Remembering Jimmy Reed, born on this day in 1925. —Ed.

One of the first great electric blues LPs is titled I’m Jimmy Reed, and it’s loaded with twelve songs from one of the 1950s only true blues crossovers. Over half a century later it still holds up spectacularly well and additionally provides a solid contrast to the electrified delta sounds that poured out of the studio Chess during the same period.

Jimmy Reed’s blues is amongst the most accessible ever recorded in either the acoustic or electric permutations of the form. Master of a relaxed, natural style lacking in the rough edges that his contemporaries Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and John Lee Hooker utilized with prideful relish, Reed’s stellar run of sides for the Vee-Jay label displayed how in the bustling post-WWII urban environment the blues could represent more than the power of the plantation transmogrified after traveling up the Mississippi River (Muddy, Wolf, etc.) or the horn-laden high strains of citified sophistication (Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, Tiny Bradshaw, Willie Mabon).

In contrast to Muddy, who instigated a booming ensemble sound that while impressively groundbreaking completely on its own terms would also prove an essential component in rock music’s ‘60s growth spurt, Reed was somewhat closer to the norm of a “folk-blues” player, offering up simple and often insanely catchy guitar figures and an unfussy, plainly sung (some might say sleepy) vocal approach with accents of trilling rack harmonica.

This shouldn’t infer that Reed engaged in any forced gestures of aw-shucks down-home authenticity, at least not in what’s considered his prime. Hell, one glimpse at the picture on I’m Jimmy Reed’s back cover presents a man of top-flight refinement and truly choice threads, and his image intersected with the sound of his records extremely well.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Back in the golden era of the single of the 1970s and ’80s, Motörhead would regularly assault the ears of Top 40 chart listeners on a Sunday afternoon with a string of smash hits.

The single as a format may have been less prominent from the ’90s onwards due to the dawn of the CD, but that didn’t diminish the calibre of the singles and promos that Motörhead continued to release. These mostly CD singles are now rare and highly collectable, so it only feels fitting for this era of the band’s bullet belt full of hits to be reappraised and released on the format that singles were born for, 7” vinyl.

We Take No Prisoners is a collection of Motörhead singles spanning 1995 to 2006, and available as a nine 7” single box set and expanded double CD and digital editions. From crowd pleasers like the pummeling “Sacrifice,” through their unique cover of Sex Pistols, “God Save The Queen” to the semi-acoustic roots vibes of “Whorehouse Blues,” no one could deny their song writing prowess and sheer rock power was still second to none.

With a selection of rare live and radio edits thrown in for good measure and a long-lost promo interview with Lemmy and Mikkey Dee from 2004, this is a definitive collection of this era of the band and the songs that drove the success of the albums they were lifted from.

By the way, which one’s Crosby? It’s a logical question: like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young this Spanish foursome deserted other bands to form a supergroup, and like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young they seem to have owned the kinds of egos that demanded that they see their individual names in lights. They could have called themselves Los Cacahuetes, after all. And the timeline is right; they put out their first and most famous album, Señora Azul, in 1974.

Unlike CSN&Y, however, their album tanked, and it took decades for fans and critics to come around to the opinion that it was a classic. The fans hated it, the critics loathed it, and I couldn’t tell you what Spain’s then dictator-for-life Generalissimo Francisco Franco—he would kick the fascist bucket the following year—thought of it, but I doubt he was a folk rock guy and if he had been he’d have promptly had them shot.

The band’s members were Juan Robles Cánovas, Rodrigo García, Adolfo Rodríguez, and José María Guzmán. García and Guzmán hailed from the band Solera; Rodrigo from Los Pekenikes and, before that, a Colombian group called The Speakers. Cánovas, surprisingly, had a progressive rock background as drummer for Módulos. They’re pretty horrible. Check out their cover of “Hello, Goodbye” if you get the chance; you won’t be able to say goodbye fast enough. Adolfo was previously the vocalist and guitarist of the psychedelia-tinged pop group Los Íberos. Listen to them long enough and you will grow to like them and hate yourself for it.

The winner-to-loser ratio of Señora Azul (that’s Blue Lady in Inglais) is well above 50 percent, and several of its songs are quite good indeed. The folk rock numbers can be quite powerful, and aside from an overly delicate love song or two and a failed attempt at whimsical pop, there are none I’d turn over to Franco’s secret police. And they throw in a country rocker or two that have real push. And like CSN&Y, they throw in some nice vocal harmonies, especially on the title track.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | GRAMMY® Award-winning multi platinum alt rock icons Weezer will celebrate three decades of their seminal full-length debut LP, Weezer a.k.a. the Blue Album, with the release of the Blue Album 30th Anniversary Edition on November 1, via Geffen/UMe. This must-have for any Weezer fan will be available in multiple configurations, including a massive Super Deluxe Edition 4LP + 10-inch + 7-inch box set as well as a Deluxe 3CD set, and digitally. Pre-order any of these amazing options HERE.

The Super Deluxe Edition box set presents the most comprehensive vision of the Blue Album ever created. It includes the classic album newly remastered from the original analog tapes. Across four 12-inch 180-gram LPs, a 10-inch EP, and 7-inch, it consists of 50 songs in total—with thirty-six previously unreleased tracks (encompassing 8 “Kitchen Tape Demos”), twenty-two early practices and live recordings, six BBC radio recordings—two of which have never been heard before—and four tracks from their LMU sessions. Longtime friend, collaborator, and de facto band historian Karl Koch penned new liner notes in issue #18 of the Weezine and assembled the artwork layout with a bevy of previously unreleased photos.

Plus, the box set boasts “sweater” embossed graphics complete with a pullable and retractable thread (as a nod to “Undone – The Sweater Song”), four lithographs, a poster perfect for the garage, song-themed sticker sheet, a twelve-sided die, and an enamel Bokkus pin. Meanwhile, the Deluxe 3CD Set also houses four lithographs, the poster, song-themed sticker sheet, twelve-sided die, enamel Bokkus pin, and 28-page issue #18 of the Weezine.

There is also an Ultra Limited Edition box set, with all of the features of the Super Deluxe Edition, but that comes wrapped in an actual knit sweater and a certificate signed by each of the band members. Only 100 of these exist and will be available for purchase on Weezer’s webstore.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | This October Jamiroquai celebrates the 30th anniversary of The Return Of The Space Cowboy. Their second album, it will be reissued as a double-LP set in “moon grey” vinyl and includes Michael Gray’s Good Vibe Zone edit of “Space Cowboy”—which has never been released on a physical product. The packaging has also been re-designed for this anniversary release including foil enhancement of the original cover design. To be released on 18 October, it is available to pre-order now.

​The Return Of The Space Cowboy is the follow up album to the band’s huge 1993 debut, Emergency On Planet Earth. Selling over 3 million copies globally, Emergency On Planet Earth put the band on the map with their distinctive sound standing them apart from other popular acts of the time.

​The Return Of The Space Cowboy was released just one year later and was met with great critical and public acclaim. Certified Platinum in the UK, Japan, and France, it achieved chart success in multiple countries and spawned the single “Space Cowboy” which remains one of their biggest tracks to date. Critically the album was lauded with Rolling Stone saying “Jamiroquai parlay jazzy soul pop so tight it crackles…Nowadays, when most funk comes out of cans, Jamiroquai’s live spark glows.”

The Guardian said “…this second album sounds like vintage Stevie Wonder and Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, but Kay’s vocals are as snappy and engaging as his extrovert persona” and Q magazine said it “combines intricate arrangements with several long, free-form workouts crammed with virtuoso performances”.

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Remembering Freddie Mercury, born on this day in 1946. —Ed.

It’s a shame, when you think about it. All the great albums I never heard growing up because (1) I could rarely afford the cost of an LP, and (2) there was no great or even half-decent FM radio station within listening range of the one half-horse town (the other half of the horse was owned by nearby Harney, and they got the front end) I called home.

Take Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack. Never heard it. Never heard of Queen period until “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which I should have liked but didn’t because I thought it was too camp. Too camp! This from a guy who spent the better part of his adolescence idolizing Elton John. But that’s the way I roll. I didn’t like the pitch of Freddie Mercury’s voice, or the band’s lush and ubiquitous vocal harmonies, and as for the songs, they were too structurally baroque for my primitivist tastes. In hindsight, I was a little punk in the making. My attitude was keep it simple, which was why I never liked progressive rock, period, until I started to get high and listened to my fair share of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis.

And if I didn’t like Queen much to begin with, I really disliked them after they put out those bookend hits, “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.” To me they sounded like pseudo-fascistic declarations of supremacy, and I thought then and still think now their Übermensch shtick would have gone over like gangbusters at the Nuremburg Rallies. The line “no time for losers” offends me as much as any line in rock history, which is why I never listened to 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack even after I knew it existed. I thought of Queen as a bunch of snotty high-pitched twats whose songs were too complicated for their own good, and wrote them off as bad rubbish.

But there is a time and a place for everything, and now is the time to give Queen their chance at rocking my world. And guess what, they have. Sheer Heart Attack isn’t the perfect LP, but it includes a slew of cool songs I like, even if some of their affectations continue to irk me. Bottom line: Any band with a guitarist as good as Brian May, and that can come up with a line as good as “Give me a good guitar/And you can say my hair’s a disgrace” is okay with me.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The 50th anniversary of ABBA’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest on April 6th 1974 has been thoroughly celebrated all over the world—not just the triumph with “Waterloo,” but the group’s amazing accomplishments and their position as one of the world’s major pop bands. And the celebrations aren’t over yet!

In October 2024, Polar Music International will issue a magnificent box set of ABBA’s single A-sides: The Singles – The First Fifty Years. The compilation brings together, for the first time, not only every ABBA single issued by Polar up until 1982 but also the singles released in conjunction with 2021’s Voyage album.

Building on ABBA’s classic double album The Singles – The First Ten Years, originally issued in 1982, this new box set expands the concept by bringing the story bang up to date, featuring every ABBA single released 1972–2022. Available as a four-vinyl disc set and a double-CD, The Singles – The First Fifty Years is a journey through some of the best pop music ever recorded.

From the group’s 1972 debut single ‘People Need Love’ to the Voyage album’s ‘No Doubt About It’ in 2022, the 38-track box set features masterpieces such as ‘SOS’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Fernando’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘Chiquitita’, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’, ‘The Winner Takes It All’, ‘Super Trouper’, ‘One Of Us’, ‘Don’t Shut Me Down,’ and all of ABBA’s other big hits.

To make the story more complete, The Singles – The First Fifty Years features four additional tracks not issued as Polar Music A-sides, but which were singles in some countries back in the day: ‘Hasta Mañana’, ‘Angeleyes’ (a double A-side with ‘Voulez-Vous’ in some countries), ‘Lay All Your Love On Me,’ and ‘When All Is Said And Done.’ The package also comes with an illustrated booklet with liner notes by Carl Magnus Palm.

In the 20th century jazz discourse at it pertains to the West Coast of the USA, it’s the Cool sound that dominates. But what about the avant-garde? Freeform improvisational sparks did emanate from the Pacific Time Zone; a fine and occasionally overlooked example is The Cry! by the Prince Lasha Quintet featuring Sonny Simmons. Used copies aren’t frequent in the bins, so the fresh 180 gram edition due out September 6 is very welcome. It’s the latest entry in Craft Recordings Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series.

Although the label’s primary focus was on recordings from inside the bebop continuum, Lester Koenig’s Contemporary Records has a sturdy if not extensive association with the jazz avant-garde, the label having released the first two LPs by saxophonist Ornette Coleman (Something Else!!!! from 1958 and Tomorrow Is the Question! from the following year) and a major early statement from pianist Cecil Taylor (Looking Ahead! from ’59).

Recorded in November 1962 and released the next year, The Cry! by the quintet of William Prince Lasha (pronounced La-shay) is a less celebrated entry in the avant corner of Contemporary’s catalog, but that’s easily attributed to the modest name recognition of Lasha and Simmons. The record is a fine example of how avant-jazz was reacting to Coleman’s innovations in the moments prior to Fire Music (as exemplified by Taylor, late period John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, and Albert Ayler) fully taking hold.

Lasha was a childhood friend of Coleman’s, so the influence runs deep. And while the relationship isn’t difficult to detect, the music on The Cry! is still quite distinguishable from what’s heard on Coleman’s Atlantic albums. This is in part due to a unique instrumental configuration. Multi-instrumentalist Lasha is heard exclusively on flute here, Sonny Simmons handles the alto sax, Gary Peacock and Mark Proctor are a double bass tandem (Proctor does lay out for three of the set’s eight selections), and Gene Stone is on drums.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In celebration of Tina Turner’s debut album Tina Turner The Country On!‘s 50th anniversary, it is to be reissued with a brand new half-speed mastered vinyl and CD on 15 November. Alongside this celebratory release, Tina’s subsequent three album’s Acid Queen, Rough, and Love Explosion are also being reissued on vinyl and CD for the first time in over 20 years. All four albums came during and after Tina’s exit from the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and helped her find her own voice leading up to her Private Dancer breakthrough album. All will be available on 15 November and are available to pre-order now from here.

​Tina Turner marked the 1970s as a journey to self-discovery and musical triumph, having already solidified herself with the explosive energy and soulful intensity of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Stepping away from the duo, Turner released her solo debut, Tina Turns The Country On!, in 1974. In an attempt to expand her stardom, Turner stepped into country music with her own soulful take on classics by Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John, James Taylor, and Dolly Parton. Although the album didn’t see chart success, it received a GRAMMY Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female.

Turner continued to embrace her rock ‘n’ roll roots while exploring new sonic landscapes with the bold and daring Acid Queen (1975). Inspired by her role as the “Acid Queen” in Ken Russell’s film version of The Who’s classic rock opera Tommy, the title track is a gritty and raw reimagination of Pete Townshend’s original. Turner embraced her character’s fiery and defiant voice with visceral covers of The Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb,” The Who’s “I Can See For Miles,” and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” The album explored Turner’s musical boundary-pushing and was a testament to her unique artistry.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Varèse Sarabande and Craft Recordings are thrilled to announce Jerry Goldsmith’s goosebump-inducing score for the supernatural thriller The Haunting is set to receive a Deluxe 2-LP vinyl release.

Scheduled for release October 4th, and available for pre-order today, The Haunting (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is pressed on a Black/Gold/Grey Marble vinyl in North America, while the International pressing will be offered on Translucent Green vinyl. Both editions come packaged in a gatefold jacket, featuring brand-new cover illustrations from artist Sina Grace, liner notes and stills from the film.

The Haunting (1999) stars Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Lili Taylor. The film follows a group of people who gather at a sprawling estate in an apparent volunteer study on insomnia, only to find themselves plagued by paranormal events connected to the home’s grim history. Jerry Goldsmith’s spine-tingling score is the sort of soundtrack that elevates the film’s atmosphere to the next level, while simultaneously shining brightly as its own unique piece of art.

The Haunting began as a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, though the renowned author departed the project over creative differences. Spielberg stayed on, however, and pegged the legendary Jerry Goldsmith to handle the film’s sonic elements. Goldsmith was the perfect man for the job, with an endless filmography and a bevy of awards nominations to help prove his bona fides.

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Cat Stevens has gone through many musical and personal incarnations. His initial musical life was as a budding pop artist and songwriter during London’s Swinging Sixties. His big breakthrough, though, was when he recorded a series of four defining singer-songwriter albums from 1971 through 1974, led by the commercial and critically acclaimed Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat. Catch Bull at Four didn’t completely conclude this period, but with Foreigner, released in 1973 it was clear Stevens had a more varied musical palette than what he displayed on previous albums.

The fact that this album starts off with the nearly 19-minuite “Foreigner Suite,” which took up all of side one, indicated that this album was a clear breakaway from his previous singer-songwriter outings. The title concept partially came from the fact that Stevens was living as a tax exile in Brazil and not in England.

Recording at Dynamic Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, Stevens clearly absorbed the varied musical rhythms of the island and the beat became more important to his music than ever before. There’s a general island feel in the way various sounds are mixed together, most notable on the title track. Clearly, recording for Island Records at this time (in the UK) rubbed off on his music.

“The Hurt” was as close as the album came to a hit and received the most, mainly FM, airplay. This is music from an artist clearly digging even deeper within himself and also expanding his musical palette and number of collaborators, including primarily Canadian Jean Roussel, such session aces as Phil Upchurch, Herbie Flowers, and Bernard Purdie, along with the Tower of Power horns and singer Patti Austin.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “I will turn to Wilkerson’s book again and again to be reminded of my three dear friends who comprised the band Thunderclap Newman. It’s carefully and devotedly researched with lots of input from all kinds of other friends of mine who shared their journey.” —Pete Townshend

Thunderclap Newman stunned the music world in the summer of 1969 with the success of their wonderfully odd debut single “Something In The Air,” which ousted none other than The Beatles from the top of the charts. They followed up with an LP described by Nik Cohn as “one of the finest, most truly bizarre albums of the era” before disintegrating after its release.

This is the story of one of the most unlikely combos in popular music history and of the four disparate characters who formed its core: Pete Townshend, principal songwriter and guitarist for The Who; his best friend and driver, the singer/ songwriter/ drummer John “Speedy” Keen, a 15-year-old wunderkind guitarist named Jimmy McCulloch; and finally, an enigmatic telephone engineer who also happened to be a brilliant improvisational jazz pianist: Andy “Thunderclap” Newman.

Rife with both triumph and tragedy, the story intersects with seismic cultural events such as the Apollo 11 moon landing and the massive Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, and with legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Thunders, Motorhead, Paul McCartney, and The Who. Drawing from exhaustive research and more than 50 interviews with those who were there, Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story provides a detailed, exacting look at the fascinating story of a band that everyone has forgotten but everyone knows.

The paperback will be released on October 1, 2024. A special hardcover limited edition will also be available. This edition, limited to 1,000 copies, is signed (bookplate) by Pete Townshend and author Mark Wilkerson and includes a fold-out poster created by Josh Townshend, Pete’s nephew and vocalist/guitarist in the final version of Thunderclap Newman. The special edition can be purchased only from thirdmanbooks.com and will not ship until November.

Deservedly celebrated as a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Steve Wynn’s solo output is extensive. Fresh out through Fire Records, Make It Right his first solo disc in a decade, the set coinciding with the publication by Jawbone Press of his memoir I Wouldn’t Say It if It Wasn’t True. Completed with a bevy of Wynn’s friends old and new, the ten songs share an engaging depth that’s a little rootsy but never retrograde. The record is out now on clear vinyl as a standalone item or bundled with the book and a limited edition silver foil leather bookmark. Compact disc and digital options are also available.

Given the size of Steve Wynn’s solo discography and the high regard in which it’s held, it might register as a wee bit inappropriate (or perhaps just overly predictable) to begin this review with yet another mention of Wynn’s key role in shaping The Dream Syndicate. Except it’s surely worth noting that The Dream Syndicate recommenced activity in 2012 with three albums recorded since. And with Wynn the memoirist clearly in reflective mode, it’s impressive that Wynn was disinclined to rest on his laurels.

Instead, he added to his workload by cutting a new record, and one that’s intrinsically tied to the process of writing I Wouldn’t Say It if It Wasn’t True. The list of contributors for Make It Right include numerous individuals who figure prominently in the story Wynn has told, including Dream Syndicate members Dennis Duck, Mark Walton, and Jason Victor.

There’s also Mike Mills of R.E.M., Vicki Peterson of The Bangles, Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5, Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple, Chris Ekman of The Walkabouts, Emil Nikolaisen of Serena-Maneesh, Rob Mazurek of Exploding Star Orchestra, and Linda Pitmon of Filthy Friends and The Baseball Project alongside Mills, McCaughey, and her husband Wynn.

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