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Bloodshot (Album of the Day)
Years before their 1980s pop breakthrough, The J. Geils Band had paid their dues as Boston's top blue-rockers, and the sextet's 1973 studio album, BLOODSHOT, lives up to the group's reputation. Future Eagles producer Bill Szymczyk is behind the boards, but that group's meticulous mystique is far removed from the raucous energy bursting from these grooves. Along with a couple of well-chosen covers (such as The Showstoppers' “(Ain't Nothin' But a) House Party”), keyboardist Seth Justman and frontman Peter Wolf came up with a batch of originals that could pass for R&B classics themselves: “Don't Try to Hide It,” “Make Up Your Mind” and “Give It To Me” are but a few of the scorchers here. BLOODSHOT was justifiably a Top 10 hit, and we'll give the Atlantic collection another spin in memory of guitarist Geils, who passed away a year ago today.
Blak and Blu (Album of the Day)
Born in Austin, TX on this day in 1984, Gary Clark, Jr. came of age playing at the city's legendary blues club, Antone's. While the performer's 2012 Warner Bros. debut, BLAK AND BLU, is steeped in that music, it's also well versed in rock and soul. Clark's guitar work is outstanding throughout (you've gotta have some chops to take on Hendrix's “Third Stone from the Sun”), but his singing and songwriting are equally strong. “Ain't Messin 'Round” nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song while “Please Come Home” won the award for Best Traditional R&B Performance; the collection as a whole made the Top 10 on Billboard's album chart. BLAK AND BLU announced the arrival of a major talent, and we'll give it another spin to wish Clark a happy birthday.
So So Satisfied (Album of the Day)
While songwriters Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson penned enough hits at Motown to last a lifetime, the creative well was far from dry when the duo signed to Warner Bros. as performers in the mid-1970s. SO SO SATISFIED was the husband-and-wife team's fourth longplayer for the label, and opener “Tried, Tested And Found True” is an apt description of the album's superb songcraft, rich orchestration and lushly romantic atmosphere. “Over and Over,” “Destiny” and the title track are other highlights of the self-produced 1977 set, which set the stage for a trio of Gold albums that followed. A collection that will leave R&B fans SO SO SATISFIED, the album's beautiful love ballads also make it perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Bloodshot (Album of the Day)
Years before their 1980s pop breakthrough, The J. Geils Band had paid their dues as Boston's hottest blue-rockers, and the sextet's 1973 studio album, BLOODSHOT, lives up to the group's reputation. Future Eagles producer Bill Szymczyk is behind the boards, but that group's meticulous mystique is far removed from the raucous energy bursting from these grooves. Along with a couple of well-chosen covers (such as The Showstoppers' “(Ain't Nothin' But a) House Party”), keyboardist Seth Justman and frontman Peter Wolf came up with a batch of originals that could pass for R&B classics themselves: “Don't Try to Hide It,” “Make Up Your Mind” and “Give It To Me” are but a few of the scorchers here. BLOODSHOT was justifiably a Top 10 hit, and we'll give the Atlantic collection another spin in honor of guitarist Geils, who was born on this day in 1946.
Good Times (Album of the Day)
Fifty years after their TV show premiered, The Monkees returned with GOOD TIMES! The release brought the three surviving members - Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork – into the studio with Grammy® and Emmy®-winning songwriter Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne, Ivy) behind the boards. As with The Monkees' early albums, the set features tracks written specifically for the band by some of the music world's most gifted songwriters, including Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and Andy Partridge (XTC), along with contributions by Nesmith and Tork as well as producer Schlesinger. And to bring things full circle on GOOD TIMES!, The Monkees put the finishing touches on a pair of unreleased 1960s recordings so that “Love To Love” and the title track feature vocals by the late Davy Jones and Harry Nilsson, respectively.
Arena (Album of the Day)
Duran Duran followed a couple of smash albums with an equally successful 1983–1984 world tour – which resulted in the U.K. quintet's first concert album, ARENA. Recorded for the most part at Oakland Coliseum in California, the set features faithful renditions of such favorites as “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Save a Prayer,” “Union of the Snake” and more. There's also a studio cut here, “The Wild Boys,” produced by Chic's Nile Rodgers (which was intended for an unrealized big-screen adaptation of a William Burroughs book). Another hit for the New Wave heroes, ARENA went Top 10 and double Platinum, and we'll give it a spin now to wish guitarist Andy Taylor a happy birthday.
Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Believe It If You Need (Best Of) (Album of the Day)
During the Grateful Dead's legendary 30-year run, the band often visited its northern neighbors in Portland, Seattle and occasionally even Vancouver. Nonetheless, official live recordings from those cities have been rare until the new PACIFIC NORTHWEST '73-'74: BELIEVE IT IF YOU NEED IT. Excerpted from a larger “complete recordings” boxed set, the 3-CD compilation features some of the best performances by the post-Pigpen lineup in advance of their releases of WAKE OF THE FLOOD and FROM THE MARS HOTEL. Along with highlights from those albums, PACIFIC NORTHWEST '73-'74 includes some of the most famous moments in Grateful Dead live history, among them the Vancouver '73 “Bird Song,” the Portland '74 “Truckin'” jam, and the 47-minute “Playing In The Band” from Seattle '74 – all mastered from the original tapes.