The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)

Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth album by American rock band the Byrds and was released on August 30, 1968, on Columbia Records (see 1968 in music). Recorded with the addition of country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, it became the first major album widely recognised as country rock, and represented a stylistic move away from the psychedelic rock of the band's previous LP, The Notorious Byrd Brothers. The Byrds had occasionally experimented with country music on their four previous albums, but Sweetheart of the Rodeo represented their fullest immersion into the genre thus far.The album was also responsible for bringing Parsons, who had joined the Byrds prior to the recording of the album, to the attention of a mainstream rock audience for the first time. Thus, the album can be seen as an important chapter in Parsons' personal and musical crusade to make country music fashionable for a young audience.

The album was initially conceived as a musical history of 20th century American popular music, encompassing examples of country music, jazz and rhythm and blues, among other genres. However, steered by the passion of the little-known Parsons, who had only joined the Byrds in February 1968, this proposed concept was abandoned early on and the album instead became purely a country record. The recording of the album was divided between sessions in Nashville and Los Angeles, with contributions from several notable session musicians, including Lloyd Green, John Hartford, JayDee Maness, and Clarence White. Tension developed between Parsons and the rest of the band, guitarist Roger McGuinn especially, with some of Parsons' vocals being re-recorded, partly due to legal complications, and by the time the album was released in August, Parsons had left the band. The Byrds' move away from rock and pop towards country music elicited a great deal of resistance and hostility from the ultra-conservative Nashville country music establishment who viewed the Byrds as a group of long-haired hippies attempting to subvert country music.

Upon its release, the album reached number 77 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but failed to reach the charts in the United Kingdom. Two attendant singles were released during 1968, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", which achieved modest success, and "I Am a Pilgrim", which failed to chart. The album received mostly positive reviews in the music press, but the band's shift away from psychedelic music alienated much of its pop audience. Despite being the least commercially successful Byrds' album to date upon its initial release, Sweetheart of the Rodeo is today considered to be a seminal and highly influential country rock album.

The Byrds - (Untitled) (Unissued) (2000)

Fleetwood Mac - Shrine '69 (1999)

Shrine '69 is a live album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, recorded on 25 January 1969, and finally released in 1999. Recorded at a concert in southern California, this album includes versions of the band's recent hits, "Albatross" and "Need Your Love So Bad", as well as more unusual songs like "Before the Beginning" and "Lemon Squeezer".

Bonnie Dobson - Bonnie Dobson (1969)

Bonnie Dobson did not make the transition from folk to rock well, as this 1969 album attests. With its pop trimmings and orchestration, the impression is that RCA was trying to put Dobson into the pop market, rather than the rock or even folk-rock one. The arrangements aren't awful, but they aren't inspired either, and don't suit the songs well. It's as if someone was trying to make her over into a folk Bobbie Gentry. And the material isn't the greatest either. Getting an opportunity to do an electric version of her own "Morning Dew" would seem to have been the greatest opportunity that the author of the song could have, yet it's no more than adequate, and in any case had been beaten to the punch through prior versions by Tim Rose, the Grateful Dead, the Jeff Beck Group, Lulu, and others. Same thing with her covers of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" and Dino Valenti's "Let's Get Together": would have been a great idea in early 1967, but was running behind the pack a couple of years later. (At least her cover of Jackson Frank's "You Never Me" was a more obscure, daring choice.) Five of the 12 songs are her own compositions, but with the exception of "Morning Dew" they're inoffensively forgettable, easygoing pop-folk-rock. A sitar (or possibly an electric sitar) pops up a couple of times, but it sounds more trendy than far-out. As an early-1960s folk singer, Dobson made notable if little-known contributions to the folk scene, but this album indicates that she wasn't able to either maximize her potential or capitalize on her assets in a timely fashion.

Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

Ash Ra Tempel was a German krautrock group active from 1970 to 1976, Manuel Gottsching's first prominent musical output. Ash Ra Tempel featured revolving members. Gottsching retired the use of the Ash Ra Tempel name after he became the sole remaining member. His first solo album Inventions for Electric Guitar was the last album to bear the Ash Ra Tempel name. Gottsching later used the name Ashra for his solo output as an homage to his former group. Ashra eventually evolved into a full band and continued along with Gottsching until 1998.

Grace Slick - Software (1984)

This fourth solo album from Grace Slick is a very real treat for fans. Far removed from the Great Society demos on Sundazed and her Jefferson Airplane work, "Call It Right Call It Wrong" is Slick and her co-songwriter, '80s producer Peter Wolf (not to be confused with the singer of the J. Geils Band), presenting very contemporary pop tunes that are enough to the left to keep this vision hip, but removed enough from Starship to be considered adventurous. The bottom line is that this is highly entertaining. "Me and Me" is Slick being schizophrenic, and asking her date to do the same -- unless she's splitting herself into quad. She has made a profession of introducing the concept of paradox to the mainstream. "All the Machines" is a wonderful techno mantra. It is amazing when one considers her star power at this point in time -- overshadowing all members of the Jefferson Starship from Paul Kantner to Mickey Thomas -- that a quirky song like "All The Machines" didn't become a novelty hit. Also noteworthy that college radio should have embraced this bold move -- but that dichotomy of a mainstream artist working with mainstream producers like Wolf and Ron Nevison doing truly alternative material, well, it may have been viewed as calculated. But it isn't as calculating as it is wonderfully arrogant. More palatable than Kantner's excesses, Slick's distinguished vocals add a depth to "Fox Face" that few could pull off, taking an overwordy composition with its dirge vibe and transforming it into some techno epic. Although Ron Nevison is a superstar producer with credentials all over the rock universe, he was not known for creating an identity as Jimmy Miller, David Foster, George Martin, and other legends did so well. This is one of the finest, if not the finest, recordings by Ron Nevison. Maybe it is the laid-back atmosphere allowing the cast and crew to take a song like Peter Beckett's "Through the Window," the only non-Slick/Wolf composition on this album, and hit a home run with it. 

This is real modern rock stuff, a glossier version of what Boston's November Group were doing, Slick's voice a not so delicate monotone. This is as much a Peter Wolf solo album with Slick doing vocals as it is another chapter in her illustrious career. The cover is fantastic, the artist's chest a computer world with mixmaster, a starship, speedboat, and other items, all next to an electrical outlet glowing pink. The back cover has her on a floppy disk being inserted into the wall. Very innovative for its time, "It Just Won't Stop" continuing the keyboard onslaught. Even Peter Maunu's guitar appears invisible, sounding like keyboards. The keyboard bass everywhere takes this so far away from the music we are used to hearing Slick sing to. The backing vocals by Paul Kantner, Mickey Thomas, wife of Peter Ina Wolf, and others all slip into the sheen of the music, five steps away from the Human League. Nevison gets a cleaner sound than Martin Rushent in this world; maybe it's a good break for him away from albums by Ozzie and Heart. "Habits" is a reading and emotive vocal wrapped into one, changing the mood before "Rearrange My Face," another schizo introspective number. A shrink could have a field day with the superstar on this album, wondering if the stream of consciousness lyrics might be revealing another side of Slick. "Whenever someone sees my face/they always have to call me Grace" -- bolstered by Peter Wolf's keyboard vibes and the Harry Belafonte style backing vocals. "Bikini Atoll" is a really lovely love song featuring Dale Strumpel's sound effects, very close to "Lather" by the Jefferson Airplane, maybe a subconscious sequel to her past life. For all the side projects members of the Airplane/Starship contingent have released, this is one of the most cohesive, and enjoyable.

Manny Charlton Band - Stonkin' (2000)

The Manny Charlton Band is a band put together by Nazareth guitarist, Manny Charlton. The band includes singer Robin DeLorenzo on lead vocals, Tim Bogert of Vanilla Fudge, and drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr. They scheduled an album and tour for summer of 2012. The album is titled Hellacious and is being produced by Gary Bryant McGrath (GB Records). The album includes some special guests such as Steven Adler of Guns N' Roses and Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard.

Hellacious is the name of the Manny Charlton Band's 2012 album featuring the lineup named above. It has a set of original songs written by both Charlton and DeLorenzo and some remakes of Nazareth tunes. On July 1, 2012, producer and manager Gary McGrath announced the album's physical US release for August 14, 2012, and the album was released on March 15, 2013 in online stores.

Gandalf - Gandalf 2 (1968 - 1971)

Gandalf were an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in New York City. Originally called the Rahgoos, the group consisted of guitarist Peter Sando, bassist Bob Muller, keyboardist Frank Hubach and drummer Davy Bauer.

They signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1967. Producers Koppelman & Rubin were not happy with the band's name, and suggested that it should be changed to the Knockrockers. However Peter Sando commented that they "hated that and bantered about various names". Despite being against the band's will, and losing local fan recognition, Davy suggested the name "Gandalf and The Wizards", which ended up sticking as "Gandalf".

They recorded their first and only LP the same year. The record includes covers of Tim Hardin, Eden Ahbez and Bonner & Gordon (the writers of "Happy Together") and two songs composed by the band's guitarist Peter Sando. But Capitol spurned them and only released the LP in 1969 with the wrong record inside the sleeve. The copies were recalled and damaged the band's career. Capitol didn't promote the record which made the sales worse. Over the years the album's reputation grew and it was re-released by Sundazed records in 2002.

Gandalf - Gandalf (1968)

Gandalf's self-titled album has some attractive baroque-psychedelia with a spacey air, though its quality depends very much on the standard of the material. Generally they're better the more they rely on the slightly weird and spacey production, as on "Scarlet Ribbons" and their cover of Tim Hardin's "Hang on to a Dream." On tracks like "You Upset the Grace of Living" there's a nice balance of melody and quasi-classical keyboards on the cusp between pop, progressive rock and psychedelia. "Can You Travel in the Dark Alone," one of the few originals (by Peter Sando), is nice, harmonic sunshine pop with a slightly experimental feel, along the lines of some of the better things being done by Californian cult figures like Gary Usher and Curt Boettcher at the time. Other selections are nothing special, however.

Maxophone - Maxophone (1975)

One of the most prominent Italian progressive rock groups of the '70s, this album was recorded in 1973 and is an outstanding document of the era. 

Reissued here for the first time, the original has long been a sought-after album in progressive rock circles and is often name-checked alongside early Genesis, Cressida, and Area. Maxophone was inspired by classical music in their prog maneuvers, and the band featured three prominent avant-garde classical performers -- Mauruzio Banchini, Sergio Lattuada, and Leonardo Schiavone -- in their ranks. These musicians matched with the rock trio of Roberto Giuliani, Alberto Ravasini, and Sandro Lorenzetti made for a unique combination. Exploring a myriad of influences, they succeeded in creating a music of composites that was entirely unique. The group mixed classical, folk, and traditional with avant-garde, rock, and even Neapolitan traditional music. An eclectic mix that has many similarities to the more prominent Italian progressive rock group Area, with whom they often toured. Formed in Milan, the group lived a short career, producing this sole album before splitting. The album is reissued here by the archivist label Akarma in an authentic representation of the original album. A version of the album was recorded in English for the 

American market, but has fallen through the gaps, and we have this single album in Italian to ponder the heady activities of the European progressive rock scene.

Sam Brown - 43 Minutes (1993)

43 Minutes is the third studio album from English female singer-songwriter Sam Brown. It was released in 1993 by Brown's own label, Pod Music.

43 Minutes peaked at No. 132 on Australia's ARIA Charts. "Fear of Life" was released as the album's only single, and reached No. 135 on the ARIA Charts. In 2019, a remastered edition of 43 Minutes was reissued on CD through Pod Music.

Brown began writing 43 Minutes in 1991, during which time her mother was dying of cancer. Once writing was completed, Brown's label, A&M Records, provided the singer with £11,000 to demo her new material, with recording taking place in the summer of 1992. When presented to A&M, the label 

raised concerns over the material not being commercial enough. They requested Brown record a cover version of a song with hit potential and include it on the album, but Brown refused and split from the label. She told the Windsor Star in 1994: "I made a creative decision that I'd rather have artistic fulfillment than financial success."

Brown then looked at releasing her new material independently. She bought back the rights from A&M, and worked some more on the existing recordings. 43 Minutes was released in 1993 through Brown's own label, Pod Music, and through All At Once Records in Europe. The initial release 

sold 4,000 copies, and Brown embarked on a 22-date UK tour in early 1993 to promote it.

Speaking of the album, Brown told Staines and Ashford News in 1992: "Musically it's very different to what I have done before. It's all piano with other instruments and quite mellow." She added in 2000: "43 Minutes is the first album that really represents me. It's not directly about my mother's death, but it is a whole piece and very fierce. It really homed in on what I thought, what death chucks up at you."

Gamma Ray - Skeletons and Majesties (2011)

Skeletons & Majesties Live is the fourth live album of the metal band Gamma Ray. The album was recorded during Gamma Ray's 2011 concert in Pratteln (Switzerland) and contains acoustic renditions of the songs Rebellion in Dreamland and Send Me a Sign as well as the guest appearance of ex-Helloween and current Unisonic vocalist Michael Kiske on 3 tracks.

It was released both as an audio CD as well as a DVD on 30 November 2012.

Steel River - Weighin Heavy (1970)

Steel River was a Canadian rock group formed in Toronto which performed primarily during the 1970s. They are best known for a Canadian Top 10 single "Ten Pound Note" released in 1970.

Starting in 1965 as a part-time Toronto R&B club band called The Toronto Shotgun, Steel River became full-time musicians in 1969. Greg Hambleton signed them to the Tuesday Record label, where their first single release was the Jay Telfer (A Passing Fancy) song "Ten Pound Note". The single hit Top-10 in Canada. It finished in Canada at #79 for the year. The band members were singer John Dudgeon, keyboardist Bob Forrester, bassist Rob Cockell, guitarist Tony Dunning and drummers Ray Angrove and Dennis Watson.

In 1971 the band released a follow-up LP on Evolution Records. A single, "Southbound Train", through Quality Records by including a toy train in the promotional package.

They continued touring internationally until they disbanded in 1974. That year they went on a 14 state tour in the United States.

Four out of five of the original members reunited briefly in 1980, and released a single, "Armoured Car".

Vocalist John Dudgeon went on to release a solo single record in 1983 called "Put My Arms Around You" which received extensive airplay on CKFM (99.9) and other stations in Canada and U.S. In 2004, he joined Mojo Grande, a funk/blues band from Markham, Ontario.

In 2013 and 2014, two of Steel River's albums, "A Better Road" and a re-mixed "Weighin' Heavy", were re-issued on producer Greg Hambleton's revived Axe Records label.

Daryl Hall and John Oates - Voices (1980)

Voices is the ninth studio album by American pop music duo Hall & Oates. The album was released on July 29, 1980, by RCA Records. It spent 100 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 17.

The album slowly became a massive hit, spinning off four singles into the top 40 of the American pop charts: "How Does It Feel to Be Back" (number 30 in summer, 1980), "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (number 12 in fall, 1980), "Kiss on My List" (number 1 for three weeks in spring, 1981), and "You Make My Dreams" (number 5 in summer, 1981). "Everytime You Go Away" was not released as a single but was covered by Paul Young in 1985, when it went to number 1 on the Hot 100 on 27 July 1985. Singers Elisa Chan and Danny Summer covered this song in Cantonese in 1985 and 1986.

Voices was the first album that Hall & Oates produced by themselves, working in conjunction with renowned engineer Neil Kernon.

The album debuted at number 75 on the Billboard 200 the week of August 16, 1980 as the highest debut of the week. After ten months since its debut on the chart, it reached and peaked at number 17 on June 13, 1981, making it their highest charting album since 1975 when Daryl Hall & John Oates peaked at number 17 too. It remained on the chart for one hundred weeks, more than any other album by the duo. It was certified gold by the RIAA on May 6, 1981 for shipments of 500,000 units, it reached platinum status on January 22, 1982 denoting shipments of one million.

Nicky Hopkins - The Tin Man Was A Dreamer (1973)

The Tin Man Was a Dreamer is a studio album by English musician Nicky Hopkins, released in 1973 on Columbia Records. While Hopkins had long been well known for his distinctive, melodic style on piano and Wurlitzer electric piano, the album provided a rare opportunity to hear him sing, unlike his earlier solo releases The Revolutionary Piano of Nicky Hopkins and Jamming with Edward! The album was co-produced by Neil Young's regular producer, David Briggs, and featured contributions from George Harrison, Mick Taylor, Klaus Voormann and Hopkins' fellow Rolling Stones sidemen Bobby Keys and Jim Price.

Toto - Toto IV (1982)

Toto IV is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto released in the spring of 1982 by Columbia Records.

The lead single, "Rosanna", peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, while the album's third single, "Africa", topping the Hot 100 chart, became the group's first and only number 1 hit.[6] Both songs were hits in the UK as well, reaching number 12 and 3, respectively. The fourth single, "I Won't Hold You Back", also peaked within the top ten on the Hot 100, at number 10, but atop the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks. It also went into the top 40 in the UK. With the success of "Africa", the album climbed back into the top 10 in early 1983 on both sides of the Atlantic.

Toto IV received six Grammy Awards in 1983 including Album of the Year, Producer of the Year for the band, and Record of the Year for "Rosanna". It reached number four on the Billboard 200 album charts in the United States, shortly after its release. It also reached the top ten in other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Japan. It was also the last Toto album to feature their original bassist David Hungate until his return in 2014 (with the release of their 2015 album Toto XIV) when he replaced by Mike Porcaro after the band’s recording of the album, and also the final album to feature original lead vocalist Bobby Kimball until his comeback in 1998 (with the release of the 1999 album Mindfields).

Humble Pie - Joint Effort (2019)

One of the first and most loved of the super groups from Britain, Humble Pie established their sound from the off. Former Small Faces leader Steve Marriott, fellow guitarist and vocalist Peter Frampton (ex-Herd), Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley and the mighty teenage drummer Jerry Shirley convened at Steve’s Essex home in 1969 while the Small faces were still operating, but since his heart was no longer in the repetition of his extraordinary pop hits and hadn’t a desire to turn it up, rock a new metal brew.

Humble Pie - Town and Country (1969)

Stepson - Stepson (1974)

Formed in 1971, Stepson featured drummer Len Fagen, bassist Bruce Hauser, singer Jeff Hawks and lead guitarist Joey Newman.  By this point in time three of the four were seasoned musical professionals with resumes that stretched back to the late-'60s.   Newman and Hawks had been in Don and the Goodtimes.  Newman, Hawks and Hauser had all been in Touch and following that group's demise Newman had played in Blue Mountain Eagle.

With the addition of drummer Len Fagen,1971 found Hauser, Hawks and Newman reunited as Stepson. Working LA's club scene eventually saw them gain a steady job as the house band at the Whiskey a Go-Go where they made connections with the likes of Arthur Lee of Love fame and Three Dog Night's Jimmy Greenspoon.  Finally signed by ABC, the quartet made their debut with the Bob d'Orleans' 1971  produced "Stepson".   Featuring an enthusiastic, if somewhat pedestrian collection of hard rock and blues rock numbers, the album's become quite a collectable over the years.   Showcasing Hawks growling voice and Newman's chunky lead guitar, this was your typical "bell curve" album.  What the hell's he talking about?  Well, as you probably remember from statistics, the album's ten songs followed a bell curve in terms of quality.  To my ears there were three excellent performances - the fuzz powered opener 'Rule In the Book', the bluesy, Free-styled 'Suffer', and the proto-Van Halen-styled closer 'Burnin' Hot'.   At the opposite end of the spectrum 'Back to 'Bama', 'Man, I'm a Fool', and 'Turnpike' were pedestrian, forgettable blues and country-rockers.   And in the middle were the other four tracks.  A typical bell curve distribution.  Professional, occasionally enthusiastic, but hardly original or groundbreaking.  Think along the lines of Grand Funk Railroad, The J. Geils Band, or perhaps a touch of Free.   As mentioned above, the most interesting tune here was the closer 'Burnin' Hot' which really did sound like a prototype for Diamond Dave and the Van Halen brothers.

Vox Dei - Caliente (1970)

Caliente is the name of the first album recorded by the Argentine rock band Vox Dei. The only album for "Mandioca". The band had recorded for "Mandioca" two singles between 1969 and 1970. During the sessions from the next album La Biblia, Vox Dei still was recording until this label when it's went bankrupt in late 1970 and the label "Disc Jockey" took over of the production of the next four albums.

Also, here appears the first version of "Presente", the second version (more famous) appears in Cuero Caliente (1972).

Trees - The Garden of Jane Delawney (1970)

Divided about half-and-half between traditional folk covers ("The Great Silkie" is the best) and Tobias Boshell originals, this is very much in the mainstream of 1970 British folk-rock. But the material is often plain, and the arrangements simply too drawn-out, even bombastic at times. The band takes on Fairport head-to-head on "She Moved Thro' the Fair" (sung by Sandy Denny on Fairport's second LP) and loses. The title track, though, is their best song, an atypically light piece for acoustic guitar and harpsichord that has a beautifully haunting melody.

Creed - Weathered (2001)

The week Creed released their fourth album, Weathered, lead vocalist Scott Stapp mentioned in an interview that they didn't really care about the widespread critical disdain for his group, since Led Zeppelin wasn't appreciated either -- not until they released their fourth album in 1971, that is. Stapp's assessment is a little off; Zeppelin never really enjoyed good reviews by most of the rock-crit establishment -- at least until 1988 when Zep-mania gripped the nation and even prompted Rolling Stone to put Robert Plant on the cover -- but his sentiment is right on target since he's saying Creed isn't a band for the critics, they simply do what they do and the proof that they're right is in the millions of fans. Well, Creed certainly isn't a critic's band, but not because critics hate heavy rock -- grunge sorta blew that bugaboo out of the water when it became mandatory to take anybody with heavy guitars seriously -- but because Creed simply works very earnestly within a tradition without ever expanding it, without ever adding humor or even cracking a smile. R.E.M. and U2 may have had the weight of the world on their shoulders during the first Bush era, but they lightened up occasionally. Creed never does. They are a very serious band, realizing that the world is very serious, so music is a serious business, a way of expressing their faith, passion, yearning, and love -- all things that are quite serious so they should be treated seriously. Their hearts are in the right place -- let it never be said that they're only in this for the money or the fame; they even advertise Stapp's With Arms Wide Open Foundation charity in the liner notes -- but the earnestness in their approach is magnified by their resolutely unimaginative neo-grunge. Try as they may -- and they do, bringing in the Tallahasee Boys' Choir for "Don't' Stop Dancing," incorporating a Cherokee Indian prayer on "Who's Got My Back," sprinkling the album with some keyboards, and stretching out to near-epic lengths occasionally -- they don't break from that template, and to all but the hardcore, this is simply another Creed record, one that has the same faults or virtues, depending on your viewpoint. And that's why Creed isn't Led Zeppelin, even though both were slagged by critics, say what you may, Zeppelin changed on each of those first four records, where Creed has stayed the same. (This does get the honorary Fred Durst's Chocolate Starfish award for worst album cover of the year, however.)