One of the most popular soul jazz albums of all time, and one of the best, although Harris (and trumpeter Benny Bailey) had never played or rehearsed with the Les McCann Trio before, and indeed wasn't even given the music. Perhaps that's what sparked the spontaneous funk coming through clearly on the tape of this show, recorded at the Montreux Festival in 1969. It's actually much more of a showcase for McCann than Harris, although the tenor saxist's contributions are significant. The sole vocal, a version of Gene McDaniels' "Compared to What," remains McCann's signature tune.

This is an excellent unearthed gem of West Coast psychedelic rock: inspired songs, sturdy musicianship, and a fantastic cleanup job on the master tapes. Mendelbaum was active in the late '60s and early '70s in San Francisco. Singer, guitarist, and main songwriter Chris Michie would become a studio musician (he recorded with the Pointer Sisters and Van Morrison) and solo artist, while drummer Keith Knudsen would later join the Doobie Brothers. Bassist Tom LaVarda, sax player George Cash, and organist Ronnie Page (heard on the live cuts from the Matrix on the second disc, later replaced by J.D. Sharp) complete the group. The first disc of this double eponymous set is comprised of studio demos recorded in 1970 for Warner Bros…

As well as being one of the finest rock singers of the 1960s, Janis Joplin was also a great blues singer, making her material her own with her wailing, raspy, supercharged emotional delivery. First rising to stardom as the frontwoman for San Francisco psychedelic band Big Brother & the Holding Company, she left the group in the late '60s for a brief and uneven (though commercially successful) career as a solo artist. Although she wasn't always supplied with the best material or most sympathetic musicians, her best recordings, with both Big Brother and on her own, are some of the most exciting performances of the era. She also did much to redefine the role of women in rock with her assertive, sexually forthright persona and raunchy, electrifying on-stage presence.

This album was originally released in 1969 as "First Winter". When Johnny Winter emerged on the national scene in 1969, the hope, particularly in the record business, was that he would become a superstar on the scale of Jimi Hendrix, another blues-based rock guitarist and singer who preceded him by a few years. That never quite happened, but Winter did survive the high expectations of his early admirers to become a mature, respected blues musician with a strong sense of tradition. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Clare Fischer's big-band release was only briefly available as an Atlantic LP but it has finally reappeared in the CD era after a brief appearance under another title on LP some ten years after its first release. Fischer's potent originals and first-rate arrangements bring out the best in his musicians, which include Warne Marsh and Conte Candoli (featured on "Miles Behind"), Bill Perkins on a work trumpeter Stewart Fischer specially composed for the baritone saxophonist ("Calamus"), and alto saxophonist Gary Foster featured with Marsh on Lennie Tristano's "Lennie's Pennies." A well-conceived chart of Billy Strayhorn's "Upper Manhattan Medical Group" swings mightily. The leader even makes a rare appearance on alto sax in the brief "In Memoriam" dedicated to the assassinated Kennedy brothers.

One minute The Action were the ultimate mod cult band, belting out exuberant Anglicised approximations of Tamla/soul material in clubs across the country, the next they’d shed singer Reggie King and mutated into questing countercultural adventurers Mighty Baby.
Under the leadership of guitarist Martin Stone, they would become increasingly insular as four of the five band members converted to Islam and they moved slowly towards a more improvised sound. By the end of 1971, fasting for Ramadan had left them almost too weak to perform onstage, at which juncture they came to the reluctant conclusion that rock’n’roll and the Muslim faith were incompatible…

Amon Düül was a German art commune whose members began producing improvisational psychedelic rock music during the late '60s. The group's members released several albums, mostly recorded during a single extended jam session. Concurrently, some of the commune's more musically inclined members formed the longer-lasting Amon Düül II, who made their debut with 1969's Phallus Dei and continued releasing ambitious efforts such as 1971's Tanz der Lemminge and the more pop-minded Made in Germany (1975). Both acts proved to be a major influence on generations of experimental rock musicians to come and are regarded as pioneers of the Krautrock style.

When Belgian-Portuguese duo Jess & James (Tony Lam and Wando Lam) released their third LP in 1969, they already had an impressive body of work under their belt. Playing a highly energized blend of pop and soul, they achieved great success in Europe with singles like "Move and "Something for nothing". Oddly enough, they were often presented as British musicians origin instead of Portuguese.
In 1969 Jess & James released their self titled third and final album which is widely regarded as their best. This time they are joined by top session musicians Scott Bradford (keyboards) and Stu Martin (drums) and the sound changes toward a more hard- psych- prog approach, featuring superb Hammond work and some long jams, at times reminiscent of early Caravan.

Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Who, a double album first released in May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend as a rock opera that tells the story about a deaf, dumb and blind boy, including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family.

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1971 and 1969 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

This album by the Rice Miller fellow who called himself Sonny Boy Williamson - in other words, the Mississippi harmonica player rather than the Tennessee harmonica player - may have been one of the best volumes in the grim-looking series of single-album reissues and collections Chess put out before switching to double-album sets. Those who enjoy both blues and the film noir style will enjoy the graphic design of these albums, which often sported singularly unattractive photography of the artists. The grainy, out-of-focus picture of Williamson that fills this front cover is no exception; in fact, in a way, it established the rule. It isn't that he looks mean, he just looks like he could care less. Such a look of indifference has perhaps never before been captured by the camera. It could easily have been taken during some of the discussion that occurs between the artist and his producers during the recording of a song called "Little Village"…

Reign Ghost (1969). Reign Ghost was a late '60s rock group from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The member lineup was a changeable one, consisting at one time or another of singer Lynda Squires, guitarists Bob Bryden and Jim Stright, keyboardist Dave Hair, bassists Jerry Dufek, Russ Erman, and Joe Gallant, and drummers Helge "Rich" Richter and Bob Stright. In 1968, the band signed with the Allied Records label. The result was a self-titled album released in January of the next year.
Even though they were still children (Bob and Lynda were both 17 when the sessions happened), they managed to tap into the universal psych font. And while there is some occasional clunkiness, it really sorta adds to the record's charm…