Eric Clapton has spent the better part of his solo career populating his albums with the material written by composers he admires. It would be safe thinking Clapton would devote the debut recording on his own label with a clutch of self-penned tunes, however on Old Sock, Slowhand continues in the vein of standards he mined on its predecessor Clapton.
The Doors video of their 1968 Hollywood Bowl performance has been available before in various formats before, but never in so comprehensive and sophisticated a package as this. The entire concert is included here as well as bonus features that place this appearance in its proper context in terms of the culture of its times and at a crucial juncture of this iconic band’s career.
Jay Farrar and his reconfigured Son Volt lineup draw upon the elemental genre of country music for Honky Tonk. Without a shred of contrivance, they achieve and maintain an ever-so-precarious balance of euphoric music offset by deceptively despairing lyrics.
The 35th Anniversary of Eric Clapton’s Slowhand is worth noting as largely the album that consolidated his connection with the mainstream first broached by 461 Ocean Boulevard. The 1977 release, however, did not further his status as a creative artist, but instead solidified a careerist approach to his solo work that has continued to this day.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, as befits their increasingly storied history (and John Fogerty's ever-growing solo career), has been the subject of more than a few reissues, but there is no more enlightening cross-section of their recordings than The Ultimate Collection: Greatest Hits and All-Time Classics.
The cover of Neil Young’s Waging Heavy Peace is a remarkably accurate reflection of its contents. The Canadian rock icon’s name is emblazoned across the front and a present-day head-shot of the man himself with head down and eyes shaded by a fedora juxtaposes the back cover B & W portrait of a much younger version of the man sporting long black hair with the resolute eyes and mouth of an individual with as much purpose as direction.
In lieu of the usual assortment of outtakes and alternate recordings, only a small array of which appear on this deluxe edition of Steve Winwood’s Arc of a Diver, the two CD set includes a BBC Radio documentary which follows a customary blueprint of interspersing scripted intros to interviews of peers including brother Muff and co-musicians such as the late, long-time Traffic collaborator Jim Capaldi. Much of what's here is easily well-known or researched (of particular interest the various music that’s referenced) but also, as is usually the case, nuggets of insight appear alongside the over-emotive segues.
Since splitting with his vaunted backing band The Rumour in 1980, Graham Parker’s been able to maintain his edge working as a solo artist and with various accompanying ensembles. He’s able to wield that edge here in the thirty-year reunion with his former comrades, most effectively as Three Chords Good comes to an emphatic conclusion.
Anyone who’s seen drummer Russ Lawton and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski participate in any of their various and sundry projects (TAB, Strangefolk, Vorcza, Grippo Funk Band, Dave Matthews & Friends) knows what stylish musicians they are. Now, however, formally united as the duo Soule Monde, Ray and Russ are bringing their skills to a whole other level and they made this small club seem like it was situated on Bourbon St instead of just off the main street of the smallest city in the US.
For most of All That’s Left to Know About The Boss, John Luerssen fulfills and transcends the FAQ moniker of his book on Bruce Springsteen. In painstaking, but never excruciating, detail he chronologically recounts the events that made this son of the Jersey Shore one of rock’s most admired figures.
