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Rory was never a man to sit back and let the world slip by. The 70’s saw him release 10 albums in as many years, work with a great many of his heroes and tour the world. Although his recorded output in the 1980’s was more sporadic he still toured constantly, playing some of the first rock gigs behind the iron curtain as well as cementing his live reputation in Europe and the US. ‘Defender’ his third album of the 80’s, was the first release on his own label. Capo offered him the complete artistic freedom he needed, enabling him to produce the music as he wanted. He admitted “I’m not that organised, but I want anything that I’m doing to be under control, and I want the final say on things”.

Prior to the 1992 release of the five-disc box set The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters, RCA's approach to reissuing Elvis Presley on CD - or on LP, for that matter - was rather scatter-shot, seeming to follow the dictates of the market more than the demands of history. There were some excellent releases of archival material and in 1987, on the tenth anniversary of the King's death, there was a stellar series of compilations, but most of what was released was a constant stream of recycled hits, which this box most certainly is not. This set is sharply and expertly assembled, presenting Elvis' peak as a creative and cultural force in staggering detail…

Former Muddy Waters sideman and current Blues Revue magazine columnist Bob Margolin brings his encyclopedic knowledge of blues and chops galore with him on this, his third album for Alligator. Ten of the 14 selections are penned by Margolin, with selected covers of material from Bobby Charles, Grady Jackson, Snooky Pryor and Gladys Knight and the Pips rounding out the mix. This time around Margolin stretches his musical boundaries into new directions, adding to his already wide range of blues subgenres. The title track is a solid homage to Chuck Berry, while Grady Jackson's "Coffee Break" is the kind of atmospheric, sax-driven track that would have fit perfectly on any Aladdin blues-after-hours 10-inch album. "Imagination" gets a true soul workout, as does "The Window," with its funky lead fills…

After the Stray Cats broke up, Brian Setzer took a long walk from his rockabilly past with his first solo album, 1986's The Knife Feels Like Justice, but while it was a fine LP and a modest success, later that year the Stray Cats reunited for the first of many times to record Rock Therapy, and by the time Setzer made his way back to the studio on his own, he'd seemingly grown tired of his new heartland rock gestures and dove back into the retro style that had made his name. While 1988's Live Nude Guitars leans toward rockabilly and uptempo roots rock, the production (mostly by Setzer and Larson Paine, though Dave Stewart and Chris Thomas work on a few tracks) is a lot slicker than anything the Stray Cats ever put to wax, and the big, glossy sound of "Rockability," "Red Lightning Blues," and "She Thinks I'm Trash" tends to work against the songs, and the synthesizer line and drum machine on "When the Sky Comes Tumblin' Down" are simply cringe-inducing.

Elton John returned to the sound and aesthetic of his classic early-'70s work with 2001's Songs From the West Coast, finding critical acclaim, if not much commercial success. Not that the lack of sales greatly bothered Elton – in many interviews, including one with Entertainment Weekly the week before Peachtree Road was released in November 2004, he claimed he was "disappointed" that it just barely went gold, but he was tired of making "uneven" records…

Minoru Muraoka (Japanese: 村岡福夫, born Muraoka Fukuo; 1924 in Miyakonojo – January 2, 2014) was a popular Japanese shakuhachi player. Playing in a jazz fusion style, Muraoka released many albums, both as a solo artist and with several groups, including Zen, the New Dimension Group and the Minoru Muraoka Orchestra…