What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Happy Saturday everyone...

The Wide World Over - A 40 Year Celebration -- CD

The Chieftains

2003 RCA Victor Records

Amazon.com

One of the elements that's made the Chieftains the stellar Celtic band in the world is their love of innovative collaborations with mainstream pop stars. The Wide World Over: A 40-Year Celebration gathers into a single collection some of the Irish ensemble's most memorable moments, including predictable alliances with artists such as Van Morrison, who sings "Shenandoah" to additional backing by the Irish Film Orchestra, and unlikely pairings like the Rolling Stones, who add a rock kick and the "Satisfaction" riff to "The Rocky Road to Dublin." Cross-cultural experts Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos demonstrate their versatility on the Mexican ditties "Txalaparta" and "Guadalupe," on which pipes and pennywhistle don't seem a whisker out of place, while Ricky Skaggs points to the Irish and British roots of American country music on the rousing "Cotton-Eyed Joe." Art Garfunkel, Sting, Sinead O'Connor, Joni Mitchell, and Elvis Costello are also featured in classic performances with the 40-year-old Irish band, while a brand-new collaboration with Ziggy Marley yields a gorgeous Don Was-produced rendition of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." The cliché that there's a bit of the Irish in all of us proves true in this wide-ranging, constantly rewarding, and frequently surprising collection. And the tracks on which the Chieftains go it alone are also a gas. --Bob Tarte

1. "March of the King of Laois/Paddy's Jig/O'Keefes/Chattering Magpie (Reels)" An Irish Evening 4:25
2. "The Foggy Dew" (feat. Sinéad O'Connor) The Long Black Veil 5:01
3. "I Know My Love" (feat. The Corrs) Tears of Stone 3:27
4. "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (feat. Ricky Skaggs) Another Country 2:46
5. "The Magdalene Laundries" (feat. Joni Mitchell) Tears of Stone 4:57
6. "Live from Matt Molloy's Pub" Water from the Well 2:21
7. "Shenandoah" (feat. Van Morrison) Long Journey Home 3:52
8. "The Munster Cloak/An Poc Ar Buile/Ferny Hill/Little Molly" New release 6:12
9. "Morning Has Broken" (feat. Diana Krall and Art Garfunkel) New release 2:55
10. "Morning Dew/Women of Ireland" Film Cuts 2:57
11. "Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero)" (feat. Sting) The Long Black Veil 3:30
12. "Carolan's Concerto" (feat. The Belfast Harp Orchestra) The Celtic Harp 3:02
13. "Guadalupe" (feat. Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos) Santiago 3:31
14. "Full of Joy" (feat. Traditional Chinese Ensemble) The Chieftains in China 3:24
15. "Here's a Health to the Company" A Chieftains' Celebration 3:03
16. "Chasing the Fox" (feat. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and Erich Kunzel) New release 4:11
17. "Long Journey Home (Anthem)" (feat. Elvis Costello) Long Journey Home 3:21
18. "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (feat. The Rolling Stones) The Long Black Veil 4:17
19. "Redemption Song" (feat. Ziggy Marley) New release 4:23

 

[Dennie]

The Absence -- CD

Melody Gardot

May 29th, 2012 Verve Records

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... May 29, 2012
By Nse Ette TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD

Jazz chanteuse Melody Gardot's new CD "The Absence" is produced by Brazilian composer and guitarist Heitor Pereira, adding a Latin lilt to her soft breezy sound.

Opening is the sunny "Mira", with Gardot scatting and singing to rhythmic guitars. In a similar vein is closing number, the celebratory "Iemanja" which is sung in Portuguese (with a hidden instrumental jam after a 10 minute wait)."Amalia" is Folky, "So Long" is a tender acoustic piece, while "So We Meet Again My Heartache" is an achingly beautiful ballad with lush strings and emotive vocals - my favourite. "Lisboa" starts with chiming bells leading to a Jazzy guitar-driven ballad.

Everything stands out really; "Impossible Love" (with enchanting guitar, clarinet and strings, and some spoken vocals with Gardot flitting between French and English as she tries to share her frustration at trying to get an affair to work), the prowling "If I Tell You I Love You" (with some Eartha Kitt-style purring and growling), the horn-sprinkled slow shuffle "Goodbye", and the spare hushed "Se Voce Me Ama" (with tenderly plucked guitar and some harmonising). Regally understated and beautiful!

HIDDEN TRACK ALERT.......

Track Listing
1. Mira
2. Amalia
3. So Long
4. So We Meet Again My Heartache
5. Lisboa
6. Impossible Love
7. If I Tell You I Love You
8. Goodbye
9. Se Voce Me Ama
10. My Heart Won't Have It Any Other Way
11. Iemanja /Chegue Journeyman [Hidden Track]

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Dennie]

The World Is A Ghetto -- CD

War

1992 Avenue Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Best known for its distinctive fusion of Latin-flavored jazz, funk, rock, and soul, War was unquestionably one of the most successful fusion bands to emerge in the early '70s. Initially working with Eric Burdon, former lead singer with the British '60s band the Animals, the seven-member team enjoyed a commercial breakthrough with 1971's "All Day Music." The follow-up, The World Is a Ghetto took War mainstream thanks to the crossover success of the title track, a top 10 pop and R&B smash as 1972 became 1973. Cuts like the 13-minute-plus jazz-flavored adventure known as "City, Country, City" alongside the witty "Where Was You At" and the eerie "Four Cornered Room" were standouts on the six-track album. But it was the immediacy of the No. 2 pop single "The Cisco Kid," with its catchy hook that helped give the band a chart-topping No. 1 gold-selling album in 1973, arguably the best representation of its work as groove pioneers of the day. --David Nathan

1. Cisco Kid - War, Allen, Thomas
2. Where Was You At - War, Allen, Sylvester
3. City, Country, City - War, Allen, Thomas
4. Four Cornered Room - War, War
5. The World Is a Ghetto - War, Allen, Papa Dee
6. Beetles in the Bog - War, Warner, Richard

 

[Dennie]

In The Flesh (Live)-- 2 CD Set

Roger Waters

2000 Columbia Records

With IN THE FLESH, ex-Pink Floyd vocalist, bassist, and genius behind THE WALL Roger Waters releases a superbly recorded live album that covers his entire career. Acknowledging that his old band has performed DARK SIDE OF THE MOON many times, and that a live version of THE WALL was recently released, Waters delivers a set of FM staples, mixed with rarities that aficionados will appreciate.Floyd classics are given new twists, such as the female vocals on "Mother," and Waters' singing lead on "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2." Going back to Pink Floyd's psychedelic early days, the seven-minute "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun" is performed both eerily and masterfully. "Perfect Sense (Parts I and II)" works as an excellent crowd singalong, and is wonderful companion material to the previously mentioned Floyd albums. "Each Small Candle," the only new song in the set, and the centerpiece of an upcoming album, shows that Waters is as creative as he's ever been. IN THE FLESH--LIVE is perfect for those who want to relive these dramatic performances, and those who want a document of a compelling live concert.

Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. In the Flesh
2. The Happiest Days of Our Lives
3. Pt. 2 Another Brick in the Wall
4. Mother
5. Get Your Filthy Hands off My Desert
6. Southhampton Dock
7. Pt. 1 Pigs on the Wing
8. Dogs
9. Welcome to the Machine
10. Wish You Were Here
11. Pts. 1-8 Shine on You Crazy Diamond
12. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

DISC 2:
1. Breathe (In the Air)
2. Time
3. Money
4. Pt. 11 (aka 5:06 AM- Every Stranger's Ey Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
5. Pts. 1-2 Perfect Sense
6. The Bravery of Being out of Range
7. It's a Miracle
8. Amused to Death
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse
11. Comfortably Numb
12. Each Small Candle - (previously unreleased)

Personnel: Roger Waters (vocals, guitar, bass); Jon Carin (vocals, guitar, lap steel, keyboards, programming); Andy Fairweather Low (vocals, guitar, bass); Doyle Bramhall II (vocals, guitar); Katie Kissoon, Susannah Melvoin, P P Arnold (vocals); Snowy White (guitar); Andy Wallace (Hammond organ, keyboards).Recorded live at The Rose Garden Arena, Portland, Oregon; America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona; MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada; Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Irvine, California. Includes liner notes by Roger Waters.

 

[Dennie]

Happy Sunday everyone.... :banana-dance:

Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus -- Remasterd 24bit CD

Vince Guaraldi Trio

1963/2010 Fantasy/OJC Records

Today he's best known to most people as the man behind the classic PEANUTS music, but long before he jammed with Charlie Brown, Vince Guaraldi was making jazz inroads with his piano trio. As its title implies, JAZZ IMPRESSIONS OF BLACK ORPHEUS was Guaraldi's take on the groundbreaking Jobim score for the BLACK ORPHEUS film. While most of the album finds the prescient Guaraldi getting in on the ground floor of the U.S. bossa nova craze (though his take on these tunes doesn't feel particularly Brazilian), the key song here is in fact a Guaraldi original, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind." With its simple harmonic progression and strong, sunny melody, this unassuming jazz tune somehow made its way to the top of the 1962 pop charts, a rare moment of true jazz crossover.

Track Listing
1. Samba de Orfeu
2. Manha de Carnaval
3. O Nosso Amor
4. Felicidade
5. Cast Your Fate to the Wind
6. Moon River
7. Alma-Ville
8. Since I Fell for You
9. Samba de Orfeu [Single Version]
10. Manha de Carnaval [Take 2] - (previously unreleased, take, alternate take)
11. O Nosso Amor [Take 2] - (previously unreleased, take, alternate take)
12. Felicidade [Take 3] - (previously unreleased, take, alternate take)
13. Cast Your Fate to the Wind [Take 3] - (previously unreleased, take, alternate take)

Personnel: Vince Guaraldi (piano); Monte Budwig (bass); Colin Bailey (drums).Recorded at Station KQED, San Francisco, California in 1961-62. Originally released on Fantasy (8089). Includes liner notes by Ralph J. Gleason.

 

[Dennie]

Happy Monday everyone.... :banana-dance:

Chapter Two -- CD

Roberta Flack

1970/1992 Atlantic Records

One of the 5 Greatest Albums of All Time, Period., May 28, 2003
By "jeremiah256"

I was a child when this album came out and it has haunted me ever since. Turn the lights out, light a fire in the fireplace, select your favorite bottle of wine, kick the kids out, curl up on the couch with your loved one, put this album on and enjoy. Hell, this albums so good you don't need anyone. Kick everyone out. "Reverend Lee", with good reason, is the classic of this album. You'll feel Roberta's warm breath on your neck as she sings of sin and lust. It'll take you back in time to that someone whom you couldn't resist, even though you knew better. Other favorites are "Do What You Gotta Do", "Gone Away", and "Until It's Time For You To Go". Those three songs along with "Just Like A Woman" are beautiful in their meaning and the mood they create. "Business Goes On As Usual" is placed last. It's a haunting anti-war song and you'd think it wouldn't fit in with the other songs of love and regret but it does. That's because it too is about love and the lose of that loved one. My personal favorite is "Let It Be Me". Like "Impossible Dream", Roberta's voice, the tempo, what I believe is a French Horn in the background, all combine to make you realize how beautiful songs can be, even songs you've heard a hundred times, when given to a vocal talent such as Roberta Flack. After you've recharged your soul with this album, let the spouce and kids back in and give them a hug.

1. "Reverend Lee" (Gene McDaniels) 4:31
2. "Do What You Gotta Do" (Jimmy Webb) 4:09
3. "Just Like a Woman" (Bob Dylan) 6:14
4. "Let It Be Me" (Gilbert Becaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë) 5:00
5. "Gone Away" (Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson, Curtis Mayfield) 5:16
6. "Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 4:57
7. "The Impossible Dream" (Joe Darion, Mitch Leigh) 4:42
8. "Business Goes on as Usual" (Fred Hellerman, Fran Minkoff) 3:30

 

[Dennie]

Southland of the Heart -- 20 Bit CD

Maria Muldaur

1998 Telarc Records

Gospel According to Maria Muldaur, January 21, 2002
By Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Southland of the Heart (Audio CD)

This is a great set of Muldaur songs, tinged with her gospel influences and religious understandings. "Ring Me Up" opens with a propulsive beat, bright background vocals & an addictive melody to make it a great CD opener. "Get Up, Get Ready" is a slow jazz gospel, "I'm gonna see my friends, I'm gonna see my Savior when this highway finally ends." The title track is a bit softer with horns and an interesting lyric, "When the sun comes up an enemy & nothing gives you shame." "Latersville" is a smoky jazz homage to good times late at night. It's got a great electric guitar part. Cymbals tap on the slow, passionate "Think About You." "There's A Devil on the Loose" is a peppy number with a laundry list of the world's ills including teenage pregnancy, murder and drugs. "Fool's Paradise" is a driving jazz blast. A beautiful piano plays as Maria sings, "I want to spend my life loving you" on "One Short Life." "If I Were You" is a soulful tease with a great beat, "No one will love you like I do." "Someday When We're Both Alone" is a slow mournful blues about unrequited love. "Blues Gives a Lesson" is a slow lounge tune that sways, "You might be a playboy, a big time Romeo." Maria Muldaur is in great voice with great soul jazz gospel influences. Enjoy!

Track listing

1. Ring Me Up
2. Get up, Get Ready
3. Southland of the Heart
4. Latersville
5. Think About You
6. There's a Devil on the Loose
7. Fool's Paradise
8. One Short Life
9. If I Were You
10. Someday When We're Both Alone
11. Blues Gives a Lesson

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Bringing It All Back Home -- CD

Bob Dylan

2004 Sony Music

Amazon.com

"You sound like you're having a good old time," a purist Dylan fan is spotted telling the artist in the documentary Don't Look Back just after the release of this, his first (half-)electric album. He certainly does. Updating Chicago blues forms with hilarious, tough lyrics--in fact, all but stealing the meter of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" for "Subterranean Homesick Blues"--on one side, dropping some of his most devastating solo acoustic science ("It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Mr. Tambourine Man") on the other, the first of Dylan's two 1965 long-players broke it right down with style, substance, and elegance. --Rickey Wright
Side one

1. "Subterranean Homesick Blues" – 2:21
2. "She Belongs to Me" – 2:47
3. "Maggie's Farm" – 3:54
4. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" – 2:51
5. "Outlaw Blues" – 3:05
6. "On the Road Again"– 2:35
7. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream"– 6:30

Side two

1. "Mr. Tambourine Man" – 5:30
2. "Gates of Eden" – 5:40
3. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" – 7:29
4. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" – 4:12

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

A Momentary Lapse of Reason -- CD

Pink Floyd

1987/1997 Columbia

Amazon.com

Though many predicted that Roger Waters's acrimonious split with the band after 1983's aptly named Final Cut would ultimately spell the end of Pink Floyd, the remaining band members confounded pundits by extending their status as classic rock's most ponderous dinosaurs into the 1990s and beyond. And if the title was a gentle jab at Waters after a years-long legal struggle over the Floyd moniker, the music was all too familiar; some would say even formulaic. And lest anyone doubted that the absence of Waters's dour soul would lighten things up a bit, guitarist and post facto leader Dave Gilmour gamely took on the Mantle of Conscience for topics ranging from the cold war ("The Dogs of War") to yuppie self-indulgence ("On the Turning Away"). And if this album sometimes evokes an uncomfortable feeling of a band on autopilot, it's one that can still turn out the likes of the anthemic "Learning to Fly" on cruise control. --Jerry McCulley

1. Signs of Life [Instrumental]
2. Learning to Fly
3. Dogs of War
4. One Slip
5. On the Turning Away
6. Yet Another Movie/Round and Around
7. New Machine, Pt. 1
8. Terminal Frost
9. New Machine, Pt. 2
10. Sorrow

 

[Dennie]

This was released yesterday...

Ain't In No Hurry -- CD

Jorma Kaukonen

2015 Red House Records

From Fur Peace Ranch Store...

Jorma's new CD on Red House Records, Ain't In No Hurry, is the latest and the greatest in his career that has spanned a half century. Ain't In No Hurry is a collection of classic American songs, blues, rockers and Jorma originals. This new CD also offers a lost Woody Guthrie lyric set to music by Jorma and Larry Campbell, the CD's producer. All tracks frame Jorma's life, development as an artist and where he stands today. Special guests include Jorma's longtime Hot Tuna partner, Jack Casady, mandolin wizard, Barry Mitterhoff, Larry Campbell, who plays an assortment of instruments, Teresa Williams on backing vocals and the rhythm section of Myron Hart and Justin Guip.

The 11 tracks on Ain't In No Hurry show Jorma at the top of his game. Playing with a confidence and touch that come from a lifetime spent writing and performing, he delivers a batch of originals that already sound like classics, interspersed with soulful interpretations of songs by the Carter Family and more. He includes a weighty version of the Depression Era classic, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" and ends the album with a solo acoustic original number, "Seasons in the Field," a look at the seasons of one's life, the passing of time and the loss of youth.

“You just canʼt go backward. The arrow of time only goes in one direction," says Jorma. "At this point in my life perhaps I should be in more of a hurry, but for me it's more important that each piece fits in the right place at the right time. The songs you hear in this album cover a lot of ground for me. Some are very old, and some quite new. From where I came from to where I am today... it is all here. Music does not happen in a vacuum. The orbit of my life is constantly tangential to others and I am richer for it. I am surrounded by friends who help give voice to my dream."

Ain't In No Hurry is testimony of Jorma's ability to tell a story and the lifetime of experiences he brings into play in telling the story.


Track List:

1. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

2. The Other Side Of The Mountain

3. Suffer Little Children To Come Unto Me

4. In My Dreams

5. Sweet Fern

6. Ain't In No Hurry

7. Brother Can You Spare A Dime

8. Where There's Two There's Trouble

9. The Terrible Operation

10. Bar Room Crystal Ball

11. Seasons In The Field

The band includes Jack Casady, Barry Mitterhoff, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Myron Hart and Justin Guip.

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Private Investigations - The Best Of 2 CD Set

Mark Knopfler & Dire Straits

2005 Warner Bros. Records

Comprehensive Collection, January 8, 2009
By Deborah Bankson "Deb" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler have been making alot of very good music for a long time (I admit Money For Nothing was the first song I really knew from MTV) and often trying to put together a set of music for artist like this is hard. There are a couple of things missing, The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies and soundtracks of all time, but this collection is very go and not simply a Greatest Hits Package.

Of course there is Money and Sultans of Swing, but songs like Brothers in Arms, a very moving track that is not as well known and Skateaway show that in putting this together the good breadth and depth was considered.

Very well done and not just a throw together greatest hits.

 

[Dennie]

Anthology -- 2 Remastered CD's

Nina Simone

2003 RCA/BMG Heritage

Issued just months after the great singer's death, this anthology accomplishes what virtually every other attempt failed to do: definitively represent all the stages of Nina Simone's career. This double-disc set encompasses her entire career, and though the lion's share of the material may come from RCA (where she spent the longest part of her career), it includes recordings from every label she recorded for, including Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, CTI, and Elektra. There are 31 tracks in all, and virtually every one is essential Simone. She was virtually limitless in her abilities to cover almost any genre in her way, and while there are other collections that address different parts of Simone's career more completely, this is the only one most fans and curiosity seekers will ever need. Review by Thom Jurek

Track Listings

Disc: 1
1. I Loves You, Porgy
2. My Baby Just Cares For Me
3. The Other Woman
4. Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair
5. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
6. Trouble In Mind
7. Mississippi Goddam
8. See Line Woman
9. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
10. I Put A Spell On You
11. Ne Me Quitte Pas
12. Strange Fruit
13. Four Women
14. Sinnerman
15. Do I Move You?

Disc: 2
1. I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl
2. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
3. The Glory Of Love
4. To Love Somebody
5. Do What You Gotta Do
6. Ain't Got No-I Got Life
7. Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)
8. Everyone's Gone To The Moon
9. Revolution
10. To Be Young, Gifted And Black
11. Who Knows Where The Time Goes
12. Here Comes The Sun
13. Just Like A Woman
14. Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter
15. Rich Girl
16. A Single Woman

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

A New World Record CD

Electric Light Orchestra

1976/1990 United Artists Records

One of my desert island discs, September 8, 1999
By MilesAndTrane (Chicago, Il USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New World Record (Audio CD)

It's far to say that Jeff Lynne picked up where the Beatles left off sans the ability to play any type of music. 1976's A New World Record showcases once again that Jeff Lynne is THE most overlooked singer / songwriter / producer / musician in the history of recorded music. E.L.O's trademark of scoring an orchestra to perfectly written rock songs is showcased no better than on this album. I grew up on this album as my father was quite fond of it for many years. One of the most dark, trippy and wonderful pieces of music can be found in the bridge section of "Mission." "And all the stars above, rain icy fingers down on me." True beauty, true genius. This is an unmatched masterpiece from Jeff Lynne and co. Give yourself a treat and purchase this gorgeous, flawless album.

Side one

No. Title Length

1. "Tightrope" 5:03
2. "Telephone Line" 4:38
3. "Rockaria!" 3:12
4. "Mission (A World Record)" 4:25

Side two

No. Title Length

1. "So Fine" 3:54
2. "Livin' Thing" 3:31
3. "Above the Clouds" 2:16
4. "Do Ya" 3:43
5. "Shangri-La" 5:32

 

[Babs]

:music-listening:

 

[Babs]

 

[Babs]

One of my favorites....

 

[Dennie]

Happy Saturday everyone.... :banana-dance:

Marc Cohn -- CD

Marc Cohn

1991 Atlantic Records

Amazon.com

With rootsier, acoustic neofolk ascendant, Marc Cohn's 1991 debut harkens back to the more sophisticated rock and pop inflections of singer-songwriters of two decades past. His supple, velvety baritone and elegant piano-based arrangements frame shrewdly crafted songs ripe with pop touches, none more intricate or deftly executed than the set's epochal "Walking In Memphis," an epiphany rooted in rich musical history, studded with allusions to Elvis and Al Green, Beale Street and Graceland, and buoyed by a rippling piano motif and surging gospel choruses. Giving the set depth, as well as commercial legs, are of "Silver Thunderbird," infectious and intimate in its evocation of his father, husky meditations "Ghost Train" and "Dig Down Deep," a sexy update of Willie Dixon's "29 Ways" (the probable seed for Paul Simon's antithetical "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"); and the fervent lover's anthem, "True Companion." --Sam Sutherland

All songs written by Marc Cohn, except "29 Ways" written by Willie Dixon.

"Walking in Memphis" – 4:19
"Ghost Train" – 4:13
"Silver Thunderbird" – 4:39
"Dig Down Deep" – 5:09
"Walk on Water" – 4:02
"Miles Away" – 3:23
"Saving the Best for Last" – 5:35
"Strangers in a Car" – 2:47
"29 Ways" – 3:06
"Perfect Love" – 4:23
"True Companion" – 4:10

 

[Dennie]

The Best of Chicago - 40th Anniversary Edition -- 2 CD Set

Chicago

2007 Rhino Records

Formed in its namesake city in 1967, Chicago is the first American band ever to chart albums in Billboard®’s Pop Top 40 in five consecutive decades. In 2002, Rhino entered into a long-term partnership with this extraordinary group to restore their extensive, genre-defying catalogue as well as develop new projects (such as 2006’s XXX, their first new studio album in a decade). Now Rhino adds to Chicago’s legacy and salutes their 40th anniversary with a newly compiled 2-CD collection that spans their entire recording history, from the stellar 1969 debut LP Chicago Transit Authority to Chicago XXX. With a career encompassing five consecutive #1 albums, 13 platinum albums, 21 Top 10 singles, and many other laurels, Chicago is among the most successfully charting American groups of all time.

Disc One

"Questions 67 & 68" (Robert Lamm) - 3:26
"25 or 6 to 4" (Robert Lamm) - 2:53
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Robert Lamm) - 2:46
"Make Me Smile" (James Pankow) - 3:00
"Beginnings" (Robert Lamm) - 2:49
"Colour My World" (James Pankow) - 3:03
"Saturday in the Park" (Robert Lamm) - 3:56
"Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (James Pankow/Peter Cetera) - 4:15
"Just You 'n' Me" (James Pankow) - 3:43
"(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (James Pankow) - 4:18
"Call on Me" (Lee Loughnane) - 4:02
"Wishing You Were Here" (Peter Cetera) - 3:01
"Old Days" (James Pankow) - 3:31
"Another Rainy Day in New York City" (Robert Lamm) - 3:01
"If You Leave Me Now" (Peter Cetera) - 3:56

Disc Two

"Baby, What a Big Surprise" (Peter Cetera) - 3:07
"No Tell Lover" (Lee Loughnane/Danny Seraphine/Peter Cetera) - 3:51
"Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) - 3:41
"Love Me Tomorrow" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) - 3:58
"Hard Habit to Break" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) - 4:46
"You're the Inspiration" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) - 3:49
"Will You Still Love Me?" (David Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin) - 4:13
"If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (Steve Kipner/Randy Goodrum) - 3:51
"I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" (Albert Hammond/Diane Warren) - 3:55
"Look Away" (Diane Warren) - 4:00
"What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (Jason Scheff, Chas Sandford, Bobby Caldwell) - 4:20
"You're Not Alone" (Jim Scott) - 4:00
"Here in My Heart" (Glen Ballard/James Newton Howard) - 4:20
"Feel (W/Horns)" (Danny Orton/Blair Daly) - 4:31
"Love Will Come Back" (Jason Scheff/Jay DeMarcus/Chas Sandford) - 3:43

 

[Dennie]

Live At Blues Alley -- CD

Eva Cassidy

1997 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

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