All of the tracks were recorded in Scandinavian countries; the live performances are from an appearance at the Midtfyn Festival in Denmark on July 2, 1989, while the studio material is from a session in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 21 and July 9 of that year.

This four-disc box set was released commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival that took place in August 1969, and combined both of the Woodstock albums released in 1970 and 1971 with previously unreleased material. It's a well-known part of the festival's history that many of the participants played self-confessed lackluster sets. However, considering the surrounding circumstances in which this music was conceived – not enough food or water, an abundance of drugs, and thunderstorms – these artists manage to rise above it more often than not. What is most interesting about this box set are the unreleased tracks by the Band, Tim Hardin, Johnny Winter, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Ritchie Havens. A whittled down single-disc sampler featuring many of the aforementioned unreleased tracks are also available on Woodstock Diary containing Mountain's "Southbound Train," Sly and the Family Stone's "Love City," and CS&N's "Blackbird" which aren't included on the box set.

Al Campbell – AllMusic

West Coast vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Robert Lucas forged a path for himself in the blues world after the release of his much-hailed 1990 self-produced debut cassette, Across the River. Based in Long Beach, CA, as a solo artist Lucas recorded for the Audioquest label out of San Clemente. He was also a member of the legendary boogie blues band Canned Heat, singing and playing bottleneck guitar and harmonica with the group off and on starting in 1994. Lucas paid homage to traditional blues but also carefully crafted his own singing and slide guitar style. These talents are on ample display on his Audioquest albums, including Luke and the Locomotives, Usin' Man Blues, Built for Comfort, Layaway, and Completely Blue, all released during the '90s, as well as latter-day Canned Heat albums on the Ruf and Fuel 2000 labels.