This disc was a happy byproduct of the Grateful Dead resigning with Warner Bros. It was mutually beneficial for Bob Weir (guitar/vocals) as well as Mickey Hart (percussion), and his criminally overlooked debut long player Rolling Thunder (1972). Jerry Garcia's (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass, piano, organ, samples, vocals) simply titled Garcia (1972) is arguably the most solo of all these projects, as only he and the Grateful Dead's Billy Kreutzmann (percussion) contribute instrumentally. That said, Robert Hunter's lyrics should not be underestimated as all six of his co-compositions became staples in the Dead's live songbook for the remainder of their concert career. The infusion of new material can be attributed to the lack of any Dead-related releases since Workingman's Dead (1970), over 14 months earlier. Although Garcia is the primary musician on the ten tracks, he has given each arrangement a wholly unique persona. These range from straight-ahead blues-based rock 'n' roll ("Sugaree") to the avant-garde ("Late For Supper"). Within those extremes are discerning renditions and solid performances of stone gems such as the noir folkie "Loser," as well as the lilting balladry of "Bird Song" and the cyclical psychedelia of "The Wheel"; the latter of which features some of the finest pedal steel guitar work to have come from Garcia's brief infatuation with the twangy instrument. He brings an intimacy to the affective love song "To Lay Me Down" that was rarely equalled by the Grateful Dead. His prowess as an emotive pianist can be heard throughout not only that cut, but also on the trippy medley consisting of the previously mentioned "Late for Supper," "Spidergawd," and "Eep Hour." Ever the self-effacing artist, at the time of release the guitarist overtly downplayed the album as "overindulgent." Time has rendered that assessment utterly false, as Garcia is nothing short of a full-bodied artistic expression from one of rock & roll's most multi-faceted musicians. Both initiated Deadheads as well as enthusiasts of the burgeoning early-'70s singer/songwriter movement will find much to cherish on this recording as Jerry Garcia redefines his immense talents and seemingly undiluted musical potential.

(Lindsay Planer, www.allmusic.com)

"Kein anderer Singer/Songwriter hat seinen Glauben an zeitlose Schönheit und gleichzeitig seine Todesahnungen in bedrückendere Lieder umzusetzen vermocht als Nick Drake. Ein kompletteres Meisterwerk hat niemand vorzuweisen. In ihrem schwindelerregend hohen Reflexionsniveau stehen diese Songs den besten eines Bob Dylan, Van Morrison oder Randy Newman in nichts nach, und mit ihrer poetischen Qualität haben sie Maßstäbe gesetzt. Hier kann man - im Fall von 'Pink moon' weit mehr noch als bei der von Simply Vinyl veröffentlichten LP - aufs Schönste nachvollziehen, warum auch manche Musiker-Kollegen diese Joe-Boyd-Produktion zu den besten Analogaufnahmen aller Zeiten zählen"

(Stereo).

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After two albums of tastefully orchestrated folk-pop, albeit some of the least demonstrative and most affecting around, Drake chose a radical change for what turned out to be his final album. Not even half-an-hour long, with 11 short songs and no more -- he famously remarked at the time that he simply had no more to record -- Pink Moon more than anything else is the record that made Drake the cult figure he remains. Specifically, Pink Moon is the bleakest of them all; that the likes of Belle and Sebastian are fans of Drake may be clear enough, but it's doubtful they could ever achieve the calm, focused anguish of this album, as harrowing as it is attractive. No side musicians or outside performers help this time around -- it's simply Drake and Drake alone on vocals, acoustic guitar, and a bit of piano, recorded by regular producer Joe Boyd but otherwise untouched by anyone else. The lead-off title track was eventually used in a Volkswagen commercial nearly 30 years later, giving him another renewed burst of appreciation -- one of life's many ironies, in that such an affecting song, Drake's softly keened singing and gentle strumming, could turn up in such a strange context. The remainder of the album follows the same general path, with Drake's elegant melancholia avoiding sounding pretentious in the least thanks to his continued embrace of simple, tender vocalizing. Meanwhile, the sheer majesty of his guitar playing -- consider the opening notes of "Road" or "Parasite" -- makes for a breathless wonder to behold. If anyone needs confirmation as to why artists like Mark Eitzel, Elliot Smith, Lou Barlow, or Robert Smith hold Drake close to their hearts, it's all here, still as beautiful as the day it was released.

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

Die Geschichte von ASHRA / ASHRA TEMPEL begann bereits Ende der 60er. Damals brachte das Triumvirat Klaus Schulze (dr), Hartmut Enke (b) und Manuel Göttsching (keyb) den "electronic spirit" mit frei fließenden Improvisationen und instrumentalen Exkursionen in die Krautrock-Szene ein. Nach dem Weggang von Klaus Schulze wurde ASHRA das Medium von Mastermind Manuel Göttsching, der 1981 mit dem ersten technoiden Album "E2-E4" einen Trance-Klassiker schuf. Auch wenn es in diesem Jahrzehnt ruhig wurde um dieses Projekt - die Releases stammen allesamt aus den 70ern & 80ern -, so war ihre Musik der Zeit meist einen Schritt voraus. Ob New Age, electronic psychedelic Impetus oder Techno, immer verstanden es Göttsching & Co. mit substanzhaltigen Vorläufern diese Stile vorwegzunehmen. Und nun, nach fast zehn Jahren Abstinenz, ein weiteres Meisterwerk: live während der '97er-Japan-Tour eingespielt, bietet "@shra" Trance-Grooves vom Feinsten. Die sorgsam aufgebauten Sounds der drei 20-Minuten-Stücke verbinden ambiente Passagen mit träumerischen melodischen Beats, eingewebt in das Spiel der Twin-Guitars von Göttsching und Ex-AGITATION FREE Lutz Ulbrich. Intelligence Techno mit Feeling.

(Joachym Ettel, © Intro - Musik & so)

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Ash Ra Tempel's second album featured the first of several personnel changes, Klaus Schulze having departed for other realms and replaced as a result by Wolfgang Muller. A few guest players surfaced here and there as well, with one John L. taking the lead vocals — another difference from the self-titled debut, which was entirely instrumental. The general principle of side-long efforts continued, though the first half was split into two related songs, "Light" and "Darkness." "Light" itself sounded halfway between the zoned-out exploration of "Traummaschine" and bluesy jamming, a weird if not totally discordant combination that still manages to sound more out there than most bands of the time. Gottsching's fried solo, in particular, is great, sending the rest of the song out to silence that leads into "Darkness." Said song initially takes a far more minimal approach that bears even more resemblance to "Traummaschine," fading out almost entirely by the third minute before a full band performance (including Uli Popp on bongos and Matthais Wehler's sudden alto sax bursts) slowly builds into a frenetic jam. John L.'s vocals become echoed screams and yelps not far off from Damo Suzuki's approach in Can, and the overall performance is a perfect slice of Krautrock insanity, sudden swirls of flanging and even more on-the-edge solos from Gottsching and Wehler sending it over the top. "Suche & Liebe" takes up the entire second side, the performers this time around concentrating on the quiet but unsettling approach, Gottsching's massive soloing kept low in the mix but not so much that it doesn't freak out listeners. The song concludes on an almost conventionally pretty band jam, something that could almost be Meddle-era Pink Floyd, only with even a more haunting, alien air thanks to the wordless vocal keening.

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

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'Beware of Schwingungen!' That should be the large sticker on the front of all copies of this record. For it is dangerous to be casually introduced to something that is life-changing, as I found out to my cost when first listening to this record. It all starts fairly simply and without any cause for alarm – 'Look at Your Sun' begins with a Doorsy lone groover guitar begins a pedestrian blues, beautiful. Then the most crushed voice, a cross between Johnny Rotten and Tiny Tim, preaches its way into the proceeds. God, it is beautiful – John L. repeats over and over, 'We are all one, we are all one,' until a howling fuzztone solo guitar blows the whole one chord 'Signed D.C.' ringing-cymbals torture to an end. And then the most far out track of all begins. This is called 'Flower Must Die' and it is a free-rock giant that transcends everything else in its field (there are no contenders.) As I've written before, PIL sounds like this. John L. was John Lydon in a previous incarnation. After a slow weird build, a frantic streamlined one-chord mantra kicks in and it's like the Stooges' Funhouse period but in a Righteous Vision Zone that fucks them right off. Phasing tears at the whole tracks as this Holy Racket crosses into hyper-space and everything gets all hyphenated just-for-the-sake-of-it. 'Flowers Must Die', man, it's fucked up. Over on side two, the title-track ('Vibrations') begins poetically enough with Wolfgang Muller's epic and hugely reverbed vibraphone. Organ fades in and FX guitars, and time passes by. Finally, tom-toms roll and the developing pace is built upon until that great eternal chord sequence finally materializes – this is the one that Göttsching and Enke believed was the sound of heaven. They may have been right. And Schwingungen was a gift from the Gods."

(Julian Cope's review on Schwingungen in Krautrocksampler,Head Heritage, 1995)

An excellent second album from a band that, familial comparisons to Man notwithstanding, was always closer to the British pub rock ideal than many of the movement's better-feted icons ever could be. And that despite the best of Help Yourself's bluesy barroom rock predating any but the earliest birds of the beer and sawdust circuit — departing guitarist Ken Whalley's Ducks Deluxe included. Opening with the hefty chimes of the title track, Strange Affair moves on through a kaleidoscope of moves and movements, ranging from the gently and certainly Beatles-ish "Deanna, Call & Scotty," and onto a clutch of songs that would not have sounded out of place on the American West Coast — a touchstone that, again, would soon become a pub rock ideal. The album's peak, however, has to be the nine-minute "The All Electric Fur Trapper," a lush and lovely epic that conjures images of a faintly country-flavored Pink Floyd as it moves through a series of distinct phases that climax with a semi-funky, deeply fuzzy burst of JoJo Glemser guitar savagery. Accompanied by a wryly flowery essay from Ducks Deluxe frontman Sean Tyla, "The All Electric Fur Trapper" stands not only among Help Yourself's greatest achievements, but also among the highlights of the entire early-'70s British underground.

(by Dave Thompson, All Music Guide)

"Als die Moody Blues dieses Album aufnahmen, waren sie seit Jahren in unveränderter Besetzung zusammen und gehörten zu den zehn erfolgreichsten Bands der Welt. Die Gruppe besaß sogar eine eigene Boeing 707, mit der sie und einige wenige Begleiter bei ihren Tourneen um die Erde reisten. "Eines Tages musste ich im Flugzeug von ganz vorne nach ganz hinten zur Toilette. Als ich durch die Maschine ging, merkte ich auf einmal, dass da niemand anders außer mir war, und das war ein sehr leeres Gefühl. Es war der Exzess des Rock and Roll", erinnert sich John Logde 25 Jahre später im Booklet zur remasterten CD-Ausgabe von "Seventh Sojourn". Stress und Isolation des Rockstar-Lebens hatten deutliche Spuren hinterlassen.
Durchaus passend zur damaligen Stimmung in der Band zeigt das Artwork von Phil Travers eine völlig ausgestorbene Landschaft und gehört, wie so viele Plattencovers der Moody Blues, zu den beeindruckendsten der Rockgeschichte. Wer das Glück hat, noch die alten 30x30-cm-LPs zu besitzen, wird das vielleicht bestätigen können.
Keyboarder Mike Pinder, zu jener Zeit in einer schwierigen persönlichen Phase und auf der Suche nach dem Sinn des Lebens, eröffnete das siebte Album der Moody Blues mit dem meisterhaft düsteren 'Lost in a lost World' und den Worten "I woke up today, I was crying / Lost in a lost world". Es folgt eine Auseinandersetzung mit Aggression, Gleichgültigkeit und Egoismus, die in ihrer Gesamtaussage erschreckend aktuell geblieben ist: "Verloren in einer verlorenen Welt".
Justin Haywards unglaubliches 'New Horizons' kommt musikalisch nicht viel heiterer daher, zeigt aber textlich zumindest ein wenig mehr Optimismus. Seine beiden Gitarrensoli scheinen geradezu himmelwärts zu streben und sind einfach zum Heulen schön.
Man könnte Ray Thomas' 'For my Lady' als puren Kitsch bezeichnen, doch für mich ist es mit seiner nahezu volksliedhaften Einfachheit eines der innigsten Liebeslieder aller Zeiten. Es wurde häufig bei den Auftritten der Moody Blues gespielt und befindet sich auch auf dem schönen Album 'Live At Red Rocks'.
Genau wie "Isn't Life strange" von John Lodge, das trotz sechs Minuten Länge eine der erfolgreichsten Singles der Gruppe wurde. Legendär das seltsam länglich dahingesungene "Isn't life stra - ha - ha - ha - hange" und das sich wiederholende, quälend lange Warten auf den dann geradezu ekstatisch explodierenden Refrain.
Mit 'You and me' folgt der wohl straighteste Song der Platte, während 'The Land of Make-Believe' ein unerkannter Klassiker von Justin Hayward ist. Toll seine Gitarrenarbeit, geradezu magisch schön der Refrain: "So fly little bird / Up into the clear blue sky / And carry the word / Love's the only reason why ...".
Mike Pinders 'When you're a free Man" ist wiederum sehr melancholisch und entfaltet seine ganze Wirkung, wenn man es schön laut hört. Das Mellotron unterstreicht perfekt die dunkle und traurige Stimmung dieser Nummer, die von der Sehnsucht nach einem sehr guten Freund erzählt, der ins Ausland gegangen ist, um dort seinen Seelenfrieden zu finden. Auf mich wirkt der Text aber eigentlich wie ein Gespräch mit Pinders eigenem Ich.
Das Album endet mit dem Hit "I'm just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)", den fast jeder Rockfan schon einmal gehört haben dürfte. Herrlicher Satzgesang von allen fünf Moodies und ein unwiderstehlicher Rhythmus, bei dem man einfach mit muss.
Nach dieser Platte und einer anschließenden, mörderisch langen Welttournee trennten sich The Moody Blues, um erst Jahre später wieder zusammenzukommen. 'Seventh Sojourn' aber ist, wie alle ihre Alben zwischen 1967 und 1972, ein progressiver Meilenstein der Rockgeschichte, und nicht ohne Grund hat ihre Musik zahllose andere Bands beeinflusst. Dafür nur ein, ganz konkretes, Beispiel: Die Gruppe Pendragon verwendet in ihrem Song 'The last Man on Earth' von 1993 gleich zwei Mal die Melodie und den Satz "But I'm never gonna lose your precious gift" aus dem oben erwähnten Moody-Blues-Titel 'New Horizons'. Zwar änderten Pendragon das Wort "gift" (Geschenk) in das Wort "heart", aber davon abgesehen bleibt es ein vollkommenes Zitat.

(Amazon-Kundenrezension)

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Despite the presence of a pair of ballads -- one of them ("New Horizons") by Justin Hayward the latter's most romantic number since "Nights in White Satin" -- Seventh Sojourn was notable at the time of its release for showing the hardest-rocking sound this band had ever produced on record. It's all relative, of course, compared to their prior work, but the music is comparatively stripped down here, and on a lot of it Graeme Edge's drumming and John Lodge's bass work comprise a more forceful and assertive rhythm section than they had on earlier records, on numbers such as "Lost in a Lost World," "You and Me," and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock & Roll Band)." The latter, authored by Lodge, was -- along with Lodge's "Isn't Life Strange" -- one of two AM radio hits that helped drive the sales of this album, issued in early November of 1972, past all previous levels. Indeed, it was with the release of this album that the Moodies achieved their great commercial success in America and around the world, with a "Grand Tour" that kept them on the road for much of the year that followed. The irony was that it was all about to end for them, for years to come, and the signs of it were all over this record -- Seventh Sojourn took a long time to record, and a lot of the early work on it had to be junked ("Isn't Life Strange" was one of the few early songs to get completed); it was clear to all concerned except the fans that, after six years of hard work in their present configuration, they all needed to stop working with each other for a time, and this was clear in the songs -- many have a downbeat, pensive edge to them, and if they reflected a questioning attitude that had come out on recent albums, the tone of the questioning on songs like "Lost in a Lost World," "You and Me," and "When You're a Free Man" had a darker, more desperate tone. Perhaps the group's mostly youthful, collegiate audience didn't notice at the time because it fit the mood of the times -- the album hit the stores in America the day before Richard Nixon's landslide presidential re-election victory (the culmination of events behind the scenes that would subsequently drive him from office). But the members were not working well together, and this would be the last wholly successful record -- difficult as it was to deliver -- that this lineup of the band would record, as well as the last new work by the group for over five years. And oddly enough, even amid the difficulties in getting it finished, Seventh Sojourn would offer something new in the way of sounds from the group -- Michael Pinder, in particular, introduced a successor to the Mellotron, with which he'd been amazing audiences for six years, in the form of the Chamberlin, which is all over this album.

(by Bruce Eder, All Music Guide)

Considerably lighter than Madman Across the Water, Honky Chateau is a rollicking collection of ballads, rockers, blues, country-rock, and soul songs. On paper, it reads like an eclectic mess, but it plays as the most focused and accomplished set of songs Elton John and Bernie Taupin ever wrote. The skittering boogie of "Honky Cat" and the light psychedelic pop of "Rocket Man" helped send Honky Chateau to the top of the charts, but what is truly impressive about the album is the depth of its material. From the surprisingly cynical and nasty "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself" to the moving ballad "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters," John is at the top of his form, crafting immaculate pop songs with memorable melodies and powerful hooks. While Taupin's lyrics aren't much more comprehensible than before, John delivers them with skill and passion, making them feel more substantial than they are. But what makes Honky Chateau a classic is the songcraft, and the way John ties disparate strands of roots music into distinctive and idiosyncratic pop — it's one of the finest collections of mainstream singer/songwriter pop of the early '70s.

(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)

I've always thought of this album as the record that launched a thousand tatoos. With a band made up of a large portion of the Grateful Dead, Weir make this his own album. The tunes from these sessions became standards during live performances. Either live or in the studio tunes like "Looks Like Rain" will always make me stop what I'm doing and listen for a bit. And the cover colors are bright, but still produce a nice quiet effect.

(Tralfaz-Archive)

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As a "bonus" for re-signing another three-album deal with Warner Brothers Records in the early '70s, members of the Grateful Dead were given the opportunity to cut solo albums. Jerry Garcia (Garcia), Mickey Hart (Rolling Thunder), and Bob Weir (Ace) took advantage of the offer -- although it could easily be argued that Weir's disc was in reality the next Grateful Dead album simply featuring the rhythm guitarist's co-compositions and lead vocals throughout. In essence, Ace became the follow-up to the double-live LP Grateful Dead [1971] (aka "Skull and Roses"), which included a live and somewhat non-descript rendition of "Playing in the Band." Ironically, on this studio release the Grateful Dead stretch out during the seven-plus-minute version -- which is considered to be one of their most inspired improvisational interactions away from the concert stage. Likewise, practically every track -- with the exception of the painfully optimistic "Walk in the Sunshine" -- became an integral component of the Grateful Dead's performance repertoire for their remaining 20-plus years as an actively touring band. Much of Ace is flavored with the same country-rock textures that informed the Dead's previous two studio recordings, American Beauty and Workingman's Dead. The addition of keyboardist Keith Godchaux -- whose style on this album rivals that of Jerry Lee Lewis -- gives songs such as "Greatest Story Ever Told" and "One More Saturday Night" an aggressive bite which is conspicuous in its absence from the Grateful Dead's previous studio outings. On the whole, Ace is thoroughly enjoyable for devout Deadheads as well as less-fanatical enthusiasts. Other standout tracks include the lilting lullaby "Cassidy," Snooky Flowers' driving horn arrangement on "One More Saturday Night," and Garcia's lazy, laid-back pedal steel guitar work on "Looks Like Rain."

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

Many people only know Roxy Music's later, mellower work, but their early stuff is totally original and really rocks. This is their debut album and has a great mixture of tracks that set Bryan Ferry's wide-ranging vocals to an extraordinary mix of sounds.It's almost worth buying this CD for the inlay card alone. Animal prints were clearly compulsory in 1972, Ferry's hair is unbelievable, and Eno looks exactly like Hugo Weaving in Lord of the Rings (Ok his ears aren't quite as pointy but honestly it's uncanny).

Bridget St. John has a small legion of fans willing to do battle for their hero, but to most she sounds like a pleasant, secondary British folk-rock artist of the early 1970s. Those impressions won't be changed by this, her third album, mixing low-key originals with covers of songs by Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly, as well as one of her most popular tracks, an interpretation of the traditional folk tune "Lazarus." Simply put, St. John doesn't come within bow-and-arrow range of Sandy Denny or Maddy Prior. She favors a low, slightly husky delivery that sometimes brings to mind what Marianne Faithfull might have sounded like in the late '70s had Faithfull's voice lowered naturally, instead of being ravaged. Reserve can be effective, but it sounds like St. John would need to be roasted over an open flame before her temperature rose.

(by Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide)

This album documents one of the most elaborate self-mythologizing schemes in rock, as Bowie created the glittery, messianic alter ego Ziggy Stardust ("well-hung and snow-white tan"). The bouncy glam-rock Bowie made with guitarist Mick Ronson is an irresistible blend of sexy, campy pop and blues rock, with enduring tracks such as "Hang On to Yourself" and "Suffragette City." The anthem "Ziggy Stardust" was one of rock's earliest, and best, power ballads. "I consider myself responsible for a whole new school of pretensions," Bowie said. "They know who they are. Don't you, Elton? Just kidding. No, I'm not." (Rolling Stone)

Total album sales: Under 500,000, Peak chart position: 75

HAPPY SAD und BLUE AFTERNOON markierten 1968/69 einen wichtigen Einschnitt in Tim Buckleys musikalischer Entwicklung. Er hatte sich nach HAPPY SAD gerade von seiner Firma Elektra getrennt und war zu Frank Zappas Straight-Label übergewechselt, das ihm das verlockende Angebot voller künstlerischer Kontrolle gemacht hatte. Mit dem fünften Album, BLUE AFTERNOON, begann dann tatsächlich für Tim Buckley ein völliger Neubeginn. Begraben wurde ein Liedersänger, der sich durch die normierten Formen des Songs geschränkt sah. Wiedergeboren wurde ein neuer Tim Buckley, der sich nun mit seinen vokalen und instrumentalen Möglichkeiten über alle ungeschriebenen Gesetze der Pop-Musik hinwegsetzt. Er schreit und schmeichelt, flucht und flüstert, droht, zischt, stöhnt und lacht, die Stimme ist warm und weich, im nächsten Moment schon hart, kalt, wandelt sich zu kindlichem Plappern, zu schriller Erregung, zu melancholischer Weichheit. Er singt nicht mehr Texte, inhaltsschwere Worte, sondern Klänge, losgelöste Silben, deren Konturen er wie Farben auflöst und vermischt. Alle Bereiche menschlicher Emotionen scheint diese Stimme malen, jede Empfindung registrieren zu können.

Mit seinem letzten und vollkommensten Album STARSAILOR hob dann Buckley vollends ab und segelte in andere Milchstraßen auf und davon. Akustische Traumgebilde brachte er mit, voller bizarrer Schönheit und durchsichtiger Reinheit.

Das war 1970. In mehr als zwei Jahren gab dann Buckley keine Lebenszeichen von sich und schien schon in die Pop-History eingehen zu wollen. Nach langem Schweigen schickte er nun endlich Grüße, Grüße aus Los Angeles. GREETINGS FROM L.A.

Aber es scheint, als habe der Smog von L.A. die feinnervige, glasklare Musik der letzten Platten arg zersetzt und nur noch das grobe Geäst der musikalischen Strukturen verschont. Wäre dies Tim Buckleys erste Platte, so könnte man sagen: Immerhin, ein ungewöhnlicher Sänger mit einem ganzen Schwung melodischer Einfälle, mit jener Unbeschwertheit und Relaxtheit, wie sie nur dem amerikanischen Country-Rock zu eigen ist, dem dazu mit einem alten Session-Fuchs wie Chuck Rainey am Baß ein Mann zur Verfügung steht, der für Drive und flüssige Baß-Linien sorgt, alles in allem eine stimmige, hörenswerte Platte.

Vergleicht man sie aber mit den Maßstäben, die Buckley selbst in den vergangenen Jahren gesetzt hat, so stimmt das Ergebnis traurig. Warum muß ein Mann, der wie kaum ein anderer mit seiner Musik Gefühle, Stimmungen und Gedanken zeichnen kann, warum muß gerade dieser Tim Buckley nun Background-Streicher verwenden, Emotionen von der Stange, im Dutzend billiger? Wo sind die vielschichtigen Gewebe, die weitausholenden, verflochtenen Instrumental-Teile der früheren Platten? Was ist aus dieser unheimlichen Stimme geworden, die alle menschlichen Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten zu beherrschen schien? Was früher Magie war, ist nun zu gehobener Konsumware degeneriert. Die Stimme beschwört nicht mehr, sondern schlägt Purzelbäume - Vokal-Akrobatik ohne Netz und emotionalen Boden. Subtile Stimmungsbilder haben pfeifbaren Melodien Platz gemacht, die musikalischen Höhenflüge sind in den Sumpf von Routine und Klischee gestürzt.

Der Aufstieg und Fall des Tim Buckley weckt Erinnerungen an einen anderen großen Sänger, der ebenso plötzlich und unerwartet seine schöpferische Individualität verlor: Van Morrison. ASTRAL WEEKS übermittelte wie der STARSAILOR Musik von anderen Sternen, voll von persönliches Empfindungen und daher voll von ungewöhnlichen, einmaligen Einfällen. Beide, Tim Buckley und Van Morrison, waren einmalige Sänger und Musiker - beide sind heute in die unübersehbare Masse der Sänger/Songschreiber zurückgefallen. Geblieben ist ihnen noch ihre langjährige Routine und Erfahrung, die ihnen zu gekonnten, gefälligen Platten verhilft GREETINGS FROM L.A. ist eine gefällige Platte - doch eine bittere Enttäuschung.

(Bernd Gockel, Sounds, 1972)

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“Starsailor” war zu extrem für die Buckley-Fans und die Liveshows dieser Zeit noch extremer. Das Album verkaufte sich sehr schlecht, was Buckley in die Depression trieb. Barbiturate. Kokain und Heroin sollten ihm darüber hinweg helfen.

1972 erschien schließlich “Greetings From LA”, ein Album, bei dem Buckley wiederum eine völlig andere Richtung einschlug. Straighter Rock, Al Green-style Soul, viel Funk und statt mysteriöser Texte direkte Statements zum Thema Sex. “Sweet Surrender” war zu meiner Jugend ein absoluter Dancefloor-Hit in unserer Dorfdisco.

(Glitterhouse)

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Stepping back from the swooping avant-garde touches of Starsailor for a fairly greasy, funky, honky tonk set of songs, the opening lines of Greetings from L.A. set the tone: "I went down to the meat rack tavern/And I found myself a big ol' healthy girl." Sassy backing vocalists, honking sax, and more add to the atmosphere, while Tim Buckley himself blends his vocal acrobatics with touches not unfamiliar to fans of Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison. The studio band backing him up might not be the equal to, say, War, but in their own way they do the business; extra touches like the string arrangement on "Sweet Surrender" help all the more. The argument that this was all somehow a compromise or sellout doesn't seem to entirely wash. While no doubt there were commercial pressures at play, given Buckley's constant change from album to album it seems like he simply found something else to try, which he did with gusto. "Get On Top," one of his best numbers, certainly doesn't sound like something aimed for the charts. The music may have a solid groove to it (Kevin Kelly's organ is worth a mention), but Buckley's frank lyrics and improv scatting both show it as him following his own muse.

( Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

Balance is the key element of the Eagles' self-titled debut album, a collection that contains elements of rock & roll, folk, and country, overlaid by vocal harmonies alternately suggestive of doo wop, the Beach Boys, and the Everly Brothers. If the group kicks up its heels on rockers like "Chug All Night," "Nightingale," and "Tryin'," it is equally convincing on ballads like "Most of Us Are Sad" and "Train Leaves Here This Morning." The album is also balanced among its members, who trade off on lead vocal chores and divide the songwriting such that Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner all get three writing or co-writing credits. (Fourth member Don Henley, with only one co-writing credit and two lead vocals, falls a little behind, while Jackson Browne, Gene Clark, and Jack Tempchin also figure in the writing credits.) The album's overall balance is worth keeping in mind because it produced three Top 40 hit singles (all of which turned up on the massively popular Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975) that do not reflect that balance. "Take It Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" are similar-sounding mid-tempo folk-rock tunes sung by Frey that express the same sort of laid-back philosophy, as indicated by the word "easy" in both titles, while "Witchy Woman," a Henley vocal and co-composition, initiates the band's career-long examination of supernaturally evil females. These are the songs one remembers from Eagles, and they look forward to the eventual dominance of the band by Frey and Henley. But the complete album from which they come belongs as much to Leadon's country-steeped playing and singing and to Meisner's melodic rock & roll feel, which, on the release date, made it seem a more varied and consistent effort than it did later, when the singles had become overly familiar.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

With the frenzied knocking of what sounds like a clock shop gone berserk, Crossings takes the Herbie Hancock Sextet even further into the electric avant-garde, creating its own idiom. Now, however, the sextet has become a septet with the addition of Dr. Patrick Gleeson on Moog synthesizer, whose electronic decorations, pitchless and not, give the band an even spacier edge. Again, there are only three tracks — the centerpiece being Hancock's multi-faceted, open-structured suite in five parts called "Sleeping Giant." Nearly 25 minutes long yet amazingly cohesive, "Sleeping Giant" gathers a lot of its strength from a series of funky grooves — the most potent of which explodes at the tail-end of Part Two — and Hancock's on-edge Fender Rhodes electric piano solos anticipate his funk adventures later in the '70s. Bennie Maupin's "Quasar" pushes the session into extraterrestrial territory, dominated by Gleeson's wild Moog effects and trumpeter Eddie Henderson's patented fluttering air trumpet. Even stranger is Maupin's "Water Torture," which saunters along freely with splashes of color from Hancock's spooky Mellotron and fuzz-wah-pedaled Fender Rhodes piano, Gleeson's electronics, and a quintet of voices. Still a challenging sonic experience, this music (which can be heard on Warners' Mwandishi two-CD set) has yet to find its audience, though the electronica-minded youth ought to find it dazzling.

(by Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide)

The group's follow-up album to a pair of hit singles ("Long Cool Woman," "Long Dark Road") tries for the harder sound that sold those singles. Romany's cover art deliberately recalls its immediate predecessor Distant Light, but otherwise the two albums are rather dissimilar. For starters, this is the album that the group cut during the short-lived tenure of Mikael Rickfors as lead singer -- he's more of a weighty, David Clayton-Thomas type singer than Allan Clarke was, much more of a hard-rock crooner, as is evident on the version of David Ackles' "Down River" and the self-consciously heavy rocker "Slow Down." Tony Hicks and Terry Sylvester make a valiant effort to meld their harmonies into the familiar Hollies mode, and succeed on songs such as "Delaware Taggett and the Outlaw Boys" and "Jesus Was a Crossmaker," though apart from "Magic Woman Touch," most of this album's original first side lacks the memorable hooks, melodies, or tempos needed for hit material. There are tunes worth discovering, however, for anyone who has never heard this album. The title track, although it was too moody and arty to ever become a hit, could be the prettiest song to come from the group after the 1960s; the Tony Hicks co-authored "Blue in the Morning" has a hard-edged, crisp, economical guitar part reminiscent of "Long Dark Road"; and "Courage of Your Convictions" seems to be a conscious attempt at emulating the sound of "Long Cool Woman." The playing and singing are impressive, and these are solid album tracks, if not necessarily chart-topping material.

(by Bruce Eder, All Music Guide)

Das zweite Album von Bonnie Raitt, “Give It Up” von 1971, gilt als eines ihrer besten. Obwohl sie mit späteren Alben die Hits zu abonnieren schien, entwickelte sich „Give It up“ zu einer Platte, die Genregrenzen überschritt und eine ganze Generation definierte. Bonnie Raitt gab damit die Messlatte vor, an der sich die Horden der kommenden Sängerinnen messen lassen mussten. Raitt setzte den Erfolg ihres bahnbrechenden Debüts mit der typischen Mischung aus Blues, Folk und kalifornischem Rock fort – und tat das mit Stil und einer Sinneslust, die selten so auf Platte zu hören war.

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"Give It Up" ... erschien 1972 und zeigt Bonnie als wandlungsfähig expressive, jedoch nie röhrende Vokalistin sowie als Saitenmagierin mit seltenem Bottleneck- Flair.

(Rolling Stone, Oktober 2013)

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... einerseits wie klassischen Blues klingen zu lassen, andererseits dem Ganzen durch ihren herausragenden Gesang aber auch eine eigene, frische Note zu verleihen. Das 180g-Vinyl kommt diesem Eindruck natürlich noch entgegen, verstärkt diese klasse vokalen Leistungen vom ersten bis zum letzten Ton.

(Good Times, Dezember 2013 / Januar 2014)

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I didn't get to see Bonnie Raitt live until she was a big enough star to fill large concert halls, but whenever I'm trying to imagine what it must have been like to attend one of her appearances in the Cambridge, MA blues clubs where she started out way back when in the early 1970s, this is one of the albums I listen to. "Give It Up," released 1972, was Bonnie Raitt's second album, and it brims with the liveliness of the 22 year-old singer who only recently had nicked a college degree in African studies for a full-fledged career as a musician. Yet, all those live appearances before she landedmore… her record deal had already given her an incredible amount of self-confidence: This was not an insecure, directionless young thing who had barely outgrown her teenage years; nor, for that matter, a high-powered starlet whose career was taking off with rocket speed only to fizzle soon thereafter, as quickly as it had begun. No: this was a young woman who knew exactly where she wanted to go, both musically and lyrically; and all the trademark characteristics of the artist her fans would grow to admire over the course of the following 30 years were already in place, most notably her breathtaking skills as a guitar player, her vocal skills, running the gamut from sassy to sad, and that feeling for the blues which, even at the very beginning of her career, had already gained her the respect of the entire Delta blues elite from John Lee Hooker to Sippie Wallace."Give It Up" is a low-key recording with an almost improvised "live in the studio" feeling, and the one impression that stands out more than any other while listening to it is the obvious fun which all participants must have had during its production. Bonnie Raitt was joined for the occasion by multi-talent Freebo, a fixture on all of her early albums as well as at her live appearances, keyboardist Mark Jordan and saxophone player John Payne, both renowned for their collaborations with Van Morrison (on his "Tupelo Honey" and "Astral Weeks" albums, respectively), guitarists T.J. Tindall and John Hall (the latter known for his work with Taj Mahal and Janis Joplin), songwriter Eric Kaz, whose "Love Has No Pride" provides a melancholy conclusion to the album, and a largely Woodstock-based group of equally talented musicians. The photos reproduced on thirteen of the twenty pages of the booklet which accompanies the album amply illustrate the sheer joy involved in the project, and the easygoing companionship shared by its participants. The album opens with one of Bonnie Raitt's biggest hits to date, the feisty "Give It Up or Let Me Go," written by Raitt herself and featuring Freebo on tuba and John Payne on soprano sax - one of Raitt's many "attitude" songs and, as she wrote almost 20 years later in the liner notes of her "Bonnie Raitt Collection," "you can bet it was just as much fun to be there as it sounds." Two more of Raitt's own creations are contained on the album, in the second track, the contemplative "Nothing Seems to Matter," and the ninth song, the upbeat "You Told Me, Baby." Further standouts are Raitt's adaptation of Chris Smither's "Love Me Like a Man," with lyrics that make it clear that equality in a partnership is ultimately a matter of self-respect and "one of the best modern blues songs ever written," as Bonnie Raitt commented in the liner notes of her "Collection;" "Under the Falling Sky," featuring Paul Butterfield on harp, Raitt's first true rock song and also the first of several Jackson Browne-penned pieces she would record over the course of her career; "You Got to Know How," featuring John Payne on clarinet and one of Bonnie Raitt's many tributes to her mentor Sippie Wallace; and the closing tune, Eric Kaz's "Love Has No Pride," another one of Raitt's earliest signature songs and intensely personal, because at the time of that song's recording she herself had just been abandoned by a lover and, as she later recalled, more or less then "spent a year of gigs trying to sing him back.""Give It Up" is one of those sophomore efforts which are actually superior to the respective singer's first release; and as is so often the case in those instances, it is a clear indication that this would turn out to be an artist to reckon with for a long time to come. Yet, even though this proved to be the first high water mark in Bonnie Raitt's career, not everybody would probably have dared to prophesize all those years ago that the perky redhead from Southern California who had recorded this album would rise to be one of rock and blues music's longest shining stars. But just in case you forget where it all began for the multiple Grammy Award winner of so many years later, go back and listen to this album and to Bonnie Raitt's self-titled debut, and let their youthful, upbeat charm work on you. And man, don't you ever dare mess around behind my back, 'cause ... "if you want me to love you, you've got to give it up or let me go"!

»Caravanserai« ist das vierte Album von Santana, das ursprünglich 1972 erschien. Es stellte einen wichtigen Wendepunkt in der Karriere von Carlos Santana dar, weil es sich von den ersten drei Alben deutlich entfernte.

»Caravanserai« erreicht Platz 8 der Billboard 200 und Platz 6 in den R&B Charts. Der Sound gestaltete sich anders als die charakteristische Santana-Mischung aus Salsa, Rock und Jazz und drehte sich hauptsächlich um Jazz-artige Instrumentalpassagen. Bis auf drei Songs sind alle Tracks Instrumentals, so dass das Album keine Single hervorbrachte.

»Caravanserai« ist das erste in einer Serie von Santana-Alben, die für ihre sich stetig verstärkende musikalische Komplexität bekannt wurden und sich vom eingängigen Rockformat der ersten Alben verabschiedeten. Dies ist das letzte Album mit Gregg Rolie und Neal Schon, die im darauffolgenden Jahr Journey gründen sollten.

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Thank God there are no 'extra takes', 'bonus tracks' and Bill Laswell remasters. This is Santana's neo-masterpiece, a record that begins at the beginning, rocks through the middle and exits in Mike Shrieve's magnificent 'Every Step of the Way' with Douglas Rauch on bass guitar. Driving the caravan ever onward is James Mingo Lewis on bongos and Jose Chepito Areas on timbales - but check out Mr Santana himslef on 'Song of the Wind'. Beautiful, ethereal stuff. Forget the later Santana-featuring-everyone-you-can-think-of-and-scoop-Grammies, this is the real McJobim.

Die zwei US-Nummer-Eins-Hits von diesem 1972er Album veranschaulichen perfekt die gegensätzlichen Seiten von Wonders komplexer Persönlichkeit. "Superstition" ist ein starker Rocksong, ein paranoides Stückchen Wah-Wah-Gitarren-Funk, das es in puncto Dauerhaftigkeit mit dem besten Punk aufnehmen kann; der Eröffnungstrack, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", ist ein reines Liebeslied, das von jeder anderen Stimme gesungen kitschig klänge. Ein Hauch von Bitterkeit, vielleicht aufgrund von Wonders sich damals gerade auflösender Ehe, verleiht Talking Book ein paar Ecken und Kanten. Aber alles in allem ist die Liebe das große Thema, und obwohl "Sunshine" noch immer einer der beliebtesten Songs des Sängers und Keyboarders ist, ist das letzte Stück, "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)", viel tiefgründiger und lohnender.

(Steve Knoppe, amazon.de)

Reminiscent of the Clube da Esquina album he made the same year with Brazilian superstar Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges' 1972 solo debut proves that his influence on Nascimento was quite strong. The recording is texturally lush and dreamy, at times urgent and bizarre, and filled with the fantastic and intricate guitar playing one would expect of Borges after hearing his dazzling work with Nascimento. His vocal arrangements are lavish, often similar to the vocal qualities of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, and his instrumental arrangements are just plain confounding. Piano phrases mash in and out of control over the unorthodox yet clever progressions; polyphonic percussion interlocks with jazzed-out organ lines and thoughtful, melodic bass work. Occasionally, a string section will fall into place, fulfilling the album's decorative quota, and the whole construction becomes watertight. It is truly stunning to pick apart the timbre of individual instruments and realize how necessary and meticulous each part is in the overall presentation. Borges is one of those arrangers who can build up a music bed with miles of depth and construct a wall of sound, yet keep the overall concept in crisp focus. No layer of the instrumentation seems to ever become obscured by another, nor does any part seem unnecessary, and so much is going on rhythmically and melodically that it demands full attention. The remarkable quality of Brazil's musical culture to seamlessly integrate as many outside influences into one place is well represented here. Many western textures, such as soul, rock, jazz, and pop, are absorbed into the picture with fervor and grace rarely executed in the world of western music. "Não Foi Nada" illustrates this particularly well, but the melting-pot sentiment echoes through all of Borges' performances here.

(by Gregory McIntosh, All Music Guide)

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Originally released in 1972, Lo Borges' solo debut is a stunning piece of post-bossa nova Brazilian pop music. Combining influences ranging from soul, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and bossa nova with brilliant musicianship and wild arrangements, Lo Borges is one of the finest Brazilian records of the 1970s, if not ever. Borges emerged out of the Clube de Esquina musical collective, from the state of Minas Gerais, along with Milton Nascimento, a movement that rivaled the brilliance of the more well known Tropicalismo. Absolutely brilliant and available on CD in the USA for the first time ever.

Ein wahres Meisterwerk, voll von schneidigen Soli und mit einigen von Freddie Kings besten Gesangsleistungen seit seiner Blütezeit in den späten 50er und frühen 60er Jahren. Texas Cannonball wurde 1972 von Shelter Records veröffentlicht und ähnelt seinem ersten Shelter-Album (Getting Ready), hat aber einen stärkeren Rock-Einschlag. Es enthält Stücke von Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf und Elmore James, Kompositionen von Leon Russell und, noch unerwarteter, von Bill Withers, Isaac Hayes-David Porter und John Fogerty (dessen "Lodi" zu "Lowdown in Lodi" umgearbeitet wird). Kings eigene Feder blieb praktisch im Ruhestand, da er nur einen einzigen Titel des Albums schrieb.

2007 zählte die Houston Chronicle Texas Cannonball zu den 75 wichtigsten Blues-Alben aus Texas.

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Similar to his first Shelter outing (Getting Ready), but with more of a rock feel. That's due as much to the material as the production. Besides covering tunes by Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James, King tackles compositions by Leon Russell and, more unexpectedly, Bill Withers, Isaac Hayes-David Porter, and John Fogerty (whose "Lodi" is reworked into "Lowdown in Lodi"). King's own pen remained virtually in retirement, as he wrote only one of the album's tracks. Reissued in its entirety on King of the Blues.

(by Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide)

It may be that the only thing that kept Souther from becoming a major star in the '70s was that his friends the Eagles beat him to the country-rock style demonstrated on this album, which features "The Fast One" and "Run Like a Thief," both recorded by Linda Ronstadt.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

During the hot Brazilian summer of 1971, Marcos and Paulo Sergio Valle, along with their significant others and six additional couples, rented a few modest fisherman shacks in the small village of Búzios to escape from Rio's more populated beaches. The focus was making music and soul searching, as was the practice for affluent young hippies back then. They stayed for two months. "I wanted to go in a new direction," says Marcos looking back. "I wanted to try out a rock influence and to risk a little bit more." Shifting away from the studio musicians used on 1971's Garra, Vento Sul (translation "South Wind") was a rewarding collaboration with Brazilian progressive rockers O Terço. Originally released in 1972, Vento Sul not only channeled the Búzios beach bum vibe, but also manifested a floating dream like psychedelic sound. Any way you spin it, we at Light In The Attic are extremely proud to present Vento Sul as part of our four-album Marcos Valle reissue campaign. Consisting of an ambitious string of early 1970s landmark studio sessions (sympathetic in spirit to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye's game changing work from the same era) and released on LP, Vento Sul features extensive liner notes by San Francisco-based writer Allen Thayer (Wax Poetics) with exclusive interview content and song-by-song breakdown from Marcos himself. Fans new and old will finally have easy breezy access to these once hard-to-find Brazilian classics. Elevated by a strong union between Valle and O Terço, Vento Sul'smagical spell of an album is a welcome addition to any South American friendly record collection and sits proudly with the best of Brazil. File after Os Mutantes and before Caetano Veloso.

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Für heutige Ohren fällt diese exotische Mischung aus Flöten, E-Gitarren, Gainsbourg-Bass und entrückten Satzgesängen, die ebenso viele Kanten wie schwungvolle Rundungen aufweist, eigentümlich unvermittelt aus Zeit und Raum.

(stereoplay, März 2013)

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When Marcos Valle recorded 1972's Vento Sul, he'd been a wildly successful, well-established songwriter, producer, and recording artist for nearly a decade, furthering the horizons of bossa nova and samba in the pre-MPB era. Due to that success, each successive recording brought higher expectations. In the face of mounting pressure, Valle dropped out for a bit, took a vacation, and in the process wrote the music for the album that was to become his hardest left turn to that point. Nothing could have prepared listeners for what transpired on Vento Sul (translation: South Wind). Even after the revolution tropicalia had wrought, this album was radical. The set was composed by Valle and brother Paulo Sérgio Valle in Buzios, then a mellow, out-of-the-way beach town that offered young people great surfing and a cosmic communal hippie vibe provided by the Valles and 14 companions who had taken the two-month summer retreat with them. When Valle returned to Rio, he sought to re-create the laid-back dreamy collaborative atmosphere of Buzios in the studio. He'd been backed live by Brazilian psychedelic, proto-prog rockers O Terço (translation: The Rosary), who included drummer and future guitar hero Vinicius Cantuária. He also employed arrangers Ian Guest and Hugo Bellard and studio aces such as guitarist Claudio Guimarães, drummer Robertinho Silva, and flutist Paulo Guimarães. Some of the music here retains undeniable elements of both bossa and samba ("Malena," "Rosto Barbado," and even the tripped-out "Paisagem de Mariana"), but they are wrapped in expansive psychedelic rock and baroque pop textures. Art rock makes its presence known in opener "Revolução Orgânica," with its contrasting hyper flute and hard rock guitar -- but make no mistake, this is not tropicalia; if anything it reflects the influence of O Terço most, and here too, samba makes its voice known in the bridge. There are Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys sounds, textures, and harmonies throughout, but best heard on cuts such as "Mi Hermoza" (even with its mean electric guitar breaks) and the instrumental "Bôdas de Sangu." "Democústico" is a hallucinatory, political, spoken word number, with phased wah-wah guitars, flutes, harpsichord, and Latin percussion. The title track, by contrast, with its layered piano, guitars, and stretched-to-the-breaking-point waltz rhythm, is so dreamy, spacious, romantic, and sparse, it's the set masterpiece. Vento Sul was greeted with hostility by Valle fans and critics alike, but time has proven that criticism unfounded. It remains one of Valle's most provocative albums, but it's also one of his most beautiful, mysterious, and enduring ones.

(by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide)

Das megarare Album des aussergewöhnlichen Komponisten und Arrangeurs Artur Verocai von 1972 ist wieder erhältlich! Das Album ist mit einer Mischung aus Funk Einflüssen, Folk Anleihen, jazzartigen Soli, zwanzigköpfigem Streichorchester, elektronischen Klängen und Soundtrackästhetik ein echtes Meisterwerk. Für Fans von Shuggie Otis, Jorge Ben oder Tim Maia!

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Arthur Verocai's long-lost solo LP straddles the continents to fuse Brazilian tropicalia with American funk, yielding a shimmering, dreamlike mosaic of sound that both celebrates and advances the creative spirit. Employing a dizzyingly lush 20-piece string section, stiletto-sharp bursts of brass, and electric piano melodies that twinkle like stars, Verocai's heady productions draw on folk, jazz, and pop traditions from both sides of the equator to make music that is both immediately familiar and quite unlike anything else you've ever experienced. While its sun-kissed arrangements and insistent rhythms clearly evoke its Brazilian origins, Arthur Verocai nevertheless seems to exist somewhere far outside of space and time.

(by Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide)

In December 1970, Glenn Cornick was kicked out of Jethro Tull according to an interview in A New Day fanzine. Then in 1971 he founded Wild Turkey, it was the best he could do because he didn´t find any better offers around and he didn´t know what to do with himself! He says that this was the two best years on the road as well as in the studio, most of the time, even if they didn´t know what they where doing he recalls. They did two albums and two American tours. Much later he did a third album with two of the original members, Alan "Tweke" Lewis and Gary Pickford-Hopkins.

(von einer Tull-Fans-Website)

Bill Withers came into his own on his third album, Still Bill. Released in 1972, the record is a remarkable summation of a number of contemporary styles: the smooth soul coming out of Philly, smoky, late-night funk via Bobby Womack, bluesy Southern soul, and '70s singer/songwriterism. It's rich, subtly layered music, but its best attribute is that it comes on easy, never sounding labored or overworked. In fact, it takes several spins of the album to realize just how versatile Withers is on Still Bill, to hear how he makes intricate, funky rhythms sound as effortless and simple as the album's best-known song, the gospel-tinged inspirational anthem "Lean on Me." That's the genius behind Withers' music: it's warm and easily accessible, but it has a depth and complexity that reveals itself over numerous plays — and, given the sound and feel of the music, from the lush arrangements to his comforting voice, it's easy to want to play this again and again. Then there's the quality of the songwriting, which is as assured on the grooving "Lonely Town, Lonely Street" as it is on the suspicious, paranoid "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?" or "Use Me," where he happily submits to being used by his object of affection. This high level of songwriting is sustained throughout the record, making this the greatest testament to his considerable gifts.

(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)