Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#505 in the Series) is Bill Withers, Just As I Am By all rights the Bill Withers album Just As I Am should never have been made. It’s not that the talent was not here, it certainly was, it’s just that it is not often that when a record company needs to take promotional pictures for an album that they have to work around the artist’s break times during his 8-5 job at a Boeing plant making airplane toilets. In 1967 Bill Withers, fresh from a discharge from the Navy and bolstered by his fellow sailor’s encouragement and recognition of his talent, moved to the west coast to make some demo records...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#503 in the Series and # 51 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Bob Marley, Live! This has long been considered the best live album of Bob Marley’s career. It’s also been considered the best live album of the reggae genre for some years now. I’ll let you make that call personally. To each his own as they say, I think the point that “it’s good” can be made, that the idea here. Me, I would have seen a live disc recorded on the next tour. That would have been the one for Rastaman Vibration.  That was my fave, but this will do.  This was the tour for Natty Dread. Bob...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#499 in the Series) is The Beach Boys, Surfs Up Sometimes the Mojo inspirations for my psychedelic meanderings for Cool Album of the Day come from lubricating the death machine, wandering in the desert aimlessly with an Indian Shaman by my side guiding me.  Other times I am in the Falcon’s Nest jungle room staring at the black light posters of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin wondering where I can put my next lava lamp while consulting my Todd Mcfarlane figures of Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, and Jim Morrison. Alice Cooper is usually the more vocal of this quartet. Dave Alvin (Cool Album of the Day #471) was his. Jim Morrison...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#497 in the Series, and #50 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Rory Gallagher, Irish Tour ’74. On top of the list there’s Jimi Hendrix. Look up anything on the genre of blues-rock bands, blues-rock music etc. and that’s who’s always at the top. Cast your eyes down a notch. Just a bit, not far, not far at all and you’ll land on Irish guitarist extraordinaire, Rory Gallagher.  If for some reason, you landed on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s name first, well then cast your eyes upward. Why, because in every way, Rory Gallagher’s name is listed above. It’s not even close. SRV should not be even mentioned in the same breath with...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#496 in the Series) is Sea Level, Cats on the Coast. This 1978 was Sea Level’s second of what would be, five studio albums. They were part of the Capricorn Records family. So many of those great southern bands were from that 70s era.  They were from Macon, Georgia. Speaking of Macon, Georgia, Sea Level was kind of an Allman Brothers spin off, but not really. They were a little a little more ‘jazzy fusiony’ than the brothers. They would often play “Statesboro Blues” in their live shows. Three of the band members did play with the Allman Brothers at one time or another. Main founding member, Chuck Leavell was on keyboards....

We’ve known about these Pink Floyd Remaster/Reissues that are coming for some time now.  However, the story is getting a little clearer.  The first of those will be Dark Side of the Moon and the date is September 26th. Look for loads of additional content. It will be a 6 disc set. The next relaunch date will be November 7th.  It will feature a 5 disc set for Wish You Were Here. Look for The Wall in February 2012. Here’s the reason for today’s post.  Pink Floyd have released a teaser video for the first release. Check out what they have to say about Dark Side of the Moon. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook share...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#485 in the Series) is Gordon Lightfoot, Sundown It’s really interesting to see what people think causes an album to be on their personal, “best of” list. In all actuality, if one hears about 10 percent of what’s released then they’re way ahead of the game.  If one hears 10 percent from even just the bands they love then they’re still probably way ahead of the game.  So why do we love some so, so much, and then there are others by the same artist, that we never even look into? For me, I’ve said many many times before, that I have a strong tendency to lean towards an artist’s albums that I...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#484 in the Series and #48 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is The Who, Live at Leeds.  The Who, Live at Leeds. Is this the motherload of all live albums? I do believe this, when you talk about the best live albums of all time, this is in the team picture.  And I’m just referring to the six song, original release of 1970. That’s it, six raw powerful wonderful rock and roll songs. It was The Who during a great period. This was the tour for Tommy.  They had finished their poppy earlier era and had entered into a rock and roll era with the original band that would last for about...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#482 in the Series) is the debut from Lucifer’s Friend. If ever a band fit the category “cult,” it’s Lucifer’s Friend. I guarantee 90% of casual rock music fans will respond “Lucy-who’s what?!” Unfortunately, they also join the long list of bands that never were quite able to surpass, or even equal, their debut album. It’s like the old adage- bands have twenty years to make their first album. They’ve got six months for the follow up. I can still remember the day I bought Lucifer’s Friend’s 1970 debut, some 38 years ago. (It wasn’t released in the US ‘til around ‘73.) I was actually buying The New York Dolls debut when a curious-looking...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#481 in the Series) the debut album from The Cars You’re a new band. You begin by putting pencil to paper as your first tracks take shape. Maybe you get a gig here and there.  You write a few more songs and then the gigs get more frequent and hopefully in a little bit better houses.   You think, maybe if things go well you’ll get noticed.  Heck, if things really go well, maybe a real label will give you a record deal! That’s how it often rolls. I don’t know exactly if this was the scenario of Boston’s The Cars, but I’m guessing it wasn’t all that different. So all that happens and you...