Dust Bowl: American Stories by Grant Maloy Smith

Dust Bowl: American Stories is an upcoming release by American Roots Singer/Songwriter Grant Maloy Smith on the Suburban Cowboy Records label. This album is a mix of bluegrass, country and Americana.  This album brings one back to the music of the hills with Grant’s rich voice and great instrumentation. Included on this twelve track album are such great songs as Isht A Lhampko (Have Strength), Me Time, All The Long Way, I Come From America, Daddy If I Have To Go and much more.  This album was well written, performed and recorded.  I feel you need to add this to your music library. I was very impressed with his promotional idea sending the CD with a small vial with real Oklahoma Dust. It will be released on June 1, 2017 on Amazon, Itunes and  www.grant-maloy-smith.com/DustBowl where if you order directly from Grant, he will sign the CD.

Laid Back by Gregg Allman

In Memory of Gregg Allman who passed away on May 27^th 2017 at age 69, I am reviewing one of my favorite albums of all time.  Laid Back is the debut studio solo album by American singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, released in October 1973 by the Capricorn Records label. Allman, best known as the vocalist/lyricist of the Allman Brothers Band, first began considering a solo career after internal disagreements with that group. The lead single from this album was Midnight Rider becoming a top 20 hit in the U.S and was certified gold. Among the other great tracks on this album are All My Friends and my two favorite tracks Queen Of Hearts and Please Come Home.  This album was well written, performed and recorded. This album is one of my most played and one you must add to your record library.

With N With Out by Bangtower

With N With Out is the sophomore album by prog-fusion band Bangtower released December 2016 on the Declassified Records label.  This album has different sound which I enjoyed with bass legend Percy Jones of “Brand X”, L.A. “Drum-Guru” Walter Garces, Grammy winner Neil Citron and Indie musician Jon Pomplin returning, the album also features drummers Frankie Banali (Quite Riot) & Rodger Carter (John 5), and bassist Robbie “Pag” Pagliari (Ohm). Others making appearances are Joan Fraley (The Rave), Justin Stone, Chris Colovus & Josh Greenbaum. .  My favorite tracks off this thirteen song album are Chipotle, Uncle Floyd, McGown’s Pass, This Is My Town, and Good Bye N Good Night.  This album was well written, performed and recorded.  I recommend this album to anyone’s rock library.  You can purchase this album at CD Baby, Amazon, Itunes and any other places that CD’s are sold.

Slowdown by Alex Lopez

Blues rock guitarist Alex Lopez and his band The Xpress released their eagerly awaited third album titled “Slowdown” on the MarEmil Records label on May 19, 2017.  This album features great vocals and a amazing blues guitar sound. Alex learned how to play guitar as a teen developing a style influenced by guitar greats Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.  On this 14 song album there are such great tracks as Dangerous, Slowdown, I Love You Blues, Dance The Night With Me (which is a bonus track on this album) and my favorite track off this album Stolen.  I am very impressed with this album and want to hear their first two albums.  This album was well written, performed and recorded. This album is available on Amazon, CD Baby.

Wonderful Crazy Night by Elton John

Wonderful Crazy Night is the 32nd studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John. It is John’s first album since 2006’s The Captain & the Kid to feature the Elton John Band, and was written and recorded in 17 days.  This ten song album written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin includes such songs a the title track Wonderful Crazy Night, Looking Up, Blue Wonderful, In the Name Of You, A Good Heart and much more.  This album was well performed, recorded and produced (by T Bone Burnett). Even after 32 albums his voice is as strong as ever. I recommend this album to anyone’s Elton John record library.

In A Mellow Mood by The Temptations

The Temptations in a Mellow Mood is the sixth studio album by The Temptations for the Motown Records label released November 27, 1967.  This album was released at a time that Barry Gordy wanted The Temptations to cross over to white audiences and would be able to secure play dates at supper clubs like the Copacabana. Paul Williams was worried about being a sellout to black audiences, but the experiment worked.  This album consisted of crossover classics such as The Impossible Dream, A Taste Of Honey, That’s Life, and my favorite song on the album For Once In My Life (a slower version of the song originally recorded by Stevie Wonder) and much more.  This album was well performed, recorded and produced.  I highly recommend this album to anyone’s record library.

Telephantasm by Soundgarden

In memory of Chris Cornell who passed away on May 17, 2017 at age of 52,  I decided to write this as my 396^th review.  Telephantasm is a compilation album by the American rock band Soundgarden. Featuring songs that span 23 years of the band’s career, it was released on September 28, 2010 through A&M Records. The album was released following the band’s reunion earlier that year.  This compilation includes an unreleased track Black Rain which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Rock Chart.  This compilation contains such great tracks as All Your Lies, Flower, Room A Thousand Years Wide, Spoonman, Black Hole Sun (my favorite track) and much more.  This album was well written, performed, recorded and produced.  I recommend this album to anyone that is a fan of Soundgarden.

Okeh Chicago Blues by Various Artists

Since I decided to listen to blues albums today, this one I felt noteworthy to write a review of this one.  Okeh Chicago Blues is a two Lp collection of great Chicago blues artists.  It was released on the Epic Records label in 1982.  This the first Lp in the collection has such great hits as Blues And Trouble by Curtis Jones, I Am Sailin’  by Memphis Minnie, Born For Bad Luck by Brownie McGhee and much more…The second LP is one side by Johnnie Shines with such tracks as Tennessee Woman Blues, Ride, Ride Mama and more while the other by Big Joe Williams with such tracks as Banta Rooster Blues, Don’t You Love Me Here and much more.  I highly recommend this collection to any hard core blues fan.

Roots of Blues by Various Artists

Every once in a while, you might be looking through the $5.00 bin at Wal-Mart and a particular CD just grabs you and say BUY ME. That was the case on this particular CD. Roots Of Blues is a two CD collection containing some of the blues’ finest performers released on the Stargroove Records label.  This 22 track collection contains such songs as Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker, Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson, Smokestack Lightning by Howlin’ Wolf, I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters, I Got A Woman by Ray Charles, C.C. Rider by Leadbelly and so much more.  This brings memories back of classic blues.  This collection was well recorded, performed and produced.  I recommend this collection to any blues fan.

The Camden Promise by Tony Natale

Drummer/songwriter Tony Natale has released his highly anticipated new album “The Camden Promise” on Peacepipe Records. Notable songs on this nine track album are What If You Did?, The Way You Walk, Insanity, Boogie Around and much more.  There are great vocals and a sound that takes me back to the 60’s. On this album Tony is playing guitar, bass and keyboards on some tracks and of course playing drums on all tracks along with producing, engineering, mixing and editing the album. This album was well written, performed and recorded.  To purchase this album, go to www.tonynatale.com