Family Only a Movie

For a swan song, this is pretty a good one. Generally, at this point in a band's career, when personnel changes become more frequent, live shows become more unpredictable, and substance use seems to become more central to the band than singing and songwriting, you would think that Family (a band that partied as hard as any) would simply cough up a final piece of dreck and say so long. But Movie is a relaxed, funny and funky record, almost sunny in disposition. The songs take a while to worm their way in, but once they do, tracks like "Boots N Roots" and "Boom Bang," with their swagger and sway, end up sounding as good as any of the band's previous work.

Family is an English rock band, active from late 1966 to October 1973, and again since 2013 for a series of live shows. Their style has been characterised as progressive rock, as their sound often explored other genres, incorporating elements of styles such as folk, psychedelia, acid rock, jazz fusion, and rock and roll. The band achieved recognition in the United Kingdom through their albums, club and concert tours, and appearances at festivals. The band's rotating membership throughout its relatively short existence led to a diversity in sound throughout their different albums. Family are also often seen as an unjustly forgotten act, when compared with other bands from the same period and have been described as an "odd band loved by a small but rabid group of fans". Although most of their recordings were issued in the US, the band never achieved any appreciable success there.

Once Upon A Time is the definitive last word on Family. A long-awaited 14 disc box set that collects the band's entire back catalogue for the first time…

Led by gale-force vocalist Roger Chapman and virtuoso guitarist John "Charlie" Whitney, Family were a British rock group who attracted a large cult following in the U.K. (and a miniscule one in the U.S.) for their passionate but wildly eclectic sound; from song to song and album to album, Family could veer from arty progressive experiments to thoughtful folk-rock to blues-influenced grooves to meat-and-potatoes hard rock, all of it performed with sincerity, fire, and a subtle yet genuine sense of humor. Featuring 30 songs that span the group's 1968-1973 recording lifespan, History: The Best of Family collects the highlights from the band's seven albums, and serves as a fine introduction to their music for beginners and a concise celebration for longtime fans.

A characteristically humongous (8-CD) box set from the wonderful obsessive-compulsives at Bear Family, documenting the Killer's '60s tenure at Smash Records. Lewis made consistently good music during this period, but the combination of his personal scandals and the British Invasion made him a pariah to radio programmers until mid-decade, when he returned to his country roots. Highlights of the set include the entirety of a Texas live show, with Lewis and his crack band rendering various early rock standards at dangerously high (i.e., proto punk) speed, some excellent duets with his (then) wife Linda Gail, and gorgeous renditions of standards like Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" and Merle Haggard's "Lonesome Fugitive." Lewis fans with deep pockets should grab this one immediately…