ROCKIN' WITH WANDA

Original Released as LP CAPITOL T-1384
(1960, May 2)

When Capitol Records assembled Wanda Jackson's self-titled debut album in 1958, the label was trying to suggest her versatility as a singer who could handle vocal pop and country as well as the rockabilly with which she was most closely associated. As the title of her next Capitol album, 1960s Rockin' with Wanda, suggested, there was less of an attempt at variety (although there were still a couple of examples of her talent for country, and "Don'a Wan'a" had a Latin flavor). The 12-track LP was actually a compilation collecting singles sides dating back to her 1956 Capitol debut 45, "I Gotta Know," the most recent being "You're the One for Me," which had been released a year earlier. (Although all of the tracks had been released previously on singles, none had appeared on an LP before.) This was the raucous Wanda Jackson, barely contained on rave-ups like "Fujiyama Mama" and "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad," a performer worthy of being called the distaff Elvis Presley. Focusing attention on her talents as a rocker, the album should have broken Jackson into the rock realm, and it might have but for the late-breaking success of "Let's Have a Party," another up-tempo number that was not on the album. Clearly, too, 1960 was a little late for crowning a rockabilly queen, and by the following year Jackson was recording more frequently in a country vein. Nevertheless, Rockin' with Wanda stands as her finest achievement, at least as far as boppers are concerned. There was a British CD reissue that added four tracks and re-sequenced the album, but more impressive is this 2002 U.S. reissue, which adds another six songs (most of them more country than rock) drawn from the same batch of singles that produced the original 12. (William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

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KALEIDOSCOPE: "SIDE TRIPS"

Original Released as LP EPIC BN-26304 (US), June 67

Although the Bay Area may have seemed to corner the market on the psychedelic Summer of Love, the equally bountiful Los Angeles scene was the breeding ground for one of the more inventive units of the mid - to late - '60s. The incipient incarnation of Kaleidoscope synthesized rock & roll with roots and world music, first yielding Side Trips (1967), arguably the most diverse effort of 1967. Their ten-track outing features multi-instrumentalists David Lindley (guitar / banjo / fiddle / mandolin), Solomon Feldthouse (saz / bouzouki / dobro / vina / oud / dombek / dulcimer / fiddle / guitar / vocals), Chester Crill (aka Fenrus Epp and Max Buda) (violin / viola / bass / keyboards / harmonica), Chris Darrow (bass / guitar / mandolin / vocals) and John Vidican (percussion). The combo evolved from Lindley's string band interests, Darrow's love of the Beatles' early records and Feldthouse's exotic-sounding Eastern excursions. After being signed by Epic, they initially wanted to operate under the surreal moniker of the Neoprene Lizards with Barry Friedman (aka Frazier Mohawk) collaborating from the producer's chair. Further galvanizing Kaleidoscope and Side Trips is the strength of the original material. The mid-tempo ballad "Please" was picked as the single, while the album's overall mood and cerebral vibe are front and center on Darrow's trippy "If the Night" and "Keep Your Mind Open." Feldthouse's suitably surrealistic "Egyptian Gardens" concisely demonstrates his distinct contributions, as does the Lindley composition "Why Try." From the other side of the pop spectrum are the layered vocal harmonies of "Pulsating Dream" and the overt jug band influence heard on Cab Calloway's signature "Minnie the Moocher," as well as the traditional tunes "Come on In" and "Hesitation Blues."

(Lindsay Planer in AllMusic)

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A OPINIÃO DA NARA

EDIÇÃO ORIGINAL EM LP PHILLIPS 632.732 L (1964)

O 2º album da musa brasileira, constituído por versões de estúdio do espectáculo musical "Opinião", um dos primeiros a contestar o regime militar e que na parte final do ano de 64 conferiu a Nara o destaque a nível nacional.

THE DEAD AT WORK

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP WARNER BROS WS-1869
(1970, June 14)
1. UNCLE JOHN'S BAND - 4:45 (Garcia/Hunter)
2. HIGH TIME - 5:14 (Garcia/Hunter)
3. DIRE WOLF - 3:14 (Garcia/Hunter)
4. NEW SPEEDWAY BOOGIE - 4:06 (Garcia/Hunter)
5. CUMBERLAND BLUES - 3:16 (Garcia/Lesh/Hunter)
6. BLACK PETER - 5:43 (Garcia/Hunter)
7. EASY WIND - 4:58 (Hunter)
8. CASEY JONES - 4:38 (Garcia/Hunter)
THE BAND:
JERRY GARCIA: lead guitar, pedal steel guitar, vocals
BOB WEIR: guitar, vocals
PIGPEN (RON McKERNAN): keyboards, harmonica, vocals
PHIL LESH: bass, vocals
BILL KREUTZMANN: drums
MICKEY HART: drums
with David Nelson, acoustic guitar on "Cumberland Blues"
Produced by Bob Matthews, Betty Cantor, The Grateful Dead

Workingman’s Dead is the band’s deepest journey into country and blues, notable for its sometimes dark and desperate tone as much as its bittersweet harmonies and Robert Hunter’s epigrammatic words of wisdom. Although American Beauty is the better album, the Dead laid the groundwork for that greatness here by breaking with their psychedelic past. “Laidback” might be the better word, as their flavorful arrangements are couched in a mellow, observational style. “Uncle John’s Band,” “High Time” and “Black Peter” show a reverence for country music’s relaxed pacing; even the imminent danger of “Dire Wolf” fails to get their fur up. When the band does rock, they filter it through the blues, strutting on “Easy Wind” and having a sloppy good time on “Cumberland Blues.” As charming as it is, Aoxomoxoa is too psychedelic to take seriously. Workingman’s Dead is dead serious by comparison. Even the album’s brightest track, “Casey Jones,” is a warning, like “Dupree’s Diamond Blues,” which it closely resembles. “New Speedway Boogie” makes no pretension to the light, and offers no harmonies to sweeten the sting of Garcia singing “One way or another this darkness got to give.” This isn’t a dour record, though. The songs aren’t sad, simply earthy, and if the earth is intrinsically sad then blame original sin. It’s this kind of natural wisdom, and the band’s unsinkable spirit in the midst of life, that touches Dead fans differently than their other albums (Dave Connolly)

The Grateful Dead gets more and more together with each new album. In this cool production of folk/rock/blues, the group reveals in no uncertain terms a significant shift from its original hard rock format to a softer, more profound brand of musicality. Recorded here are such tunes as, "High Time," "Cumberland Blues," "Casey Jones," and "Easy Wind." (Billboard, 1970).
Of course they don't sing as pretty as CSNY -- prettiness would trivialize these songs. The sparse harmonies and hard-won melodies go with lyrics that make all the American connections claimed by San Francisco's counterculture; there's a naturally stoned bemusement in their good times, hard times, high times, and lost times that joins the fatalism of the physical frontier with the wonder of the psychedelic one. And the changeable rhythms hold out the promise of Uncle John's Band, who might just save us if we'll only call the tune. Inspirational Verse: "Think this through with me." A (Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981).

Like Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding and the Band's Music From Big Pink, Workingman's Dead is a moral self-examination, a modest, even penitent look back, not for nostalgic reassurance but for wisdom and perspective. The album maps the crises of the present onto the past and offers solace only in the ability of essential human virtues ("Oh, what I want to know/Is, are you kind?") to survive even the most harrowing chaos (Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 5/13/99).
The first "unplugged" rock album is a major masterpiece of 20th century music, combining American traditional C&W with contemporary R&R and jazz, and the prophetic lyrics of Robert Hunter, which establishes him as a poet on a par with Bob Dylan. Nailing the heart and soul of the band, this primer on the Dead includes such signatures as "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band" and gives a glimpse of what lay ahead for an entire culture. * * * * * (Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003).
Workingman's Dead was chosen as the 262nd greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.

FRANÇOISE 63

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP VOGUE FH1-0068 (1963)

Françoise, tu n'est pas "ma copine"... Oh ! non, parce que tu es mon amie ! Depuis ta première chanson tu m'as conquis. Tu es arrivée dans la Chanson comme une bouffée subite de printemps. Le charme et la fraicheur de ta jeunesse ont alors traversé notre epoque et nous ont appris a aimer la douceur. Tu as apprivoisé le rythme par tes melodies harmonieuses et tu as reconquis la Parole, par la grace de ta poesie.

Aujourd'hui, tu ne portes même plus un nom celèbre, puisque ton seul prénom suffit, Françoise a rallié tous les suffrages. Et ce n'est pas ma voix qui vient te remercier pour les nouvelles chansons que tu nous offres dans cet album, mais la voix immense de tout le public qui bat comme un coeur au rythme de ses applaudissements...

Je ne peux te dire celle de tes nouvelles chansons que je préfère, car je les préfère toutes ! Je suis sur que tu n'as jamais été inspirée aussi joliment dans tes poêmes et la succession musicale des rythmes trés differents que tu as su créer, est ideale pour la danse !

Voilá Françoise... Je voulais simplement te remercier pour tout ce que tu nous apportes, te remercier pour ta présence même dans la Chanson qui est pour nous tous le symbole du talent (Original Liner Notes)

Le premier bonheur du jour
C'est un ruban de soleil
Qui s'enroule sur ta main
Et caresse mon épaule
C'est le souffle de la mer
Et la plage qui attend
C'est l'oiseau qui a chanté
Sur la branche du figuier
Le premier chagrin du jour
C'est la porte qui se ferme
La voiture qui s'en va
Le silence qui s'installe
Mais bien vite tu reviens
Et ma vie reprend son cours
Le dernier bonheur du jour
C'est la lampe qui s'éteint
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DONOVAN: "COSMIC WHEELS"

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP EPIC SEPC 65450
(UK 1973, March 24)
SIDE 1
Cosmic Wheels (4:10)
Earth Sign Man (4:03)
Sleep (3:53)
Maria Magenta (2:20)
Wild Witch Lady (4:35)
SIDE 2
The Music Makers (4:29)
The Intergalactic Laxative (2:53)
I Like You (5:22)
Only The Blues (3:18)
Appearances (3:44)

Line Up:
Donovan: vocals / guitars / strings
Chris Spedding: guitars / strings / bouzouki
Clive Chaman: bass
Phil Chen: bass
Cozy Powell: drums
Alan White: drums
Pat Halling: violin
Bobby Keys: sax
Notes:

All compositions by Donovan Leitch
Produced by Donovan and Michael Peter Hayes
Engineered by Mike Bobak
at Morgan Studios, London, 1972
Cover Designed by John Kosh & Donovan
Photography by Tony Evans
The Cosmic Wheels sessions were recorded in Morgan Studios in London, England. In the UK at that time, glam rock ruled the top of the charts, defined by bands and artists such as T. Rex, Alice Cooper, and David Bowie among others. Several of these bands and artists claimed Donovan as a key influence in their music. This praise coupled with the chart success of the genre likely had great influence on the musical direction Cosmic Wheels would take.

There are some amazing and powerful orchestrations on this album, particularly on the title track, arranged by Chris Spedding. "Intergalactic Laxative" is pretty funny - a traditional folk song about poop and pee. Yes, it's crude but the lyrics are clever and funny. "Maria Magenta" is the obvious pop hit and the song "I like you" is really the high point - great lyrics, great arrangement, and a haunting melody.

Cosmic Wheels reached the top 20 in both the US and UK, enjoying the same chart success as many of Donovan's previous albums. By 1973 the music business had shifted to promoting album-oriented rock, relegating singles to less promotion and fewer sales. An edited form of "I Like You" reached #66 in the U.S. and became the last charting single Donovan would have.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP WORLD PACIFIC WP-1844 (1965)
Joe Pass (guitar)
Chet Baker (flugelhorn)
Frank Capp (drums)
others are unknown
Arranged & conducted by Bob Florence
Recorded at Pacific Jazz Studios in Hollywood.
World Pacific Records issued single "A Sign Of The Times" / "Moment To Moment" cut from the LP.

Let's Play Some Games...

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP POLYDOR 184093 (1967)

This is a perfect add for romance and one of the best James Last albums ever! Recently it was shared by Roman in his Pinnichio's Easy-Listening & Instrumental Corner. If you don't know him you should, cause he usually shares some fabulous out-of-print albums from the past. The only problem is that those albums are only available for a short period of time. Like this one, which now you can access as long as you want. So, choose your dearest companion and spend a wonderful night together.

THE MAN FROM O.R.G.A.N.

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP COMMAND RS 891 SD (1965)
THE PLAYERS:
Dick Hyman (Organ, Main Performer)
Bucky Pizzarelli (Guitar)
Tony Mottola (Guitar)
Al Casamenti (Guitar)
Bob Haggart (Bass)
Osie Johnson (Percussion)
Phil Kraus (Percussion)
Bobby Rosengarden (Percussion)

Dick Hyman (born March 8, 1927, New York City) is an American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer best known for his versatility with jazz piano styles. Over a 50 year career he has functioned as pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and, increasingly, as composer. His versatility in all of these areas has resulted in well over 100 albums recorded under his own name and many more in support of other artists.

BOWIE PIN UPS AND MORE

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP RCA RS-1003,

OCTOBER 1973 (UK)
Pin Ups fits into David Bowie's output roughly where Moondog Matinee (which, strangely enough, appeared the very same month) did into the Band's output, which is to say that it didn't seem to fit in at all. Just as a lot of fans of Levon Helm et al. couldn't figure where a bunch of rock & roll and R&B covers fit alongside their output of original songs, so Bowie's fans — after enjoying a string of fiercely original LPs going back to 1970's The Man Who Sold the World — weren't able to make too much out of Pin Ups' new recordings of a brace of '60s British hits. Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane had established Bowie as perhaps the most fiercely original of all England's glam rockers (though Marc Bolan's fans would dispute that to their dying day), so an album of covers didn't make any sense and was especially confusing for American fans — apart from the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind" and the Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things," little here was among the biggest hits of their respective artists' careers, and the Who's "I Can't Explain" and "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" were the only ones whose original versions were easily available or played very often on the radio; everything else was as much a history lesson, for Pink Floyd fans whose knowledge of that band went back no further than Atom Heart Mother, or into Liverpool rock (the Merseys' "Sorrow"), as it was a tour through Bowie's taste in '60s music.

The latter was a mixed bag stylistically, opening with the Pretty Things' high-energy Bo Diddley homage "Rosalyn" and segueing directly into a hard, surging rendition of Them's version of Bert Berns' "Here Comes the Night," filled with crunchy guitars; "I Wish You Would" and "Shapes of Things" were both showcases for Bowie's and Mick Ronson's guitars, and "See Emily Play" emphasized the punkish (as opposed to the psychedelic) side of the song. "Sorrow," which benefited from a new saxophone break, was actually a distinct improvement over the original, managing to be edgier and more elegant all at once, and could easily have been a single at the time, and Bowie's slow version of "I Can't Explain" was distinctly different from the Who's original — in other words, Pin Ups was an artistic statement, of sorts, with some thought behind it, rather than just a quick album of oldies covers to buy some time, as it was often dismissed as being. In the broader context of Bowie's career, Pin Ups was more than an anomaly — it marked the swan song for the Spiders From Mars and something of an interlude between the first and second phases of his international career; the next, beginning with Diamond Dogs, would be a break from his glam rock phase, going off in new directions. It's not a bad bridge between the two, and it has endured across the decades — and the CD remasterings since the late '90s have made it worth discovering all over again. (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)

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