Gentry has actually been pretty well served on decent sounding CDs, but her LPs have not been reissued in high quality. Thus, record hunting is the mission. In this particular case, eBay was the ticket. We found 4 of Gentry’s main albums for reasonable prices in virtually mint condition. The others were were priced way out of range, and we could not even find a copy of her second album, Delta Sweete, in anything but ok condition, and priced very high too boot.

These LPs are time pieces, and the pressings are of notable quality. There is something special about enjoying a piece of physical media purchased 50 years ago that may have been sitting one someone shelf for decades. They say the hunt is sweeter than the catch..maybe..but boy are we have a gas spinning these records.

Check out:

Vinyl Reviews

The site was founded by Shane Buettner, who just happens to be the owner of the superb reissue label called Intervention Records, which does AAA vinyl reissues, and SACDs. Speaking of AAA, Vinyl Reviews has a designation for all analog mastering, aside from notes about sound quality.

Both Vinyl Reviews and Intervention Records are doing really great things for music lovers..

(Courtesy of the The Vinyl Room YouTube Channel

Order here:

Jerome Sabbagh Official Web Page

Henning is mysterious band out of Sweden on the Graphais label that specializes in mid tempo atmospheric rock with liquid guitar lines and relaxed vocals. Their recent album, Galileo is addicting, and it is nearly impossible to listen to just once through.

The guitar leads are very reminiscent of Mark Knopfler’s work on the first few Dire Straits albums, with an incredibly relaxed, yet focused quality. Henning also makes use of masterful syncopated, slightly jazzy tempos. The whole thing oozes sophistication. Highly recommended.

Henning: Galileo on Bandcamp

Then: Dire Straits – Dire Straits

When Dire Straits released their debut album in 1978, they sounded like nobody else, and Mark Knopfler’s distinctive guitar playing and laid back vocals were a stunning breath of fresh air. Superb songwriting, and very sympathetic arrangements produced a world wide following. They continued with this vibe through several more albums including Communique, and their big breakthrough, Making Movies. Mark Knopfler later established an incredibly successful solo career and even his movie soundtracks are compelling.

I discovered Kings & Beggars on my Bandcamp feed and immediately purchased their two prior albums. Hailing from Ukraine, they play gorgeously rendered early European folk music. The recordings are hypnotic, with dazzling harmonies and all instruments being acoustic. Their brand new album, Rosas Das Rosas, is a stunning achievement. The beauty is truly magical, and the haunting Renaissance melodies are bewilderingly addicting.

Kings & Beggars Bandcamp Page

Now: Steeleye Span – Below The Salt

Steeleye Span are among one of the royal circle of classic English folk rockers, a distinguished club that includes Fairport Convention, Pentangle, and several others. Their landmark album, Below The Salt, was released in 1972, and contains a brilliant repertoire of British folk music played on a mix of acoustic and electric instruments. The marvelous harmonies on “Gaudete” are thrilling, as is Maddy Prior’s vocal on “Rosebud In June”, which is goosebump inducing.

Kamasi Washington is a  Los Angeles based powerhouse musician who has  been helping to revive avant garde, cosmic/spiritual jazz. He previous album, the sprawling, two and a half hour, aptly titled, The Epic, is a mind blowing melange of jazz, soul, funk, with sprinkles of several other genres that held together by Washington’s sax, and a host of sympathetic arrangements and players. Alice Coltrane and Pharoh Sanders are clear inspirations.

His current release, labeled as an EP, Harmony in Difference, should be considered not so much a follow up, but a strong, and powerful set on it’s own. Harmony seems to be a conceptual piece around a specific compositional philosophy, but it is does not require any deep thinking to enjoy the syncopated grooves, the horn arrangements, vibes, choir, and pastoral melodies.

Then: Cannoball Adderley Quintet – The Price You Got To Pay To Be Free.

Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, a giant among giants in the world of jazz, was a visionary, and by 1970, when he released the double LP, The Price You Got To Pay To Be Free., he had expanded the scope of his music to include funk, R&B, soul, and rock. This set, which includes a vocal from 15 year Nat Adderley Jr. on the title track, could have been written today, and the message comes across powerfully.  The energy never lags through out the four sides, and it is clear Adderley and his band are on a mission. His later releases through the 70’s continued to explore spacey, jazz-rock fusion, with interesting thematic concepts.  Fans of  the evolution of jazz started in the late 60’s by Miles Davis and others should seek out this album, which received a very good CD mastering as well.

Seattle legend Mark Lanegan first career, as lead singer of the overlooked Screaming Trees, would have been enough for most. Their last few studio albums helped define the 90’s alternative sound along with Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Mother Love Bone. Lanegan’s solo career began with a string of outstanding psychedelic folk albums, and then interestingly, he slowly but surely began incorporating electronica, and heavy rhythms, but still maintaining his signature dark, folky feel.

Gargoyle, his latest, builds on a string of stunning albums dating back to 2012 that use electronics as a foundation. Blues Funeral, Phantom Radio, and Black Pudding are also highly recommended, along with his numerous side projects, but especially The Soul Savers, as are his rustic duet albums with Isobel Campbell. Lanegan has also contributed vocals to so many other projects, it would take pages to list them.

Then: Tim Hardin – Nine

Tim Hardin was one of the most enigmatic, and devastatingly talented folk rock singers of the 60’s and early 70’s. He was also an incredibly tragic figure, spending much of his career immersed in addiction. He wrote perhaps several of the most covered 60’s songs, “Reason To Believe”, and “If I Was A Carpenter”.  Like Lanegan above, Hardin started out with an acoustic, dark folk framework,  with some blues thrown in, and later added electric backing, and even spacey psychedelia.

His 1974 album Nine, is a lost classic, with several of his most interesting songs, and some nice covers. The opener “Shiloh Town” (covered by Lanegan, by the way!), is a prototypical Hardin stunner with a heavy sense of melancholy.  Sadly, this would be his last studio album, although he continued to perform live until his death in 1980.

The duo of Kacy & Clayton just released their 3rd album, The Siren’s Song, produced by Jeff Tweedy, and it a stunning work, even considering their first two releases, which were brilliant. The Canadian duo mines classic folk rock, but with a highly original focus.

At times one can hear Beatleseque melodies, a bit of Fairport Convention, and even The Strawbs. It is an intoxicating stew, and Kacy’s sultry voice is a sound for sore eyes. The incredibly tasteful arrangements and guitar leads fit to together like a perfect puzzle.

Bandcamp Download

Then: Ian & Sylvia – Play One More

Perhaps no other duo from the 60’s is more unsung than two other Canadians, Ian Tyson, and Sylvia Fricker, known as Ian & Sylvia. Although all their albums are sublime, their 1966 release, Play One More, is very special. It contains some of their most beautiful compositions, including “The French Girl”,  and “Friends Of Mine”, as well as a superb cover of “Satisfied Mind”. An absolute folk classic.

Bristol, U.K. based Mark McDowell casts a troubadour’s spell with his amazing use of psychedelia, sunshine pop, baroque elements, all mixed with a thoroughly modern vibe. His latest release, Dark Weave, is entrancing, and as a matter of fact, his entire discography, available on Bandcamp, is highly recommended.

He has a series of EPs that are very engaging, and bring to mind a traveling minstrel with a fuzz box.  Add a dose of cinematic touches, like string flourishes, and you have seriously addicting ear candy.  There is also an element of spacey, early Pink Floyd and Moody Blues type production, that in my book, works like a charm.

Bandcamp Link

Available as downloads (entire discography), or CD.

Then: John Martyn- Bless the Weather

Perhaps no other artist can be named the inventor of progressive folk rock  other than the late, great John Martyn. There are relatively few originals in the world of rock music, but Martyn was one of a kind. His entire discography, even the later, more experimental releases, when his health was failing, is worth exploring.

His earliest albums were somewhat straight ahead acoustic blues and folk, but he went off into the stratosphere with his absolutely ground breaking classic, Bless The Weather. His voice was assured, and his unique guitar technique, along with the astonishing bass work of Pentangle’s Danny Thompson, and guitar accompaniment of the legendary Richard Thompson fit like hand in glove.  Innovators are few and far between, Martyn defines the term.