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KOCH/DRG
DORY PREVIN/Live at Carnegie Hall: This album was certainly misunderstood at the time, but so was Previn’s career as a singer/songwriter. A top notch pop tunesmith, she entered the 70s facing the changes her sister contemporary pop tunesmiths faced and while she mastered the singer/songwriter métier, she was more of an anti-Carole King, inventing divorcee pop rather than use her chops to carry on down the tried and true mopey college girl lane like King. This live album was a distillation of the four studio albums that preceded it, chock full of mature observations presented in a low key way that distracted you from the real emotional blows being delivered. A universal kind of set in a way that made it a forerunner of chick pics guys can watch, it might have been a cult item of deep admiration, but it had the depth to be passed around for years without withering the tide of pop culture. Carole King may have given away to Alanis Morrisette and Liz Phair but Previn’s words are still the divorcée pop beacon. Previn’s singer/songwriter years never delivered a clunker, but because of the omnibus depth of this collection surveying 2/3 of her output, this is a high water mark not to be missed.
GERRY MULLIGAN & HIS TENTETTE-SHORTY ROGERS & HIS GIANTS/Modern Sounds: Two albums that are going be another nail in the collectors market as the original rare sides can now be had by any collector with a taste for seminal 50s jazz. With Bud Shank, Chet Baker, Pete Candolli, Art Pepper and other all stars on board, these sides rock the house and tear the roof off the sucker in the process. Any hipster knows who these cats are and what they had a hand in at the time, and these two sets that deliver it uncut from the heart in a big way are mind blowing ear openers. How were these sitting in the can for so long? Killer stuff that passes the test over 50 years later.
RAVEN
ALBERT LEE/Speechless-Gagged But Not Bound: Talk about headlines…these two sets were recorded right before the market crash of 1989 when labels were easy going about letting first call sidemen make solo sets to give the fans an extra connect to the core act. Riding high with Emmylou Harris at the time, Lee recorded these two sets with the pressure off and the accent on letting the chops fly. For such a hot player, there’s an engaging, low key aspect to these dates. Whether letting fly on originals or covers, Lee and his various strings cover the waterfront like a blanket and a good time is going be had by guitar fans practically no matter where their listening preference lies. A real pair of hotties.
BOBBY BARE/Bare-Sleeper Wherever I Fall: 1978 was a good year for Bobby Bare as he came with both of these criminally ignored sets in that year. Working out on one with Shel Silverstein and going on his own on the other with help from outlaw pals, these sets are essential listening from a catalog that was filled with consistent high spots from 1973 forward. Continuing in the highly tasty vein that past twofers have given, this slightly middle of the road outlaw set hit’s the mark time and again making it must listening for anyone with even the slightest country leanings. And if you aren’t a country fan, don’t let labels get in the way of you having a good time with this collection.
CHET ATKINS/Atkins-Travis Traveling Show-Reflections: Before he left RCA, Atkins was making these after hours type records that he seemed to be putting out when nobody was looking that were just monsters in the ear of any serious guitar fan. Here we find him pairing up with Merle Travis and Doc Watson for some distinctly different sets bottomed by Atkins trademark style. With Travis in tow, the accent is on hokum, with Watson, he plays it straight put pulls out Watson’s playful side, something that wasn’t really explored until he hit Sugar Hill and did some rocking out. Lovely, high octane albums that go the distance in fine style.
Volume 31/Number 322
September 17, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record
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