RICK DANKO BAND - Live On Breeze Hill [Canada rock 1999] 2008 Breeze Hill Records/Woodstock Records

Rick Danko's solo album Live On Breeze Hill, released in August 1999 on Woodstock Records, is an 11-song collection of inspired performances from The Band's legendary bassist and lead singer.

Backed by some of the finest musicians in the business (including Band-mate Garth Hudson and long-time collaborator and Band producer Aaron "Louie" Hurwitz), the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is in fine form on this outing, which is sure to please Danko fans old and new.

Live On Breeze Hill captures the intimacy, immediacy and excitement of Danko's live, electric performances, and features creative reworkings of requisite staples "Twilight" and "Stagefright", ingenius versions of long-lost gems "Caledonia Mission", audience favourites "Crazy Mama", singalongs "Blaze Of Glory" and classics "It Makes No Difference" and "The Shape I'm In". The CD also includes a bonus studio track, a new arrangement of Danko's "Sip The Wine" which ardent fans will recognize from its first appearance in The Last Waltz.

Danko's nine-piece band also features Letterman horn player Tom "Bones" Malone (trombone, baritone sax), former Tower Of power saxophonist and current leader of the Saturday Night Live band Lenny Pickett (tenor sax, clarinet) and renowned studio player Jim Hynes (trumpet).

Danko

 

THANATOPSIS - Golden Voice [USA garage, psychedelic pop 1968] 2018 Alona's Dream Records ADR CD 025

 

This album was recorded c. 1968 at Golden Voice Recording by Jerry Milam and unheard until 2018. Thanatopsis treats us to everything from baroque pop to psychedelic teenbeat garage.

This release contains the first and only official reissue of the songs from their sought-after Golden Voice 45 as well as 10 other cuts, ranging from Mothers Of Invention inspired wackiness to sincere late ’60’s teen pop. Thantaopsis pushed the limits of the freshly built four-track studio with new sounds and experimentation.

Thanatopsis

THE ACTION - Rolled Gold [UK freak beat, psychedelic 1967-68] 2018 Guerssen GUESS153

The legendary 1967–68 recordings by UK mod band THE ACTION, registered when they were in transition from mod–beat to full–blown psychedelia, just prior to becoming MIGHTY BABY.

Originally recorded as a set of demos with the intention of obtaining an album deal which inexplicably never materialized, "Rolled Gold" is a collection of brilliant songs, melancholic yet powerful. The Action’s classic line–up of Reg King, Alan ’Bam’ King, Michael Evans and Roger Powell is augmented with the inclusion of new members Martin Stone on guitar and Ian Whiteman on flute / organ. All of them are playing their hearts out: superb harmonies, great guitar work and clever arrangements which show the influence of bands like The Byrds and the psychedelic sounds that were coming from the West Coast and UK as well as jazz giants like Coltrane.

The Action

 

YOUNG MODERN - Play Faster 25th Anniversary Edition [Australia power pop 1979] 2011 Aztec Music AVSCD005

Young Modern, were a seminal Australian Power pop band from the late seventies. Cited by the likes of Sunnyboys and the Hoodoo Gurus as being an early influence on their careers, Young Modern were an anachronism – either too late for the first wave of Power Pop (Big Star, Raspberries, Badfinger), or too early for the second (DB’s, Plimsouls, Marshall Crenshaw).

Young Modern formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1977. Four guys barely out of their teens, led by a slightly older and more experienced frontman, their blend of youth and taste - backed by great tunes and a solid soulful sound - is a joy to listen to.

The classic single “She’s Got The Money / Automatic” (produced by Stephen Cummings), became a staple on radio stations such as Double J in Sydney (now JJJ) and Triple R in Melbourne. The rest of the original LP tracklisting is made up of demos from late 1978, and is rounded out in this 25th. Anniversary Edition, with 8 bonus live tracks – recorded between 1978 and 1979.

Young

 

JOHNNY CASH - Rockabilly Blues [USA country, rock and roll 1980] 1999 Koch Records, Sony Music KOC-CD-7979, A28689

 

Not as earth-shaking as his work with The Tennessee Two, and not really true rockabilly, it's still a convincing album of country-rock songs with more depth than nearly anything else coming from Nashville at the time.

Rockabilly