Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#774 in the Series) is Glen Campbell  & Jimmy Webb, Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb. This album had its beginnings in those wonderful Glen Campbell hits of the late 60’s, five absolute gems released between 1967 and 1970 : “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” “Galveston’” “Where’s The Playground Susie ?”, “Honey Come Back” and, of course, the ever shining jewel that is “Wichita Lineman.”  All five were written by one of the very best up-and-coming songwriters of the era, Jimmy Webb. Before those recordings both men had careers which were very much on the ascent but when Glen decided to record the first of those songs (Phoenix) as the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#756 in the Series) is Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. One of the greatest albums of all time and one of the defining moments in Eric Clapton’s legacy is all you really need to know about this album. “The Layla Album” was released in 1970. It’s interesting to note that while it reached #16 in the US, the album did not chart in the UK.  What were they thinking? The band was made up of Eric Clapton on guitar vocals. Duane Allman on guitar; Carl Randle, bass; Bobby Whitlock, organ and vocals and Jim Gordon, Drums. Duane Allman did not play on three of the most popular songs....

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#546 in the Series) is Harry Nilsson, Nilsson Schmilsson Although he had a wonderfully provocative voice that could go up several ranges, Harry Nilsson always thought of himself as a songwriter first and a singer second having written the song “One” which became hit for Three Dog Night as well as several minor hits for Phil Spector that were recorded by the Ronettes, and “Ten Little Indians” for the later-stage Yardbirds.  The irony of course, was that Harry was at his best, and became famous for interpreting songs written by other artists including the brilliantly performed classic “Everybody’s Talking” that was written by Folk-Rock singer Fred Neil. With the release of Nilsson...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#453 in the Series) is Carly Simon, No Secrets A “Whale?” You’re actually putting this album in the “Whale Wednesday” category? If you’re questioning that, then you weren’t around in the late 1972 or early ’73.  If you were, you’d have remembered how big this album was. Singer-songwriters were all the rage at this time. A year and a half earlier, Carole King was top of the charts forever it seemed with her masterpiece “Tapestry.” That album was released in March on ’71 and she actually released another album, Music before ’71 was out. Carly’s No Secrets was not another Tapestry, but it may just have had a bigger hit than anything of...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#418 in the Series)is George Harrison, All Things Must Pass I know I’ve mentioned the purpose of the Whale Wednesday Series. Yeah, the plan was to feature some of the bigger releases and give them some representation on the site as well.  However I meant that to mean “bigger” in regards to profile or sales etc. I didn’t intend it to mean the actual size of the recording! So here we have one that fits the term ‘Huge’ on a couple fronts. The first of those being that it was recorded by George Harrison along with some well-known friends. The second being how well this was accepted.  All Things Must Pass sold over...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day is Delaney & Bonnie, D & B Together Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Lynn O’Farrell did not have the name recognition of Sonny & Cher or the album sales of Buckingham-Nicks, yet between 1969 and 1972, as Delaney & Bonnie they created a sound that combined rock, blues, funk, soul, a little country, and a dose of gospel that was so hip and incendiary that followers the likes of Leon Russell, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, and George Harrison were all influenced in one way or another by the duo. Separately, or as together they had a hand in writing Clapton’s “Let It Rain” and Karen Carpenter’s “ Superstar” as well as many other hit...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#308 in the Series and #2 in the Whale Wednesday Series) is The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds. Beach Boys, Pet Sounds and The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers.   I think we know the relationship between these two albums.   If you don’t, really quickly, Pet Sounds was released directly before Sgt. Peppers.  The Beatles were heavily influenced by the  Beach Boys use of structure and over dubbing.  That story is well told, I’m not going to rehash it now.  Paul McCartney has even been quoted as saying that “God Only Knows,” a Pet Sounds single, is his favorite song.  (Hey Paul, if you’re reading… I’d lean towards “Caroline, No” actually.) This was another one of those...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#296 in the Series) is the debut from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It’s a pretty simple premise.  Write some straight-forward, catchy pop rock and roll tunes and then hire a few great musicians.  Make them your backing band.  Then make it even better, allow them enough room to grow with you so they become band mates and stay with you for the long haul.  There it is boys and girls. Now go for it. As if it was all that easy, huh. Tom Petty showcased some of his best writing here.  I really do not believe he ever wrote a better song than “American Girl.” I was recently looking at the chronology...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#232 in the Series) is Frank Zappa, Apostrophe(‘). Frank Zappa, Apostrophe (‘) was one of FZs’ most popular releases, maybe THE most popular. It was released directly after another of Frank’s best known works, Over-Nite Sensation. I’ve actually wanted to feature this album for some time.  I had to wait for ‘just the right time.’ The right time was now. One of the first days of winter (with apologies to our southern hemisphere readers). I’ve mentioned this before….. But some albums can only be listened to in certain seasons. I know every lyric to Apostrophe(‘) by heart, yet I can count on one hand how many times I listened to this when warmth...