Bob Marley and the Wailers “Live!”
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...
Crack The Sky “Crack The Sky”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#478 in the Series) is self-titled debut from Crack The Sky Rarely do I agree with anything in Rolling Stone magazine. Sorry, but that’s the fact, Jack. But, when they awarded Crack The Sky’s 1975 debut Album of the Year, they nailed it! Sadly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the album also was the least sold ever bearing that critical distinction. Ever since needle touched vinyl, various artists from every era and genre have somehow slipped through the cracks and into obscurity. Whether due to poor management, bad luck, or, perhaps, merely being ahead of their time, many bands never got their just due. CTS are one such band. I first heard CTS...
Tony Bennett and Bill Evans ” The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#457 in the Series) is Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, The Tony Bennett /Bill Evans Album I think it’s fair to say that Tony Bennett has had a damn fine career, what with the estimated 50 million (!) records sold, the thousands of stellar concert performances and the small matter of 15 Grammy awards. And that’s just scratching the surface , there’s Emmys, humanitarian awards, you name it, Tony’s done it. He also happens to be a damn fine painter in his spare time. It’s enough to make you sick ! Even with all of this however, there’s one thing in his career that stands as an artistic high point, indeed a defining...
Bruce Springsteen “Born To Run”
Today’s Cool Album Of The Day (#411 in the Series) is Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run I guess there’s really only one album that would be appropriate for today’s feature, and that would be Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Born to Run. We lost “The Big Man” this past weekend, and I think this album was the recording that showcased his talents the best. We’re presenting it as a tribute to him. I remember when I first heard of this album. I was a teenager and my girlfriend at the time had a bunch of biker brothers. (What the heck was I thinking?) One of them lived at home (sometime) and had what I thought was a really cool...
Aerosmith “Toys In The Attic”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#404 in the Series) is Aerosmith, Toys In The Attic. Well, it took 404 entries into our little project here, but we’ve finally gotten around to featuring Aerosmith. I many could say that they’re one of the State’s best bands. I know that’s easily debatable. One thing that I don’t think is debatable is that they are one of the State’s best hard rock bands. Me personally? I’m not the one to say much about who’s who in the hard rock genre. It’s not near the top of my list of favorites, but there was a period when I was into Aerosmith for a while. This was that period along with the albums...
Electric Light Orchestra “Face The Music”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#383in the Series) is Electric Light Orchestra, Face the Music Today Jeff Lynne and his band Electric Light Orchestra make their first appearance on Cool Album of the Day. They do so with one of their most popular album, Face the Music. Face the Musicwas released in 1975 and reached as high as #8 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. It spent 48 weeks in the top 200. No singles charted on the Hot 100 chart, but many were well known album rock cuts. The most well-known probably being “Evil Woman” or “Strand Magic.” This was their first album recorded at Musicland in Munich Germany. That studio would become the studio of...
Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#377 in the Series) is Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here. What can you say about Wish You Were Here that hasn’t been said already? This is one of the iconic albums in rock and roll. This is one of Pink Floyd’s best. It was released in 1975 which was right in the middle of their “meat era.” The period where they produced four of their most popular releases, they being of course The Dark Side of the Moon (‘73), Wish You Were Here (‘75), Animals (’77) and The Wall (’79.) That was four of the most popular albums of the seventies, and yes, I do feel that they were their best albums. That...
Chet Atkins and Les Paul “Chester and Lester”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#358 in the Series) is Chet Atkins and Les Paul, Chester and Lester We’re going to change direction today. You have to love a website that can segue from Nina Hagen to Chet Atkins and Les Paul. We strive for variety here! Chet Atkins and Les Paul were two of the greatest guitarist to ever strap it on. They played together live many times, however, this was one of the only recordings that they did together. Chester and Lester was released in 1975. It features some wonderful versions of great standards. One of my favorites here is their version of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” They also cover Sammy Cahn’s “It’s Been a Long, Long...
Kayak “Royal Bed Bouncer”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#265 in the Series) is Kayak, Royal Bed Bouncer. OK, I really wanted to run with something not completely obscure, but not a household name either. I want something in ‘Progressive Rock,’ let’s say something that might challenge some of you a little. I really want to stay away from things that everyone knows. There are plenty of sights that just have the huge hit records. Well How ‘bout Kayak, Royal Bed Bouncer. I really like the fact that I couldn’t even find a good clear photo of their original cover. I had to use a picture of an actual vinyl LP cover. I really like that. In fact, if I can find...
Jefferson Starship “Red Octopus”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#261 in the Series) is Jefferson Starship, Red Octopus. I know I should have gone with a classic Jefferson Airplane album and not a Jefferson Starship album, but I decided to go this route because I’m a big fan of ‘Play on Love.’ The reason I like the song so much is because of the prominent role played by Papa John Creach. I love his fiddle work on this album. ‘Fast Buck Freddie’ is another great track. Marty Balin’s ‘Miracles’ can also be found here. Red Octopus was the only ‘Jefferson’ album to reach the top of the charts. It actually hit number one four times. The first time was in early September...
