Wire Train

In April 2007, the band from Toulouse fulfilled a dream in the South of France. She traveled to Austin, Texas to be there - under the direction of Stuart Sullivan, the recording engineer who recorded the first fabulous Thunderbirds-LP - her new album to play. The French present thirteen own titles, covering a wide range of blues style with confidence. Singer Bernard Sellam shapes with his excellent voice that sometimes recalls tad Robinson, the band's music.

The Graveyard Train barely got rolling along the tracks in the early 90's with a caboose full of bluesy hard rockers in the same vein as the London Quireboys and Black Crowes. Frank Scimeca (bass) and Robert Iezzi (drums) formed the band from the ashes of Angora, which had also included John Corabi and had a song featured on KNAC's The Son Of Pure Rock compilation album. They recruited relatively unknown Los Angeles residents Todd Griffin (vocals) and Bruce Draper (guitar). They quickly got signed to Geffen, and with the production of Tom Werman, their self-titled debut was released. In a nutshell… simply an outstanding album!

Nearly forgotten by all but serious soul fans, Back Up Train is Al Green's debut. Released in 1967, when he was still billed as "Al Greene" and before he worked with producer Willie Mitchell, the record is a perfectly serviceable slice of slightly sweet period soul - perhaps a little generic, but never less than pleasant. Much of the record was either written or co-written by the album's producers, Palmer E. James and Curtis Rodgers, who were not just part of Hot Line Records, but in the Creations, Green's previous backing band. Though they're fine as producers, they didn't have strong material as songwriters, never producing something as limber and memorable as Green's lone songwriting credit, "Stop and Check Myself." Musically, this number, along with a few other cuts, suggest the tight, sexy sound of his seminal Hi albums, but they're nowhere near as seductive as those slow grooves, nor are they as effortless…