Mfcd 795

"Happy Just To Be Like I Am" was out of print for some time, and it often falls between the cracks when Taj Mahal's early recordings are assessed, but this 1971 album is a prime example of the unique stylistic fusion Taj was going for on his early-'70s releases. It's a joyful collision of old-time jug-band music ("Stealin'"), folk ("Oh Susanna"), blues, and steel-drum-driven Caribbean sounds ("West Indian Revelation"). Holding the whole thing together, as always, is Taj's rich, soulful vocal style, not to mention his visceral acoustic fingerpicking approach. "Happy Just To Be Like I Am" stands as an unjustly overlooked entry in Taj Mahal's catalog, worthy of a reassessment.

Barnstorm, Joe Walsh's first solo album after leaving the James Gang, garnered him fame not only as a guitarist but also as a songwriter. While it's true that Walsh established himself as a late-'60s/early-'70s guitar hero on the Gang's more boogie-oriented rock numbers, it's Walsh's love of lushly textured production and spacy, open-ended songs featuring both acoustic and electric guitars that is showcased here on this wildly adventurous and forgotten, unqualified masterpiece…

This Mobile Fidelity CD draws its music from two solo piano albums released by the Melodiya label featuring the Russian pianist Leonid Chizhik. Chizhik certainly displays his versatility throughout the performances with the playful "Spontaneous Improvisation" shifting from stride to classical music, from a waltz to hints of Oscar Peterson. The soulful "Mobious Strip" is not that far from Keith Jarrett, "Dedication" is an abstract tribute to Chick Corea and "Composition on the Theme 'Every Day We Say Goodbye'" evolves from the starkness of Ran Blake to the soulful Ray Bryant and eventually classical music…

On this, their second album for A&M, Humble Pie proved that they were not the "minor league Rolling Stones" as people often described them. Led by the soulful Steve Marriot, the Pie was a great band in every sense of the word…

Live in Concert is a live album by the James Gang, released in September 1971. It contains highlights of a May 15, 1971 performance at Carnegie Hall, New York City. This album is the last James Gang release to feature Joe Walsh as guitarist and vocalist and Bill Szymczyk as producer and engineer. The album reached Gold status in June 1972.