Shadows Of Knight -- Gloria

  Chicago's re-answer to the Blues, doing what the Stones, Yardbirds and the Who did and Amaricafied it back, the result being early Punk Rock.  Covering mostly classic Chicago Blues tunes and using Them's Gloria as the title track.  The real money is on the original tracks, Light Bulb Blues, It Always Happens That Way and Darkside, the first two are fuzzed out Punk numbers with switchblade riffs, the other a bleak moody ballad.  The Uk may have re-invented the blues, but the Americans regurgitated it an invented Punk!  Funny footnote, they're on the Dunwich label, product number 666, ouuuuu, spooky!

The Jimi Hendrix Experience -- Axis: Bold As Love

  Man ... I've been crazy about this album since I was a kid, it's by far the best record in the whole Hendrix catalogue.  There's just something smoother, more soulful and less showboaty about this album!  In my opinion Castles Made Of Sand is Hendrix's greatest contribution to rock music, the riff  and insightful lyrics can span the ages, even released today it'd be retrolessly fresh "...and so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually..."

The Turtles -- Happy Together

  Part of me wants to like their sound but honestly I don't like this music at all, it's just too hippie dippie and seems like it wasn't 100% thought out.  Feels like it could have been good but turned out bad, there were moments of greatness, but they were just too far and few between.  Nice try, sh*tty record.

Queen -- A Night at the Opera

  I'm not a big fan of the whole 70's Classic Rock genre or Queen in general, they've got some good tunes, but I don't love em' all.  A Night at the Opera is a sporadic pastiche of genres from Heavy Metal to Sgt. Pepper to Dixieland to Folk to Bohemian Rhapsody, which is the melting pot of cross genre-ing ... but nonetheless Rock 'n' Roll wouldn't be the same without em' or this album.

Gladys Knight and the Pips -- Pow!

  Bargain basement label Pickwick assembles another off the cuff compilation.  Pow! is an early collection of Gladys Knight and the Pips pre-Motown recordings.  Unlike the straight up Soul sound of Hitsville USA, this album drifts from the early Girl Group style to R & B to Doo Wop, it even includes Knight-less numbers.  Opening track It Hurts Me So Bad, takes the cake and eats it too!

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 ...