Fats Domino’s album This Is Fats is a glimpse into the beginnings of Rock N Roll. Although a lot of the songs have a similar feel to them, they are distinctly his. His signature piano playing shines through on this…
Scottish singer/songwriter Finley Quaye’s debut album Maverick A Strike has a wide range of genres. Everything from psychedelia, to soul, R&B, and reggae. This eclectic variety can be polarizing. It can take the listener a while to catch on to…
Miriam Makeba’s debut album was unfortunately not a success when it was first released. With most songs sung in her native language of Xhosa, western audiences were lukewarm on the singer. However, her follow-up album was a bigger success and…
Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs is exactly what it sounds like. A collection of country and western songs that capture the spirit and cinematic quality of the genre. Songs about murder, gunfighting and just generally being an outlaw pack this…
“461 Ocean Boulevard is Eric Clapton’s second studio solo album, arriving after his side project of Derek and the Dominos and a long struggle with heroin addiction. Although there are some new reggae influences, the album doesn’t sound all that…
“On his third album, Jackson Browne returned to the themes of his debut record (love, loss, identity, apocalypse) and, amazingly, delved even deeper into them. “For a Dancer,” a meditation on death like the first album’s “Song for Adam,” is…
“The Allman Brothers came first, but Lynyrd Skynyrd epitomized Southern rock. The Allmans were exceptionally gifted musicians, as much bluesmen as rockers. Skynyrd was nothing but rockers, and they were Southern rockers to the bone. This didn’t just mean that…
“Dr. John’s Gumbo bridged the gap between post-hippie rock and early rock & roll, blues, and R&B, offering a selection of classic New Orleans R&B, including “Tipitina” and “Junko Partner,” updated with a gritty, funky beat. There aren’t as many…
“The Band’s first album, Music from Big Pink, seemed to come out of nowhere, with its ramshackle musical blend and songs of rural tragedy. The Band, the group’s second album, was a more deliberate and even more accomplished effort, partially…
“In 1974, Richard Thompson and the former Linda Peters released their first album together, and I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight was nothing short of a masterpiece, the starkly beautiful refinement of the promise of Thompson’s solo debut,…