Record Reviews

DELANEY & BONNIE ~ THE ORIGINAL DELANEY & BONNIE: ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTE ELEKTRA 4943674139804 (Barcode: 4943674139804) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1969 Released: 2013 This is the second album by American singer / songwriter couple Delaney BramlettFind albums by this artist and Bonnie BramlettFind albums by this artist, known as Delaney & BonnieFind albums by this artist and later on as Delaney & Bonnie & FriendsFind albums by this artist. This album, their only release on ElektraFind albums on this label Records (founded and run by Jac HolzmanFind albums by this artist), took them away from the image associated with Afro-American music which their previous label, StaxFind albums on this label Records, symbolized. The album was recorded by a dream team of top American musicians, which included pianist Leon RussellFind albums by this artist, guitarist Jerry McGeeFind albums by this artist, bassist Carl RadleFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Bobby WhitlockFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Bobby KeysFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Jim PriceFind albums by this artist, drummers Jim KeltnerFind albums by this artist and Jim GordonFind albums by this artist and the incredible vocalist Rita CoolidgeFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten songs, most of which were penned by the Bramletts. Musically the album continues the direction put forward by the debut album, which amalgamates Rhythm And Blues, Soul, Gospel and Blues with Pop and Rock, adding this time some American Southern Rock accents. The resulting fusion produced some of the most perfect American Rock music ever. With the Bramletts´ writing talents, Bonnie´s incredible husky vocals, which at their best rival Janis JoplinFind albums by this artist, superb arrangements and perfect, soulful and inspired instrumental work, production and sound quality, the album is a timeless gem. The album was not very commercially successful at the time of its release, but fellow musicians and music industry figures recognized its sublime qualities. George HarrisonFind albums by this artist offered Delaney & Bonnie a contract with AppleFind albums on this label Records, which was even signed, but subsequently voided of course in view of the already signed Elektra contract. Eric ClaptonFind albums by this artist loved the album, which led Delaney & Bonnie and the crew (to be called together Delaney & Bonnie & Friends) to play as an opening act on the Blind FaithFind albums by this artist American 1969 tour and later on to participate in the recording of his debut eponymous solo album "Eric ClaptonFind albums with this title". In order to get a full view of the talents of the musicians playing on this album, it is worth to remember that they were involved in making the following milestone recordings, all recorded in 1970: Joe CockerFind albums by this artist´s "Mad Dogs & EnglishmenFind albums with this title", Eric Clapton´s (as Derek And The DominosFind albums by this artist) "Layla And Other Assorted Love SongsFind albums with this title" and George Harrison´s "All Things Must PassFind albums with this title" – all this and more in just one incredible year! In retrospect this is a milestone recording in American music, which eradicated the racial discrimination between American Country and Folk music and the Afro-American Rhythm And Blues, Soul and Gospel traditions, creating, perhaps for the first time, a true all-American music. This album is an absolute must have in any serious Rock music collection and its everlasting values are still in full bloom five decades later. Essential!

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted: 01/06/2018

CD 1 Remastered Essential Recommend To A Friend

DELANEY & BONNIE & FRIENDS ~ LIVE IN DENMARK 1969 ROX VOX 2165 (Barcode: 5292317216525) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1969 Released: 2020 This is an archival live album by American singer / songwriter couple Delaney BramlettFind albums by this artist and Bonnie BramlettFind albums by this artist, known as Delaney & BonnieFind albums by this artist and later on as Delaney & Bonnie & FriendsFind albums by this artist. This album was recorded during the band´s European tour in 1969, capturing two concerts at the Copenhagen Falconer Theater on 10 and 12 of December 1969, immediately following the three shows that were recorded on 1, 2 and 7 of December 1969 during the UK leg of that tour and released in 1970 as the "On Tour With Eric ClaptonFind albums with this title" LP. The music was recorded by a dream team of top American and British musicians, which included Delaney Bramlett on guitar and vocals. Bonnie Bramlett on vocals, Rita CoolidgeFind albums by this artist on vocals, Eric ClaptonFind albums by this artist on lead guitar and vocals, Dave MasonFind albums by this artist on guitar, George HarrisonFind albums by this artist on guitar, bassist Carl RadleFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Bobby WhitlockFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Bobby KeysFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Jim PriceFind albums by this artist, drummer Jim GordonFind albums by this artist and percussionist Tex JohnsonFind albums by this artist. The album presents original songs, which were penned by the Bramletts, as well as classic Rock And Roll numbers. The set list of the two shows is almost identical. The "On Tour With Eric Clapton" album brought Delaney & Bonnie to the center of attention of many listeners, who missed their two earlier albums entirely, most probably due to the fact that if featured Clapton, who was already a superstar. But the music of Delaney & Bonnie was of course stylistically very different to what earlier Clapton recordings offered and presented an unprecedented mixture of Rhythm And Blues, Soul, Blues and Gospel with Rock and Pop, creating an entire new musical universe. This album turned out to be a huge commercial success, but in retrospect failed to establish Delaney & Bonnie as major artists and their career disintegrated after their divorce in 1973, after they managed to record three more excellent albums. This album, although less carefully recorded, offers the same fire and genuine Rock spirit as "On Tour With Eric Clapton" and is an invaluable addition to the rather limited recorded legacy by Delaney & Bonnie & Friends and the rest of the musicians present herein, and as such is a Classic Rock gem. Side Note Obiterdictum Ltd, a company based in Cyprus (oh well you know the story… copyright laws and legal issues) releases mostly live recorded radio broadcasts from the 1960s on and offers an amazing source of music which was never officially released by some of the best Classic Rock and Jazz artists. The catalogue offers five hundred releases, which is an absolute treasure chest of music history, often appearing for the first time. Although the sound quality and sometimes also music quality range from absolutely brilliant to pretty poor, most of the material is surely listenable, especially after being remastered recently, and more importantly offers music which is not available elsewhere. The company releases the albums under several sub-labels: Air CutsFind albums on this label, EchoesFind albums on this label, Hi HatFind albums on this label, HotspurFind albums on this label, InterferenceFind albums on this label, KeyholeFind albums on this label, KlondikeFind albums on this label, Live On VinylFind albums on this label, London CallingFind albums on this label, OrbitFind albums on this label, Rox VoxFind albums on this label and Sound StageFind albums on this label. There is no ironclad logic as to what material appears on which label, except perhaps some internal considerations by the Obiterdictum owners. Approach with caution, but keep in mind that some of these releases are absolutely brilliant!

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted: 07/01/2021

CD 2 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend

DELANEY & BONNIE & FRIENDS ~ ON TOUR WITH ERIC CLAPTON (EXPANDED EDITION) RHINO HANDMADE 603497949885 (Barcode: 603497949885) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1969 Released: 2010 This is a reissue of the third album by American singer / songwriter couple Delaney BramlettFind albums by this artist and Bonnie BramlettFind albums by this artist, known as Delaney & BonnieFind albums by this artist and later on as Delaney & Bonnie & FriendsFind albums by this artist. This album, their only live recording and their first release on AtcoFind albums on this label Records, was recorded during the band´s UK tour in December 1969 and released in 1970 as a single LP. This reissue considerably expands the scope of the album offering entire 4 CDs full of music, presenting four entire concerts. The album was recorded by a dream team of top American and British musicians, which included Delaney Bramlett on guitar and vocals. Bonnie Bramlett on vocals, Rita CoolidgeFind albums by this artist on vocals, Eric ClaptonFind albums by this artist on lead guitar and vocals, Dave MasonFind albums by this artist on guitar, George HarrisonFind albums by this artist on guitar, bassist Carl RadleFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Bobby WhitlockFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Bobby KeysFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Jim PriceFind albums by this artist, drummer Jim GordonFind albums by this artist and percussionist Tex JohnsonFind albums by this artist. The album presents original songs, which were penned by the Bramletts, as well as classic Rock And Roll numbers. This album brought Delaney & Bonnie to the center of attention of many listeners, who missed their two earlier albums entirely, most probably due to the fact that if featured Clapton, who of course was a superstar. But the music of Delaney & Bonnie was stylistically very different to what earlier Clapton recordings offered of course and presented an unprecedented mixture of Rhythm And Blues, Soul, Blues and Gospel with Rock and Pop, creating an entire new musical universe. This album turned out to be a huge commercial success, but in retrospect failed to establish Delaney & Bonnie as major artists and their career disintegrated after their divorce in 1973, after they managed to record three more excellent albums. This album belongs to the small and exclusive "club" of the best live Rock albums, which also includes Joe CockerFind albums by this artist´s "Mad Dogs & Englishmen: The Complete Fillmore East ConcertsFind albums with this title", Humble PieFind albums by this artist´s "Performance Rockin` The Fillmore: The Complete RecordingsFind albums with this title", Allman Brothers BandFind albums by this artist´s "The 1971 Fillmore East RecordingsFind albums with this title" and a few others. Luckily for the music connoisseurs all these essential albums have also been released in expanded multi-CD versions, which allow the listener to witness the entire performances from which the original albums were assembled upon their original release. This limited edition lavishly packed Box Set, which is a mock of a road case, includes some of the most vital music Rock And Roll produced at its peak, and is a must have in every comprehensive Rock record collection and an essential piece of music history. The same set in a "fat boy" CD case was reissued by RhinoFind albums on this label Records in 2017, which makes it much affordable than the original, now out of print, release. Essential stuff!

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted: 01/06/2018

CD 4 Digipak Box Set Remastered Bonus Tracks Essential Recommend To A Friend

BOB DYLAN ~ 1970 COLUMBIA 194398564128 (Barcode: 194398564128) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2021 This is a sensational archive album by American prophet / singer / songwriter Bob DylanFind albums by this artist, which collects three and a half hours of unreleased studio recordings from sessions that took place between March and August of 1970. These two sessions produced two Dylan’s albums released the same year: “Self PortraitFind albums with this title” and “New MorningFind albums with this title”, which are dramatically different from each other, and as we can now hear, consisted of only small part of the music that was captured during these sessions. Dylan is accompanied by wonderful musicians, like organist Al KooperFind albums by this artist, guitarist David BrombergFind albums by this artist, bassist Harvey BrooksFind albums by this artist, drummer Russell KunkelFind albums by this artist and others, but perhaps the most astonishing personal appearance on this album is that of George HarrisonFind albums by this artist, who plays guitar and sings on nine tracks during the May 1st session. The album presents a mixture of original songs by Dylan and songs by others, mostly American songwriters and one BeatlesFind albums by this artist song, as well as a bunch of folk songs. Most of the material written by others appeared on “Self Portrait”, whereas most of the original material appeared on “New Morning”. There is no need to say much more about this music and try to be innovative, as Dylan and his music was already analyzed by so many music writers. As to the fact that his music has been archived more extensively than any other musician in history in an extensive series of the archival releases, most comprehensively on “The Bootleg SeriesFind albums with this title” (up to now in 15 volumes) and other Box Sets, has always kept me wondering how much of it is really historically necessary and revealing, and how much was just milking money in the process. History will most probably decide… I have always been a great admirer of Dylan and he undoubtedly is one of the most influential artists in the Soundtrack of my Life, probably more as a poet, a rebel and a prophet than as a songwriter. But he did write some of the greatest songs of the 1960s, which live forever. With Harrison on board, this album will probably rise more interest than most of the other archival material by Dylan, but nevertheless it is a wonderful time capsule, definitely worth revisiting.

Updated: 14/03/2021Posted: 14/03/2021

CD 3 Mini-Sleeve Remastered Recommend To A Friend

STILLS & COLLINS ~ EVERYBODY KNOWS SONY 190758010625 (Barcode: 190758010625) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 2017 Released: 2018 This is a sensational album by two of the American Folk / Rock icons: vocalist / guitarist / songwriter Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist (born 1945) and vocalist / songwriter Judy CollinsFind albums by this artist (born 1939), making an album together for the first time, which is hard to believe but true. They are accompanied by organist Russell WaldenFind albums by this artist, bassist Kevin McCormickFind albums by this artist and drummer Tony BeardFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten exquisite songs, three by Stills, two by Collins and five (one each) by other Pop / Rock icons: George HarrisonFind albums by this artist, Leonard CohenFind albums by this artist, Tim HardinFind albums by this artist, Bob DylanFind albums by this artist and Sandy DannyFind albums by this artist. The music is everything one might expect from these two legends – wonderfully melodic, mostly melancholic and low key, full of brilliant harmonies and accompanied by elegant instrumental work, which is simply perfect for this kind of atmosphere. The arrangements of the five songs, which most music lovers are familiar with in their original versions is fresh, intelligent and truly inspired. Both Stills and Collins sound surprisingly fresh and clear, as if untouched by the tides of time, and Stills delivers some sweet solo guitar work, which remains unparalleled. The closing track of the album sounds as strong as the best work of Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist, but the entire album is completely coherent and absolutely top notch both vocally and instrumentally. Although "instant classic" is a much overused term these days, if any album deserves to be called that – this is the one. Could have been (or perhaps should have been) recorded in the 1960s, but here and now, fifty years later, it is definitely better late than never! A complete unadulterated delight from start to finish!

Updated: 01/04/2018Posted: 01/04/2018

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend