With its picture of the gorgeous Bobbie Gentry superimposed in monochrome over a fallen-down shack, The Delta Sweete promises the peculiarly Southern music that Gentry is known for.  Released in 1968, it was Gentry’s second album, coming on the heels of the tremendous success of one of the most memorable, if bizarre, hits of the [...]

For reasons unexplained, officially-sanctioned outtakes from the Rolling Stones’ Decca Records (a.k.a. London) period remain as rare as rocking-horse manure. Although to date no fewer than 23 compilations of their ’63-’70 material have been issued worldwide, the number of cuts on these which were not used on the scheduled studio releases can be approximately counted [...]

There is no doubt in my mind that the Speakers were one of the finest rock bands Colombia ever produced. Prior to Ingeson they had released 4 albums, the first 3 LPs mixed rock & roll covers with two or three beat garage/folk-rock group originals. All of their records are sung in Spanish and by [...]

Alain Goraguer first made a name for himself as a sideman and arranger for Serge Gainsbourg, including the arrangement for Gainsbourg’s 1966 Eurovision grand prize winning song “Poupée de cire, poupée de son.” In 1972 he scored the bizarre and moving French language animated feature Le Planet Sauvage, released in the States as Fantastic Planet. [...]

Daniel Moore is one of countless songwriters in the history of early rock and roll music that, despite attaining a measure of financial success through their material, never quite made a name for themselves as artists in their own right. It’s a rather old and tired tale, but what makes Moore’s story so much more [...]

Roy Wood, one of the architects of ELO and The Move, possessed some of the most eclectic tastes and interesting ideas of any pop artist of his time. Boulders, his self-produced 1969 (though released 1973) solo outing combines the hard rock swagger of The Move with Wood’s own classical tastes, pop composition skills, and general [...]

There are enough worthwhile vanity pressings from the late 60s – mid 70s that make collecting a rewarding interest, though the really good ones (the Bachs, the Rising Storm, Wilson McKinley, Relatively Clean Rivers et al) are far and few between. Most of these records, while musically very good, are overpriced because so few quantities [...]

Tony Joe White’s The Train I’m On is one of those records that are just too damn good to be kept a secret. Keeping it oh so real and raw on what may be his finest moment, the LP is a sweet and languid roots rock triumph. Give me acoustic guitar and the bass drum, [...]