What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Wish You Were Here -- SACD

Pink Floyd

1975/2011 Pink Floyd/EMI Records

Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here on Hybrid 5.1 SACD

Pink Floyd's 1975 Classic Finally Arrives on Stellar-Sounding SACD: Stereo and Surround Options are the Best of All Worlds

Mixed for 5.1 from Original Multi-Track Master Tapes by Pink Floyd Engineer James Guthrie

An Essential Counterpart to Dark Side of the Moon–The Biggest-Selling SACD in History

Shine on You Crazy Diamond: Reflective Landmark Ranked #209 on Rolling Stone List of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

You Will Never Hear a More Immersive, Realistic Digital Version

This one requires no introduction. But it's deserving of constant celebration. The legendary English psychedelic rock band's 1975 masterpiece, Wish You Were Here remains a staple of poignant emotion, pioneering arrangements, clever wit, and timeless performance. Forever an audiophile and music staple, the blockbuster is finally available on an incredible-sounding digital version, courtesy of this Hybrid 5.1 SACD.

Mixed for 5.1 from Original Multi-Track Master Tapes by Pink Floyd Engineer James Guthrie, Wish You Were Here reveals countless new layers of information, detail, and dynamics. We'll stake our reputation on it: You will never hear a better digital edition, and for that matter, whether you opt to listen in stereo or surround, you'll never be closer to the music. The stereo version is transferred from the original analog master tapes.

Anchored by the longing title track, heartfelt tribute to founder Syd Barrett "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," and nervy takedown of music-business hypocrisy "Have a Cigar," the follow-up to Dark Side is equally great and just as iconic. As much as any multiplatinum album in history, Wish You Were Here employs cutting-edge studio effects and unimaginable atmospheric techniques to paint an impossibly broad canvas.

On this SACD, the enormous soundscapes, introspective echoes, and brazen guitar washes take on a life of their own. Airy, complete with full frequency extension and unparalleled realism, the disc drops Pink Floyd into your listening room. This is reach-out-and-touch-it quality, the kind of perspective and experience for which all audiophiles crave.

DO NOT MISS THIS LANDMARK DISC! Anyone who has a high-end system needs to hear it.

Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here Track Listing:

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part One)
2. Welcome To The Machine
3. Have A Cigar
4. Wish You Were Here
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part Two)

Pink Floyd: David Gilmour (vocals, guitar); Richard Wright (vocals, keyboards, VCS3 syntheszier); Roger Waters (vocals, bass); Nick Mason (drums).Additional personnel: Roy Harper (vocals); Dick Parry (saxophone); Venetta Fields, Carlena Williams (background vocals).Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England from January-July 1975.Digitally remastered by Doug Sax (The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, California).

 

[Dennie]

Retrospective - The Best of Buffalo Springfield -- CD

Buffalo Springfield

1969/1990 ATCO/Elektra Records

Amazon.com

Only a handful of bands have made a greater impact with fewer recordings than the short-lived Buffalo Springfield. Their history is told in the titles of their three albums: 1967's eponymous debut was followed by the peak-performance Again later that year, which was followed by 1968's Last Time Around. While their entire recorded career encompasses a mere two years, the Stephen Stills-Neil Young-Richie Furay-led quintet produced a number of '60s rock classics. Stills chipped in "For What It's Worth" and "Bluebird"; Furay's "Kind Woman" is one of the touchstones of country-rock; and Young fired off the likes of the raucous "Mr. Soul," the gentle "I Am a Child," the ambitious "Broken Arrow," and the breathtakingly pretty "Expecting to Fly." They're all on this 12-song overview, a suitable option for anyone who isn't up to stocking up on the entire catalog. --Steven Stolder

Side One:

"For What It's Worth" (Stills) – 2:37
Recorded December 5, 1966, Columbia Studios, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Stephen Stills. Bass: Bruce Palmer. Producers: Charles Green and Brian Stone. Running time incorrectly listed on the album's cover as 3:00.
"Mr. Soul" (Young) – 2:35
Recorded April 4, 1967. Lead vocal: Neil Young. Bass: Bruce Palmer.
"Sit Down I Think I Love You" (Stills) – 2:30
Recorded August 1966, Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Stephen Stills. Bass: Bruce Palmer. Producers: Charles Green and Brian Stone.
"Kind Woman" (Furay) – 4:10
Recorded February-March 6, 1968, Atlantic Studios, New York City & Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Richie Furay. Bass: Jim Messina. Producer: Jim Messina.
"Bluebird" (Stills) – 4:28
Recorded April 8, 1967, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Stephen Stills. Bass: Bobby West
"On the Way Home" (Young) – 2:25
Recorded November 15-December 13, 1967, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Richie Furay. Bass: Bruce Palmer.

Side Two:

"Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" (Young) – 3:26
Recorded July 18, 1966, Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Richie Furay. Bass: Bruce Palmer. Producers: Charles Green and Brian Stone.
"Broken Arrow" (Young) – 6:13
Recorded August 25 & September 5-18, 1967, Columbia Recording Studios & Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Neil Young. Bass: Bruce Palmer.
"Rock and Roll Woman" (Stills) – 2:44
Recorded June 22, August 8 & October 8, 1967, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Stephen Stills. Rhythm guitar: Jim Fielder. Bass: Bruce Palmer.
"I Am a Child" (Young) – 2:15
Recorded February 5, 1968, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Neil Young. Bass: Gary Marker. Producer: Jim Messina.
"Go and Say Goodbye" (Stills) – 2:19
Recorded July 18, 1966, Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Stephen Stills. Bass: Bruce Palmer. Producers: Charles Green and Brian Stone.
"Expecting to Fly" (Young)– 3:39
Recorded May 6, 1967, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California. Lead vocal: Neil Young. Arrangement: Jack Nitzsche. Note: Neil Young is the only member of the group who appears on this recording.

 

[Dennie]

Live at Blues Alley -- CD

Eva Cassidy

1998 Blix Street Records

Amazon.com

When Eva Cassidy is swinging her way through "Cheek to Cheek" and getting down and bluesy on "Stormy Monday" on this live set from 1996, it's nigh impossible not to get swept up in her voice's vast, barreling force. Her full range, though, becomes most obvious--and soul-shaking--on the slower side, as with Paul Simon's "Bridge over Troubled Water," Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Tall Trees in Georgia," and "What a Wonderful World." On these latter tunes, Cassidy's mix of aching clarity and rich warmth has a melting quality, speaking through the body to some evanescent presence that she seems to know all too well. She improbably makes Sting's "Fields of Gold" an emotional powerhouse just as easily as she makes Billie Holiday's "Fine and Mellow" an offhand declaration of feeling equal to nearly anything in the jazz vocal canon. In doing so she earns her place among the great singers--artists who could take any song and stamp it indelibly as their own. What Eva Cassidy had in her short life was an unbelievably perfect voice and a musical soul that grasped gospel, folk, blues, jazz, and all points in between as if they were mere stops on a single train ride. Alas, her ride ended in 1996, tragically early. --Andrew Bartlett

1. "Cheek to Cheek" (Irving Berlin) – 4:03
2. "Stormy Monday" (T-Bone Walker) – 5:49
3. "Bridge over Troubled Water" (Paul Simon) – 5:33
4. "Fine and Mellow" (Billie Holiday) – 4:03
5. "People Get Ready" (Curtis Mayfield) – 3:36
6. "Blue Skies" (Berlin) – 2:37
7. "Tall Trees in Georgia" (Buffy Sainte-Marie) – 4:05
8. "Fields of Gold" (Sting) – 4:57
9. "Autumn Leaves" (Joseph Kosma, Johnny Mercer, Jacques Prévert) – 4:57
10. "Honeysuckle Rose" (Andy Razaf, Thomas "Fats" Waller) – 3:14
11. "Take Me to the River" (Al Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges) – 3:51
12. "What a Wonderful World" (Bob Thiele, David Weiss) – 5:50
13. "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread" (Pete Seeger) – 4:46 [Studio recording]

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Gaucho -- CD

Steely Dan

1980/2000 MCA Records

Amazon.com

The multiplatinum success of Aja made Steely Dan, the musical conceit of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, a household name. But that prosperity came bundled with a fateful triple-whammy for rock's dyspeptic duo: unrealistic commercial expectations, a critical backlash spawned by punk's nascent mewling, and the long-simmering meltdown of their artistic partnership. But the cool, perfect sheen of 1980's Gaucho tipped its hand to none of it. Ironically, those fashion victims who sniffed up their sleeves at Don and Walt's decadence-tinged Me Decade manifesto couldn't have had a clue that just maybe Gaucho's typically oblique protagonists had uncomfortably blurred from the third-person to the first this time 'round. At least that's what Becker and Fagen hint at in their smart-assed notes to this digitally remastered, definitive edition (all original artwork and printed lyrics restored) of the final album before their 20-year hiatus. Pristine and sonically polished (three years and seven studios worth), time has served Gaucho well. Even its sense of laconic detachment now seems but a logical bridge to the two-decade removed Dan of Two Against Nature. To their credit, Becker and Fagen didn't trash the first half of Steely Dan's legacy on Gaucho, they simply burnished it to oblivion. -Jerry McCulley

Side one

"Babylon Sisters" – 5:55
"Hey Nineteen" – 5:10
"Glamour Profession" – 7:29

Side two

"Gaucho" – 5:32
"Time Out of Mind" – 4:14
"My Rival" – 4:34
"Third World Man" – 5:13

 

[Dennie]

Cheek To Cheek -- Deluxe Edition CD

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

2014 Columbia/Streamline Records

Just so very special!
By Richard B. Green VINE VOICE on September 23, 2014
Format: MP3 Music
A couple of years ago when, at Thanksgiving, Lady Gaga appeared in a holiday special with guest performer Tony Bennett, I said, "They should do an album together." And now we have it. Tony is a miracle...I mean, come on, eighty-eight years of age and he sounds absolutely fabulous! And now with his sixty-year-younger partner, Tony just proves (as if he has to) that he holds such a very special place in the world of music. Both Tony and the Lady introduce each other to their respective audiences, winning for each even more fans of just really good music. What I like about this pairing is what I don't care for on the new Barbra Streisand album...Tony has found someone with whom he pairs so well; Barbra tends to just show up the minimal talents, for the most part, of those she chooses to sing with...except for Michael Buble. An album of duets with just him would have been perfection! Tony instead finds a vocalist whose style meshes so well with his; he did the same in the work he did with k.d. lang. They worked so well together. The same happens here with Lady Gaga. If you've seen them interviewed together or if you look back to Tony's last duet album and the music he made with her, you can tell they get such a kick out of making music together. Those of us who enjoy the standards are very happy indeed, the lucky recipients of this treasure they've created.

Track Listing
1. Anything Goes
2. Cheek To Cheek
3. Don't Wait Too Long
4. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
5. Nature Boy
6. Goody Goody
7. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
8. Firefly
9. I Won't Dance
10. They All Laughed
11. Lush Life
12. Sophisticated Lady
13. Let's Face The Music & Dance
14. But Beautiful
15. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

 

[Botch]

^^^ I gotta admit, that's the first time I've noticed what Lady Gaga looks like!

 

[Dennie]

Live At Carnegie Hall -- CD

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

1997 Epic Records

A Timeless Classic Masterpiece by SRV/Double Trouble & A Host of Allstar Accompaning Musicians!!!!!!!!!!, February 17, 2012
By Gary Covington "Southern Rocker" (Louisiana, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

This is definitely one of the best live albums ever recorded, and a "must have" for any SRV fan. This was recorded on October 4, 1984, before Reese Wymans was added to the band. However, the legendary Dr.John from New Orleans played the keyboards. Plus, the legendary Texas Blues Singer, Angela Strehi (from Austin, TX) sings vocals on the song "C.O.D."

The Line-UP includes:

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Guitar & Vocals
Chris Layton - Drums
Tommy Shannon - Bass

Other Musicians:

Jimmie Vaughan - Guitar
Dr.John - Keyboards
George Rains - Drums
Angela Streli - Vocals on "C.O.D."

The Horn Section:
Bob Enos - Trumpet
Porky Cohen - Trombone
Rich Lataille - Alto Sax
Greg Piccolo - Tenor Sax
Doug James - Baritone Sax

The liner notes provide a photo of all these musicians involved in this "Classic", live performance album, plus a written essay describing the details of this concert. SRV had just turned 30 years old the day before this legendary concert, and in the notes, SRV is quoted as stating that after this concert: It was "My best birthday ever....forever" SRV 10/4/84. I highly recommed this one for any SRV and/or Blues Rock fan. Thanks and I hope this review has been helpful.

Track Listing
1. Intro
2. Scuttle Buttin'
3. Testify
4. Love Struck Baby
5. Honey Bee
6. Cold Shot
7. Letter to My Girlfriend
8. Dirty Pool
9. Pride and Joy
10. Things That I Used to Do, The
11. C.O.D.
12. Iced Over
13. Lenny
14. Rude Mood

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

Duke Elegant -- CD

Dr. John Performing the music of Duke Ellington

2000 Blue Note Records

Amazon.com

Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack playing songs from the canon of Duke Ellington is as natural as the break of day. But the gris-gris king interprets Ellington in a way unlike anyone else. "Mood Indigo," arranged for Dr. John's six-man New Orleans group, takes on a fresh, heartfelt immediacy with the good doctor's vocals and piano locked into a relaxed groove. He sings another slice of essential Ellingtonia, "Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me," with a lighthearted nonchalance that epitomizes the worthiest New Orleans performers. Dr. John packages snippets of his keyboard playing as panaceas for the soul on a funked-up interpretation of "Caravan," even spinning off on a "Wade in the Water" tangent before wrapping up the song. But with so many, many Ellington nuggets to dust off for reinterpretation, one wonders why Dr. John elected to go with popular numbers that get covered again and again. To his credit, he does serve up the lesser-known "The Flaming Sword," where his piano is luminous in the Calypso fashion of Professor Longhair, and he offers delightful, fonkified updates of the Ellington obscurities "On the Wrong Side of the Railroad Tracks" and "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'." --Frank-John Hadley

Track listing

1. On the Wrong Side of the Railroad Tracks
2. I'm Gonna Go Fishin'
3. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
4. Perdido Street Blues
5. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
6. Solitude
7. Satin Doll
8. Mood Indigo
9. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me
10. Things Ain't What They Used to Be
11. Caravan
12. Flaming Sword, The

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Creedence Gold -- CD

Creedence Clearwater Revival

1991 Fantasy Records

Creedence Gold is a collection of Creedence Clearwater Revival's hit singles. Unfortunately, the album is a little too small to meet anybody's needs. A mere eight tracks are featured on Creedence Gold. Admittedly, these are eight tracks of amazing quality, but those looking for a more thorough collection will be pleased with the much more in-depth Chronicle, Vol. 1. Creedence Gold shows off the musical talent involved in the band. The 11-plus-minute "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a fine showcase for Creedence's lead guitar styling, while "Born on the Bayou" is a fine sampler of how the band worked as a unit. By no means is Creedence Gold a bad album. Indeed, the eight tracks featured are eight of the best moments in their respective genres.

Side 1

"Proud Mary"
"Down on the Corner"
"Bad Moon Rising"
"I Heard it Through the Grapevine" (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong)

Side 2

"The Midnight Special" (Traditional)
"Have You Ever Seen the Rain"
"Born on the Bayou"
"Susie Q" (Eleanor Broadwater, Dale Hawkins, Stanley Lewis)

 

[mcad64]

Latest from the New Pornographers. Pretty good! Somewhat lighter mood than their previous album (Together), with even a little hint of techno-pop - but fortunately only a little. I wish Neko featured a little more prominently... Still, a very good album with some catchy tunes. Good SQ. LOTS of great vocal harmonies!

PRETTY GOOD?????? Good God man are you on crack??? This album is the best album in the history of recorded music!!!
Mike
I really like The New Pornographers!! :dance:

 

[PaulyT]

Yeah it does tend to grow on you. I've listened to it quite a bit more since it came out... I dunno though, "Together" is just so awesome to me, it's hard to compete.

 

[mcad64]

Pauly , if you don't already have it go out and get Mass Romantic. I know you like Neko Case. Put on "Letter From an Occupant" . It will rock your world..promise!!
Mike
I really like the New Pornographers!!

 

[PaulyT]

Thanks Mike - actually I have every single New Pornographers album. I admit though that I haven't listened to the earlier ones all that much. I'll give Mass Romantic another spin...

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Abandoned Luncheonette -- CD

Daryl Hall & John Oates

1973 Atlantic Records

Best early Hall & Oates, September 11, 2000
By David Hugaert (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Abandoned Luncheonette (Audio CD)

"Abandoned Luncheonette" features the kind of music at which Daryl & John are most adept-Philly Soul. All the songs here are excellent, with the cream of the crop being "When The Morning Comes", "Las Vegas Turnaround", "I'm Just A Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like A Man)", the title track, "Lady Rain" and "Laughing Boy". "Everytime I Look At You" is the most soulful track on this CD, which has a "hillbilly" banjo and violin-laden instrumental at the end. This is probably as close to country that H & O ever got! This has to be the best CD in their entire catalog. Oh, and "Abandoned Luncheonette" also contains their first hit single, "She's Gone", which appeared on the Billboard charts on two separate occasions. If you are a fan of soul and/or pop music, you can't go wrong here. Please buy this CD!

"When The Morning Comes" (Daryl Hall) – 3:12
"Had I Known You Better Then" (John Oates) – 3:22
"Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)" (Oates) – 2:57
"She's Gone" (Hall, Oates) – 5:15
"I'm Just A Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like A Man)" (Oates) – 3:20
"Abandoned Luncheonette" (Hall) – 3:55
"Lady Rain" (Hall, Oates) – 4:26
"Laughing Boy" (Hall) – 3:20
"Everytime I Look At You" (Hall) – 7:04

 

[heeman]

(2014 release)

" As Joe Bonamassa approaches his 26th year as a professional musician, he continues to blaze a remarkably versatile artistic trail, and amass an authentic, innovative and soulful body of work. Bonamassa’s career began onstage opening for B.B. King in 1989, when he was only 12 years old. Today, he is hailed worldwide as one of the greatest guitar players of his generation, .........."

^^^^(lead in of a review)

Started listening to this on the way to work this AM................... Nice Work Joe!!!

Probably the best Joe B CD, I own.................WAIT!!!! This is the only Joe B CD I own...........(but it is very good!).

:music-rockout: :music-rockout:

 

[PaulyT]

This is the only Joe B CD I own.

:snooty:

Not sure I can be your friend anymore.

 

[heeman]

This is the only Joe B CD I own.

:snooty:

Not sure I can be your friend anymore.

Does Black Country Communion count? :happy-smileygiantred:

 

[PaulyT]

Well, kinda...

 

[heeman]

^ Friends again? bscene-buttred:

 

[PaulyT]

Well, I'll try to be cordial, at least.

:angelic-green:

I do agree though that the new album is very good.