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Cornell 5/8/77 (Album of the Day)
Forty years ago today, Grateful Dead played one of the most collected, traded and debated concerts by any group ever. Their performance at Cornell University’s Barton Hall was a favorite of longtime band archivist Dick Latvala, and was added to the Library of Congress’ prestigious National Recording Registry, and with the commercial debut of CORNELL 5/8/77, it's easy to hear what the fuss was about. The new three-CD set, mastered from the fabled “Betty boards” tapes, captures the Dead on a spring tour leading up to TERRAPIN STATION’s release in late July. The set list offers a sweeping retrospective of the band’s career, touching on the early psychedelic days (“St. Stephen”), the rootsy early-Seventies (“Uncle John’s Band”) and songs from the upcoming album (“Estimated Prophet”). In the words of producer David Lemieux, CORNELL 5/8/77 may be “minute-for-minute, song-for-song, the most high quality Grateful Dead release ever produced.”
West (Album of the Day)
As leader of the American Music Club, Mark Eitzel made some of the most gloriously downbeat alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s, and his solo albums delve further into a world of restless strangers and beautiful losers. On his final album for Warner Bros., 1997's WEST, the singer-songwriter finds a surprisingly effective foil in R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, who produced the set and cowrote all but one of its dozen songs. Buck's bright guitar work is the ideal counterweight to Eitzel's sometimes dark (and sometimes wickedly funny) lyrics on such songs as "Fresh Screwdriver," "If You Have to Ask" and shoulda-been-hit "'In Your Life." Heartache rarely sounds as hopeful as it does here, so if you ever need encouragement after life throws you curves, go WEST young man!
Send It (Album of the Day)
Ashford and Simpson were songwriting royalty at Motown, penning smashes for Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross, among others. But the husband-and-wife team was eager to perform as well as compose, and with SEND IT they finally became stars in their own right. The 1977 collection, their fifth for Warner Bros., serves up dreamy romantic balladry ("Let Love Use Me") and dancefloor-ready funk (minor hit "Don't Cost You Nothing"), with an elegant instrumental ("Bourgie Bourgie") thrown in for good measure. SEND IT was the duo's first Gold album and first to reach the R&B Top 10, and we'll give it another spin as we remember Nickolas Ashford, born on this day in 1941.
Cliff/Cliff Sings (Album of the Day)
On this day in 1958, Cliff Richard played his first concert with the band that would later be known as The Shadows; if you're looking for ground zero of British rock, that's about as close as you'll get. Like Elvis Presley in America, Richard was a teen idol who could make female fans swoon but was also capable of blowing the roof off the joint, and the CLIFF/CLIFF SINGS two-fer of his first albums shows both sides of the vocalist to excellent effect. Recorded live at EMI's Abbey Road studio in front of a rabid audience in February 1959, CLIFF features tough performances by Richard and band (then still called The Drifters) of 16 rockers including their own hit "Move It" as well as Presley, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis classics. Released at the end of the same year, CLIFF SINGS is split evenly between rock with The Shadows and orchestrated pop arranged by producer Norrie Paramor; the set reached No.2 on the U.K. chart.
Official Live: 101 Proof (Album of the Day)
"We felt like after 7 years of playing live, that we wanted to put out a record with all our best tunes,” noted Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul of the band's first concert collection, OFFICIAL LIVE: 101 PROOF. The 1997 album, produced by Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell, showed the decade's leading heavy metal band was as powerful on stage as in the studio with driving versions of 14 of the quartet's most memorable songs, including “Walk,” “Cemetery Gates” and “Hostile.” As an added bonus, the set closes with a pair of fiery new studio recordings: “Where You Come From” and “I Can't Hide” If you ever saw a Pantera show, it's not something you're ever likely to forget, and if not, don't miss OFFICIAL LIVE: 101 PROOF.
Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Album of the Day)
Matters Of The Heart (Album of the Day)
Tracy Chapman's breakthrough 1988 debut announced the arrival of a major talent in no uncertain terms, and four years later MATTERS OF THE HEART showed her continued growth as a singer-songwriter. As you might guess from its title, the 1992 Elektra set shifts some of the performer's focus from societal problems to personal concerns, but Chapman's nuanced lyrics and passionate delivery remain as compelling as ever. Stylistically, the collection touches upon blues, jazz and world musics while remaining listener-friendly; several seasoned hitmakers (including members of the Heartbreakers, the E Street Band and Bobby Womack) lend their instrumental skills to these ten originals. MATTERS OF THE HEART celebrates its 25th anniversary today, and this direct and powerful album still cuts straight to the heart.
Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It (Album of the Day)
After helping create the rhythms for innumerable Sly & The Family Stone classics, bassist Larry Graham ventured out on his own in the early 1970s as the leader of Graham Central Station. The Bay Area collective released a string of albums for Warner Bros. that decade, among the most enjoyable of which was AIN'T NO 'BOUT-A-DOUBT IT. The 1975 set, cut at Wally Heider's San Francisco studio, features such infectiously funky originals as opener “The Jam,” “It's Alright,” “Water” and No.1 R&B single “Your Love.” The sextet lays down formidable grooves throughout, with some appealing melodies and oddball production touches (like backwards tape loops) thrown in for good measure - there's little doubt that AIN'T NO 'BOUT-A-DOUBT IT will hit the spot for '70s R&B fans.
The Biggest Twang of Them All (Album of the Day)
King of the Blues Guitar (Mono) (Album of the Day)
Born on this day in 1923, Albert King was a major influence on both blues and rock guitar players. A Mississippi native, he launched his career in Arkansas and performed all over the Midwest, but the guitarist's best recordings were made for the Memphis-based Stax label and feature backing from house band Booker T. & The M.G.'s. THE KING OF THE BLUES GUITAR compilation rounds up the axeman's best '60s sides for Stax, including the classic BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN album (“Laundromat Blues,” “Crosscut Saw”) and six single sides (like the wonderful talking blues “Cold Feet”). If you don't know the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's work, this is the place to start – all hail the King!