Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1032 in the Series) is The Outlaws, Hurry Sundown. The Outlaws first hit the music scene (at least as far as recordings go) in 1975. They actually had been together on and off since as early as 1967.  Their debut album was simply titled The Outlaws.  It contained a song that would be closely associated with the band for the rest of their career. That song would of course be “Green Grass and High Tides.” While it did help their popularity, I also thing it mistakenly categorized them as a southern rock band from then on.  I use the word “mistakenly” because I really don’t believe that The Outlaws were a southern-rock...

    Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#924 in the Series) is The Allman Brothers Band, Idlewild South. Idlewild South was the second and last of the two  “true” Allman Brothers Band albums. They’ve had many, many great albums, but the first two are always considered the only “true” Allman Brothers, meaning, Duane and Gregg were both included. I’ve also read more than one review that has called this the best studio album that band ever produced.   As mentioned, this was the last full studio album that included the great Duane Allman. He would lose his life in a motorcycle accident while recording the follow up, Eat a Peach.  Of course it didn’t end there either. Original...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#921 in the Series) is The Outlaws, Lady In Waiting. Back to my country-rock roots once more.  I was a big fan of the early Outlaws.  I loved the first three albums and then the live release.  Then I fell away.  I remember seeing them on this tour at the Chicago Stadium.  It was Bad Company, The Outlaws and Rockpile. I can’t remember who played first between the Outlaws and Rockpile. I do remember watching an undercover cop bust a guy for selling him something in a little packet in the bathroom.  The things you remember when you’re a teen! This album didn’t have any of their huge hits on it.  But I...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#461 in the Series is Wet Willie, Keep On Smilin.’ There’s often a common theme among many of the write-ups that I do. That theme is how an album stands up to time. Mind you, that usually has little to no effect on what I write because I try to write about how I felt about an album when it was released. How it fit into the times, what was on the radio, how it affected what was happening in my life etc. This is one that stands up to time much better than most. Often it’s not the band’s fault if something sucks now that was good once before, it’s more about how my...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#452 in the Series) is The Kentucky Headhunters, Pickin’ On Nashville I guess you could put the Kentucky Headhunters in the ‘Guilty Pleasures’ category. I loved this album back in the day.  It’s some good ol’ fashion, southern rock. The Kentucky Headhunters made quite a splash with Pickin’ on Nashville. After years of trying, they were an “overnight sensation. “ They consisted of two sets of brothers the Phelps, Rickie Lee and Doug, and the Young’s, Fred and Richard along with Greg Martin and Richard Ripani. One of the things I liked about the Headhunters was that they like to cover a tradition song every so often.  Here they took Bill Monroe’s, “Walk...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#211 in the Series) is Marshall Tucker Band, Where We All Belong. I’ve been thinking about featuring Marshall Tucker for a little while now.  Today I started listening to some of their old music and I learned something.  I’d forgotten how good these guys really are.  I liked but didn’t love most of their biggest hits. (There’s an upset, huh) Some of the songs on this album however are simply outstanding.  Not to mention that they were a little different than your typical 70s southern rock or country rock act.  They had just a little bit of jazz in their stretched out tunes which also included a reed player. Give a listen especially...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#178 in the Series and #3 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Lynyrd Skynyrd, One More From The Road. One More From The Road was the only live album that Lynyrd Skynyrd released during their classic era of 1970-1977. It was recorded on the tour following their fourth studio album, Gimme Back My Bullets. I played this album over and over back then.  They were one of my favorite bands at the time.  The actually were not as big as people remembered at this time.  I remember seeing them right about this time and “Free Bird” was still a cult classic.  It was not as well-known as it would be later even...

Today’s “Cool Album of the Day” is Atlanta Rhythm Section, “Red Tape.” Kind of a forgotten band here. Atlanta Rhythm Section was all over the radio in the late 70’s early 80’s. ‘Red Tape” was a little before that. This album was released in 1976. Some of the best tracks were ‘Jukin/San Antonio Rose, Free Spirit’ and especially ‘Mixed Emotions.’ Recorded in Doraville, Georgia and released on Polygram, “Red Tape” peaked at #146 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts while the only single to chart, ‘Free Spirit’ reached #85. Track listing “Jukin’/San Antonio Rose” (Buie, Nix, Wills) – 3:43 “Mixed Emotions” (Buie, Cobb, Nix) – 3:20 “Shanghaied” (Buie, Cobb, Nix) – 2:14 “Police! Police!” (Buie, Cobb, Nix) – 3:11 “Beautiful...