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.

Mike Marshall - Gator Strut (1987)

Mike Marshall (born Michael James Marshall, July 17, 1957 in New Castle, Pennsylvania) is a bluegrass mandolinist who has collaborated with David Grisman and Darol Anger.

He grew up in Lakeland, Florida. When he was 18, he won Florida state contests on fiddle and mandolin. He considers his discovery of David Grisman's music a significant event in his life, admiring how Grisman combined jazz and Latin styles into his own form of bluegrass. After Marshall moved to California, he collaborated with Grisman on film music and soon after was invited by Grisman to join the quintet. He was a member of the David Grisman Quintet from 1985–1990, touring with Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Tony Rice, Mark O'Connor, Stéphane Grappelli, and Darol Anger.

Marshall and Darol Anger collaborated often during their careers. They founded Montreux, with Barbara Higbie and Michael Manring, and the supergroup Psychograss, with Tony Trischka and Todd Phillips. Like Grisman, both groups played an eclectic style of music that combined classical, folk, jazz, and bluegrass. Marshall has performed Brazilian music with the band Choro Famoso and on his second solo album, Brazil: Duets. He released his debut solo album, Gator Strut, in 1989.

Marshall is a virtuoso on the mandolin. He plays a 1924 Gibson F-5 mandolin that was signed by Lloyd Loar. He helped start the Modern Mandolin Quartet. His wife, Caterina Lichtenberg, is a German mandolinist. He collaborated with mandolinist Chris Thile on Into the Cauldron (2003). Both he and Caterina teach online mandolin lessons through ArtistWorks.

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.)

The Rose Garden - A Trip Through The Garden (1967 - 68)

Omnivore's 2018 A Trip Through the Garden: The Rose Garden Collection is the first thorough compilation assembled on the California folk-rock quintet, containing all of their eponymous 1967 debut -- previously, that was the only Rose Garden music to reach CD -- along with alternate mixes and takes, rehearsals, acetate versions, and five live tracks recorded at Canoga Park's Chaminade High School in 1967. The lack of Rose Garden compact discs could be down to how they had only one hit single: "Next Plane to London," which climbed to number 17 in the fall of 1967. A Trip Through the Garden fills out the story, underscoring how the Rose Garden were very much a band of their time and place, quite proudly displaying their debt to the Byrds. All of their eponymous debut and the assorted ephemera on the disc recall the sweeter, folkier elements of the Byrds, but the connection is deepest with Gene Clark. The Rose Garden cut two Clark songs that are otherwise unavailable: the tuneful jangle of "Long Time" and the proto country-rocker "Till Today." These two songs, along with the mellow effervescence of "Next Plane to London," are the highlights of the album and the comp, rivaled only by a crunchy version of Neil Young's "Down to the Wire" and the five live cuts, which are much tougher than anything else heard on the CD (they also contain two additional Byrds covers in "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" and "She Don't Care About Time"). Saving these cuts, the Rose Garden are a pleasant period artifact: gentle, hazy, and light, so light they float away on a breeze.

John Cale - Helen of Troy (1975)

The supporting crew on Cale's final Island album makes for a lineup that could never have happened again -- at least, in terms of future results, imagining, among others, Cale, Chris Spedding, Brian Eno, and Phil Collins once more in the same room together seems totally unlikely. Regardless of the oddity, Cale once again led a great ensemble band (Spedding now having fully taken over from Manzanera on guitar) through another set of great, inspiring songs. Whoever is putting in the guitar solos, Spedding or Cale, sometimes misfires, sometimes succeeds brilliantly -- consider opening song "My Maria," where the earlier efforts are intrusive but the concluding parts a perfect addition to the building smack of the song. Cale's songs generally tend towards the uneasy throughout, his sometimes strained but never forced singing, high volume at points, making the most of the material. The atmosphere of the album as a whole is perhaps the most band-oriented of the three Island records, with further arrangements sounding like additions more than intrinsic parts of the songs. It's not a criticism, though, more an interesting experiment with often strong results, like the strident horns and heavily treated noise on the title track. "I Keep a Close Watch" is the secret emotional sucker punch on Helen of Troy -- Cale long harbored a sadly unfulfilled dream that Frank Sinatra might cover it, and there's little doubt why. Taking the opening line from Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" as inspiration, with a much different thematic intent, it's an unabashedly romantic number with a great string and horn arrangement. There are, again, gentler moments that call to mind earlier tributes to the Beach Boys here and there, such as "China Sea," along with a great rendition of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso." Overall, Helen of Troy finds Cale at his edgiest, with fascinating results.