LYRES - Lucky 7 [USA garage rock 1979-1991] 2016 Munster Records MR 7275

 

Formed in Boston in the late '70s from the ashes of the legendary DMZ, Lyres are one of the truly essential garage bands -- and the seven 7"s (and CD) contained in this boxed set clearly prove why. Featuring 16 tracks spanning 1979 to 1991, they're loaded with sound, attitude, and a way of making music not found around too often. This set includes the contents of Lyres' never-released first acetate, recorded live and pressed by the band only two weeks after their first rehearsal. Their amazing debut 7" on Sounds Interesting Records is presented with facsimile artwork, as are a string of magnificent tracks the band recorded during the 1980s for Boston's Ace of Hearts Records, run by Rick Harte, who also produced the recordings. Tracks such as "Buried Alive," "Help You Ann," "I Really Want You Right Now," "She Pays The Rent," "Not Looking Back," and other staples of the 1980s rock and roll scene show the band (and its varying line-ups) at the top of their game. Includes 20-page booklet with photos and liner notes by Lyres organist and vocalist Jeff Conolly. 

007

GRATEFUL DEAD - Workingman's Dead [USA rock, country 1971] 2020 Warner, Rhino 603497846986

Workingman's Dead 50 th anniversary,  featuring the original album with newly remastered sound, plus an unreleased complete concert recorded on February 21, 1971 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. The show was mixed from the 16-track analog master tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Bob Weir’s Marin County TRI Studios and mastered by Grammy® Award-winning engineer, David Glasser, along with restoration and speed correction by Plangent Processes. 2/21/71 delivers a plethora of songs from both Workingman’s Dead and the band’s follow-up album, American Beauty. Some highlights include Weir’s moving vocal take on “Me and Bobby McGee,” Pigpen’s whiskey-seasoned growl on “Easy Wind” and a stellar run through “Uncle John’s Band” to close out the show.

Band

 

NEIL YOUNG - After The Gold Rush [Canada rock 1970] 2020 Reprise Records 093621889588

 

Originally released on 19 September 1970, songs on the album include classics like ‘Tell Me Why’, ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’, ‘Southern Man’ and ‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down’.

The After the Gold Rush reissue includes the album's original 11 songs, plus two versions of the outtake "Wonderin'." The first version was recorded in Topanga, California, in March 1970, and originally was included on Young's The Archives Vol. 1: 1963-1972 box set. The second was recorded at Sunset Sound studios in Hollywood in August 1969 and is previously unreleased.

Young

JOHNNY CASH - At San Quentin [USA country 1969] 2017 Sony 88985413162

 

To put the performance on Johnny Cash at San Quentin in a bit of perspective: Johnny Cash's key partner in the Tennessee Two, guitarist Luther Perkins, died in August 1968, just seven months before this set was recorded in February 1969. In addition to that, Cash was nearing the peak of his popularity -- his 1968 live album, At Folsom Prison, was a smash success -- but he was nearly at his wildest in his personal life, which surely spilled over into his performance. All of this sets the stage for Johnny Cash at San Quentin, a nominal sequel to At Folsom Prison that surpasses its predecessor and captures Cash at his rawest and wildest. Part of this is due to how he feeds off of his captive audience, playing to the prisoners and seeming like one of them, but it's also due to the shifting dynamic within the band. Without Perkins, Cash isn't tied to the percolating two-step that defined his music to that point. Sure, it's still there, but it has a different feel coming from a different guitarist, and Cash sounds unhinged as he careens through his jailhouse ballads, old hits, and rockabilly-styled ravers, and even covers the Lovin' Spoonful ("Darlin' Companion"). No other Johnny Cash record sounds as wild as this. He sounds like an outlaw and renegade here, which is what gives it power -- listen to "A Boy Named Sue," a Shel Silverstein composition that could have been too cute by half, but is rescued by the wild-eyed, committed performance by Cash, where it sounds like he really was set on murdering that son of a bitch who named him Sue. He sounds that way throughout the record, and while most of the best moments did make it to the original 1969 album, the 2000 Columbia/Legacy release eclipses it by presenting nine previously unreleased bonus tracks, doubling the album's length, and presenting such insanely wild numbers as "Big River" as well as sweeter selections like "Daddy Sang Bass." Now, that's the only way to get the record, and that's how it should be, because this extra material makes a legendary album all the greater -- in fact, it helps make a case that this is the best Johnny Cash album ever cut.

Cash