What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

The Very Best of: -- CD

Otis Redding

1992 Rhino Records
Amazon.com

No other Otis compilation quite satisfies the way the old double-LP best-of does, but never mind: any way you hear Redding's many great moments is a good one. The Very Best splits ballads and up-tempo stuff half-and-half, letting you hear the great one's humanity in every mood--the pile-driving rock of "Respect," the preaching fervor of "Try a Little Tenderness," the nascent reflection of "Dock of the Bay." A record collection with no Otis is a poor thing: here's yours. --Rickey Wright

1. "These Arms of Mine" Otis Redding 2:34
2. "Pain In My Heart" Naomi Neville 2:26
3. "That's How Strong My Love Is" Roosevelt Jamison 2:25
4. "Mr. Pitiful" Otis Redding/Steve Cropper 2:44
5. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" Otis Redding/Jerry Butler 2:57
6. "Respect" Otis Redding 2:11
7. "I Can't Turn You Loose" Otis Redding 2:49
8. "Satisfaction" Mick Jagger/Keith Richards 2:47
9. "My Lover's Prayer" Otis Redding 3:12
10. "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" Otis Redding/Steve Cropper 2:43
11. "Try A Little Tenderness" Jimmy Campbell/Reg Connelly/Harry Woods 3:20
12. "Shake" Sam Cooke 2:33
13. "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)" Otis Redding/Steve Cropper 2:45
14. "Tramp" (with Carla Thomas) Lowell Fulson/Jimmy McCracklin 3:02
15. "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" Steve Cropper/Otis Redding 2:42
16. "I've Got Dreams to Remember" Zelma Redding/Otis Redding/Joe Rock 3:15

 

[Dennie]

Greatest Hits -- CD

Earth Wind & Fire

1998 Sony Music

Amazon.com essential recording

It's the most complete single-disc collection of EWF chart rockers, and Greatest Hits' splendid remastering makes one of the major exponents of '70s funk positivity sound sparkling. From the driving "Shining Star" to the syncopated mastery of "September" and "Boogie Wonderland" to the slow-jam heaven of "After the Love Is Gone," this is a reminder of what made the group so special. --Rickey Wright
1. "Shining Star" 3:03
2. "That's the Way of the World" 4:56
3. "September" 3:34
4. "Can't Hide Love" 4:49
5. "Got to Get You Into My Life" 5:09
6. "Sing a Song" 4:01
7. "Gratitude" 2:50
8. "Serpentine Fire" 5:45
9. "Fantasy" 3:39
10. "Kalimba Story" 5:30
11. "Mighty Mighty" 4:58
12. "Reasons" 3:23
13. "Saturday Nite" 4:09
14. "Let's Groove" 3:45
15. "Boogie Wonderland" (ft. The Emotions) 4:02
16. "After the Love Has Gone" 6:00
17. "Getaway" 4:03

 

[Dennie]

How Sweet It is -- CD

Joan Osborne

2002 Compendia Records

Amazon.com

With the proliferation of earthy rock chicks such as Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch, it might seem like an opportune time for Joan Osborne, who gathered Grammy nominations for her triple-platinum 1995 debut Relish and its breakthrough single "One of Us," to revive her flowing blues-and-folk roots. Rather than take the anticipated path, however, he New York singer offers a twist. Taking a page from Ally McBeal's resident torch singer Vonda Shepard, Osborne turns in an album of stylish covers of contemporary R&B classics. She wraps her husky voice around a supper-club version of Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine," underscores the message behind Edwin Starr's "War" at a funeral pace, and gives James Taylor a shudder with her lush, Eastern-tinged take on Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is." Most unexpected. --Aidin Vaziri

Track listing

1. I'll Be Around
2. Think
3. How Sweet It Is
4. Smiling Faces Sometimes
5. Love's in Need of Love Today
6. These Arms of Mine
7. Only You Know and I Know
8. War
9. Why Can't We Live Together
10. Axis: Bold as Love
11. Weight, The
12. Everybody Is a Star

 

[Randy]

Ya Botch, Iron Maiden Raising Hell is a very poor mix. Not my favorite DVD by a long stretch.

 

[Botch]

Ya Botch, Iron Maiden Raising Hell is a very poor mix. Not my favorite DVD by a long stretch.

Does IM have a good DVD available that you know of? Certainly a talented band. :banana-rock:

 

[Botch]

I don't own this, but it's on Palladia right now. Better video than Gimme Shelter, and Keith is sober unlike in Shine a Light.... :text-bravo:

 

[Randy]

Ya Botch, Iron Maiden Raising Hell is a very poor mix. Not my favorite DVD by a long stretch.

Does IM have a good DVD available that you know of? Certainly a talented band. :banana-rock:

Yes, Rock In Rio is damn good.

 

[Botch]

Added to the list, tan Que! :music-rockout: :music-rockout: :music-rockout:

 

[Dennie]

Anthology - Down In Birdland -- 2 CD Set

The Manhattan Transfer

1992 Atlantic Records

Amazon.com

When Tim Hauser convened the original Manhattan Transfer in the early '70s, there was more than a whiff of camp to the vocal group's pre-rock pop perspective, but what may have started with tongue-in-cheek quickly shifted into an earnest (if still good-humored) mission--the preservation of closely-arranged choral pop. From their first mid-'70s hits forward, the Transfer has gone from strength to strength, extending their reach into r&b, jazz, Brazilian pop, and even the vocal equivalent of fusion. This first-rate two-CD package focuses on their long career at Atlantic Records, where they did their best work, and is correspondingly ripe with gorgeous group and solo vocals. --Sam Sutherland

CD #1

1. Trickle Trickle
2. Gloria
3. Operator
4. Helpless
5. Ray's Rockhouse
6. Heart's Desire (Live)
7. Zindy Lou
8. Mystery
9. Baby Come Back To Me (The Morse Code Of Love)
10. Route 66
11. Java Jive
12. Chanson D'Amour
13. Foreign Affair
14. Smile Again
15. Spice Of Life
16. The Speak Up Mambo (Cuentame)
17. Soul Food To Go (Sina)
18. So You Say (Esquinas)
19. Boy From New York City
20. Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone

CD #2

1. Four Brothers
2. Blee Blop Blues
3. Candy
4. A Gal In Calico
5. Love For Sale
6. On A Little Street In Singapore
7. Tuxedo Junction
8. That Cat Is High
9. Body And Soul
10. Meet Benny Baily
11. Sing Joy Spring
12. To You
13. Down South Camp Meetin'
14. Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)
15. Why Not! (Manhattan Carnival)
16. Another Night In Tunisia
17. Capim
18. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
19. Birdland

 

[heeman]

Ya Botch, Iron Maiden Raising Hell is a very poor mix. Not my favorite DVD by a long stretch.

Does IM have a good DVD available that you know of? Certainly a talented band. :banana-rock:

Yes, Rock In Rio is damn good.

X 5

I have had this one for years now and the camera work is great, a little dizzing sometimes. Well worth the money spent.

 

[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

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

This one was released today.........

Low Country Blues -- CD

Gregg Allman

Today Rounder Records

Product Description

Gregg Allman's first solo album in 14 years was produced by T Bone Burnett and features 11 covers of songs from legendary bluesmen Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Sleepy John Estes, and many more, PLUS an original song written by Gregg and the Allman Brothers' Warren Haynes called "Just Another Rider." Gregg's backing band on the album includes Dr. John on piano, Doyle Bramhall II on guitar, and the incomparable rhythm section of bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Jay Bellerose (from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's multiple Grammy-winning `Raising Sand' album).

1. Floating Bridge (Sleepy John Estes)
2. Little By Little (Junior Wells)
3. Devil Got My Woman (Skip James)
4. I Can't Be Satisfied (Muddy Waters)
5. Blind Man (Bobby Bland)
6. Just Another Rider (Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes)
7. Please Accept My Love (BB King)
8. I Believe I'll Go Back Home (Traditional)
9. Tears Tears Tears (Amos Milburn)
10. My Love is Your Love (Samuel Maghett)
11. Checking On My Baby (Otis Rush)
12. Rolling Stone (Traditional)


On a side note, Rest In Peace Sargent Shriver. You did good and will be missed.


Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Two Sides To Every Story -- CD

James Harman Band

1993 Black Top Records

Modern "Classic", October 19, 2004
By Jeffrey T. Boggess "The Blues Dr." (Teays Valley, WV)
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Two Sides to Every Story (Audio CD)
I won't go into detail about James and his long blues history as the previous reviewer has done an outstanding job doing just that. I have just about everything James has recorded since "Thank You Baby", and "Two Sides" is my favorite. Brilliant toungue and cheek lyrics that always go deeper than their surface. "The Clown" and "My Little Girl" are modern classics. James vocals' always seem effortless, but are truly amazing upon repeated listens. The "Napkin's" sessions are great stuff, but this is James best concept album. Thank you, baby!!

 

[Dennie]

Soul Progressin' -- CD

Lafayette Gilchrist

2008 Hyena Records

Product Description

There is good reason why jazz fans and critics alike are so excited about Lafayette Gilchrist. The young Baltimore-based pianist hit the scene hard with his debut, The Music According To Lafayette Gilchrist, and went straight to earning raves for his sophomore release, Towards The Shining Path. Emerging from jazz legend David Murray s Black Saint Quartet, a group in which he still plays to this day, Gilchrist has an approach and presence that s drawn comparisons to royalty such as Andrew Hill and Thelonious Monk. With his own band, Gilchrist leads a septet that's equally inspired by D.C. go-go, old school soul, hard funk and progressive hip-hop. Introduced to Hyena Records by the iconic guitarist Vernon Reid, Gilchrist is back with his fourth album, --Soul Progressin. The pianist has this to say about his latest recording: Soul Progressin is a rediscovery in the sense of what was and is still the most essential part of my offering. Soul Power. Its roots are endless and wondrous. Its future undeniable. So we just want to celebrate about it a bit.

Track Listing:

Soul-Progressin'

Between Us

Come Get Some

Uncrowned

Those Frowning Clowns

Detective's Tip

Many Exits No Doors.

 

[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.

 

[PaulyT]

Got this after watching V for Vendetta - V plays "Cry Me a River" at some point, and I liked that version of it which turned out to be London's. She was the first to record that very famous song (in 1955); while it was written for Ella F, Ella didn't record it until a few years later. London's version isn't quite a jazzy as some, but "sultry" is the best word for her singing. Good stuff!

 

[Dennie]

Got this after watching V for Vendetta - V plays "Cry Me a River" at some point, and I liked that version of it which turned out to be London's. She was the first to record that very famous song (in 1955); while it was written for Ella F, Ella didn't record it until a few years later. London's version isn't quite a jazzy as some, but "sultry" is the best word for her singing. Good stuff!

Nice choice Pauly, I really like Julie, but only have her music on Vinyl. Maybe I should look into a couple of her Cee Dee's!


Dennie

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

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