Roger Nichols and The Small Circle of Friends - Full Circle (US 2008)

250:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Inspelningar gjorda i slutet av sextio talet och släpptes i Japan 2008 som ett samling album. Mycket svår att hitta.)

Full Circle includes songs written by Roger in his late '60s heyday (eight of which were co-authored by Williams, including their brand new collaboration, 'Look Around.') If that's not enough, the CD is supplemented by five previously unreleased '60s-era Roger Nichols demos! Roger Nichols co-authored some of the best known and biggest selling Pop hits of the 20th century, including "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days And Mondays," and "Let Me Be the One".

Born in Missoula, MT, Roger Nichols and his parents moved to Santa Monica, CA, when he was a one-year-old. His household brimmed with music when he was growing up. His dad was a journalism graduate and a professional photographer who played sax in local jazz bands. His mother was a music major and a classical pianist. When Nichols started grade school, he picked up the violin, continuing his violin and classical studies throughout grammar and high school. His attention turned to basketball and Nichols forsook violin for the hoops but played guitar on the side.

Recruited to U.C.L.A. on a basketball scholarship, Nichols played on the team for a year or two. Confronted to make a choice between music or basketball by his coach John Wooden, Nichols chose music. While in college, he majored in music and cinematography while still playing the guitar and adding the piano. After a brief hiatus, he returned to U.C.L.A. and began taking songwriting courses. After he left college, Nichols took a variety of jobs, working in a bank for two years, a liquor store for a year and a half, and serving six months in the navy. On weekends, he worked in clubs with his group, Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends, that performed original songs written by Nichols.

Around 1965, the group was signed to a recording contract by Liberty Records. While at the label, the group briefly had the opportunity to work with Tommy Li Puma. Li Puma thought the group had some potential, but left Liberty shortly thereafter. With the label for eight months without having a record released, Nichols called A&M Records expressing interest in playing some demos for label co-owner Herb Alpert. He was switched to Li Puma who had been hired as the A&R man for the new label. Li Puma was still enamored of the group. Nichols then asked for and received a release from Liberty Records.

While Nichols waited for Li Puma to finish producing the Sandpipers and Claudine Longet, he wrote an instrumental for Alpert that he promptly recorded a week after hearing it. Though Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends wasn't a big seller, Alpert urged A&M publishing company head Chuck Kaye to sign Nichols as a songwriter to their company.

During his second year with the company, Kaye introduced Nichols to lyricist Paul Williams. The first song that wrote was recorded by Claudine Longet, "It's Hard to Say Goodbye." The duo wrote together for four years, resulting in lots of album cuts, B-sides, even A-sides, but no hits.

01. Talk It over in the Morning  02:37
02. The Drifter  03:03
03. Let Me Be the One  02:54
04. Out in the Country  03:04
05. I Kept on Loving You  02:27
06. The Winner's Theme  02:39
07. You're Foolin' Nobody  02:15
08. Watching You  03:50
09. Always You  02:34
10. I'm Comin' to the Best Part of My Life  03:38
11. I'm Gonna Find Her  02:41
12. Look Around  04:25

Mae McKenna - Selftitled (Great Folk UK 1975)

250:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Original relief konvolut. Utgången utgåva sedan 2006)

Mae McKenna doesn't just sing songs, she inhabits them. Her voice is a powerful and passionate instrument equally at home with Celtic traditional songs as much as original country/bluegrass flavoured compositions. Hers is a voice both ancient and modern, attractive and beguiling yet full of soul and sensuality.

Mae McKenna's roots are strongly Irish and Scottish. She grew up in Coatbridge near Glosgow, the youngest of three children with her brothers Hugh and John. Mae was raised in a house filled with music. Her parents and grandparents played music and songs from the variety theatre and the art songs of John McCormack to the classics of Frank Sinatra. At an early age she was exposed to jazz and classical music. At 14 she joined the Lanarkshire youth orchestra where she played viola. The sounds she heard at home included Art Tatum, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and the Tamta Motown classics on the radio all embedded in her teenage brain.

Mae joined her first group -- "Day" -- in high shool where she played viola with this gothic folk band. Playing in a local festival, her musical talents were noticed by another young band called Contraband. Some meetings later and a night visit to a friend's house in search of this elusive and talented young woman led to Contraband asking Mae to join them as lead singer. A Scottish folk rock legend was born.

Contraband featured Mae McKenna, George and Billy Jakcon, John Martin, Peter Cairney and Alec Baird. Their music was an exciting mixture of Irish and Scots traditional tunes, dramatic folk rock arrangements of classical ballads and contemporary songs. They attacked their mkusic with youthful vigour end energy. "We loved playing together," Mae recallse, "we alsyways used to play and sing on the way to gigs and coming back from them. Looking back I couldn't have wanted a better band to begin touring with." Life on the road was an adventure and Contraband toured all over Scotland and England.

Contraband signed with Transatlantic Records in 1973. They recorded their debut album Contraband in Chipping Norton studios in Oxfordshire. Released in May 1974, the album caught the young band in the cusp of their useful musical prowess and joi de vivre. Mae sung and played violin, viola and piano and joined with George and Billy's multi-instrumental talents, Peter's country tinged guitars, John's expert traditional fiddling and Alex's solod drumming to create a fresh new Celtic Rock sound. Contraband disbanded in 1975.

Mae McKenna began her solo career in 1975. She recorded three solo albums for Transatlantic Records: Mae McKenna (1975), Everything That Touches Me (1976) and Walk On Water (1977). She also appeared on radio and TV both as a guest and featured performer.

Her debut solo album Mae McKenna focused on dramatic ballads with lavish orchestrations and was a promising if pensive debut. Everything That Touches Me was a tasteful, melodic soft rock album with strong American West Coast country/rock leanings. Mae's exquisite voice wrapped itself round songs by Andrew Gold, Richard Thompson, Jackson Browne and Anne McGarrigle. The single "Crying in the Rain" received extensive radio airplay. Walk On Water continued the Transatlantic soft rock sound with songs by Kim Carnes, David Paich (Tot writer of the 1970s hit "Hold The Line") and the Motown standard "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted."

01. Dying to Live Winter 3:51 
02. Once in the Morning Webb 3:33 
03. All in Love Is Fair Wonder 3:47 
04. Other Side of Me Greenfield, Sedaka 3:12 
05. Song for Simon Rafferty 3:03 
06. Together We Get By Brook 3:50 
07. Elderberry Wine John, Taupin 3:43 
08. How Could We Dare to Be Wrong Blunstone, Dennys 3:45 
09. Imagine Lennon 3:24 
10. Black-Eyed Susan Brown Traditional 3:58 
11. Said the Major Brook 2:54 
12. Old Man Newman 4:00 

Joe Jones! - You Talk Too Much (Mkt Bra R&B US 1961) (OBS Endast Utgiven i 200 Exemplar)

240:- (Japan 24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. OBS, endast utgiven i 200 exemplar från et litet japanskt skivbolag. Mycket bra R&B.)

Best remembered for the 1960 novelty smash "You Talk Too Much," New Orleans R&B singer Joe Jones later forged a career in production and publishing before becoming a galvanizing force in the battle for artists' rights. Born in the Crescent City on August 12, 1926, Jones followed a World War II naval stint by studying at the Juilliard Conservatory of Music. 

Upon returning to New Orleans he served as a valet for blues great B.B. King, later graduating to the positions of pianist and arranger. Jones also toured behind Shirley & Lee before forming his own band despite limited vocal ability. After playing the French Quarter nightclub circuit for several years, he cut his single "Will Call" for Capitol in 1954. After briefly resurfacing on the Herald label in 1957, the following year Jones signed with New York City-based Roulette to cut "You Talk Too Much," a song written by Fats Domino's brother-in-law Reggie Hall and summarily rejected by the Fat Man himself. Roulette shelved the disc, but Jones loved the song and re-recorded it in 1960 for the small New Orleans label Ric, complete with a new arrangement courtesy of Harold Battiste. 

Joe Jones And His Orchestra - France EP 1960

When "You Talk Too Much" topped New York radio, Roulette cried foul, filing an injunction that forced Ric to withdraw its version. The song soon reappeared on Roulette, crossing over to reach the pop Top Five by September. While Ric issued an answer record, Martha Nelson's "I Don't Talk Too Much," Jones' own follow-up, "One Big Mouth," flopped, and outside of 1961's minor hit "California Sun," he never charted again. Moreover, he earned next to nothing from the success of "You Talk Too Much" and in disgust relocated to New York to pursue a career in production, shepherding the fledgling careers of the Dixie Cups (of "Chapel of Love" fame) and R&B singer Alvin Robinson. 

Jones migrated to Los Angeles in 1973 and founded his own publishing firm. He also became an advocate for the rights of fellow R&B acts, helping African-American performers regain the rights and royalties they'd signed away during the infancy of the modern recording industry. Jones died in L.A. on November 27, 2005, following quadruple bypass surgery. He was 79. [AMG]

Joe Jones (August 12, 1926 – November 27, 2005) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger, who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jones is also generally credited with discovering the Dixie Cups. He also worked with B.B. King. As a singer, Jones's greatest hit was the Top Five 1960 R&B hit "You Talk Too Much", which also reached #3 on the pop chart.

Joe Jones And His Orchestra
US Single September 1960

Jones served in the U.S. Navy before studying music at the Juilliard Conservatory of Music. He was a valet, then pianist and arranger for B.B. King. His debut solo single was "Will Call" (1954) on Capitol Records. In 1960, "You Talk Too Much" became a national success, but his subsequent releases were less successful.

Jones claimed to have composed many songs, including the song "Iko Iko." Although his claims were originally successful, a federal jury and then Court of Appeals ruled that Jones did not write "Iko Iko," that his claims were fraudulent, and that the true writers were the band
he managed, the Dixie Cups (the true original recording of this song had been released as Checker 787 by New Orleans singer and pianist Sugar Boy Crawford and his Cane Cutters in late 1953). The band hired music attorney Oren Warshavsky, who had previously won a case demonstrating that Jones fraudulently claimed ownership of another Mardi Gras classic song, "It Ain't My Fault." Jones also failed in his bid to claim ownership (though not as an author) to yet another Mardi Gras classic song, "Carnival Time." He also originally recorded "California Sun", which was made a hit by the Rivieras. He later worked tirelessly for the rights of fellow R&B acts.

Jones died in Los Angeles, California, from complications from quadruple bypass surgery. 

01. You Talk Too Much 
02. I Love You Still 
03. Take a Little Walk 
04. Every Night About Eight 
05. McDonald's Daughter 
06. Tell Me What's Happening 
07. One Big Mouth (Two Big Ears)
08. Here's What You Gotta Do
09. I Need Someone
10. Where Is My Baby
11. Always Picking On Me
12. To Prove My Love to You

Bo Diddley - Selftitled (Great Album US 1962)

270:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Albumet innehåller "You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover". Ännu ett blues album som är ett måste i skivsamlingen.)

Bo Diddley is a studio album by American rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley, not to be confused with the 1958 compilation album of the same name. The 1962 album was released as Checker LP-2984 in August 1962 and featured the Willie Dixon-penned classic "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover", which was released as a 7" 45 rpm single in July 1962.

In Britain, Bo Diddley was released as an LP by Pye International Records. The UK release charted at #11 on the UK Albums Chart. The success of the album followed the UK package tour that Bo had begun at the beginning of the year with the Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and the Rolling Stones.

Due to the album's success in the UK, many British bands recorded songs from the record.

Bo’s music was beginning to slip in sales — though he remained a popular concert act — when Chess released this album in the summer of 1962. "I Can Tell," written by Samuel Smith, showed Bo trying out a slower, more seductively soulful sound, a whole four-and-a-half-minutes long—it is different, though not very distinguished. 

"Bo’s Twist" isn’t much more impressive, a fairly standard instrumental with an unusually grungy (like you were expecting Julian Bream) guitar sound, with the first prominent appearance of an organ in the backing of a Bo Diddley record; "Sad Sack" is a somewhat more successful instrumental. 

"Mr. Kruschev" is one of the funniest, most delightfully nonsensical pieces of topical songwriting Bo ever engaged in, writing about wanting to go into the army and go over to see the Soviet leader and get him to stop nuclear testing, to a background of "Hut, two—three four!" "You All Green" is first-rate Bo, and deserved to be anthologized somewhere. 

"You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover" was the one standard from the album, but other tracks deserving of better exposure include "Bo’s Bounce" and "Who May Your Lover Be," which takes off from Howlin’ Wolf’s "Moaning at Midnight," recasting it in a Bo Diddley beat, with Bo sounding a lot like Wolf here, and "Give Me a Break (Man)," which is a very animated impromptu guitar jam. 

The album filler tracks include "Mama Don’t Allow No Twistin’," Bo’s take on "Mama Don’t Like Music," a song that was old when country-and-western/novelty singer Smiley Burnette covered it successfully in the 1930s, "Babes in the Woods" (featuring a backing chorus mimicking the doo-wop parody "Get a Job") and "Diddling," a routine Bo instrumental.

The second eponymous Bo Diddley album in four years, this particular issue marked his breakthrough in the UK, hitting #11 in Britain as opposed to its rather lower chart place of #117 in the US. 

This success was down to the fact that Bo was touring the UK at the time of its release, part of a package tour that included The Everly Brothers, Little Richard and The Rolling Stones. As the album began its residency on the UK chart, several British bands mined the album for material, proof that Bo had lost none of his influence on the British R&B market. Even now, fifty years after its original release, Bo Diddley the album showcases perfectly what Bo Diddley the artist was all about.

01. "I Can Tell" (Samuel Smith, McDaniel) – 04:27
02. "Mr. Khrushchev" – 02:56
03. "Diddling" – 02:12
04. "Give Me a Break" – 02:07
05. "Who May Your Lover Be" – 02:54
06. "Bo's Bounce" – 01:35
07. "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (Willie Dixon) – 02:43
08. "Babes in the Woods" – 2:10
09. "Sad Sack" – 02:38
10. "Mama Don't Allow No Twistin'" – 02:10
11. "You All Green" – 03:03
12. "Bo's Twist" – 02:32

Bonus Track:
13. "We're Gonna Get Married" - 02:27

Spirit - Original Album Classics (5 Mini LP Box) (EU Edition)

175:- (5 Spirit Albums as Mini Lp CD's has the correct front & back cover + bonustracks. Japan have not released any Spirit albums so enjoy these album instead. Highly Recommended)

Sony UK's Original Albums Classics series is a terrific idea: take five remastered albums from a certain period in an artist's catalog and pop them in a slipcase for budget price. That said, what usually happens is that they take two or three classic albums from that period, and assemble the box set with other, lesser-quality albums from roughly the same era. 

In other words, the recordings don't follow the chronology -- it's an inventory-clearing scheme. In the case of the legendary American band Spirit, however, the five albums collected here are not only presented in the sequence they were released, they are the group’s five best. Period. Spirit's genre-smashing music provided real -- and attributed -- inspiration for bands such as Traffic, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and even Led Zeppelin. (The introduction to the song "Taurus" from Spirit's self-titled debut is directly referenced in "Stairway to Heaven.") 

Spirit's early recordings (and revolving door membership) featured a seamless weave of psychedelic and hard rock, folk, jazz, blues, and classical musics. These recordings -- Spirit (1968), The Family That Plays Together (1969), Clear (1969), Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970), and Feedback (1972), produced hit singles and memorable album tracks including "Fresh Garbage,” “Uncle Jack,” “Mechanical World,” “Animal Zoo,” “Nature’s Way," "Dark Eyed Woman," and of course, "I've Got a Line on You." The five albums in this package are full of worthy surprises and forgotten treasures. In their early years, Spirit were deeply focused on creating albums. They weren't conceptual so much as very progressive in how they perceived the sequencing of tracks that flowed together to create unique and often startling listening experiences. For the price, this package is an absolute steal and is well worth investigating for anyone not already acquainted with Spirit's music.

Spirit - S/T US 1968
Spirit's debut unveiled a band that seemed determine to out-eclecticize everybody else on the California psychedelic scene, with its melange of rock, jazz, blues, folk-rock, and even a bit of classical and Indian music. Teenaged Randy California immediately established a signature sound with his humming, sustain-heavy tone; middle-aged drummer Ed Cassidy gave the group unusual versatility; and the songs tackled unusual lyrical themes, like "Fresh Garbage" and "Mechanical World." As is often the case in such hybrids, the sum fell somewhat short of the parts; they could play more styles than almost any other group, but couldn't play (or, more crucially, write) as well as the top acts in any given one of those styles. There's some interesting stuff here, nonetheless; "Uncle Jack" shows some solid psych-pop instincts, and it sounds like Led Zeppelin lifted the opening guitar lines of "Taurus" for their own much more famous "Stairway to Heaven."

Spirit - The Family That Plays Together US 1968
On this, the second Spirit album, the group put all of the elements together that made them the legendary (and underrated) band that they were. Jazz, rock & roll, and even classical elements combined to create one of the cleanest, most tasteful syntheses of its day. The group had also improved measurably from their fine debut album, especially in the area of vocals. The album's hit single, "I Got a Line on You," boasts especially strong harmonies as well as one of the greatest rock riffs of the period. The first side of this record is a wonderful and seamless suite, and taken in its entirety, one of the greatest sides on Los Angeles rock. The CD reissue also boasts some excellent bonus tracks. "So Little to Say" is one of Jay Ferguson's finest compositions ever, and the jazz-inspired instrumentals such as "Fog" and "Space Chile" showcase pianist John Locke as one of the most inspired and lyrical players in the rock idiom to date. All in all, a classic album and a true landmark.

Spirit - Clear Spirit US 1969
Although this album may not be seen as the definitive Spirit statement, it has several moments of brilliance that prove what a revolutionary band they were. Coming off of the success of The Family That Plays Together and "I Got a Line on You," the group entered the studio with Lou Adler once again in the producer's chair. Unfortunately, the group appeared to be beginning to fragment, and it shows on this uneven but ultimately fine album. "Dark Eyed Woman" opens the album with promise, and it is indeed one of Spirit's hardest-rocking studio performances. Randy California's inspired guitar solo is one of the finest performances of the period. The riff and general feel of the track (right down to the siren sound effects) were borrowed by Traffic on "Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory." The record tends to go downhill from there (primarily due to some uninspired songwriting), but is not without its high points, like "Cold Wind" and the awesome closer "New Dope in Town."

The original Spirit lineup was the sleeper band of its era, maybe the top LA band from the '68-'72 span. Their first and fourth albums are acclaimed classics by just about everybody, but this disc has moments nearly as great. While the roots of jazz rock taken further by Steely Dan's "Bodhisatva" could be heard on their third album's "All the Same" this disc has three jazz explorations, with "Ice" and "Caught" being superb instrumental, improvisational tracks.

The Hendrix vibe of the earlier discs is just as evident in "Dark Eyed Woman," while "So Little Time to Fly" and "Ground Hog" show early signs of the evolving sound that struck so many on "Dr Sardonicus". The only stiff on this disc is "Give a Life, Take a Life", but the bonus tracks on this release more than make up for it, including both sides of the "1984" single. The disc contains the best non-single track on any Spirit disc, "New Dope in Town," and enough other superb music to make it a classic disc from a classic band, that sometimes doesn't quite get the respect it should.

Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus US 1970
Although Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus has the reputation of being Spirit's most far-out album, it actually contains the most disciplined songwriting and playing of the original lineup, cutting back on some of the drifting and offering some of their more melodic tunes. The lilting "Nature's Way" was the most endearing FM standard on the album, which also included some of Spirit's best songs in "Animal Zoo" and "Mr. Skin." [The 1996 CD reissue has four bonus tracks, though these are on the nonessential side: mono versions of "Animal Zoo" and "Morning Will Come," the 1970 single "Red Light Roll On," and the previously unissued "Rougher Road."]

One of the BEST albums of all time. I know many people that have this opinion and the people I play it for even now appreciate it greatly. Many say it is alternative (well before the term was coined). Anyhow it was/is an environmental alarm with lots of psychedelic sound and great guitar work by one of the best.

Spirit - Feedback (Recorded US 1971)
Feedback is one of the strangest happenings in rock, more dramatic than Michael MacDonald taking over the Doobie Brothers, but more successful artistically than it was financially, and a chapter of the group that is sadly forgotten. The original band was produced by Lou Adler and built around guitar prodigy Randy California, and a bit of history is in order to understand this hybrid project. David Briggs, producer of Kathi MacDonald, Alice Cooper's Easy Action, and Neil Young, helped the band forge their classic Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus and was retained for this follow-up. 

William Ruhlmann's liner notes to Spirit's Time Circle Epic/Legacy release notes that Randy California resigned from the group at this point. Mark Andes and Jay Ferguson formed Jo Jo Gunne with Curly Smith, and Smith's friends, the Staehely Brothers, joined Cassidy and company. What Ed Cassidy and keyboard player John Locke created with producer David Briggs was a phenomenal reinvention of Spirit, which worked, sometimes better than the original group. Bassist/vocalist Al Staehely wrote the music, with guitar chores and backing vocals by his brother J. Christian Staehely. "Witch," the final track on the disc, is typical of this new Spirit sound, a fusion of pop/jazz/rock with a dab of country. It would have been a perfect blend for Randy California to step back into, though his ego might have been the stumbling block here. In concert, this version of Spirit was serious and precise, playing with a cool efficiency. 

David Briggs was the perfect guy to oversee this project, allowing the musicians their space and developing a true counterpart to The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, considered by many to be the band's highpoint. The cover is in eerie aqua blue with the faces looking like spirits peering out of a distorted television. The gatefold contains a band photo and a smart evolutionary image for this eclectic and underrated West Coast band. Here's the clincher: musically, some of the best work on Feedback are the two instrumentals by keyboard player John Locke, "Puesta Del Scam" and "Trancas Fog-Out," fragments of the original "Spirit" performed by this new quartet. 

The stuff is brilliant, and that it was excised from Time Circle is a pity. It was this writer who put Epic/Legacy in touch with Randy California in the development of 1991's Time Circle compilation project, and certainly the elegant "Darkness," the third John Locke title, deserved to be included on that double disc, and some representation of this remarkable work would have been appropriate rather than nine whopping cuts from The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. Jo Jo Gunne guitarist Matthew Andes (brother of Spirit's Mark Andes) co-wrote "Mellow Morning" with Al Staehely, and it, along with "Right on Time" and "Ripe and Ready," all display the Spirit vibe, even hinting at some Jo Jo Gunne, as strange as that may seem. The Cassidy/Locke/Staehely/Staehely combo added enough jazz to Spirit to temper the all out assault that was Jo Jo Gunne, and therein lies the difference. 

This is not David Bowie's ex-drummer and bassist forming the Spiders From Mars; keep in mind that Ed Cassidy was not only the band's insignia with his Yul Brynner look, he was this group's spiritual leader. As Randy California's step-dad, it's a shame he didn't get more firm with the boy and demand they all be "the family that plays together." Had the Staehely brothers and John Locke stayed on board for Cassidy and Randy California's next project, the erratic Potatoland disc may have mutated into something totally brilliant. The best of Al Staehely, John Locke, and Randy California would have been truly something. Feedback is a solid performance and remarkable album which deserves its place in the Spirit catalog, and not the status of bastard son. It is a legitimate Spirit project and it is very, very good.

Originally released 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
5-CD cardboard case bundle of the band's first 5 studio albums with bonus tracks.

* (Bonus Track)

Spirit (1968):
01. Fresh Garbage (3:11)
02. Uncle Jack (2:43)
03. Mechanical World (5:14)
04. Taurus (2:37)
05. Girl in Your Eye (3:15)
06. Straight Arrow (2:51)
07. Topanga Windows (3:36)
08. Gramophone Man (3:49)
09. Water Woman (2:11)
10. Great Canyon Fire in General (2:46)
11. Elijah (10:49)
12. Veruska* (2:51)
13. Free Spirit* (4:28)
14. If I Had A Woman* (3:12)
15. Elijah (alternate take)* (9:42) 

The Family that Plays Together (1968):
01. I Got a Line on You (2:37)
02. It Shall Be (3:25)
03. Poor Richard (2:29)
04. Silky Sam (4:06)
05. Drunkard (2:38)
06. Darlin' If (3:38)
07. It's All the Same (4:40)
08. Jewish (2:48)
09. Dream Within a Dream (3:01)
10. She Smiles (2:30)
11. Aren't You Glad (5:31)
12. Fog* (2:24)
13. So Little to Say* (2:59)
14. Mellow Fellow* (3:48)
15. Now or Anywhere* (4:21)
16. Space Chile* (6:26)

Clear (1969):
01. Dark Eyed Woman (3:07)
02. Apple Orchard (4:07)
03. So Little Time to Fly (2:49)
04. Ground Hog (3:04)
05. Cold Wind (3:24)
06. Policeman's Ball (2:21)
07. Ice (5:52)
08. Give a Life, Take a Life (3:23)
09. I'm Truckin' (2:25)
10. Clear (4:09)
11. Caught (3:10)
12. New Dope in Town (4:24)
13. 1984* (3:37)
14. Sweet Stella Baby* (2:55)
15. Fuller Brush Man* (3:19)
16. Coral* (3:05)

Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970):
01. Prelude - Nothin' to Hide (3:43)
02. Nature's Way (2:40)
03. Animal Zoo (3:10)
04. Love Has Found a Way (2:42)
05. Why Can't I Be Free (1:05)
06. Mr. Skin (4:01)
07. Space Child (3:25)
08. When I Touch You (5:37)
09. Street Worm (3:43)
10. Life Has Just Begun (3:29)
11. Morning Will Come (2:50)
12. Soldier (2:50)
13. Rougher Road* (3:17)
14. Animal Zoo* (3:10)
15. Morning Will Come* (2:50)
16. Red Light Roll On* (5:41)

Feedback (1972):
01. Chelsea Girls (3:29)
02. Cadillac Cowboys (3:38)
03. Puesta del Scam (2:01)
04. Ripe and Ready (3:53)
05. Darkness (4:47)
06. Earth Shaker (3:54)
07. Mellow Morning (2:22)
08. Right On Time (2:47)
09. Trancas Fog-Out (2:37)
10. Witch (5:21)

Wanda Jackson - Rockin' With Wanda! (2nd Album Rock/Rockabilly/R&B US 1962)

240:- (24-Bit Limited Remaster Edition. Hennes 2:a album i en liten upplaga från OLDAYS RECORDS. Bonus låtar.)

Absolutely the best collection of Wanda Jackson's rockabilly recordings, including her key 1956-1960 singles -- "Fujiyama Mama," "Mean Mean Man," "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad," and others. Rockin' with Wanda! is a leading candidate for the best female rock & roll album of the 1950s.

Wanda Jackson was only halfway through high school when, in 1954, country singer Hank Thompson heard her on an Oklahoma City radio show and asked her to record with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. By the end of the decade, Jackson had become one of America's first major female country and rockabilly singers.

Jackson was born in Oklahoma, but her father Tom -- himself a country singer who quit because of the Depression -- moved the family to California in 1941. He bought Wanda her first guitar two years later, gave her lessons, and encouraged her to play piano as well. In addition, he took her to see such acts as Tex Williams, Spade Cooley, and Bob Wills, which left a lasting impression on her young mind. Tom moved the family back to Oklahoma City when his daughter was 12 years old. In 1952, she won a local talent contest and was given a 15-minute daily show on KLPR. The program, soon upped to 30 minutes, lasted throughout Jackson's high-school years. It's here that Thompson heard her sing. Jackson recorded several songs with the Brazos Valley Boys, including "You Can't Have My Love," a duet with Thompson's bandleader, Billy Gray. The song, on the Decca label, became a national hit, and Jackson's career was off and running. She had wanted to sign with Capitol, Thompson's label, but was turned down, so she signed with Decca instead.

Jackson insisted on finishing high school before hitting the road. When she did, her father came with her. Her mother made and helped design Wanda's stage outfits. "I was the first one to put some glamour in the country music -- fringe dresses, high heels, long earrings," Jackson said of these outfits. When Jackson first toured in 1955 and 1956, she was placed on a bill with none other than Elvis Presley. The two hit it off almost immediately. Jackson said it was Presley, along with her father, who encouraged her to sing rockabilly.

In 1956, Jackson finally signed with Capitol, a relationship that lasted until the early '70s. Her recording career bounced back and forth between country and rockabilly; she did this by often putting one song in each style on either side of a single. Jackson cut the rockabilly hit "Fujiyama Mama" in 1958, which became a major success in Japan. Her version of "Let's Have a Party," which Elvis had cut earlier, was a U.S. Top 40 pop hit for her in 1960, after which she began calling her band the Party Timers. A year later, she was back in the country Top Ten with "Right or Wrong" and "In the Middle of a Heartache." In 1965, she topped the German charts with "Santa Domingo," sung in German. In 1966, she hit the U.S. Top 20 with "The Box It Came In" and "Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine." Jackson's popularity continued through the end of the decade.

Jackson toured regularly, was twice nominated for a Grammy, and was a big attraction in Las Vegas from the mid-'50s into the '70s. She married IBM programmer Wendell Goodman in 1961, and instead of quitting the business -- as many women singers had done at the time -- Goodman gave up his job in order to manage his wife's career. He also packaged Jackson's syndicated TV show, Music Village. In 1971, Jackson and her husband became Christians, which she says saved their marriage. She released one gospel album on Capitol in 1972, Praise the Lord, before shifting to the Myrrh label for three more gospel albums. In 1977, she switched again, this time to Word Records, and released another two.

Rockabilly Filly In the early '80s, Jackson was invited to Europe to play rockabilly and country festivals and to record. She's since been back numerous times. More recently, American country artists Pam Tillis, Jann Browne, and Rosie Flores have acknowledged Jackson as a major influence. In 1995, Flores released a rockabilly album, Rockabilly Filly, and invited Jackson, her longtime idol, to sing two duets on it with her. Jackson embarked on a major U.S. tour with Flores later that year. It was her first secular tour in this country since the '70s, not to mention her first time back in a nightclub atmosphere. Jackson returned to the studio in 2010 to begin work on a new album. Produced by Jack White and featuring a band comprised of the White Stripes frontman, his wife Karen Elson, various Raconteurs, My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel, and a host of others, The Party Ain't Over arrived in early 2011. Jackson's 31st studio album, 2012's Unfinished Business, was produced by Justin Townes Earle and featured original material as well as covers of songs by Woody Guthrie, Etta James, Bobby Womack, and others.

01. Rock Your Baby 
02. Fujiyama Mama 
03. You're The One For Me 
04. Did You Miss Me? 
05. Cool Love 
06. Honey Bop 
07. Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad 
08. Baby Loves Him 
09. Mean Mean Man 
10. You've Turned To A Stranger 
11. Don'a Wan'a 
12. I Gotta Know 

Bonus Tracks 
13. Half As Good A Girl 
14. Silver Threads And Golden Needles 
15. Cryin 'Thru The Night 
16. No Wedding Bells For Joe 
17. (Every Time They Play) Our Song