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Archived Reviews

Chuck Berry, Rock & Roll Anthology [DVD] (Pinup Productions). It's most certainly an unauthorized compilation despite the presence of a prominent bar code on the back cover, but Rock & Roll Anthology does collect an astonishing quantity of Chuck Berry footage from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, lasting just under three hours. Before you get too excited, it has to be emphasized that the image quality and transfer, while decent in most respects, is erratic and, more crucially, always has the slightly jerky motion typical of files downloaded from the Internet. Taking the attitude that seeing this in almost 100% of the quality it should boast is better than not seeing it at all, there is certainly a lot of interesting and occasionally historic footage on the DVD. A bunch of clips catch Berry in his 1950s prime, though most of these are lip-sync jobs from quickie rock'n'roll exploitation movies and TV shows, the only genuinely live bit being his performance of "Sweet Little Sixteen" (with an ill-fitting clarinetist in the band) at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. A bunch of mimed mid-to-late-'60s TV clips follow, in turn followed by some 1973-75 film and TV sequences (including a particularly bizarre medley of "Mr. Bojangles/The Good Ship Lollipop" from Donny & Marie with a Shirley Temple-like girl singer). As if that's not strange enough, Chuck also duets with Tom Jones on "School Days" in another clip from the period. Almost the entire second half of the disc is devoted to undated clips, mostly from the 1970s and mostly from European TV, including a British television interview shortly after the publication of his autobiography in the late 1980s.

There are a lot of good performances here; though obviously artificial, the lip-synced clips from the '50s movies are still electrifying in their display of Berry in his most gymnastic onstage glory. And though his later shows were often criticized for his use of inadequate backup bands, it must be said that on most of the 1970s material, he sings and plays well, never looking less than fully engaged, and usually enjoying sufficient musical backup. You do have to be a big Berry band to see so much of him in one go, as he plays his signature tunes over and over again – there are a half-dozen versions of "Johnny B. Goode" alone. Even so, there are some nice lesser-known classics and odd tunes thrown in, going all the way back to his rendition of "Oh Baby Doll" in the 1957 film Mr. Rock & Roll. Certainly it's fortunate the camera caught him doing the obscure B-side "Wee Wee Hours" on piano on German TV, for instance; also interesting is a rousing "Roll 'Em Pete" on Soul Train, though the '70s versions of "Reelin' & Rockin'" with updated obscenely suggestive lyrics aren't as fun. But while you marvel at such an abundance of visual documentation of a giant who was both a great musician and a great showman, you're also frustrated at how much better this could be would only a legitimate company take the care to present it with the care it so richly deserves.

David Bowie, Space Oddities [DVD] (Pandora's Video). Unauthorized this hour-and-a-half collection of David Bowie clips may be; that's apparent not just from the low-tech packaging, but also in how much of the material has that slightly jerky downloaded-from-online feel. At the same time, it must be said that as such unauthorized products go, this is about as good as it gets in terms of intelligent clip selection and smooth transitional clip-to-clip editing, assembling various interesting bits and pieces spanning the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Even the slightly imperfect visuals aren't nearly so much a problem here as they are with many such items, as the transfers from the download files or whatever the sources might have been seem to have been done as conscientiously as possible within their inherent limitations. Most of these clips are quite good (and in color), but some particularly noteworthy highlights are a 1970 live performance of "Space Oddity" at an awards ceremony; an alternate take of "Oh You Pretty Things" from an early-'70s The Old Grey Whistle Test program; the bizarre 1973 Midnight Special duet on "I've Got You Babe" with dressed-as-a-nun Marianne Faithfull; and "Alabama Song" from a 1978 broadcast. You'd never call his duet with Bing Crosby on "Little Drummer Boy" a highlight of either man's career, but that stranger-than-fiction performance is here to savor in all its weirdness. Also of note, though David Bowie doesn't play music in these, are the 13-minute dialog-less 1967 film The Image (in which Bowie plays one of the two parts) and a very short late-'60s ice cream commercial in which Bowie can be briefly glimpsed.

Dr. Strangely Strange, Kip of the Serenes [Collectors Edition] (Hux). Dr. Strangely Strange's debut album, Kip of the Serenes, is here reissued in a Collectors' Edition (as it's formally labeled on the back cover) that presents the record in a spruced-up CD edition. Are the extras to this record – which is very much in the mold of the Incredible String Band, albeit in a milder form lacking the extremes of the ISB's innovations, and with Irish origins – substantial? They don't appear so at a glance, since there are just four bonus tracks, though audiophiles will note that it's a new 24-bit remaster at the correct speed. The added songs include an alternate, longer take of "Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal" minus overdubs that's a little folkier in its arrangement, and has a brief sea shanty tacked onto its end; an unremarkably alternate take of "On the West Cork Hack"; and an instrumental backing track for another of the album's songs, "Strings in the Earth and Air." There's also an outtake from their first session in January, the nicely haunting "Mirror Mirror," a later (and somewhat more elaborately produced and spooky) version of which shows up on the rarities collection Halcyon Days. The truly significant improvements, actually, are the historical liner notes, the 32-page booklet including a thorough account of the band's origins and the sessions for the first album; extensive comments on the songs by original members; full lyrics for the songs; and even reproductions of the original tape box and handwritten notes regarding the compositions. Like the Hux label's other packages of Dr. Strangely Strange and Incredible String Band material, they prove the company to be the best caretakers of the archeology of these two similar groups that anyone could hope for, even if this offers less in the way of enticing rarities than Hux's other such projects have.

Donovan, Sunshine Superman: The Journey of Donovan [DVD] (SPV). It's unlikely there will ever be a more comprehensive audiovisual document of Donovan than this two-DVD set. The documentary that occupies disc one of this two-DVD set is alone almost as content-rich as any such commercially available retrospective for a major figure in rock history, skillfully combining interviews done specifically for this project with a wealth of vintage footage and photos. The main interview subject is Donovan himself, who talks onscreen so often that he almost functions as the film's narrator as well as its focus. Fortunately Donovan's a good storyteller who's at ease in such situations, and he covers most of the main bases of his colorful career, from his modest boyhood upbringing and teenage beatnik adventures through international stardom as first a folksinger, then a folk-rock-psychedelic pioneer. As is the case with numerous similar documentaries, perhaps it might have been better to have some more space for other interviewees, although a few other key figures are heard from, including his wife Linda, his famed sidekick Gypsy Dave, and arranger John Cameron. As other fairly minor criticisms, certainly some notable details of his musical life (such as the business disputes that threatened his recording career in the mid-1960s) are sketchily laid out; the chronology of how events are sequenced is not always impeccable; a few film clips don't use soundtracks from the actual ones heard on their original broadcast; and the use of webbed borders for some archive segments is both puzzlingly unnecessary and mildly distracting. But not many viewers other than Donovan fanatics will notice or be bothered by any of this, instead getting entertained by the wealth of performance clips and personal reminiscing. As is proper, his mid-to-late 1960s heyday gets the most attention, with almost all of the hits discussed and performed. But subsequent decades are not avoided, if lightly covered in comparison, it at one point being revealed that he can't recall much about his most fallow 1980s period; though his mid-1990s comeback record Sutras gets some time, 2004's Beat Cafe is oddly absent from discussion. Donovan also takes care to relate his music to other issues such as his concern for peace, justice, romance, freedom, and spirituality, not to mention talking about his experiences while studying meditation with the Beatles in India.

Disc two isn't as lengthy, but while it has plenty of material, it's really for the Donovan devotee, and not so much for general rock fans, most of whom will enjoy the first disc but have trouble sitting through everything on its companion. In addition to extended interview segments done for the principal feature, there are past and present music videos dating back to the 1960s; performances, done not long before the 2008 release of this DVD, of some unreleased songs; a couple mid-'60s TV appearances (a great Swedish live one of "Sunny Goodge Street" in 1966 but a disappointingly short one of "Catch the Wind" done the previous year); a couple songs from a BBC concert around the early 1970s; and quite a few live clips done not long before this DVD was made, among them a whopping 14-minute 2008 jam on "Season of the Witch." The final section, labeled "The Private Donovan," might get too arcane even for some dedicated viewers, including scenes of Donovan rummaging among his archives, a clip of his father reading poetry, and scenes from his family album and acceptance speeches of honors. While it's still good to have this material available, it's unfortunate that precise details (and often, even years) aren't given regarding the origination of the TV clips and music videos, which are the kind of things fans serious enough to investigate such stuff want to know.

Marianne Faithfull, Live at the BBC (Decca). Fifteen tracks Marianne Faithfull recorded for the BBC in 1965 and 1966 (including two versions of one of the songs, "Go Away from My World") are featured on this compilation, which boasts fine sound and five brief between-song interviews that give us a chance to hear her poshly accented, articulate speech. This was the era, of course, in which Faithfull was still a fairly high-voiced pop-folk singer, and not the far earthier one she'd become when she emerged with a much deeper and more gravelly voice upon her late-1970s comeback. While it's a little disappointing there aren't more surprises – every one of these songs was also recorded on her mid-'60s studio releases – it does, as one would expect, afford us the chance to hear her do these songs in somewhat less elaborate arrangements than the versions that found official release at the time. On occasion, this can work to Faithfull's advantage; her cover of the Beatles' "Yesterday," not one of the highlights among her 1960s singles releases, is stripped of its too-fussy arrangement so that she's accompanied only by guitar. That's from a December 1965 session on which guitarist Jon Mark is the only backup musician, and those three songs are by far the folkiest of this lot. Still, the other sessions go down well too, including not only the hits "As Tears Go By," "Come and Stay with Me," "This Little Bird," and "Summer Nights," but also some relatively unheralded highlights of her early repertoire like the brooding "The Sha La La Song" and "Tomorrow's Calling." Faithfull's early British Invasion-era work is generally underrated, and this collection makes for a worthwhile addendum to her discography that some listeners might find more dignified and less dated in some respects than her more gushily produced studio records.

Tennessee Ernie Ford, 6000 Sunset Boulevard (Sundazed). In the spring of 1953, Tennessee Ernie Ford – then near the peak of his popularity – recorded an amazing amount of transcriptions for RadiOzark at Western Recorders on 6000 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Twenty-three songs from those sessions are on this important archival collection, which isn't only of interest to Ford fans or early country scholars. For one thing, the sound, considering the age and source of the original recordings, is amazing – it's clear and full, on par with studio sessions for commercial releases. Also, Ford is backed by a fine band including pedal steel virtuoso Speedy West, a notable recording artist in his own right who gets an instrumental showcase for his astonishing steel guitar work on Rodgers-Hart's "Lover." Also in the lineup are a young Billy Strange on rhythm guitar, Billy Liebert on accordion and piano, George Bruns on bass and trombone, and Harold Hensley on violin and clarinet, with most of the guys also contributing backup vocals. Though Ford was nominally a country singer, the songs selected for this compilation show him to be at home with interpreting many strains of American popular music through his easygoing style, from covers of hits by Eddy Arnold, Bunny Berigan, and Fats Waller to standards like "Try a Little Tenderness," "There'll Be Some Changes Made," and Hoagy Carmichael's "Up a Lazy River" and "Georgia on My Mind." These might have been recorded in a professional studio for radio transcriptions, but the result comes off almost like an informal living room/front porch musical get-together, Ford joking around amiably with his band between songs. It should be acknowledged that for all its quality, this is nonetheless not the place to hear Ford at his best or most representative, it being light on the country boogies for which he was most known for playing on his hit records of the period, and heavier on his covers of non-country pop tunes than might be expected. But as good-sounding and well-played material showing another facet of Ford in his prime, it's hard to beat.

The Fugs, Don't Stop! Don't Stop! (Ace/Fugs). You might guess that a four-CD box set of 1960s Fugs recordings would almost by definition have to sample from most or all of their recording career during that decade. Fugs fans and collectors, however, should be aware that while this compilation has a lot of noteworthy music, its focus is somewhat selective. Basically, the first two discs are expanded versions of what remain their most famous recordings, The Fugs First Album and The Fugs Second Album; in fact, they're identical to the CD reissues of these albums that came out through Ace Records in 1993, containing the exact same wealth of bonus tracks. Discs three and four are the ones that will excite collectors the most, as they're entirely devoted to previously unreleased recordings from 1965-1969. That does mean, however, that there's nothing from their numerous releases on Reprise in the late 1960s (though those have admittedly been well represented on the Rhino Handmade box set Electromagnetic Steamboat: The Reprise Recordings), or some of their peripheral pre-Reprise efforts.

While the two discs (and approximately two hours) of unissued live/studio/miscellaneous material on the final two CDs are a boon to Fugs collectors/completists, these are, like much of the other live material and outtakes by the group that saw belated release, pretty uneven listening as regards the quality of both the sound and material. Some of the fidelity alone is funky enough to relegate some performances to the "of historical interest only" category, as are the less disciplined, more spoken-word-oriented, determinedly humorously wacky items. It's also true that while the five consecutive versions of "Nothing" (all taken from different times and places) illustrate the different approaches the band took to one of their more noteworthy early songs, they'll test the patience of all but the most committed Fugs lover, as will a 12-minute compilation of snippets from a cappella Tuli Kupferberg performances.

Nonetheless, if little of this is anywhere near on par with their better studio recordings, there are occasional cuts that hold their own as decent auxiliary additions to the Fugs library, like most of the alternate takes from their first Folkways session in April 1965; the 1969 effort "As My Moog Weeps," which does indeed include some early spooky Moog; and an exhilarating, if not quite wonderfully recorded, version of one of their best psychedelic songs, "Crystal Liaison," cut live the Fillmore East. Quite a few of the tunes illustrate Ed Sanders' exploration of what he terms, in his liner notes, "Country and Western Beatnik," and while these didn't represent his most satisfying excursions, they did point the way toward much of the music he'd make on his solo debut album Sanders' Truckstop; in fact, one of them, "Jimmy Joe, the Hippybilly Boy," would become that LP's leadoff song.  "Elegy for Robert Kennedy," on which Sanders' singing is accompanied only by Dan Hamburg's acoustic guitar, also proves he could write moving, fairly straight melodic folk music on occasion.

But the first two discs have the music upon which the Fugs' foundation was built, even if many of the fans likely to investigate a box such of this will already have those tracks. The Fugs First Album is featured on disc one, and while ramshackle in its amateurish jug-band-cum-rock-band way, it looks forward to punk and folk-rock while busting numerous lyrical taboos. The eleven additional studio outtakes and live cuts on that CD are largely on a lower and less original level, but do include a few worthy compositions, such as "We're the Fugs," "The Ten Commandments," "CIA Man," and "I Saw the Best Minds of My Generation Rock." The Fugs Second Album, featured on disc two, remains their best record, the band tightening immensely into a full-fledged rock group and offering some of their signature sex/protest/satirical tunes in "Frenzy," "Dirty Old Man," "Kill for Peace," and "Doin' All Right," along with some surprisingly tender folk-rock. The five bonus cuts on that disc include two live songs from 1967 and three pretty appealing tracks from an unreleased '67 Atlantic LP that make one lament the failure of the entire album to appear.

Unfortunately, while the dates and locations of some of the previously unreleased tracks are included, in many cases they're not noted; perhaps the precise information is no longer available, the unissued stuff having been compiled by Sanders himself after listening to about 100 hours of material. As some compensation for that missing info, Sanders supplies a lengthy and entertaining history of the Fugs in the 1960s in the sizable liner note booklet, which also includes a wealth of period photos and memorabilia. In all Don't Stop! Don't Stop! isn't a definitive box set retrospective, but if you know you want their first two albums in their most definitive versions plus a wealth of marginalia impossible to find anywhere else, it's a very well done package.

The Jesters, Cadillac Men: The Sun Masters (Big Beat). It might come as a surprise that a full-length CD credited to the mid-1960s Memphis band the Jesters even exists, since their total released output while they were active was limited to just one single. Ace researcher Alec Palao has done his usual impeccable job of digging through the vaults, however, to come up with this 18-track retrospective, featuring both sides of their 1966 Sun single "Cadillac Man"/"My Babe"; four tracks that came out on a 1989 various artists box set compilation; seven previously unreleased cuts, including an alternate version of "Cadillac Man"; a Sun recording on which the Jesters backed Jimmy Day; and four tracks by the Escapades, the band singer Tommy Minga fronted after leaving the Jesters in late 1965. Though "Cadillac Man" is interesting as a kind of mid-'50s Chuck Berry soundalike item, the band's truer personality seems to come through in the recordings not released at the time. In those, they sound a little like a crazed '60s garage band (if that's not a redundant description) that owe far more to '50s rock'n'roll, rockabilly, and R&B than the usual such group – not as if they've digested those influences primarily via British Invasion bands, but more like they've studied the original '50s performers themselves. Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry might be the most audible of those influences, but certainly you can hear some Carl Perkins (whose "Boppin' the Blues" they cover), as well as some raw frat rock and Chicago blues. To be honest, the songwriting is more okay than brilliant, and the musicianship a little unpolished even by garage band standards, but it certainly makes for an interesting deviation from the usual garage rock excavation. The Escapades' tracks are almost slick by comparison and far more in the standard garage-pop mold (complete with sullen lyrics and swirling organ), but they're hardly gratuitous inclusions, as "I Tell No Lies" is well above average for that style; in fact, it's the best song on the compilation.

Mick Jones/Tommy Brown, State of Micky and Tommy (Magic). It's not well known, but long before he joined Foreigner – and even before he was in Spooky Tooth – Mick Jones made quite a few records with Tommy Brown, the pair working in France for much of the period. This French CD collects 24 tracks in which they were involved between 1965 and 1971, encompassing recordings billed to several different monikers, including the State of Micky and Tommy, the Blackburds, Nimrod, the J&B, and Thomas F. Browne. It may be that the singles they released as the State of Micky and Tommy, obscure as those 45s are, are the most known of the lot, especially "With Love from One to Five," which has shown up on a few relatively high-profile UK psychedelia compilations. That does happen to be one of the better numbers, but generally this CD has fair, though not exceptional, music that reflects the British mod/pop-rock/psychedelic trends of the time with occasional hints of French and continental influences. "With Love from One to Five" is typical if classy 1967 orchestrated pop-psych; "Nobody Knows Where You've Been" strongly recalls the arrangements on Sgt. Pepper cuts like "Within You, Without You"; and "Frisco Bay" is nice dainty, dreamy pop with beatific Summer of Love lyrics and the lightest of hints of rage-rock. All of those songs were found on singles credited to the State of Micky & Tommy; the ones billed to the Blackburds are more like soul-flavored British mod rock that could serve as incidental film music, while Nimrod's 1969 single "The Bird" (previously included on several collector-oriented comps of rare British psychedelia) is a fairly strong relic bridging psychedelia with early progressive rock. The best track, however, is the relatively unheralded 1966 single "There She Goes" by the J&B, a quite haunting, dramatic song that's a bit like a mini-soundtrack to a story of Swinging London heartbreak. As a whole this will hardly qualify Jones and Brown as lost masters of mid-to-late-'60s British rock, but there's pleasant period music of the genre to be heard, virtually all of it from extremely rare recordings (including soundtracks).

Al Kooper, I Stand Alone/You Never Know Who Your Friends Are...Plus (Raven). Al Kooper is destined to be remembered mostly as an ace session player and band member (of the Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears), not as a solo artist, despite the numerous albums he issued under his own name. But though this two-CD set covers only his earliest solo work, it could be argued that it's the best compilation of recordings he made on his own, though certainly not one that represents the scope of his career, whether done alone or with others. This Australian anthology presents both of his first two albums, 1968's I Stand Alone and 1969's You Never Know Who Your Friends Are, in their entirety, as well as five tracks from his third album (1970's Easy Does It) and a couple he contributed to the 1970 soundtrack The Landlord. While they didn't attract much in the way of sales or attention at the time or since, I Stand Alone in particular showcases his versatile facility with soul-pop and pop-rock with a baroque psychedelic tinge. Even if his vocals are only adequate and the use of numerous sound effects links has dated badly, it's worth hearing for "Right Now for You" alone, as that's the finest facsimile of the late-period Zombies ever cut (perhaps unsurprisingly so, as Kooper was instrumental in getting that group's Odessey and Oracle released in the US). The less impressive You Never Know Who Your Friends Are is more soul/R&B-oriented, but Kooper's skills as a keyboardist and arranger are consistently evident here and on the similarly eclectic bonus material, though his songwriting isn't up to the same level. The CD's sensibly sequenced so that I Can't Stand Alone and You Never Know Who Your Friends Are are placed on disc one and two respectively, with all of the bonus tracks being placed at the end of disc two.

Peter, Paul and Mary, The Solo Recordings (1971-72) (Rhino). This three-CD set is a rather odd entry into the Peter, Paul and Mary discography, as although it's credited to Peter, Paul and Mary, it in fact consists entirely of solo recordings by each of the group's three members. Each of the three discs is devoted to one of the solo debut albums that were issued around the same time by Warner Brothers, those being Peter Yarrow's Peter (from early 1972), Noel Stookey's Paul And (from mid-1971), and Mary Travers' Mary (from early 1971). There are no extra or unreleased bonus tracks, though there are lengthy historical liner notes with first-hand quotes from each of the singers.

Nonetheless, taken as a whole it does encapsulate that time in PPM's careers when the trio had just split up and were pretty much simultaneously venturing into solo careers. It's true that for general folk and pop fans (and for many serious Peter, Paul and Mary fans), these records are something of adjuncts or even footnotes to the work they did as a group. It's also true that these LPs sometimes to varying degrees sound like Peter, Paul and Mary records that are missing essential collaborative ingredients -- particularly vocal harmonies and stronger material -- that would put them more on par with the music they made as a threesome. Still, each of the records does have some worthwhile stuff, and none of them are poor or embarrassing. And while none of them would be commercial successes on the order of PPM's 1960s hits, they nevertheless were by far the most popular of their 1970s solo recordings.

In a surprise a little on the order of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass being the biggest hit of the Beatles' first round of significant solo releases, Noel Stookey's Paul And was the most popular of these three records, in large part due to the inclusion of the Top Thirty single "Wedding Song (There Is Love)." This was also the LP that fit in best with contemporary singer-songwriter trends in its comfortably easygoing rock arrangements, as well as being by far the breeziest and most good-humored of the three (as was no surprise to those who knew Stookey as the comedian of the group). The sentimental "Wedding Song" actually isn't too typical of an album largely given over to good-natured, even-tempered, at times even mildly rocking Stookey songs that sometimes owe something to fellow Albert Grossman clients the Band in tone. For those who pine for Peter, Paul and Mary's folkier elements, "Give a Damn" offers those in its wry talking blues and "Tender Hands" is a throwback to earnest '60s romantic folk troubadouring, though the more elegiac ballad "Sebastian" is the most impressive Stookey original on the record.

Since he was known as the most politically active member of Peter, Paul and Mary, some listeners might have expected Peter Yarrow's debut solo album Peter to be the most successful, or least most ambitious, of the three debut solo LPs issued by the trio in the early 1970s. Of those three records, it certainly is the one most in line with the uplifting socially conscious music often associated with the group's 1960s work, whether the lyrics are personal or political. It's also perhaps unavoidably true that the songs – all written or co-written by Yarrow – aren't as memorable as the best of Peter, Paul and Mary's, and that the arrangements can sound odd for those accustomed to hearing his vocals in the context of the trio's stirring harmonies. But gearing your expectations to an early-'70s singer-songwriter album rather than stacking it against Peter, Paul and Mary, it's a pleasantly accomplished effort, if a bit tilted toward the gentle and sweet (particularly in the vocal department). With backup from such accomplished musicians as guitarist John Till (who'd recently been in Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band), Paul Butterfield, John Simon, and backup singers Libby Titus and Maria Muldaur, it also shows Yarrow adapting to the early-'70s soft rock sound expected of singer-songwriters, though things never get too cutting or fierce. "Don't Ever Take Away My Freedom" and the singalong-friendly "Weave Me the Sunshine" are the songs most imbued with the staunch liberalism Peter, Paul and Mary typified, but more effective is the more introspective "Take Off Your Mask," whose penetratingly strange Garth Hudson organ solos are the highlights of the entire album. Other superior cuts are "Wings of Time," the track that lies closest to traditional folk music, and the bittersweet "Tall Pine Trees," which is notably Russian-influenced in both melody and arrangement.

As the most popular and photogenic member of the trio, commercial expectations might have run highest for Mary Travers, but she was at a disadvantage in being far less prolific a songwriter than Peter Yarrow or Noel Stookey. Indeed she wrote just a little material (co-writing two songs) on Mary, which in broad terms saw her cast as an interpreter of songs by contemporary songwriters with a touch of arty orchestration, somewhat in the mold of records of the period by fellow veteran folk boom vets Judy Collins and (to a lesser degree) Joan Baez. Generally speaking, however, she didn't address material by composers as strong as Collins and Baez had, Mary featuring songs by Rod McKuen, Elton John, Paul Simon, and others, including some by John Denver (whose "Follow Me" gave her a minor hit single, and who also plays guitar on the album). More than Yarrow or Stookey, Travers suffered when taking the solo vocal spotlight for an entire album, not being as strong or varied a singer as, say, Collins or Baez. All those shortcomings noted, it was still an acceptable recording of its style (and the only Travers solo album to dent the Top 100), if perhaps one of more interest these days to Peter, Paul and Mary fans than anyone else. It's certainly on the earnest side – even more so than PPM's 1960s output – including new versions of a couple of songs she recorded as a member of that group, "The Song Is Love" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."

Linda Ronstadt, Long, Long Time Ago: Video Archive 1967-1987 [DVD] (Foxberry). Almost two-and-a-half hours of color film clips of Linda Ronstadt, spanning the late 1960s to the late 1980s, are featured on this unauthorized two-DVD set. Starting all the way back with her days as lead singer for the Stone Poneys (on three songs done live at the Bitter End club), it's devoted primarily to television appearances, and also, refreshingly, consists mostly of live rather than mimed performances. No doubt there's more Ronstadt footage in existence, but it's hard to imagine a better retrospective of this period, particularly as a lot of space is given to her pre-superstardom era in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most of that's found on disc one, which includes some surprising duets with Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, and Bobby Darin (who backs her on acoustic guitar), as well as a set on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert on which she's backed by the Eagles, also playing guitar on an acoustic version of Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" with guitarist Bernie Leadon as sole accompanist. It's also a surprise to see her in unexpected settings like Playboy After Dark (at the outset of her solo career) and Tennessee State Prison (just as she was emerging as a big star in 1974). There are also, of course, a good of number of clips from her mid-'70s superstar era, as well as duets with Phoebe Snow, Smokey Robinson, Randy Newman, and at the very end, a 1987 Saturday Night Live appearance fronting the Mariachi Vargas. There are small drawbacks to this package: some might find five versions of "Long, Long Time" (people tend to forget that was her only Top Forty hit prior to 1975) too many, there are too many oldies covers in the later years, and the compilers have seen fit to periodically put a small unnecessary logo with the title of this DVD on the screen. But the audiovisual quality is consistently good to excellent, and though no doubt there would be small improvements in the presentation and sequencing should it have been assembled for official release, this is a fine collection as is.

Nina Simone, To Be Free (RCA/Legacy). There's no question that Nina Simone is richly deserving of a three-CD (plus one DVD), 51-song box set such as To Be Free. From the late 1950s until her death, she was one of the great unclassifiable pop singers of the twentieth century, and if her voluminous recording career was erratic, the first fifteen years at any rate had many highlights. Any complaint about this particular package has more to do with the balance of eras represented than the quality of the contents, which is generally very good. If one is to criticize, however, it's that it does seem heavily weighted toward her 1967-73 recordings for RCA, which take up about two-thirds of the three audio discs. Perhaps that's because it's on the RCA/Legacy label, but certainly a good case could be made that her pre-1967 recordings for a variety of other companies (most often Philips) were worthy of greater representation.

To focus on the positives, however, most of disc one does include strong pre-RCA tracks from the first decade of her recording career, including some of her best known classics of the time, like "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," "See-Line Woman," "I Put a Spell on You," and "Four Women." While the RCA era arguably saw her move too much into pop-oriented production on occasion and too many covers of pop-rock hits, the selections from that era are chosen with intelligence, including a good number of live tracks. The two post-1973 cuts – one from 1978, and one from her final proper album, 1993's A Single Woman – seem like afterthoughts to ensure that most of her career was covered in some way, but that's justifiable considering that the last three decades of her life saw little in the way of noteworthy recordings.

Though there's not much in the way of rarities, the set also does contain half a dozen previously unreleased live tracks of merit, as well as a couple (a live cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and an alternate version of "Ain't Got No—I Got Life") that make their first US appearance. The most tantalizing item for serious Simone fans is the DVD of a 1970 television special, though it turns out to be a little less exciting than one might have hoped. Lasting just 23 minutes, it intersperses scenes of her recording, rehearsing, and performing onstage (most of the songs being fragments, highlighted by a complete live version of "Go to Hell") with interview snippets in which Simone offers basic comments on the rewards and difficulties of being a creative musician.

Still, in all this is a very good box set illustrating Simone's facility at jumping between and blending numerous genres, including soul, pop, rock, jazz, Broadway, classical, and even (on the previously unissued 1973 live performance "Nina") world fusion music of sorts with backing by sitar and kalimba. Just don't necessarily take it as a summation of all her greatest work, with much more from the pre-1967 period in particular thankfully available to investigate on other CDs.

The Swinging Blue Jeans, Good Golly, Miss Molly! The EMI Years 1963-1969 (EMI). Like the similarly extensive four-CD sets released by EMI in 2008 for Gerry & the Pacemakers and Herman's Hermits, Good Golly, Miss Molly! The EMI Years 1963-1969 – its four discs including a whopping 118 tracks – is an acquisition that separates the mere British Invasion fanatic from the dangerous obsessive. Its very existence is astonishing considering that the Swinging Blue Jeans had far less commercial success than either Gerry & the Pacemakers or Herman's Hermits, with just one Top Thirty hit to their credit in the US (and just three Top Twenty entries in their native UK). Nevertheless, very serious Merseybeat collectors will be pleased that this anthology not only has every last studio track that appeared on a 1960s Swinging Blue Jeans studio release, but also about a dozen previously unissued cuts. And even the previously released material includes some items that are hardly common fare, like four songs recorded in German specifically for the German market; numerous rare A-sides and B-sides that were particularly hard to find in the US; and tracks that first appeared on a Canadian LP or CD compilations that are now themselves not all that easy to find.

Like that EMI four-CD job for Gerry & the Pacemakers, however, it's padded by a fourth disc consisting entirely of stereo versions of tracks that are all included on the previous three CDs. And as with the Pacemakers set, it must be said that when you get beyond the two dozen or so songs that have been readily available on previous single-disc best-ofs, the standard drops dramatically, at times risking boring even enthusiasts of the group. Still, in addition to the expected highlights ("Hippy Hippy Shake," their British hit cover of "You're No Good," and unsung A-sides and B-sides like "Think of Me," "It's Too Late Now," "Shakin' Feeling," "Promise You'll Tell Her," and "What Can I Do Today"), there are a few things that'll excite even the seasoned Swinging Blue Jeans collector. There's a previously unissued early version of "It's Too Late Now" from their February 1963 recording test (at which they were still using a banjo in their lineup); an unexpected cover of the Beatles' "This Boy" that surfaced on a Canadian LP; a German version of "Shakin' Feeling"; and the 1966 arrangement of "Now That You've Got Me (You Don't Seem to Want Me)," which is considerably superior to the one that ended up on a 1968 single. There are also, it has to be said, a number of routine rock'n'roll covers (a la the previously unreleased "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," recorded at EMI in November 1963 well in advance of the Beatles' studio version), and the late-'60s efforts on disc three find the group struggling for a new style after the disappearance of Merseybeat and getting saddled with mediocre pop tunes. Nevertheless, there's more good brashly energetic Merseybeat here than not, and Merseybeat expert Spencer Leigh's customarily authoritative liner notes are welcome, as is the detailed sessionography.

Vince Taylor, Jet Black Leather Machine (Ace). Vince Taylor is a legend of early British rock'n'roll. He wrote and recorded one of the few pre-Beatles UK rock songs that can be hailed as a legitimate classic ("Brand New Cadillac"), and also led a madly colorful life that saw him eventually gain stature as one of rock's earliest demented burnouts. For all his legend, however, there's never been a compilation that effectively gathered the best of his recorded output onto one disc – until this one. Jet Black Leather Machine, finally, manages to cross-license the best and hardest-rocking of both his late-'50s British recordings and the early-to-mid-'60s tracks he cut in France, all but one of these 21 tracks originating from 1958-65. Does it live up to the legend of this manically energetic singer who tried to come off as a cross between Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent, as well as claim not quite genuine American origins (he did live there for a few years in the 1950s, but was born and raised in Britain)?

Yes and no, though any disappointment is negated by the surprising force and sheer enjoyability of most of this set. In all honesty, Taylor wasn't that great a singer, and though he did write "Jet Black Machine," most of his recorded repertoire was limited to American rock'n'roll covers that the original artists did better. Yet his lack of innate talent was compensated for by both an idiosyncratic, over-the-top enthusiasm – a faint precursor, perhaps, to the many punk and post-punk singers who similarly didn't let a shortage of standard vocal chops stand in their way – and some genuinely ripping backup musicians, even when he's accompanied by British ones in the late '50s. The menacing "Brand New Cadillac" alone would solidify his place in history, but he did manage a few other good sides that weren't American rock covers, most notably "Jet Black Machine." And even those covers of American rockers – which do comprise well over half of this set – usually pummeled along pretty hard, whether his 1958 debut single "I Like Love" (a Sun Records cover with a young, pre-Hamburg Tony Sheridan on guitar) or his 1965 version of "My Baby Left Me," which has some truly astonishing guitar leads that rank right up there with the most ferocious axework of the British Invasion. Bravo to Ace for intelligently selecting the best of this wayward British rock pioneer's highly erratic discography, complete with a fine career overview in Kieron Tyler's lengthy liner notes.

We Five, There Stands the Door (Big Beat). Though "You Were on My Mind" was one of the first and best big folk-rock hits, We Five's reputation as early folk-rock pioneers has suffered from the abundance of weak and ill-suited pop material on the spotty two LPs recorded by the original lineup. It's no exaggeration to hail the 22-track There Stands the Door as a major rehabilitation of the group's legacy. That's due both to the wise selection of their best and most folk-rock-oriented material, and to the inclusion of eight previously unissued cuts (and one non-LP A-side) that do much to fill out a fairer portrait of the group's strengths. Instead of sounding like a wildly erratic outfit prone to interpreting too many pop standards and show tunes, this cherry-picked anthology shows them more as a highly worthwhile, if a little lightweight, early folk-rock group who helped innovate the male-female harmonies characteristic of early San Francisco folk-rock in particular. The CD focuses both on the group's best original material (often penned by John Stewart's brother Mike Stewart) and their most appropriate choices of folky songs to cover, including several compositions by John Stewart and an obscure tune (the previously unissued "What'Cha Gonna Do") co-written by Bob Gibson, Shel Silverstein, and Fred Neil. All but a couple of the tracks were recorded prior to the first lineup's dissolution in spring 1967, and Beverly Bevin's vocals in particular anticipate aspects of the San Francisco folk-rock singing heard in early Jefferson Airplane recordings, particularly on the 1966 single "You Let a Love Burn Out." From the same year, the non-LP single "There Stands the Door" hints at some more musically and lyrically adventurous directions that went unexplored, even if its adventurousness is fairly mild compared to that of the Airplane. True, "You Were on My Mind" remains the best track they ever did by some distance. But much more than their original LPs, There Stands the Door stands as their true best-of, and if its concentration on folk-rock gives a somewhat incomplete document of their eclectic repertoire, it does indisputably focus on the best of that repertoire. Note that a couple of the unissued tracks (judiciously placed at the end of the CD) are actually taken from recordings they made for Coke commercials; while they're hardly emblematic of the group at their best, they certainly are rare and thus to be welcomed by hardcore collectors. A more significant bonus is Alec Palao's extensive annotation, in which first-hand interviews with surviving band members do much to flesh out the history of this ill-documented group.

Various Artists, Glitter and Gold: Words and Music by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (Ace). In common with Ace's numerous other anthologies devoted to compositions by major 1960s pop-rock songwriters, Glitter and Gold: Words and Music by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil isn't quite either a best-of or rarities compilation. Instead, it mixes some big and small hits with collectors' items, with just one of the 26 tracks (Dion's "Make the Woman Love Me") postdating 1970 and a few songs in which they didn't collaborate or other songwriters were also involved, though most of them are pure Mann-Weil creations. The average Brill Building pop fan will notice right away that a few of their signature hits are absent, particularly the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," and "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," the Animals' "We Gotta Get out of This Place," the Ronettes' "Walking in the Rain," and the Crystals' "He's Sure the Boy I Love." Working on the assumption that the core audience for this reissue already has those songs elsewhere, however, this is an expectedly (given the standards Ace always brings to these collections) fine roundup of the best and rarest of the rest, even if the determination to include some collectors' items ensures a somewhat erratic listen.

As for the big hits that are included, you do get Mama Cass' "It's Getting Better," Gene Pitney's "I'm Gonna Be Strong," Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Hungry," B.J. Thomas' "I Just Can't Help Believing," and the Vogues' "Magic Town," and if some might be disappointed that the version of "Kicks" is by Del Shannon and not the Paul Revere hit, at least it's more off the beaten track. As for the outstanding tunes that weren't smashes, Arthur Alexander's "Where Have You Been (All My Life)" is a soulful ballad covered by the Beatles in their early days; the Girls' sinister Shangri-Las-like "Chico's Girl" is one of the greatest girl group rarities; Nino Tempo & April Stevens' "The Coldest Night of the Year" is a nice whispery, sexy number; and the Righteous Brothers' "See That Girl" has the same Phil Spectorian sweep of their big hits. Beyond that, things get spotty, if usually interesting, some of the more notable cuts including Joanie Sommers' "I'd Be So Good for You" (even if it sounds a lot like Skeeter Davis' "Let Me Get Close to You"); the uplifting "Girl, It's Alright Now" by Bruce & Terry, aka Beach Boy Bruce Johnston with producer Terry Melcher; and Bill Medley's small 1968 hit "Brown Eyed Woman," a veiled reference to an interracial romance. A bunch of the other selections are minor footnotes to Mann and Weil's greatest material, whether they're non-hits by stars like the Tokens, Marcels, Chiffons, and Turtles, or just plain obscurities by the likes of Bergen White and the 2 of Clubs. At almost all times, however, Mann-Weil's attentiveness to melodic detail and thoughtful song construction are in evidence, making this an illuminating anthology for all fans of one of the great Brill Building songwriting teams.

Various Artists, Holy Mackerel! Pretenders to Little Richard's Throne (Ace). Like any star who has a lot of big hits, Little Richard spawned his share of imitators in the late 1950s and early 1960s, or at least records on which a singer tried to sound like him. It's probably not realized even by most Little Richard fans in particular and rock'n'roll collectors in general, however, just how often other artists tried to hitch a ride on his bandwagon. Holy Mackerel! Pretenders to Little Richard's Throne compiles no less than 25 such examples (albeit one track, the World Famous Upsetters' 1962 cover of "I'm in Love Again," on which Little Richard himself sings without getting billing). The assembled perpetuators include some stars who tried their hand at Richard-esque songs, whoops, and hollers, if only briefly, like James Brown, Joe Tex (under the pseudonym of Little Booker), Lowell Fulson, and Dee Clark. They even include some women who aren't exactly no-names, like Etta James, gospel singer Marie Knight, and (with husband Ike Turner) Tina Turner. Is it entertaining? Well, sure – if you get this many examples of competent (and in some cases way more than competent) rock'n'rollers trying to replicate Little Richard to some degree, there's no way there can't be some good if somewhat exploitative fun. But here's the thing – even a Little Richard greatest hits collection doesn't exactly have as much variety as many best-ofs by early rock'n'roll greats. You'll have to have a big appetite for Richard's mannerisms to get a kick out of this nonstop, since none of the songs are on the level of Little Richard's actual big hits, even as they borrow heavily from various elements of his style, like his pounding piano and gospelish trills. There's only one track, Bunker Hill's truly demented "The Girl Can't Dance," that's highly memorable under its own steam, with a searing in-the-red vocal and clamorous backup (by Link Wray and the Raymen) that's astonishingly raw for a 1963 release. It's also odd to hear some talented singers for whom Little Richard imitation clearly isn't a forte, like Dee Clark, who seems a little out of his comfort zone on "24 Boyfriends." There's still reasonable fun involved, of course, in hearing such a concentrated dose of Little Richard as an influence, including songs here and there that stand okay by themselves, like Big Al Downing's "Miss Lucy."

Various Artists, Respect: Aretha's Influences and Inspiration (Ace). Aretha Franklin is not especially thought of as a "cover" artist since she wrote a good deal of her own material (and had many songs supplied to her to interpret first), but she has covered many soul, R&B, and gospel songs on record. The idea behind Respect: Aretha's Influences and Inspiration is a very good one: to collect a couple dozen versions of songs, often the original ones, that Franklin herself would record, usually on Atlantic in the late 1960s and early 1970s (though songs that she recorded prior to 1967 on Columbia and even on her teenaged 1950s gospel sides are also represented). A few of the tracks on this CD are very well known, and in fact were sometimes even big hits in their own right, like Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer," Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," Otis Redding's "Respect," Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts," Ray Charles' "Drown in My Own Tears," James Carr's "The Dark End of the Street," and Ben E. King's "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)." For the deeper soul fan, however, the chief pleasures are the more obscure templates that you might not already have in your collection, including cuts by legends like Wilson Pickett, Bobby Bland, Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, Bill Withers,  Percy Mayfield, Johnny Ace, James Carr, Howard Tate, and Bobby Womack. Especially interesting are the more obscure source points for Aretha, like Thelma Jones' little-known original version of "The House That Jack Built"; Dinah Washington's "Soulville," one of the hardest-rocking tracks she ever did; efforts by singers (Jean Wells on "Sit Down and Cry," and Mary Wheeler on "Prove It") who are known almost exclusively to soul collectors; and lowdown blues by Big Maybelle (on "Pitiful"). Owing to Franklin's taste and the skills of her predecessors, the effect is very much like that of hearing a good soul/R&B mix tape, but one with thorough expert annotation and packaging. Even some of the well-known cuts are made more interesting to experts by the use of (in the case of Redding's "Respect" and King's "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)") rarer LP versions. It does have to be said that it can't quite maintain the level of songs that were classics in their pre-Franklin incarnations (like the aforementioned ones by Redding, Simone, King, and Warwick, as well as Don Covay & the Goodtimers' "See Saw") throughout. Little Miss Cornshucks' "Try a Little Tenderness," for instance, is quaint next to the soulafied treatments of Redding or Franklin. On the whole, however, it's that too-rare cross-licensed thematic compilation that's both highly entertaining and highly educational.

Various Artists, The Soul of Spanish Harlem (BGP). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many New York Latin musicians became increasingly influenced by R&B and soul music. One could trace exchange among the styles all the way back to the birth of rock'n'roll if so inclined, but often the sounds cut by this circle were heard mostly or exclusively by a US-based Latin audience, with only a little crossover to pop and African-American listeners. The Soul of Spanish Harlem collects 20 such tracks from the era (a couple of them previously unreleased), done for labels that for the most part were targeting the Latin market, the most prominent of them being Fania (though releases by other companies are also included). Even if you're a collector of this stuff, it's likely few of the names will ring bells, with the exception perhaps of Joe Bataan and Monguito Santamaria (Mongo Santamaria's son). While mixtures of Latin music, jazz, and soul (and even a bit of doo wop) are the general focus, it's hard to categorize the tracks with precision, since the concentration of elements vary so widely. Some cuts are essentially Latin-flavored jazz with a bit of soul; others are vocal group soul with just a hint of Latin sounds in the melodies and rhythms. What matters most is that it's consistently earthy, heartfelt, and – at least to rock and pop listeners for whom these blends are unfamiliar – quite unpredictable. It is true that those stylistic combinations are more interesting, for the most part, than the tunes, which can be derivative (as the Terrible Frankie Nieves' "True Love" is of Barbara Acklin's "The Same Girl," or 107th Street Stickball Team's "On Old Broadway" is of the chorus in Petula Clark's "Downtown"). But it's rarely less than entertaining, and a few sides do stand out as particularly memorable, like the aforementioned "On Old Broadway"; King Nando's invigoratingly swinging (if melodramatic) "Maria, Maria," which could have stood a chance of crossover success in an edited version; or the delectably dignified doo-wop/Latin jazz hybrid of Ralphie & the Latin Lovers' "Lonely Has Been My Day." Though perhaps more remarkable for the form than the content of the actual material, this CD is a very worthwhile if fragmentary document of an important scene that remains largely unknown to fans of the rock and soul of the era, with (as is customary for the Ace family of labels) conscientious annotation and illustration in the accompanying booklet.

Various Artists, Woodstock 69 Extended Edition [DVD] (Johanna). For fans of late-1960s rock, and for fans of the Woodstock festival in particular, this unauthorized four-DVD set of footage from the event is in several respects a wonder to behold, though not without its imperfections. There are more than six hours of footage spread across the four discs, much of which has never made it onto the various versions of the movie and outtakes of same that have found official release. What's more, it's sorted into the actual order in which the performances were given, starting with Richie Havens and ending with Jimi Hendrix. To all appearances, most of the footage was actually filmed by the Woodstock filmmakers, and is of generally very good quality, though a few gremlins creep in with various slight image/sonic imperfections and gaps/incomplete performances. The highlights are numerous, including several songs by Jefferson Airplane at dawn that rank among the most interesting footage of the band ever taken. Too, a bunch of the acts here didn't make it into the 1970 Woodstock film, including some very noted ones (Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Johnny Winter, Ravi Shankar, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin) and a few very obscure ones (Bert Sommer and Quill, the latter of whom are only represented by a brief clip of them creating an onstage rhythm).

Before getting too ga-ga over this set, a few features that might be viewed as shortcomings have to be noted. There are a bunch of multiple versions of songs that aren't actually different performances of the songs, but different in terms of the camera setups used, which might try the patience of more conventional listeners. A good deal of the footage was done in the dark, and when you see the clips of Joplin, Creedence, the Dead, BS&T, Winter, and the Band, you wonder if their failure to make the film might have been a simple matter of the images just not showing up well enough to look as good as the sets shot in daylight. A few of the songs are incomplete – one guesses because complete versions don't exist – most frustratingly in the case of the Incredible String Band, for whom just a snippet of one tune is featured. And for all its length, this doesn't either include all the footage taken at the event – some other sequences have shown up on bootleg DVDs of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, CCR, and the Who, for instance, as well as an official DVD of Hendrix's Woodstock performance – or even all the performers (Melanie being a notable absentee). A few of the sequences, too, actually appear in the official 1970 Woodstock movie. Nevertheless, until such time as a mammoth official box of all Woodstock footage appears, this has plenty of unreleased material to enjoy, particularly outstanding clips including Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love"; Joe Cocker's "Let's Go Get Stoned"; and Janis Joplin's "Ball and Chain."

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