Chicago At Carnegie Hall-Volume I, II, III & IV (Columbia C4X 30865) ©1971 Description: Chicago had only been recording for two years and three albums before they released this four-record (remember records?) concert set. Entirely overblown and slightly pretentious, an artistic and popular failure at the time, this still can claim to being the first … Continue reading
DON’T LOOK BACK (1967) Featuring Bob Dylan, Albert Grossman, Bob Neuwirth, Joan Baez, Alan Price, Tito Burns, Donovan, Derold Adams, Chris Ellis, Allan Ginsberg, John Mayall, Howard Alk, Jones Alk and Marianne Faithfull. Written by D.A. Pennebaker. Directed by D.A. Pennebaker. Distributed by New Video Group. 96 minutes. Not Rated. There are not nearly enough … Continue reading
Rod Stewart Storyteller – The Complete Anthology 1964-1990 (Warner Brothers 9 25987-2) ©1990 Description: It may just seem like Rod Stewart has been around forever. This box set makes it even seem more to be so. It is a long… and somehow in four disks rather lean… show of a distinguished career. What’s Good About … Continue reading
You’re Never Alone With… Ian Hunter by Ken Sharp After a long hiatus from recording, ex-Mott The Hoople frontman Ian Hunter is back, all guns blazing, with one of the best records of his career, Rant. We spoke with Ian Hunter about thirty years of rock and roll service. Rant is one of this year’s … Continue reading
Jimmy Webb All He Knows… by Ronald Sklar If you are under thirty and have even the slightest retro sensibility, chances are you are familiar with the classic pop songs of Jimmy Webb, and good for you. And if you are over thirty, endlessly toiling in an office and music appreciation is just a faint … Continue reading
BOBBY VEE SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE BY RONALD SKLAR Rock and roll is cram-packed with ironic stories. Read the bio of almost any artist and you’ll find the woulda-coulda-shoulda tale of how he almost became an accountant. And prefacing almost every Top 10 hit is the tiresome fable of how the song nearly wound up … Continue reading
Brian Wilson – Imagination (Giant) It’s kind of sad that after decades of being an acknowledged pop musical genius, former Beach Boys front man Brian Wilson is probably best known now by kids as the guy that Barenaked Ladies sang about. On Wilson’s first solo album in nearly a decade, he sets about straightening that out. … Continue reading
The Rolling Stones – Bridges To Babylon (Virgin) The world’s oldest rock group still has some tricks up their sleeve. While Bridges To Babylon lands pretty low in the group’s body of work compared to Let It Bleed and Exile On Main Street, it does rate a lot of the cheap thrills of the band’s best work. Mick still prances around like … Continue reading
Todd Rundgren – The Very Best Of Todd Rundgren (Rhino) It’s a little easy to forget now that he is calling himself TR-i (Todd Rundgren Interactive) and putting the technology cart before the musical horse, that once upon a time, Upper Darby, Pa.’s favorite son was just a damned good singer and songwriter. The Very Best … Continue reading
Styx – Return To Paradise (CMC International) It’s been at least a decade since I’ve spent a thought on Styx, THE arena rock group of my high school years. Music has moved on and so have I, and now the band is made up of a bunch of guys in their forties, so I didn’t have … Continue reading
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