Posts by Doug Collette

With four and a half decades of hindsight, there appears a continuity within Grateful Dead’s Shakedown Street (released 11/15/78) that wasn’t so obvious at the time of its original release. A palpable undercurrent of rhythm permeates virtually all nine tracks and thirty-five or so minutes of its playing, the sources of which are both readily discernible and […]

Dave’s Picks Volume 48 is a marked departure from the customary entries in the Grateful Dead archive series. Granted the three-CD set does, as usual, contain the complete show referenced in its main title (about which basketball hero and avowed Deadhead Bill Walton rhapsodizes in his lengthy essay in the enclosed sixteen-page booklet). And there is […]

With the hindsight of a half-century, hearing Daryl Hall & John Oates’ second Atlantic album, Abandoned Luncheonette, (released 11/3/73) is not just a reminder of how commercially successful they eventually became in the eighties, but also how consistently well-written, produced, and played were virtually all their studio albums. This 1973 one was overseen by Arif Mardin, […]

With a half-century hindsight, Quadrophenia (released 11/3/73) is indisputably the Who’s masterwork. Based on chief composer Pete Townshend’s perceptions of the group’s early audiences and their connection to the band in its nascent stages, this sixth studio effort of the group’s is a culmination of a growing creative ambition that extends back to 1966’s “A Quick One […]

It’s a long way from Midnight Oil’s self-titled debut album to 2022’s Resist, the release accompanying the band’s self-imposed retirement from touring the same year (and purportedly not the last of its kind under the name taken from Jimi Hendrix’ “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”). Along the way, the Australian band has changed personnel, suffered the […]

The Wood Brothers have never radiated such calm, confident dignity as they did striding out onto the MainStage of the Flynn Center on October 27th. But their unassuming demeanor was an accurate precursor to the two-hour set the trio played this warm autumn evening in the Green Mountains…at least to a point. Peppered with selections […]

As splendid an album as is Traffic’s eponymous sophomore work, it’s also a clear depiction of why guitarist and songwriter Dave Mason could not sustain membership in the British band for too long at a time. The musicians with whom he founded the group–Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood– were much more inclined toward spontaneity than […]

While Bob Dylan’s Infidels (released 10/27/83) was hailed as a return to form in many quarters upon its release forty years ago, positive responses didn’t completely dominate the reaction. In fact, the Nobel Laureate himself was one of those dissatisfied, at least in the interim directly following Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler’s departure from the recording sessions to […]

At a quick first glance and just a cursory listen, Robin Trower’s Joyful Sky would appear to be altogether similar to his previous few records. Like last year’s No More Worlds To Conquer, the cover boasts artwork by the British guitar hero himself, graphics that enclose the quiet fire of his guitar suffusing smartly modified contemporary blues originals. Yet […]

Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters deserves recognition on the  50th anniversary of its release for the rarest of reasons. It is not only one of the many creative pinnacles in this jazz icon’s discography, but it is the very first to garner widespread public acclamation outside the jazz community. The record that ascended the Billboard charts, reaching #13 on […]