PETE SEEGER

PETE SEEGER
AMERICAN FAVORITE BALLADS 1-5 (2009)
320 KBPS

Pete Seeger's life, music, and legacy encapsulate nearly a century of American history and culture. He has immersed himself in folk music and used it, like Johnny Appleseed, to "plant the seeds of a better tomorrow in the homes across our land." The songs in this collection of 139 American Favorite Ballads narrate tales of ordinary people and their extraordinary deeds, and show Pete at the crossroads of the past and the future putting his own stamp on America's folk song heritage while bequeathing it to generations to come.

DISC 1
1 John Henry
2 Shenandoah
3 Blue Tailed Fly (Jimmie Crack Corn)
4 Black Girl
5 Skip to My Lou
6 The Big Rock Candy Mountain
7 Clementine
8 Yankee Doodle
9 Home on the Range
10 John Brown's Body
11 Goodnight, Irene
12 Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
13 Oh, Susanna
14 Wayfaring Stranger
15 Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep
16 Down in the Valley
17 The Wabash Cannonball
18 On Top of Old Smoky
19 Frankie and Johnny
20 I Ride an Old Paint
21 The Wreck of the Old 97
22 Wagoner's Lad
23 Old Dan Tucker
24 I've Been Working on the Railroad
25 Cielito Lindo
26 So Long, It's Been Good to Know You (Dusty Old Dust)
27 America the Beautiful
28 This Land is Your Land

DISC 2
1 Barbara Allen
2 Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn
3 Midnight Special
4 House of the Rising Sun
5 Careless Love
6 Oh, What a Beautiful City (Twelve Gates to the City)
7 Poor Boy
8 Sally Ann
9 The Riddle Song
10 Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
11 The Water is Wide
12 The Fox
13 The Keeper and the Doe
14 Pretty Polly
15 Jesse James
16 Stagolee (Stagger Lee)
17 Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair
18 Camptown Races
19 Blow the Man Down
20 Froggie Went a Courtin'
21 I Had a Rooster (Barnyard Song)
22 Putting On the Style
23 The Farmer's Curst Wife
24 Hard Travelin'
25 Alabama Bound
26 Wimoweh
27 Dink's Song

DISC 3
1 Gypsy Davy
2 Deep Blue Sea
3 New River Train
4 St. James Hospital
5 E-ri-e Canal
6 St. Louis Blues
7 Boll Weevil
8 The Girl I Left Behind
9 When I First Came to This Land
10 The Titanic
11 Elanoy
12 Lady of Carlysle
13 My Good Man (Our Goodman)
14 Golden Vanity
15 Ain’t It a Shame
16 Swanee River
17 Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
18 The Boys from County Mayo
19 No Irish Need Apply
20 Paddy Works on the Railroad
21 Arkansas Traveler
22 When I Was Single
23 Wond’rous Love
24 Ground Hog
25 Old Blue
26 She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain
27 Erie Canal

DISC 4
1 Banks of the Ohio
2 You are My Sunshine
3 Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
4 The Foggy Dew
5 Molly Malone
6 Old Maid's Song
7 Oh, How He Lied
8 Where the Old Allegheny and the Monongahela Flow
9 Leatherwing Bat
10 Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
11 Farther Along
12 Go Down, Moses
13 All My Trials
14 Monsieur Banjo
15 No More Auction Block
16 Hole in the Bucket
17 What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor
18 Army Life
19 Blue Mountain Lake
20 Lady Margret
21 John Hardy
22 Johnson
23 John Riley
24 Washer Lad
25 Talking Blues
26 Lolly Too Dum
27 T. B. Blues
28 Summertime

DISC 5
1 Trail to Mexico
2 Red River Valley
3 Old Joe Clark
4 St. James Infirmary
5 Greer County Bachelor
6 Ox Driver's Song
7 Buffalo Gals
8 Joe Bowers
9 Texian Boys
10 My Sweetheart Is a Mule in the Mines
11 Johnny Gray
12 Cowboy Yodel
13 Sioux Indians
14 Ida Red
15 Holler
16 Cumberland Gap
17 Wake Up Jacob
18 Sweet Betsy from Pike
19 Buffalo Skinners
20 Whiskey Rye Whiskey
21 Stewball
22 Whoopie Ti-Yi-Yo, Get Along Little Dogies
23 Strawberry Roan
24 Jay Gould's Daughter
25 Play Party
26 I Will Never Marry
27 Riflemen of Bennington
28 Kingdom Coming
29 Cumberland Moutain Bear Chase

BONUS

ARLO GUTHRIE & PETE SEEGER
PRECIOUS FRIEND (1982)
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Precious Friend is a 95-minute compilation of a series of concerts in the summer of 1981, back when Pete Seeger was performing regularly with Arlo Guthrie. Guthrie was of course the son of the legendary Woody Guthrie, with whom Seeger had performed in the Almanac Singers. Guthrie, who had made his own name with Alice's Restaurant, was a good match for Seeger with his aw-shucks persona and quirky humor, not only in such songs as "Do Re Mi" and "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler," but also explaining the concept of the "un-neutron bomb" or teaching the audience to sing along "Pete style" with "Garden Song." Seeger offers his own brand of humor and banter, and is without peer in leading the audience in song. The sense of fun is infectious in classics including "Wimoweh (Mbube)" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," but the pair also have a long grounding in songs of social protest, and songs such as the finale, "Amazing Grace," carry a lot of emotional power.

DISC 1
1. Wabash Cannonball
2. Circles
3. Hills Of Glenshee
4. Ocean Crossing
5. Celery-Time
6. Run, Come See Jerusalem
7. Sailin' Up, Sailin' Down
8. How Can I Keep From Singing
9. Old Time Religion
10. Pretty Boy Floyd
11. Ladies Auxiliary
12. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
13. Precious Friend You Will Be There

DISC 2
1. Do Re Mi
2. Tarentella
3. The Neutron Bomb
4. I'm Changing My Name To Chrysler
5. St. Louis Tickle
6. Wimoweh (Mbube)
7. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
8. Garden Song
9. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
10. Raggedy Raggedy
11. In Dead Earnest
12. If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song)
13. Amazing Grace

MARILLION [RE-UP]

MARILLION
RECITAL OF THE SCRIPT (1983)
REMASTER
320 KBPS

This 2009 remaster of Marillion's classic Recital of the Script, represents the first time the complete concert has been made available in an audio-only format. Previously only available on VHS--and later DVD--this remastered CD edition also contains a previously unreleased track from the 1983 gig at the Hammersmith Odeon "Three Boats Down From the Candy", as well as the inclusion of the version of "Charting the Single", previously only available as a b-side to the Garden Party 12" vinyl.

Disc 1
1. Script For A Jester's Tear
2. Garden Party
3. Three Boats Down From The Candy*
4. The Web
5. Charting The Single
6. Chelsea Monday

Disc 2
1. He Knows You Know
2. Forgotten Sons
3. Market Square Heroes
4. Grendel
* Bonus track

BE-BEOP DELUXE

BE-BOP DELUXE
SUNBURST FINISH (1976)
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Adding keyboard player Andrew Clark to make Be Bop Deluxe a quartet, Bill Nelson finally found a balance between his virtuosic guitar playing and the demands of pop songwriting. The arrangements were still busy, but the humor of Nelson's music was on display as never before, and the songs frequently were catchy. For the first time, it began to seem that the group had a future beyond serving as a foundation for Nelson's splashy guitar work, as Be Bop Deluxe charted in the U.S. and the U.K. and even scored a Top 25 British hit with "Ships in the Night."

1. Fair Exchange
2. Heavenly Homes
3. Ships In The Night
4. Crying To The Sky
5. Sleep That Burns
6. Beauty Secrets
7. Life In The Air-Age
8. Like An Old Blues
9. Crystal Gazing
10. Blazing Apostles
Bonus Tracks
11. Shine
12. Speed Of The Wind
13. Blue As A Jewel

PEARL AND THE BIRD

PEARL AND THE BEARD
GOD BLESS YOUR WEARY SOUL, AMANDA RICHARDSON (2009)
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Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul. Former strangers Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles were united in the great city of New York. Each had migrated there from a far corner of the nation with naught but food in their pockets and money in their bellies. Each had the same true love. Since then the three nested, and their unique brand of brightly melodic song craft continues to blossom of its own accord. Pearl and the Beard loves you the way you’ve always been.

1. Voice In My Throat
2. Donny & Johnny
3. Twice Today
4. Oh, Death!
5. Slow Motion Machine Gun
6. Mistakes
7. Lost In Singapore
8. Dumb Lovers
9. Vessel
10. Letter To California

MIGALA

MIGALA
ASI DUELE UN VERANO (1999)
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When thinking of Spanish rock, many people will think of an energetic, happy kind of music which is as far as Migala's sound as can be. The names that come to mind when trying to define Migala's sound are more of the melancholic type such as Lambchop or Tindersticks and, since they also have a personality of their own, their offer us a debut album, released on quality spanish indie label Acuarela, that is both beautiful and sad.
Those looking for music for a rainy day would be well advised to try "Asi Duele un Verano", it's a beauty.

1. Wait The Ships Come Back
2. The Whale
3. 320 m. To The Surface
4. Low Of Defenses
5. Gurb Song
6. Guetaria
7. On Not Given Farewells...
8. Ancient Glaciar Tongues
9. Akita
10. Unlost Memory
11. Regular Storm Sounds
12. Dactylographique
13. When I Go, I Go

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
LIVE ALIVE (1986)
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Live Alive is a magnificent double-length showcase for Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar playing, featuring a number of extended jams on a selection of most of the best material from Vaughan's first three albums, plus covers of "Willie the Wimp," "I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)," and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." The album may not be exceptionally tight or concise, but then again, that's not the point. The renditions here sound less polished than the studio versions, with Vaughan's guitar tone bitingly down and dirty and his playing spontaneous and passionate.

1. Say What!
2. Ain't Gone 'N' Give up on Love
3. Pride and Joy
4. Mary Had a Little Lamb
5. Superstition
6. I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)
7. Cold Shot
8. Willie the Wimp
9. Look at Little Sister
10. Texas Flood
11. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
12. Love Struck Baby
13. Change It

THE AVETT BROTHERS

THE AVETT BROTHERS
I AND LOVE AND YOU (2009)
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Longtime fans held their breath when Rick Rubin took the Avett Brothers under his wing. What would the co-head of Columbia Records — a man known for his business savvy, rap-rock production, and resurrection of Johnny Cash — do with a small-time folk trio from North Carolina? The answer is "relatively nothing," as the band's major-label debut continues charting the same musical course as Emotionalism and Mignonette. The Avett Brothers have steadily expanded their reach since 2000, adding elements of pop and hillbilly rock to a country/bluegrass foundation, and they carry on that tradition with I and Love and You, whose songs introduce a newfound emphasis on piano and nuanced arrangements. Working with a major label's budget allows the group to add small flourishes — a cello line here, a keyboard crescendo there — but the resulting music is rarely grand, focusing on textures rather than sheer volume. Scott and Seth Avett share vocals throughout the album, delivering their lyrics in a speak-sing cadence that sounds both tuneful and conversational. Given the opportunities presented here — the ability to flank their melodies with string sections, organ swells, and harmonium — the two devote more focus to slower songs, eschewing the barnburning bouncefests of their previous albums for material that better displays such sonic details. The result is an intimate, poignant album, laced with rich production that enhances, not clouds, the songwriting itself.

1. I And Love And You
2. January Wedding
3. Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise
4. And It Spread
5. The Perfect Space
6. Ten Thousand Words
7. Kick Drum Heart
8. Laundry Room
9. Ill With Want
10. Tin Man
11. Slight Figure Of Speech
12. It Goes On And On
13. Incomplete And Insecure

RICK JAMES

RICK JAMES
COME AND GET IT! (1978)
320 KBPS

After returning to the U.S. from London, where he fronted the blues band Mainline, Rick James cut one album with White Cane before he turned to his own solo venture. By 1977, he'd begun working with the Stone City Band, emerging at the end of the year with an album's worth of delicious funk-rock fusion. Released in spring 1978, Come Get It! was a triumphant debut, truly the sum of all that had gone before, at the same time as unleashing the rudiments of what would become not only his trademark sound, but also his mantra, his manifesto — his self proclaimed punk-funk. Packed with intricate songs that are full of effusive energy, Come Get It! is marvelously hybridized funk, so tightly structured that, although they have the outward feel of funk's freewheeling jam, they never once cross the line into an uncontrolled frenzy. This is best demonstrated across the monumental, eight-plus-minute "You and I." With enough funk bubbling under the surface to supplant the outward disco sonics of the groove, but brought back to earth via James' vocal interpolations, "You and I" became James' first R&B chart hit, effortlessly slamming into the top spot. "Mary Jane," meanwhile, was James' homage to marijuana — honoring the love affair through slang, it dipped into the Top Five in fall 1978. More importantly, though, it also offered up a remarkable preview of his subsequent vocal development. With nods to Earth, Wind & Fire on "Sexy Lady," Motown sonics on "Dream Maker," the passionate "Hollywood," and the classic club leanings of "Be My Lady," it's obvious that James was still very much in the throes of transition, still anticipating his future onslaught of hits and superstardom. Many of the songs here have a tendency toward the disco ethics that were inescapable in 1978, and have been faulted as such; nevertheless, what James achieved on this LP was remarkably fresh, and would prove vitally important to funk as it grew older during the next decade.

1. Stone City Band, Hi!
2. You and I
3. Sexy Lady
4. Dream Maker
5. Be My Lady
6. Mary Jane
7. Hollywood
8. Stone City Band, Bye!

SASS JORDAN

SASS JORDAN
RATS (1994)
320 KBPS

Sass Jordan never sounded more focused, confident and inspired than she does on Rats, which is undeniably her finest album. Some of Jordan's '80s efforts didn't fully illustrate just how compelling a singer she can be, but that's no problem on Rats. This CD finds the whiskey-voiced Canadian doing what she does best: tough, gritty, no-nonsense rock & roll with soul/R&B overtones and a heavy dose of blues feeling. Although Jordan is very much her own person, there's no denying the strong influence Tina Turner has had on her singing — and Turner's influence serves Jordan impressively well on such gutsy, down-and-dirty offerings as "Ugly," "Damaged" and "Pissin' Down." If fact, this is the sort of rockin' album one wishes Turner would have recorded in 1994 (which isn't to say that the slick, glossy pop/rock and pop/R&B Turner provided in the 1990s wasn't enjoyable). With Jordan, Steve Salas and Nick Didia handling the production and studio ace Michael Wagener doing most of the mixing, all of the pieces fit together perfectly on Rats. This album was definitely Jordan's crowning achievement.

1. Damaged
2. Slave
3. Pissin' Down
4. High Road Easy
5. Sun's Gonna Rise
6. Head
7. Ugly
8. I'm Not
9. Honey
10. Wish
11. Breakin'
12. Give

SPOCK'S BEARD

SPOCK'S BEARD
V (2000)
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Spock's Beard's V meets all expectations as another excellent release from one of modern symphonic prog's most revered bands.
V is one of Spock's Beard most spectacular releases. It was with this album that Morse's future of making epics in projects like Transatlanic and his solo project really shows. The thirty minute finale The Great Nothing is an amazing track. The track shows excellent musicality on part of all the musicians. Bassist Dave Meros and keyboardist Ryo Okumoto may not get all the credit they deserve next to the Morses , but they lack of popularity does not equate to their excellent musical skill. The opener At the End of the Day is another classic work from Spock's Beard with a magnificient cello intro giving way to jazzy overtones and catchy choruses coming later in the song.
The vocal work from Neal Morse and Nick d Virgillo is outstanding. The shorter track Thoughts (Part II) is proof of this. The vocals do lack range, but make up for it with great chordal tones and rythymic diversity not found in many bands. This album is another masterpiece of progressive music from Spock's Beard.

1. At the End of the Day
2. Revelation
3. Thoughts (Part II)
4. All on a Sunday
5. Goodbye to Yesterdays
6. The Great Nothing
a) From Nowhere
b) One Note
c) Come Up Breathing
d) Submerged
e) Missed Your Calling
f) The Great Nothing