6724 - BLACKIE & THE RODEO KINGS - South (2014)

BLACKIE AND THE RODEO KINGS
''SOUTH''
2014
45:11

1 /North
Tom Wilson/3:20
2 /South
Colin Linden/4:24
3 /Gotta Stay Young
Dave Thomson / Tom Wilson/3:36
4 /I'd Have To Be a Stone
Stephen Fearing / Tom Wilson/4:28
5 /Blow Me a Kiss
Colin Linden / Tom Wilson/3:12
6 /Summertime's Over
Colin Linden/3:58
7 /Everything I Am
Stephen Fearing/4:27
8 /I'm Still Loving You
Colin James / Jesse O'Brien / Tom Wilson/3:32
9 /Reinventing the Wheel of Love
Colin Linden / Gary Nicholson/3:09
10 /Try Try Try Again
Erin Costello / Stephen Fearing/2:44
11 /Fleur De Lys
Colin Linden / Tom Wilson/4:13
12 /Driftin Snow
Willie P. Bennett/4:08

Gary Craig /Drums, Percussion
John Dymond /Bass (Electric), Bass (Upright)
Dan Edmonds
Stephen Fearing /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Jimmy Hayes
Colin Linden /Dobro, Guitar (Acoustic), Mandolin, Vocals
Kevin McKendree /Organ
Marlon Nicolle
Harlan Pepper /Harmony
John Whynot /Organ
Thompson Wilson
Tom Wilson /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals

BIOGRAPHY
By Mark Deming
One of Canada's leading roots rock acts, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings is a collaboration between three well-respected blues, folk, and rock musicians, Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden, and Tom Wilson. Fearing is a Vancouver-born, Irish-raised singer/songwriter who returned to the city of his birth in 1981; since 1986, he's released a number of critically acclaimed albums, and is a multiple Juno-award winner. Colin Linden hails from Toronto, and has collaborated with artists as varied as Leon Redbone, Bruce Cockburn, Robert Plant, and the Band, as well as producing albums for a number of artists and releasing several fine solo albums. And Tom Wilson, from Hamilton, Ontario, was the leader of the celebrated blues-rock band Junkhouse before going on to a successful career as a solo artist and songwriter. Fearing, Linden, and Wilson were friends and colleagues who had frequently appeared on each other's albums, and in 1996, they joined forces to pay homage to Willie P. Bennett, a singer and songwriter from Southern Ontario who won a cult following (and later a Juno award) for his powerful, evocative story songs. The trio recorded an album of Bennett's songs called High or Hurtin': The Songs of Willie P. Bennett, and released it under the group name Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, a reference to the title of an album Bennett released in 1978. The album was well received both commercially and critically, and in 1999, the three reconvened for a second album, Kings of Love, in which they covered songs from a variety of different tunesmiths, as well as presenting a few original numbers. In 2004, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings released Bark, their first album dominated by original material, which solidified the group's solid, scrappy fusion of blues, country, and rock influences. In the fall of 2006, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings issued Let's Frolic, which also featured what had become the group's regular rhythm section, bassist John Dymond and drummer Gary Craig, as well as guest vocals from Pam Tillis. The band cut enough material during the Let's Frolic sessions that a second album of outtakes, Let's Frolic Again, appeared in the spring of 2008. The Rodeo Kings returned to their collaborative roots on 2011's Kings and Queens, in which each of the 14 tracks featured duet vocals from a different female artist, including Emmylou Harris, Pam Tillis, Lucinda Williams, Rosanne Cash, Cassandra Wilson, and Patti Scialfa.

6723 - TINSLEY ELLIS - Midnight Blue (2014)

TINSLEY ELLIS
''MIDNIGHT BLUE''
JANUARY 13 2014
51:16

01 - If The River Keeps Rising/3:52
02 - Mouth Turn Dry/4:57
03 - Surrender/5:19
04 - It's Not Funny/4:24
05 - See No Harm/4:28
06 - The Only Thing/3:22
07 - Peace And Love/4:42
08 - Harder To Find/6:41
09 - That's My Story/6:42
10 - Kiss Of Death/7:09
All Tracks By Ellis

Tinsley Ellis/Guitar, Vocals
Kevin McKendree/Organ, Piano
Ted Pecchio/Bass Acoustic & Electric
Lynn Williams/Drums, Percussion

REVIEW
By Thom Jurek
Something happened to Tinsley Ellis' sound when he began his Heartfixer Music label. First there was the all-instrumental Get It! in 2013, that focused on the many sounds that make up the guitarist's arsenal. Sure electric blues was at the root, but hard rock, surf, R&B, and even pop played a role in its creation. The sound was warm, yet lacked none of the bite that Ellis had become famous for. Midnight Blue, Get It!'s follow-up, evidences the bluesman's return to more familiar terrain. The ten-song program commences with "If the River Keeps Rising," where Ellis comes out of the gate playing acoustic blues. His throaty baritone ominously offers its metaphorical warning through the first verse before the band comes careening in à la Led Zep's "When the Levee Breaks." It's loud, proud, and nasty. Ellis' slide work is spare but stinging. "Mouth Turn Dry" is modern electric blues driven not only by guitar but Kevin McKendree's rave-up B-3. "Surrender" is an emotive soul-blues that showcases just how fine a singer Ellis is when he wants to be. It also possesses a bumping bassline from Ted Pecchio (one of many), a cut-time shuffle by Lynn Williams (whose grooves throughout this album are infectious), and shimmering Rhodes and B-3 work from McKendree. Ellis' fills and solo cut the track wide open. It's a slow burner, but a deep one. Other highlights include the Ray Charles-inspired "See No Harm" and the crystalline yet biting, B.B. King-influenced "Peace and Love" (that distinguishes itself with a unique use of the wah-wah pedal). While "Harder to Find" begins with an acoustic piano, it starts to throb Hendrix-style with psych effects while remaining a 12-bar blues. "That's My Story" is a sonic bonfire; a funky, dirty boogie à la early ZZ Top. The set closes on the simmering "Kiss of Death," a slow blues that reveals Ellis and band's commitment to the Chicago Blues. It displays gorgeous melodic playing and a refusal to indulge in obviousness and exquisite taste. Midnight Blue is solid top to bottom, and is the finest studio album since 2005's The Hard Way.

BIOGRAPHY
By Steve Huey
A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles, Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound, and criticized in others for his relative lack of pacing and dynamic contrast (he's also been dubbed a much stronger guitarist than vocalist). Yet no matter which side of the fence one falls on, it's generally acknowledged that Ellis remains a formidable instrumentalist and a genuine student of the blues.
Ellis was born in Atlanta in 1957, and spent most of his childhood in southern Florida. He began playing guitar in elementary school, first discovering the blues through the flagship bands of the British blues boom: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, and so on. He soon moved on to a wide variety of original sources, becoming especially fond of B.B. King and Freddie King. After high school, Ellis moved back to Atlanta in 1975 to attend Emory University, and soon found work on the local music scene, joining a bar band called the Alley Cats (which also featured future Fabulous Thunderbird Preston Hubbard). In 1981, Ellis co-founded The Heartfixers with singer/harmonica player Chicago Bob Nelson, and they recorded an eponymous debut album for the tiny Southland imprint. They soon signed with the slightly larger Landslide and issued Live at the Moon Shadow in 1983, by which point they were one of the most popular live blues acts in the South. However, Nelson left the group shortly after the album's release, and Ellis took over lead vocal chores.

The Heartfixers' first project in their new incarnation was backing up blues shouter Nappy Brown on his well-received 1984 comeback album Tore Up. Ellis debuted his vocals on record on The Heartfixers' 1986 LP Cool on It, which brought him to the attention of Alligator Records. Ellis left The Heartfixers to sign with Alligator as a solo artist in 1988, and they picked up his solo debut Georgia Blue for distribution. The album helped make Ellis a fixture on the blues circuit, and he toured heavily behind it, establishing a hard-working pattern he would follow for most of his career. The follow-up, Fanning the Flames, appeared in 1989 and explored similar territory. Released in 1992, Trouble Time helped land Ellis on album rock radio thanks to the track "Highwayman," but it was 1994's Storm Warning that really broke Ellis to a wider blues-rock audience, earning more media attention than any of his previous recordings; additionally, guitar prodigy Jonny Lang later covered Ellis' "A Quitter Never Wins" on Lie to Me.

For 1997's Fire It Up, Ellis worked with legendary blues-rock producer Tom Dowd (the Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos), as well as Booker T. & the MG's bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Ellis subsequently left Alligator and signed with Capricorn; unfortunately, shortly after the release of 2000's Kingpin, Capricorn went bankrupt, leaving the album high and dry. Still, Ellis soon caught on with Telarc, releasing his initial disc Hell or High Water on the label in 2002, followed by The Hard Way in 2004. One year later, Ellis was back with Alligator, putting out the live set Live! Highwayman and 2007's Moment of Truth, the first studio album to contain original material since Hell or High Water. Ellis toured relentlessly behind the album, and reentered the studio in early 2009. Speak No Evil was released that October, but it would be another three and a half years before he issued another studio album, with Ellis choosing to focus on live performance for the intervening period.

When the all-instrumental Get It! did arrive in March 2013, it contained tributes to a number of his blues guitar heroes such as Freddie King, Bo Diddley, and Albert Collins. Before the end of the year he had also prepared another album with the same lineup as the Get It! sessions: Kevin McKendree on keyboards, Lynn Williams on drums, and Ted Pecchio on bass. Midnight Blue was released in January of 2014.

6722 - BILLY BRANCH AND THE SONS OF BLUES - Blues Shock (2014)

BILLY BRANCH AND THE SONS OF BLUES
''BLUES SHOCK''
JANUARY 21 2014
51:43

1 /Sons of Blues
Billy Branch / Sterling Plumpp/feat: The Chicago Horns/4:30
2 /Crazy Mixed Up World
Willie Dixon/feat: The Chicago Horns/4:48
3 /Blues Shock
Billy Branch/4:47
4 /Dog House
Bobby Bryant/5:58
5 /Function at the Junction
Lamont Dozier / Brian Holland / Eddie Holland / Frederick Long/3:41
6 /Going to See Miss Gerri One More Time
Billy Branch/6:26
7 /Back Alley Cat
Ariyo/2:20
8 /Boom Boom
John Lee Hooker/4:48
9 /Slow Moe
Billy Branch/4:35
10 /Baby Let Me Butter Your Corn
Billy Branch/feat: The Chicago Horns/4:27
11 /Song for My Mother
Billy Branch / Minoru Maruyama/5:23

Kenny Anderson /Trumpet
Ariyo Sumito Ariyoshi /Organ, Piano
Billy Branch /Harmonica, Vocals
Ronnie Baker Brooks /Guitar, Vocals
Dan Carelli /Guitar
Mello Cello /Cello
Nick Charles /Bass
James "Pie" Cowan /Congas, Tambourine
Billy Dickens /Bass
Hank Ford /Sax (Tenor)
Nanette Frank /Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background)
Anne Harris /Violin
Johnny ''Fingers'' Iguana /Hammond B3
Mae Koen /Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background)
Justin Jon Kopp /Bass (Upright)
Diane Madison /Vocals (Background)
Bill McFarland /Horn Arrangements, Trombone
Oggie Merced /Congas
Mose Rutues /Drums, Vocals
Andrew "Blaze" Thomas /Drums
Peter Vale /Bongos

REVIEW
By Mark Deming
Harp master Billy Branch has been a figure of the note on the Chicago blues scene since he was discovered by Willie Dixon in 1969, and after more than four decades, he's grown from a young buck bringing new blood to the blues scene to an elder statesman who stands tall for the music's traditions. Blues Shock arrives ten years after Billy Branch last released an album, but it sounds like he and his latest edition of the Sons of Blues are still in fighting shape, playing tight, straight-ahead blues with force, imagination and wit. Branch's muscular harmonica work is still the heart of this band, and his soloing is fine indeed, but Branch has made this an ensemble set, with his musicians -- Dan Carelli on guitar, Sumito "Ariyo" Ariyoshi on keyboards, Nick Charles on bass, and Moses Rutues on drums -- getting plenty of room to shine and show off their impressive instrumental skills. Branch's first loyalty is to Chicago blues, but Blues Shock is a stylistically diverse set, finding room for funky grooves ("Sons of Blues"), vintage soul ("Function at the Junction"), upbeat dance numbers ("Baby Let Me Butter Your Corn"), jazz-influenced instrumentals ("Song for my Mother") and string-laden ballads ("Going to See Miss Gerri One More Time") along with traditional-sounding numbers like "Crazy Mixed-Up World," "Back Alley Cat," and "Dog House." And along with typical tales of hitting the clubs (the title tune) and dealing with the opposite sex ("Dog House" and "Slow Moe"), Branch delivers a moving tribute to Chicago's musical past, "Going to See Miss Gerri One More Time," inspired by the story of Gerri Oliver, who ran the Palm Tavern, Chicago's premiere African-American nightclub of the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Billy Branch is a man who strives to keep traditions alive, but he isn't about to let his music grow stagnant, and Blues Shock shows there's plenty of fun and fresh ideas to be found in a form as time-tested as Chicago blues. It's a great set.

BIOGRAPHY
By Bill Dahl
In the '70s, harmonica man Billy Branch was one of the young upstarts helping to keep the Chicago blues sound alive; in the 21st century, he's matured into one of the Windy City's most venerable blues talents, and as a musician and educator, Branch has spread the word about the blues across the country and around the world. Branch has led the Sons of Blues, his backing band, since the mid-'70s, and despite numerous personnel changes, the SOBs have never wavered in their dedication to pure, unadulterated Chicago blues. Born in Chicago in 1951, Billy Branch moved with his family to California when he was five, but in 1969 he returned to attend the University of Illinois, where he studied political science. Branch had taken up the blues harp, and he was spotted by legendary songwriter and producer Willie Dixon, who recruited Branch to replace the great Carey Bell in his band the Chicago Blues All-Stars. After graduating from college, Branch abandoned his plans to become a lawyer and went into music full-time, touring with Dixon and forming his own band, Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues; the initial lineup featured Lurrie Bell (Carey Bell's son) on guitar and Freddie Dixon (Willie's son) on bass. In 1984, Branch & the Sons of Blues released their debut album, Where's My Money; by this time, the lineup had changed to Carlos Johnson (guitar), J.W. Williams (bass), and Mose Rutues (drums), and the membership of Branch's group would remain fluid in the years to come, though Rutues would spend more than a quarter century with the band. Branch also co-starred on Alligator's 1990 summit meeting Harp Attack! with fellow harp masters Junior Wells, Carey Bell, and James Cotton; he busied himself as a sideman (cutting sessions with Koko Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, Syl Johnson, and Johnny Winter, among dozens of others), and taught with an innovative "Blues in the Schools" program that brought blues history to young people in schools in America, Mexico, Europe, and South America. Branch has received three Grammy nominations during his long recording career, and two W.C. Handy Awards. In 2014, after a ten-year layoff from recording, Branch and his latest lineup of the Sons of Blues returned with a new album, Blues Shock.

6721 - TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAIN KILLERS - The Devil You Know (2014)

TOMMY CASTRO AND THE PAIN KILLERS
''THE DEVIL YOU KNOW''
JANUARY 21 2014
52:01

1 /The Devil You Know
Kevin Bowe / Tommy Castro / Bonnie Hayes/4:22
2 /Second Mind
Tommy Castro / Bonnie Hayes/3:24
3 /I'm Tired
Chris Youlden/4:01
4 /Center of Attention
Tommy Castro / Ron Alan Cohen/3:11
5 /The Whale Have Swallowed Me
J.B. Lenoir/3:41
6 /When I Cross the Mississippi
Tommy Castro / Bonnie Hayes / Randy McDonald/3:55
7 /Mojo Hannah
Barbara Paul / Clarence Paul / Zephire Andre Williams/3:38
8 /Two Steps Forward
Tommy Castro/4:07
9 /She Wanted to Give It to Me
Anthony Byron Cage / Tommy Castro / Narada Michael Walden/3:45
10 /Keep on Smilin'
John Anthony / James Hall / Richard Hirsch / Jack Hall Jr. / Lewis Ross/6:03
11 /Medicine Woman
Tommy Castro / Bonnie Hayes/3:56
12 /That's All I Got
Tommy Castro / Terry Wilson/3:41
13 /Greedy
Tommy Castro / Randy McDonald/4:17

Tommy Castro/Guitars, Vocals
Randy McDonald/Bass, Vocals
Byron Cage/Drums, Vocals
James Pace/Keyboards, Vocals
With Special Guests:
Marcia Ball/Piano & Vocals On 7
Tab Benoit/Vocals & Guitar On 6
Joe Bonamassa/Guitar On 3
Samantha Fish/Vocals On 11
The Holmes Brothers/Backing Vocals On 6
Magic Dick/Harmonica On 8
Tasha Taylor/Vocals On 5
Additional Guests:
Mike Duke/Piano & Vocals On 10
Mike Finnigan/Organ On 6
Bonnie Hayes/Wurlitzer Piano On 2, Backing Vocals
Jimmy Pugh/Organ On 2
Vicki Randle/Percussion, Backing Vocals
Leah Tysse/Backing Vocals On 2

REVIEW
By Steve Leggett
San Francisco's Tommy Castro has been at this roots and blues-rock thing for some 20 years now, and while at one time he was heralded as the next great guitar slinger, such claims only last until the next guy comes down the line with good tone and flashy technique, and since that seems to happen every other week, it's probably good that Castro brings a whole lot more to the plate than just his guitar playing. There's his voice, for one thing, a soulful and versatile blue-collar growl that sounds like Bob Seger working his way through the Stax/Volt catalog, and he's also turned into a pretty good meat-and-potatoes songwriter, too, although yes, it's his guitar playing that keeps the pot boiling. Castro has been using horn sections and larger ensembles on his recent albums, but for this set he relies on his crackerjack new touring band the Pain Killers, comprised of longtime Castro bassist Randy McDonald, drummer Byron Cage, and keyboardist James Pace, and the pared-down band brings a fiery garage energy to everything here, making this one of Castro's finest releases. Although there are also a lot of guest stars making appearances on The Devil You Know (Marcia Ball, the Holmes Brothers, Joe Bonamassa, Mark Karan, Tab Benoit, Samantha Fish, Tasha Taylor, and the J. Geils Band's Magic Dick among them), they don't overrun the project, and this is Castro's show all the way, from the soulful, gospel-laced "Second Mind" and "The Whale Have Swallowed Me" through a cover of Wet Willie's "Keep on Smilin'," the bouncing, swinging "Mojo Hannah" (featuring Marcia Ball's piano and vocals), and the powerful "Two Steps Forward" (graced by the Holmes Brothers). Things close out with 2013's single "Greedy," which spotlights what a tight and garage-edged band the Pain Killers are. Yeah, this album is full of the blues, but it's also like a full-charged blue-eyed R&B and soul review, and the new configuration of Castro's band has him fired up and roaring on the Stratocaster with a renewed sharpness.

BIOGRAPHY
By Cub Koda
According to all the press and hype and hoopla for a time during the 1990s, Tommy Castro was pegged as the next big star of the blues. Long a favorite among Bay Area music fans, Castro -- in the space of two album releases -- took his music around the world and back again with a sheaf of praise from critics and old-time blues musicians alike. His music was a combination of soul-inflected rockers with the occasional slow blues or shuffle thrown into the mix to keep it honest. His vocals were laid-back and always a hair behind the beat, while his scorching guitar tone was Stevie Ray Stratocaster-approved. Crossover success did not seem out of the question.
Born and raised in San Jose, California, Castro started playing guitar at the tender age of ten. Initially inspired by Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, and Elvin Bishop, he started the inevitable journey into the roots of his heroes and discovered and quickly became enamored of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, and Freddie King. His vocal styling came from constant listening to Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Otis Redding. After playing with numerous Bay Area groups honing his chops, he landed a gig playing guitar for the San Francisco band the Dynatones, who were then signed to Warner Bros. The two-year stint augured well for Castro, playing to the biggest crowds he had seen up to that point and backing artists as diverse as Carla Thomas and Albert King.

Returning to San Francisco, Castro formed his own group and in 1993 released his first self-produced album, No Foolin', on the dime-sized Saloon label. That same year also saw him winning the Bay Area Music Award for Best Club Band, an honor he duplicated the following year. In 1997, he won Bammies for Outstanding Blues Musician and for Outstanding Blues Album for his debut release on Blind Pig Records, Exception to the Rule. Also in 1997, Castro and his band began a three-year stint working as the house band on NBC's Comedy Showcase, which aired after Saturday Night Live.

Live at the Fillmore was released in early 2000, and with everyone from industry insiders to B.B. King singing his praises, Castro appeared to be headed for bigger and better things. It was not to be, however, as in 2001 he left Blind Pig Records and recorded Guilty of Love for the small 33rd Street label. Blind Pig closed the books on their association with Castro in 2002 by releasing the career retrospective The Essential Tommy Castro. Gratitude appeared from Heart and Soul in 2003, followed by Triple Trouble (with Jimmy Hall and Lloyd Jones) later that same year from Telarc. In 2005 Castro returned to the Blind Pig label for the release of Soul Shaker, followed by Painkiller in 2007. The relatively smooth and polished Hard Believer appeared from Alligator Records in 2009, followed in 2011 by The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue: Live!, a collection of highlights from Castro's recent live performances, also on Alligator Records. The Devil You Know, which featured Castro's stripped down new touring band the Pain Killers and a whole host of guest artists, appeared early in 2014.

6720 - DAVID CROSBY - Croz (2014)

DAVID CROSBY
''CROZ''
JANUARY 28 2014
46:44

01 - What's Broken/3:47
02 - Time I Have/3:49
03 - Holding On To Nothing/3:41
04 - The Clearing/3:56
05 - Radio/3:40
06 - Slice Of Time/4:16
07 - Set That Baggage Down/3:58
08 - If She Called/4:56
09 - Dangerous Night/5:55
10 - Morning Falling/3:40
11 - Find A Heart/4:39

REVIEW
By Andy Greene
It's taken David Crosby over 20 years to record a follow-up to his 1993 solo album, Thousand Roads, but he wants his fans to know that his new album is worth the wait. "I spent a lot of that time working with Crosby, Stills and Nash these past two decades," Crosby says of Croz, out January 28th. "But I wanted to challenge myself and work outside the group. Also, I do things differently than they do and a couple years ago, I just started writing like crazy. I'm so happy that I did."

Croz – which streams exclusively here – took about two years of work, mostly at Jackson Browne's Santa Monica studio and his son James Raymond's home studio. "These songs are all over the map," Crosby tells Rolling Stone. "If there is a unifying theme, it's that they're all about human beings. When you get to the end of the album, you've really gone on an emotional voyage."

Mark Knopfler plays on the lead track "What's Broken." "That was a real piece of generosity on his part," says Crosby. "His manager said he usually doesn't record with people, but he might if I send [to] him. I sent him the song and he just called it. He just fucking killed it."

"If She Called" was inspired by a group of prostitutes that Crosby saw outside of his hotel room in Belgium. "It was so cold, they had these skinny legs and they were trying to entice these drunk animals to fuck them," he says. "It was so gross and so sad. I imagined how they hid their heart, their soul, their spirit while they did it. That was fascinating to me."

Crosby just kicked off a rare solo tour in support of Croz; each date includes a complete performance of the album, as well as selections from his whole career. It wraps in February and, a month later, he launches a 13-date U.S. tour with Crosby, Stills and Nash.

BIOGRAPHY
By Jason Ankeny
The singular odyssey of David Crosby remains one of the more remarkable tales in the annals of music history. As a founding member of the pioneering American groups the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, he helped create and popularize the highly influential folk-rock sound, forging the richly harmonic, radiantly acoustic approach which defined the West Coast music scene for years to follow; he also sold millions of records and enjoyed a cultural impact equaled by few of his contemporaries. Yet despite his often overwhelming success, Crosby is recognized far less for his artistic achievements than for his larger-than-life off-stage exploits, specifically a long and fantastically excessive battle with drug abuse which seemingly kept him teetering on the brink of death for over a decade; that he not only survived but remained as colorful and newsworthy a character as before is a testament to his continued creativity and unpredictability.
Crosby was born in Los Angeles on August 14, 1941; the son of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, he dropped out of drama school to pursue a career in music, touring the folk club circuit and recording as a member of the Les Baxter Balladeers. Under the auspices of producer Jim Dickson, Crosby cut his first solo session in late 1963; early the following year he formed the Jet Set with Jim McGuinn and Gene Clark, and with the additions of bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke, the group was rechristened the Byrds. Although McGuinn chiefly pioneered the Byrds' trademark 12-string guitar sound, Crosby was the architect of their shimmering harmonies; his interests in jazz and Indian music also influenced their subsequent excursions into psychedelic. However, creative differences plagued the group throughout its career, and in 1967 Crosby -- reportedly rankled by his bandmates' refusal to release his menage a trois opus "Triad" -- left the Byrds in the wake of their appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

After producing Joni Mitchell's 1968 debut LP, Crosby cut a handful of solo recordings and began jamming with ex-Buffalo Springfield singer/guitarist Stephen Stills. In time the duo was joined by ex-Hollies member Graham Nash; with its exquisitely beautiful three-part harmonies, strong individual songwriting contributions, and graceful folk-rock sound, Crosby, Stills & Nash's 1969 debut LP proved a pop landmark, launching all three members to greater fame than they'd experienced in any of their previous projects. The addition of Stills' former Buffalo Springfield bandmate Neil Young expanded the group to a four-piece, and in August of 1969 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) made just their second live appearance to date at the Woodstock Festival; 1970's Déjà Vu arrived in stores with advance orders numbering over two million, and through the thought-provoking social and political messages of songs like "Woodstock" and "Ohio," they emerged as generational torchbearers of enormous musical and cultural influence.

Following a sellout CSNY tour, the group went on hiatus, and Crosby resumed work on his long-delayed solo debut, releasing If I Could Only Remember My Name in 1971; the following year, he and Nash issued the first of several duo efforts, and he also took part in a short-lived Byrds reunion. Despite continued creative differences, CSNY reformed for a 1974 tour; Crosby and Nash issued Wind on the Water a year later, and in 1977 Stills returned to the fold for the multi-platinum CSN. However, as Crosby's longstanding drug problem continued to worsen, he eventually fell out with both Stills and Nash, and a planned second solo album, Might as Well Have a Good Time, was rejected by Capitol in 1980. A series of arrests for cocaine possession and illegal weapons charges hampered him throughout the years to follow, even as he reunited with Stills and Nash in 1982 for the Top Ten hit Daylight Again. After completing the follow-up, 1983's Allies, the trio did not record together for another seven years.

In late 1985 Crosby was sentenced to prison after fleeing the drug rehabilitation clinic he'd entered in lieu of serving out a previous jail term; upon his release the following August, he'd finally conquered his demons, later chronicling the ugly details of his addiction in the fine autobiography Long Time Gone. In 1988 -- a full 18 years after the release of Déjà Vu -- Crosby reunited with Stills, Nash, and also Young for American Dream; his second solo effort, Oh Yes I Can, finally appeared the following year as well. After the 1990 release of CSN's Live It Up, Crosby continued to suffer personal misfortunes -- first he was severely injured in a motorcycle accident, and then in 1994 he lost his L.A. home as a result of massive earthquake damage. Months later, he returned to the headlines when it was announced he was diagnosed with hepatitis C and dying of liver failure, undergoing a successful organ transplant in 1995.

During the recovery period which followed, Crosby met James Raymond, the son he'd given up for adoption over three decades earlier and a professional musician as well; the two soon began writing songs together, and with guitarist Jeff Pevar they formed CPR, releasing a series of albums and touring regularly. In early 1997, Crosby, Stills & Nash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; six years earlier, Crosby had first entered the Hall as a member of the Byrds. Young returned to the fold for 1999's Looking Forward, with the resulting millennial tour -- dubbed "CSNY2K" -- heralding the foursome's first joint road venture in a quarter century. Crosby was again the subject of tabloid headlines when in early 2000 it was revealed that he fathered the children of singer Melissa Etheridge and her partner Julie Cypher; that same year, he also published a second book, Stand and Be Counted, which assembled interviews with actors and musicians to explore the intersection of celebrity and social activism.

From 2001 onwards a Crosby, Stills & Nash tour became a regular and annual event, with Crosby finding safe haven and camaraderie on stage alongside his musical compatriots of over four decades. In both 2002 and 2006 Neil Young completed the CSNY line-up for their live dates, and although the politically-motivated 2006 Freedom of Speech tour was very much driven by Young's muse, Crosby's "Déjà Vu" was a cornerstone of the set and served as the title for the both the 2008 live album and film that documented the tour. Also in 2006, Crosby, along with Nash, accompanied Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour on sessions for his solo album, On an Island, and the pair went on to help him promote the record on tour.

The expansive, lavishly packaged three-disc retrospective, Voyage, was issued in 2007. Produced by Nash and archivist Joel Bernstein, the collection married two discs of classic material with a disc of unreleased recordings and set the template for both Nash's 2009 Reflections and Stills' 2013 Carry On. In summer 2013, Crosby began to talk about the sessions for his fourth solo album, his first for over 20 years. Produced in conjunction with his son, Raymond, and featuring contributions from Wynton Marsalis and Mark Knopfler, Croz was expected in late January 2014.

6719 - MICHAEL STANLEY BAND - Right Back at Ya (1971-1983), Disc Two (1992) (REPOST)

MICHAEL STANLEY BAND
''RIGHT BACK AT YA (1971-1983) (BONUS TRACKS), DISC TWO''
FEB 1992
RAZOR & TIE
COMPILATION
DOWNLOAD

DISC ONE
1/Rosewood Bitters/Stanley/4:41
2/Let's Get the Show on the Road/Stanley/7:26
3/One Good Reason/Stanley/5:38
4/Strike up the Band/Koslen/4:07
5/Midwest Midnight/Gee, Stanley/6:09
6/Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind/Koslen/4:17
7/Why Should Love Be This Way/Pelander, Stanley/3:36
8/We're Not Strangers Anymore/Pelander, Stanley/3:47
9/Lover/Stanley/4:50

DISC TWO
1/He Can't Love You/Raleigh/3:36
2/In the Heartland/Stanley/3:34
3/Somewhere in the Night/Pelander, Stanley/3:21
4/Falling in Love Again/Pelander, Stanley/3:54
5/In Between the Lines/Stanley/5:18
6/Someone Like You/Raleigh/5:47
7/My Town/Stanley/3:56
8/Among My Friends Again/Stanley/2:38
9/Help/Lennon, McCartney/4:14
10/Yours For A Song/Stanley/3:22

Rick Bell/Sax (Tenor)
Clarence Clemons/Sax (Tenor)
Tommy Dobeck/Animal Sounds, Drums
Joe Galdo/Percussion
Michael Gismondi/Bass
Gregg Hammel/Drums
Paul Harris/Keyboards
Curtis King/Vocals (Background)
Jonah Koslen/Guitar, Vocals
Eddie Kramer/Vocals
Joe Lala/Percussion
Yvonne Lewis/Vocals (Background)
Gary Markasky/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Bob Olson/Keyboards
Kenny Passarelli/Bass
Dan Pecchio/Bass, Vocals
Bob Pelander/Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Piano (Electric), Vocals
Danny Powers/Guitar
Kevin Raleigh/Organ, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals
Todd Rundgren/Clavinet
David Sanborn/Sax (Alto)
Michael Stanley/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Liner Notes, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Stephen Swenson/Bass
Darryl Tookes/Vocals (Background)
Joe Vitale/Drums
Joe Walsh/Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Vocals

6718 - MICHAEL STANLEY BAND - Right Back at Ya (1971-1983), Disc One (1992) (REPOST)

MICHAEL STANLEY BAND
''RIGHT BACK AT YA (1971-1983) (BONUS TRACKS), DISC ONE''
FEB 1992
RAZOR & TIE
COMPILATION
DOWNLOAD

DISC ONE
1/Rosewood Bitters/Stanley/4:41
2/Let's Get the Show on the Road/Stanley/7:26
3/One Good Reason/Stanley/5:38
4/Strike up the Band/Koslen/4:07
5/Midwest Midnight/Gee, Stanley/6:09
6/Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind/Koslen/4:17
7/Why Should Love Be This Way/Pelander, Stanley/3:36
8/We're Not Strangers Anymore/Pelander, Stanley/3:47
9/Lover/Stanley/4:50

DISC TWO
1/He Can't Love You/Raleigh/3:36
2/In the Heartland/Stanley/3:34
3/Somewhere in the Night/Pelander, Stanley/3:21
4/Falling in Love Again/Pelander, Stanley/3:54
5/In Between the Lines/Stanley/5:18
6/Someone Like You/Raleigh/5:47
7/My Town/Stanley/3:56
8/Among My Friends Again/Stanley/2:38
9/Help/Lennon, McCartney/4:14
10/Yours For A Song/Stanley/3:22

Rick Bell/Sax (Tenor)
Clarence Clemons/Sax (Tenor)
Tommy Dobeck/Animal Sounds, Drums
Joe Galdo/Percussion
Michael Gismondi/Bass
Gregg Hammel/Drums
Paul Harris/Keyboards
Curtis King/Vocals (Background)
Jonah Koslen/Guitar, Vocals
Eddie Kramer/Vocals
Joe Lala/Percussion
Yvonne Lewis/Vocals (Background)
Gary Markasky/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Bob Olson/Keyboards
Kenny Passarelli/Bass
Dan Pecchio/Bass, Vocals
Bob Pelander/Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Piano (Electric), Vocals
Danny Powers/Guitar
Kevin Raleigh/Organ, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals
Todd Rundgren/Clavinet
David Sanborn/Sax (Alto)
Michael Stanley/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Liner Notes, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Stephen Swenson/Bass
Darryl Tookes/Vocals (Background)
Joe Vitale/Drums
Joe Walsh/Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Vocals

6717 - CHIP TAYLOR - Block Out The Sirens Of This Lonely World, Disc Two (2013)

CHIP TAYLOR
''BLOCK OUT THE SIRENS OF THIS LONELY WORLD, DISC TWO''
MAY 14
59:22

DISC ONE
1 /Block Out the Sirens of This Lonely World/4:17
2 /Never Said Goodbye/3:16
3 /God Bless Norwegians/5:53
4 /Get Me Back Even Again/3:21
5 /Hey Vinnie/3:06
6 /Intro/1:04
7 /North Caucasus Fight Club/3:52
8 /That's How I Love You Tonight/4:02
9 /It Wasn't Me - It Wasn't You/3:38
10 /Pretty Good Order (Human Beings)/4:09
11 /The Last Video/4:09
12 /Tears from an Old Yonkers Child/5:07

DISC TWO
1 /Broken Down Bicycles/2:11
2 /Better Put My Glasses On/3:09
3 /Ukrainian Girls/3:19
4 /Is That the Final Take?/3:01
5 /Better Put My Glasses On [Radio Edit]/2:54
All Tracks By Taylor

Hege Brynildsen /Vocal Harmony
Tarjei Grimsby /Trombone
Kjersti Rydsaa /Cello
Chip Taylor /Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Bjorn /Fender Bass
Magnus /Drums
Goran /Farfisa Organ
John /Electric Guitar

BIOGRAPHY
By William Ruhlmann
Chip Taylor will probably always be known as the songwriter who wrote "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning." Born John Wesley Voight (the actor Jon Voight is his older brother), Taylor began playing country music while still in high school in Yonkers, New York. After finishing high school, he briefly took up his father's occupation, becoming a professional golfer. But he suffered a wrist injury and turned back to music. In 1962, he signed to Warner Bros., and his single "Here I Am" bubbled just under the Billboard Hot 100 in November. He became more successful, however, as a songwriter, scoring his first hit with "I Can't Let Go" (co-written with Al Gorgoni), which was recorded by the Hollies for a chart entry in March 1966. (Linda Ronstadt revived the song for a Top 40 hit in 1980.) Then came the simplistic but unforgettable "Wild Thing," recorded by another British group, the Troggs, who topped the charts with it in July, creating a much-covered standard. A parody by "Senator Bobby" (comedian Bill Minkin) hit the Top 40 in January 1967, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed the song at the Monterey Pop Festival in June.

Meanwhile, Taylor continued to write hits: "Make Me Belong to You" (co-written with Billy Vera) hit the Top 40 for Barbara Lewis in August 1966; "I Can Make It with You" was cut by both the Pozo-Seco Singers and by Jackie DeShannon, with the Pozo-Seco Singers' version winning out and hitting the Top 40 in October 1966; the American Breed recorded "Step Out of Your Mind" for a Top 40 hit in July 1967; and Billy Vera & Judy Clay hit the Top 40 with "Country Girl City Man" (co-written with Ted Daryll) in March 1968. But Taylor's second standard was "Angel of the Morning," a ballad about premarital sex that pushed the boundaries of acceptable subject matter in pop music. Merrilee Rush & the Turnabouts recorded the song, and it reached the Top Ten in June 1968; Juice Newton revived it in 1981 for a second Top Ten hit and a gold record. With Gorgoni, Taylor wrote "I'll Hold Out My Hand," recorded by the Clique for a Top 40 hit in December 1969. Also in 1969, Janis Joplin recorded Taylor and Jerry Ragavoy's "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and released it as the lead-off track on her debut solo album, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

Taylor had not given up his ambition to be a recording artist himself. He and Gorgoni recorded together under the name Just Us, then Taylor cut a series of solo albums in the 1970s, including This Side of the Big River, which reached the country charts in 1975, as did five Taylor singles between 1975 and 1977. His songwriting efforts also found favor in Nashville, with "Sweet Dream Woman" (co-written with Gorgoni) reaching the country Top Ten for Waylon Jennings in 1972 and Anne Murray's recording of "Son of a Rotten Gambler" in the country Top Ten in 1974. Nevertheless, Taylor gave up the music business and became a professional gambler, not returning to music until 1993 when he joined a national songwriters' tour. He released a new album, The Living Room Tapes, in 1997, followed by Seven Days in May in 1998, The London Sessions Bootleg in 2000, Black and Blue America in 2001, and a collaboration with Carrie Rodriguez, Let's Leave This Town, in 2002. A sampler mini-album drawing tracks from several ongoing recording projects, New Songs of Freedom appeared in 2008. Also appearing in 2008 was the ornately packaged Songs from a Dutch Tour, which featured both an autobiographically themed trade paperback book and a new CD of recorded material. The autobiographical tenet followed with the release of Taylor's 2009 album, Yonkers, NY, an earthy collection of new songs and stories about his hometown and family. In 2011, Taylor resurfaced with Rock and Roll Joe: A Tribute to the Unsung Heroes of Rock n' Roll, a collection of covers with John Platania and Kendel Carson. Taylor has always been mercurial, and he shifted gears yet again in 2011. Via Smithsonian Folkways, he released his first children's album, Golden Kids Rules, accompanied by his three grandaughters.