Bobby Bland -- Two Steps From The Blues

  Here we go the scintillating Bobby Bland, as it says right on the record label, and what a album it is!  "Blue" Bland took what Sam Cooke was doing and gave is a shotgun blast with a horn section flavorizing the blues giving it a whole lotta soul.  The highlight, which there are many, so the megalight is the haunting cover version of St. James Infirmary.  These songs would have otherwise been hard to find, picking up 45's here and there, but you've got it all here from 58 to 62 ...

King Curtis -- Live at the Filmore West

  King Curtis is definitely the saxiest man in the world, and Live at the Filmore is a great showcase of his undeniable talent.  The album opens up with the best tune on the record, Memphis Soul Stew, where he introduces his killer band, including Billy Preston.  As the album moves forward there are moments of unagreeable muzak styled covers, Whiter Shade Of Pale, Ode To Billie Joe and Mr. Bojangles, were the worst of the bunch, but Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love was oddly good.  Sadly enough with his biggest hit solo album climbing the charts, Curtis gets killed in front of his brownstone by two junkies.  The Yakety Saxman lives on through countless recordings from his own to accompaniying greats like Buddy Holly, The Coasters, Aretha Franklin,  John Lennon etc ...

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band -- Safe as Milk

  Like many great artists his influence spans further than his popularity.  Safe as Milk is a blues drenched, fuzzed out, experimental hot box of music and words.  His persona feels much like a mix of the Howlin' Wolf and Wolfman Jack, but in a avant-garde beat punk sorta way.  Put this album on, take a trip down the Yellow Brick Road, follow the Zig Zag Wanderer to the Plastic Factory before we've all Grown So Ugly.

The Hollies -- Stop! Stop! Stop!

  This record floats between good and bad music, especially the specially arranged tunes on side B.  The album's sound sits right in-between The Beatles and The Byrds, except one song, Tell Me To My Face, it's a Latin guitared bossa nova with steel drum, that might sound stupid, but it's by far the best number on the record.  Title track's, Stop! Stop! Stop!'s theme is a bit unorthodox, being about a man obsessed with a belly dancer, as she dances she gets closer and closer, he gets to the boiling point with his obsession torn between wishing she'd stop the dance or just jumping on stage to grab her, which he does, then he gets tossed in the street by his shirt collars, guess he should have Stop, Stop, Stopped!

U.S. Bonds -- Dance 'Til Quarter to Three With ...

  Yikes this is one strange album, don't be fooled by the cover.  Intendedly recorded to be gritty it comes off as raw as The Sonics.  He scored a # 1 hit record with title track Quarter To Three.  Even though it sounds like a overly dubbed tape, I wouldn't have it any other way, the U.S. Bonds brand of Rock 'n' Roll is so unique and unmistakable, that full weird sound, bizarre voice, Dick Clark said it best, "I wasn't sure if I was suppose to be looking for a Marching band or a Rock 'n' Roll group."

The Bluesbreakers Feat. Eric Clapton -- Steppin' Out

  The story goes ... Clapton leaves the Yardbirds to pursue bluesier projects so he joins forces with John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers, they make a couple singles and an album.  Steppin' Out is a compilation of those singles and most of the record, aka The Beano Album.  Unlike the Yarbird hard blues rave up style taken from the Howlin' Wolf, The Bluesbreakers take their inspiration from Chicago Blues, a smoother more flowing style of the music; these guys were so good at it that they even scored sessions with Champion Jack Dupree and Otis Spann, which are represented on this record.  In the end, yes the album is good, but there's something about it that sounds uninspired, it seems to lack that visceral blues feeling that only comes from within ... all the talent in the world can't teach you that!

Jerry Lee Lewis -- The Golden Hits of ...

  Recorded years after the scandal, for those of you who don't know he married his 13 year old cousin once removed, Jerry Lee signed to Smash Records.  They rerecorded all of his typical hits and covers as his opening album for his new label.  The renditions of the old material are great, maybe not Sam Phillips quality, but who cares because after this he stuck to the country ballads -- less killer, more filler.  Let's all remember the man for who he was, a wild entertainer and one hell of a piano player, trailblazing with his piano on fire way before anyone else could have muttered the very idea ...