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album reviews

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

Being based on essentially commercial grounds, the loosely — bounded field of pop-rock music adopted Christmas in the same way it managed to assimilate most everything else. At some time or another, most major artists have recorded either albums or singles devoted to the holiday season, and from there, it's only logical that a few would create classics in this manner. Tripping back along the golden memory years, we can find such as Brenda Lee with her "Rockin' Around the Chris... | More »

January 7, 1971

Stevie Wonder

Signed, Sealed and Delivered Motown

Any of the 12 songs on Stevie Wonder's new album holds more creative singing than you're likely to find in another performer's entire body of work. And while everything may not reach the energy level of the title song, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," there's not a bad cut on the LP. One of the best is a version of Lennon-McCartney's "We Can Work It Out," which had a startling, brand-new vitality even on an early unmixed tape. In its finished state, it's extraordinar... | More »

Booker T & The MGs

In The Christmas Spirit

Stax and Atlantic, as opposed to James Brown / King, have always left their social commentary implicit in the artists' delivery rather than specifically stated in the lyric, and this is consequently reflected in their pair of Christmas albums. The first, featuring Otis Redding's monumental version of "White Christmas" (which really has to be heard to be believed), is an excellent album on all counts. Along with Redding are a number of Stax-Atlantic performers, such as Joe Tex, Carla... | More »

December 24, 1970

The Grateful Dead

American Beauty

For once a truly beautiful album cover is more than matched by the record inside. The dead just refuse to keep within any normal limits, and I hope that it stays that way for a long time. Workingman's Dead was a lovely album, lush, full, and thoroughly real in musical and lyrical content. American Beauty is a joyous extension of the last album. If possible there is even more care on vocal wok. Everyone in the band sings, and sings well alone and together. A complete contentment shines t... | More »

The Allman Brothers Band

Idlewild South Polydor

Idlewood South is a big step forward from the Allmans' first — that combination of Santana and Led Zeppelin, with the Led finally weighing everything down — but its second side disappoints. Layla, on the other hand, sustains itself pretty well throughout, but we've heard a lot of it before. The Allmans offer briefer, tighter, less "heavy" numbers this time around. "Revival" gets things off rousingly, with tambourine and gospel chorus abetting the Duane Allman / Dick Bet... | More »

B.B. King

Indianola Mississippi Seeds

These two faultless discs span the recording career of the most popular and innovative urban bluesman of the past two decades. The man, of course, is Riley "Blues Boy" King and the albums speak for themselves — the Kent consists of 12 of B.B.'s earliest recordings for the RPM label, primitively produced by Sam Phillips of Sun record fame and Joe Bihari, while the ABC-Paramount is B.B. in the Seventies, still going country strong with soulful help from the likes of Leon Russell, Car... | More »

Derek and the Dominos

Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Idlewood South is a big step forward from the Allmans' first — that combination of Santana and Led Zeppelin, with the Led finally weighing everything down — but its second side disappoints. Layla, on the other hand, sustains itself pretty well throughout, but we've heard a lot of it before. The Allmans offer briefer, tighter, less "heavy" numbers this time around. "Revival" gets things off rousingly, with tambourine and gospel chorus abetting the Duane Allman / Dick Bet... | More »

Frank Zappa

Chunga's Revenge Bizarre/Reprise

Frank Zappa is a genius. Right. Frank Zappa probably knows more about music than you and I and 3/4 of the other professional musicians in this country put together. Right. Frank Zappa has made an incredible contribution towards broadening the scope of the average American kid's listening habits. Absolutely. Frank Zappa has certain possibly dangerous Machiavellian, manipulative tendencies. Yeah, probably so, but so what? Frank Zappa is a snob who underestimates his audience. Hmmm. Think s... | More »

Sly & the Family Stone

Greatest Hits Epic

The difference between R&B and rock 'n' roll, according to Charlie Gillett, is that the former was made by black people for black people while the latter was made by black people for everyone. And as the black artist found himself playing for an expanded audience his music grew and evolved, taking in a wide assortment of new influences, so that fundamental musical differences between between R&B and rock 'n' roll were soon firmly established. Something similar hap... | More »

December 14, 1970

The Velvet Underground

Loaded Cotillion

Lou Reed has always steadfastly maintained that he Velvet Underground were just another Long Island rock 'n' roll band, but in the past, he really couldn't be blamed much if people didn't care to take him seriously. With a reputation based around such non-American Bandstand masterpieces as "Heroin" and "Sister Ray," not to mention a large avant-garde following which tended to downplay the Velvets' more Top-40 roots, the group certainly didn't come off as your usu... | More »

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

More Song Stories entries »