It's difficult to call a guitarist who routinely shows up in the upper reaches of "100 Greatest Guitarists Ever" lists underappreciated, and yet the first impression the towering seven-disc box set Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective makes is that Duane Allman does not receive his proper due…
Mickey Curtis was born of English parents in Tokyo, Japan in 1938. After the end of The World War II he lived by singing in the Occupation Forces or Camps, and as a result he was approved as a rockabilly singer. Although he had been an active pop singer and a frontman of two chorus-pop outfits named 'City Crows' and 'Vanguards' in mid 60s, he was awakened to rock suddenly and finally formed Samurai (The Samurais in their early days) in 1967. During the first two years Samurai made a lot of gigs and released two albums - "Tenor Sax Of Love" (1968; as The Samurais) and "Samurai" (1970) - in Europe. In early 1969 their soundscape was completely shifted to progressive rock, and we can easily realize the fact especially in their eponymous album.
Soon after that they came back to Japan and released "Kappa" (1971), which has been appreciated as a masterpiece of Heavy Progressive Rock in Japan…
King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for their 1992 song "Detachable Penis". Formed in 1986, vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several incarnations of the band since then.
For decades there has been only one recording of Admeto available: a quite splendid performance from 1977 (Virgin Records 5613692) directed by Alan Curtis with Il complesso barocco. One of the first baroque operas to be recorded with original instruments, it reflects the best of the historical performance movement. It is thus with considerable anticipation and curiosity that one approaches this new release of Handel’s Admeto, sung in English (to a fine translation by Geoffrey Dunn), directed by Sir Anthony Lewis, and recorded just nine years earlier in 1968. The cast for this recording is no less remarkable. Dame Janet Baker plays the self-sacrificing Alcestis; Admetus is sung elegantly and expressively by Maureen Lehane; Sheila Armstong is a brilliant and stylish Antigona, and the mezzo soprano Margaret Lensky provides a touching portrayal of the lovesick Thrasymedes.
Un homme étrange, manteau et chapeau noir – s’arrête dans une station service perdue du fin fond de la Pennsylvanie. Il est au volant d’une Buick 8 Roadmaster. Pendant que l’on fait le plein, l’homme disparaît dans la nature, abandonnant le bizarre véhicule. La police locale arrive sur les lieux. La voiture n’est pas une vraie voiture : batterie débranchée, planche de bord factice, matériaux de construction d’origine inconnue. Le mystère s’installe…
A long-awaited overview of Reggie Young’s six decades as Memphis and Nashville’s most in-demand guitarist. Bobby Bland, King Curtis, Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, Joe Tex, Johnny Cash, Solomon Burke, Merle Haggard, Jackie DeShannon, James Carr … these are just a few of the many musical heavyweights whose recordings have been embellished by the talents of Reggie Young, Memphis and Nashville’s most versatile and in-demand session guitarist. They’re all here on this CD overview of Reggie’s six-decade career, along with 14 other prime examples of his uncanny ability to play exactly to a song’s requirements while at the same time leaving his own indelible stamp.
Big Apple-based Scepter Records was among the handful of independent labels to have survived the British Invasion of the 1960s. Their longevity was rooted in a solid roster with something for every taste, ranging from the intricate harmonies of R&B vocal girl groups to loose raucous frat rock with practically everything in between. Remarkably, Scepter was not helmed by a business-savvy entrepreneur or a veteran music industry renegade. In fact, a middle-aged suburban housewife and mother was actually behind the scenes calling the shots. At the insistence of her daughter Mary Jane, Florence Greenberg was introduced to four of Mary Jane's mates who had performed in their school's talent show.