Pop Culture Safari!

Coming Up: Reggie Young - Session Guitar Star

Out Feb. 8. Order from Amazon now.

Details from Ace Records:

During his six-decade career as a session man, predominantly in Memphis and Nashville, Reggie Young's unique guitar work has embellished 45s and albums by just about every major artist who cut tracks in those two hotbeds of recording activity. There were plenty of lower profile names, too, who made great records without necessarily over-working the chart compilers. To Reggie it didn't matter; he always did his best to provide what he felt was right for the song, very often just some personalised licks and fills here and there, but he would cut loose on a scorching solo if he thought it added to the overall performance. This CD contains a healthy mixture of both, and much in between.

Tracks:

1. Slip, Slip, Slippin' in - Eddie Bond & His Stompers

2. Carol - Bill Black's Combo

3. A Touch of the Blues - Bobby Bland

4. Dream Baby - Jerry & Reggie

5. I'm Movin' on - the Box Tops

6. The Champion Pt. 1 - Willie Mitchell

7. Meet Me in Church - Solomon Burke

8. Chicken Crazy - Joe Tex

9. In the Pocket - King Curtis & the King Pins

10. More Love - James Carr

11. Don't Forget About Me - Dusty Springfield

12. Stranger in My Own Home Town - Elvis Presley

13. I Wanna Roo You - Jackie de Shannon

14. Drift Away - Dobie Gray

15. Rock 'N' Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life) - Sonny Curtis

16. Victim of Life's Circumstances - Delbert McClinton

17. Lover Please - Billy Swan

18. Morning Glory - James & Bobby Purify

19. Cocaine - J.J. Cale

20. I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink - Merle Haggard

21. The Highwayman - the Highwaymen Aka Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson

22. Griselda - Natalie Merchant

23. Whenever You Come Around - Little Milton

24. Where Do We Go from Here - Waylon Jennings

Out Now: The Pop Genius Of Mickie Most

Order from Amazon now.

Details from Ace Records:

Making hits seemed all too easy for legendary producer Mickie Most who attributed his success to his extraordinary ability to spot a hit tune, combined with unbridled common sense. American record companies sat up and took notice and, with his career in the ascendancy, Most extended his run of hits on both sides of the Atlantic with artists such as Donovan, Brenda Lee, Lulu and Jeff Beck. He turned down the chance to produce the Monkees, Elvis and Barbra Streisand because it clashed with his scheduling. Here then is a hand-picked representation of the man's best or most significant work. Incidentally, both 'I Love Rock'n'Roll' and 'Living Next Door To Alice' are the original flop versions of songs that went onto become huge hits for Joan Jett and Smokey, respectively. The CD comes in a deluxe package with rigid slipcase and a separate memorabilia-laden 72-page booklet with in-depth notes by Rob Finnis.

Tracks:

1. Motorbikin' - Chris Spedding

2. Tobacco Road - Nashville Teens

3. The House of the Rising Sun - the Animals

4. Hi-Ho Silver Lining - Jeff Beck

5. Journey - Duncan Browne

6. Brother Louie - Hot Chocolate

7. Is It True - Brenda Lee

8. Sunshine Superman (Single Version) - Donovan

9. Dance with the Devil - Cozy Powell

10. No Milk Today - Herman's Hermits

11. Walking - C.C.S

12. Little Games - the Yardbirds

13. Gin House - Paul Williams & the Big Roll Band

14. The Boat That I Row - Lulu

15. Jailhouse Rock - Jeff Beck Group (Feat. Rod Stewart)

16. 48 Crash - Suzi Quatro

17. Living Next Door to Alice - New World

18. I Love Rock 'N' Roll - Arrows

19. Mellow Yellow - Donovan

20. Days of My Life - the Seekers Feat. Judith Durham

21. Bread and Butter - Barry St. John

22. Flight 2 - Angelo and Eighteen

23. To Sir with Love - Lulu

24. Some Girls - Racey

25. Kids in America - Kim Wilde

Best Comics Covers of the Week

Albums we missed: "Moog Power" by Hugo Montenegra

Coming Up: The Byrds 1973 reunion album, remastered

Out March 1. Order from Amazon now.

Details:

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a new re-mastered edition of the legendary 1973 reunion album by THE BYRDS; “Byrds”.

Released on the Asylum label in March 1973, “Byrds” saw the classic line-up of GENE CLARK, CHRIS HILLMAN, DAVID CROSBY, ROGER McGUINN and MICHAEL CLARKE fully reunited for the first time since 1966 (when Clark departed the group due to his fear of flying) and following the departure of Clarke and Crosby in 1967 – Clarke to the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby to Crosby, Stills and Nash (and Young).

Recorded at the Wally Heider studios in Los Angeles during October and November 1972, the album featured compositions by Gene Clark (‘Full Circle’ and ‘Changing Heart’), Roger McGuinn (‘Sweet Mary’ and ‘Born to Rock n’ Roll’) and Chris Hillman (‘Things Will Be Better’ and ‘Borrowing Time’) along with David Crosby’s ‘Long Live the King’ and a new version of ‘Laughing’ (originally recorded by Crosby on his 1971 solo album “If Only I Could Remember My Name”).

The album also featured a cover version of Joni Mitchell’s ‘For Free’ and two Neil Young compositions; ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ and ‘(See the Sky) About to Rain’, the latter not released by Young himself until 1974 when his version appeared on the album “On the Beach”.

This re-mastered edition of “Byrds” restores the original album artwork and features an illustrated booklet with essay.

1. FULL CIRCLE
2. SWEET MARY
3. CHANGING HEART
4. FOR FREE
5. BORN TO ROCK N’ ROLL
6. THINGS WILL BE BETTER
7. COWGIRL IN THE SAND
8. LONG LIVE THE KING
9. BORROWING TIME
10.LAUGHING
11. (SEE THE SKY) ABOUT TO RAIN

Video preview: "The Collected Topi"

Volume one, "The Enchanted World," is out Feb. 5. You can order it now from Amazon.

Details:

Presenting the first in a seven-volume library of works by master illustrator Sergio Toppi. This first volume collects eleven short fantasy tales previously collected as Black & Tans, Krull, and A Minor God.

Video: Former "Doctor Who" Tom Baker answers fan questions

New Music Friday: Big Star; The Beat; Buzzcocks; Eric Dolphy; The Ides of March; Ringo Starr

Our picks. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.

Big Star - Live on WLIR

The Beat featuring Ranking Roger - Public Confidential

Buzzcocks - Another Music in a Different Kitchen

Buzzcocks - Love Bites

Eric Dolphy - Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions

The Ides of March - Friendly Strangers: The Warner Bros. Recordings

Ringo Starr - Bad Boy (vinyl)

Pop Culture Roundup: The Phantom; Doctor Who; Jazz '59; George Perez retires; Jimi Hendrix and Moebius

Item! Phantom Big Little Books!

Item! Former "Doctor Who" David Tennant has a new podcast, and one of his first guests is the new "Doctor Who," Jodie Whitaker.

Item! A new photo blog celebrates 1959, one of the greatest years in modern jazz.

Item! The great comics artist George Perez, known for his detail-, character-packed work on Teen Titans, Justice League of America, The Avengers and more, has announced he's retiring (mostly) from the field. I'm surprised he didn't retire after drawing this picture:

Item! Speaking of comics' greats, here's some Jimi Hendrix art by Moebius.

Coming Up: I’m A Freak 2 Baby - A Further Journey through The British Heavy Psych & Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-73

Out Feb. 1. Order from Amazon now.

Details:

Released in 2016, I’m A Freak Baby – Grapefruit’s 3-CD overview of the UK’s late Sixties/early Seventies nascent hard rock/proto-metal scene – received rapturous acclaim from pundits and punters alike, with The Guardian’s “grim, grey and glorious” summary succinctly capturing the general response to the set.

Three years later, the woodwork squeaks and out come the freaks again. And, like all good follow-ups, I’m A Freak 2 Baby expands upon the original while simultaneously tightening the stylistic mesh.

In addition to further selections from some of the subterranean stars of the first volume (Iron Claw, the semi-housetrained Stack Waddy, the even more semi-housetrained Wicked Lady), we feature many of the genre’s pioneers, with key tracks from The Jeff Beck Group, Edgar Broughton Band, Atomic Rooster and High Tide.

Our scope ranges from Top Five hit singles (Love Sculpture’s manic, heavily influential ‘Sabre Dance’ and the original brass-free demo version of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown’s gothic masterpiece ‘Fire’) to a clutch of bands (Thor, Tonge, Tarsus and several others) that were active during our timeframe but didn’t get beyond locally-recorded demos. We also feature tracks from some of the rarest albums of the era (Red Dirt, Leaf Hound, Dogfeet, Bodkin, Human Beast, Astral Navigations etc).

During our journey, we stumble across Sabbath acolytes, Zeppelin wannabes, musicians’ cooperatives, future legends, Satanism, shamanism, sham-Satanism, industrial-strength levels of reassuringly non-PC attitude and more cowbell than any sane individual could reasonably tolerate.
Boasting a lavish 40-page booklet full of rare photos and memorabilia from the era, many recordings making their first appearance on CD and several cuts gaining their first-ever release in any format, I’m A Freak 2 Baby is another essential addition to Grapefruit’s ever- increasing catalogue of UK late Sixties/early Seventies genre anthologies.

DISC ONE:
1. GUTS – Budgie
2. SHAPES OF THINGS – Jeff Beck
3. RUN THE NIGHT – Wicked Lady
4. THE MAN WHO PAINTS THE PICTURES – Stray
5. ROSIE – Slowload *
6. TURKISH TRAM CONDUCTOR BLUES – The Move
7. CHOCOLATE PIANO – Orang-Utan
8. CLAWSTROPHOBIA – Iron Claw
9. PLASTIC MAN – Bodkin
10. LET’S ALL WATCH THE SKY FALL DOWN – Andromeda
11. MOTHER GREASE THE CAT – Ancient Grease
12. ROSALYN – Stack Waddy
13. HORSE – Sam Gopal
14. SABRE DANCE – Love Sculpture
15. DOG MAN – Monument
16. FREELANCE FIEND – Leaf Hound
17. LOUD GREEN SONG – Patto
18. WINTER OF MY LOVE – Sam Apple Pie
* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

DISC TWO:
1. WOMAN FOR SALE – Tear Gas
2. DEATH WALKS BEHIND YOU – Atomic Rooster
3. APACHE DROP OUT – Edgar Broughton Band
4. TURN ON, OR TURN ME DOWN – N.S.U.
5. BRAIN WORKER – Red Dirt
6. EARLY IN SPRING – The Rats
7. SOMEWHERE TO GO – The Deviants
8. ARMAGEDDON – Dogfeet
9. DOWN AND OUT – Pluto
10. BRUSH WITH THE MIDNIGHT BUTTERFLY – The Human Beast
11. R.C.8. (DEMO VERSION) – Dark
12. WAIT A WHILE – Purple Haze
13. DAZE – Three Man Army
14. OLD FATHER TIME – Tonge *
15. ASHEN BESHER – Mouse
16. FUSSING AND FIGHTING – Sunday
17. GOING DOWN – Freedom
* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

DISC THREE:
1. FUTILIST’S LAMENT – High Tide
2. YESTERDAY – Lightyears Away
3. WOMAN – Samuel Prody
4. CONFUSION – Eugene Carnan
5. SO LONG I’M MOVING ON – Hard Horse
6. FIRE! (DEMO VERSION) – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
7. EARLY MORNING SUN – Tarsus *
8. IS THERE ANY DOUBT?– Natural Gas *
9. BACK IN TIME – Warhorse
10. NAME OF THE GAME – Little Big Horn
11. SINISTER MINISTER – Bullet
12. I NEED SOMEONE – Frozen Tear *
13. THE NYMPH – Sardonicus
14. HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN – 9.30 Fly *
15. SOMEONE’S BEEN AT MY WOMAN – Clark-Hutchinson
16. BIG JIM SALTER – Stone The Crows
17. PARANOID – Thor *
18. LUCIFER CORPUS – Writing On The Wall
* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

New Comics Day: Brave and the Bold Bronze Age Omnibus; EC Comics Library

Our picks this week. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 2

Back in the '70s, The Brave and the Bold famously paired Batman with a wild array of partners. Metamorpho, Swamp Thing, Supergirl, Mister Miracle, Kamandi and The Joker (among others) all showed up to take their turns in the spotlight. These stories, mostly written by Bob Haney and drawn by the incomparable Jim Aparo, represent Batman in all his Bronze Age glory.

Batman: The Brave & the Bold: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 2 collects nearly seven full years of adventures from The Brave and the Bold #110-156 and includes an introduction by Scott Beatty.

The Martian Monster And Other Stories by Jack Kamen (The EC Comics Library)

Stories in this volume include "The Martian Monster," in which a 9-year-old boy befriends a Martian in the woods and asks him to kill his stepmother ― but the "Martian" convinces him that it’s really his father who he should target. There’s sharp social commentary in "…And Then There Were Two!" (highly intelligent robots unveil a plan for world peace, but political opportunists launch an anti-robot campaign to discredit them) and "Prediction of Disaster!" (an astronomer concludes that our sun is about to go nova and tries to warn the world).