55 Years Later: Revisiting Al Kooper’s Influential ‘Super Session’ With Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills
With fifty-five years of hindsight, it’s easy to see why Super Session (released 7/22/68) has exerted such influence on contemporary rock in the interim since its release. Besides its emphasis on the blues, the approach inherent to the album’s conception and execution not only stands right on the cusp of the supergroup phenomenon of its late Sixties […]
Nils Lofgren Joins Up With Neil Young, David Crosby, Ringo Starr & More On Confident ‘Mountains’ (ALBUM REVIEW)
Mountains is a fairly accurate summary of Nils Lofgren’s varied talents, especially considering the album was conceived and executed within the confines of pandemic lockdowns. Add to that the long list of famous names that dot the credits, including Ringo Starr, Neil Young, David Crosby, and Ron Carter, and if they are in any way indicative […]
55 Years Later: Grateful Dead’s ‘Anthem of the Sun’ Remains Spontaneously Distinct
Contributing an essay to the 50th Anniversary package of Grateful Dead’s Anthem of the Sun (released 7/18/68), scholar Steve Silberman accurately and vividly recounts the sequence of events involved in the original production of the iconic band’s second studio album. The writer’s prose recounts a herculean task, the comparable likes of which subsequently resulted in not just the 2018 Deluxe Edition of an […]
55 Years Later: Revisiting Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Freewheeling Self-Titled Debut Album
With over a half-century of hindsight, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s debut album (released 7/15/68) stands as the epitome of the early declaration of distinctive musical style by a fledgling artist. The San Francisco Bay area quartet had not yet honed the elements of soon-to-be vibrant simplicity that would earmark their heyday as one of the most […]
Marshall Crenshaw’s Power Pop Songwriting Gift Shines On ‘Field Day’ 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition (ALBUM REVIEW)
With the release of the 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition of Field Day, Marshall Crenshaw has fully and completely addressed the negativity that arose upon the issue of his second studio album forty years ago. Whether he intended to or not matters less than the fact the six bonus cuts, combined with his frank comments within the sixteen-page booklet, achieve that […]
Duane Betts Recalls Halycon Days of Mountain Jams & Revivals On Resounding’Wild & Precious Life’ (ALBUM REVIEW)
Duane Betts’ first full-length solo album, Wild & Precious Life, is a direct extension of his work in the Allman-Betts Band in 2019 and 2020 (and superior to those efforts too). In his role as executive producer, it was no doubt he who enlisted linchpins of that group– including guitarist Johnny Stachela, bassist Berry Duane Oakley, keyboardist John Ginty–plus drummer […]
Lukas Nelson + POTR Crank Up Durable Song-Oriented Approach On ‘Sticks and Stones’ (ALBUM REVIEW)
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real have proven themselves somewhat schizophrenic in the years since the group elevated its public profile through collaborations with Neil Young. On the one hand, working with the Canadian rock icon further accentuated the rowdy and rambunctious nature of their early albums on their own like Something Real, while their […]
Power Pop Stalwart Chris Stamey Goes Deep Americana On ‘The Great Escape’ (ALBUM REVIEW)
The markedly Americana slant of Chris Stamey’s The Great Escape somewhat belies his history as an icon of power-pop music. Still, the man who was the dual driving force behind the dbs (along with Peter Holsapple), has fashioned an affable, charming album, one ultimately as true to his fundamental influences as his somewhat unsung past. Written, recorded, […]
55 Years Later: Revisiting The Doors Collective Jewel ‘Waiting For The Sun’
Even though Waiting For The Sun was released just the year after their resounding self-titled debut (7/3/68), plus a follow-up of sizable, if slightly lesser magnitude Strange Days—arguably the stronger of the first two records out only months later—the proverbial bloom was off the rose for The Doors by the time 1968 rolled around, creatively if not commercially. Indeed, much of […]
