In addition to his three-decade tenure as the bass player in the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman has pursued two other, distinctly different musical careers, each of which is chronicled on this two-hour-and-35-minute, two-CD compilation…
Having proved his writing credentials with his debut album, Bill Wyman mixed his own compositions with outside material second time around. Issued in February 1976, Stone Alone was Bill Wyman's second solo album. As per usual Bill had worked with a star-studded session band, the contributions this time around including Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Dr John, Ron Wood, Al Kooper, Nicky Hopkins, and Jim Keltner. Van Morrison added sax to a revival of Gary Bonds' A Quarter To Three, Ron Wood and Joe Walsh played guitar, and Bill Wyman steered his superstar band through a righteous set of bluesy rock'n'roll.
Having proved his writing credentials with his debut album, Bill Wyman mixed his own compositions with outside material second time around. Issued in February 1976, Stone Alone was Bill Wyman's second solo album. As per usual Bill had worked with a star-studded session band, the contributions this time around including Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Dr John, Ron Wood, Al Kooper, Nicky Hopkins, and Jim Keltner. Van Morrison added sax to a revival of Gary Bonds' A Quarter To Three, Ron Wood and Joe Walsh played guitar, and Bill Wyman steered his superstar band through a righteous set of bluesy rock'n'roll.
Last Straw hail from the Isle of Wight and began recording circa 1972. They released a single in 1978 and toured extensively. The early studio tracks on this CD show a good progressive rock talent somewhere inbetween Yes and Hawkwind. The period feel of "Terence", its nifty lyricisim and awesome climactic jam elevate it into classicdom. Later tracks veer into a guitar based wishbone ash territory.
On Wednesday September 29, 2021 - the year of the band's 20th Anniversary - Kentucky's favorite sons, Black Stone Cherry, realized their childhood dream of playing at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, London…
Sometimes you need to look back in order to move forward. While Black Stone Cherry have had increasing chart success – 2014's Magic Mountain hit number five on the U.K. charts and number 22 in the U.S. – the band felt a lack of creative control over their recordings. To that end, they left Roadrunner Records and signed to Mascot, run by Ron Burman (the man who signed them to Roadrunner in the first place). Earlier Black Stone Cherry albums were always imbalanced: songwriting was sometimes sacrificed in an attempt to replicate the band's live sound; at other times, it was the reverse. Kentucky is a self-produced, back-to-the-roots affair (with participation from a host of local players and singers)…