Elvis Presley Sunset Boulevard 2025

Oh boy, another Elvis Presley release. According to Wikipedia, there have been 840 Elvis Presley releases:

Studio albums 24

EPs 38

Soundtrack albums 17

Live albums 8

Compilation albums 21

Budget albums 19

Box sets 81

Posthumous compilations 334

Remix albums 23

Follow That Dream albums/EPs  275

If we stick to original, non-compilation, material released during his lifetime, and ignore the EPs (most of that material is duplicated elsewhere), we get 49 records. Still a pretty good sized stack, although most of the soundtrack records were 1 or maybe 2 hits plus filler, so 32 without the soundtracks.

This set of five CDs includes one CD of songs recorded in 1972 and 1975 at RCA's Sunset Boulevard studio C in LA. The 1975 recordings were Presley's last studio recordings. The songs are remixed and stripped of overdubs, which gives them a more immediate sound than the previous releases of the material. The songs were originally released on Elvis (The Fool album) 1973 (two songs) and Today 1975 (all ten songs). The second CD is outtakes and alternate takes from the same sessions, also with the new mix applied. 

The last three CDs consist of in-studio rehearsals for live tours recorded on July 24, 1970 and August 16, 1974. There's some good stuff there, but the recording isn't particularly great, and Presley is rehearsing. Sometimes he sounds fully invested, sometimes he's just walking through.

So why would anyone, other than the obsessed, need this release? No reason, really. But if you're streaming, the first CD is quite good. It's well worth a listen, and the stripped back mix removes a layer of muck that makes the songs sound better than the original releases. Presley was still a powerful singer even if not all the material was deserving of his voice, which is the common complaint for his 70s output.

As for actually purchasing this set, see "the obsessed" above. But the best of the first two CDs is also available on a 2 LP set, and that might make a nice gift for a vinyl-loving Elvis fan.

Lance Cohen Against The Grain 2025

I raved about Lance Cowen's debut So Far, So Good from 2024. As Country/Folk/Americana music goes it doesn't get any better. Ditto this sophomore effort. This record is equally ideal. And beautiful.

Excellently recorded mostly acoustic music, the warm and cozy voice, and exceptional writing both melodically and lyrically.

Beautiful melancholic love songs One More Chance, Will Belinda, Love Anyway, and More or Less. The story of growing up in a coal town that is Old King Coal. Prayer For a Child expresses the hopeful sentiment of every parent. The sensitive character pieces that are Against the Grain and Going South. The downright rocking near desperation of Ragged Edge of Nothing, and the self explanatory sense of loss that is I Can't Stand the Winter. Ten songs, every one poignant and true.

Cowen writes and sings these lovely compositions and gets help from A-list Nashville musicians including Vinnie Santoro (drums), Jay Turner (bass), Todd Smith (piano), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel, dobro), Pat Flynn (guitar), and Chip and Billy Davis (harmonies).

Words can't do it justice. Find a way to hear it.

Van Morrison Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge 2025

Van just keeps cranking them out. This one is mostly blues covers with four Morrison originals, including the title track. There's twenty tracks, and while most of them are good, 80 minutes is too long. You can see it as value for your dollar, or you might think Van needs a producer that would cut the chaff. I'm leaning towards the later opinion.

At 81, Morrison is in excellent voice. He has a highly skilled band behind him as usual, and there are several guests, including Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal, and Buddy Guy.

Tempos are perhaps too similar throughout. But then there's an unusually slow version of Fats Domino's Ain't That A Shame that transforms the song in an interesting way. 

Song selection is just fine. It's a who's who of classic blues composers.

Taj Mahal plays harmonica and sings along on four tracks. He's good, and a better harmonica player than Van. Elvin Bishop plays guitar on five songs, and he's a hot guitarist, but Anthony Paule in Morison's band is no slouch and plays plenty of good leads. Bishop's fills and leads on Loving Memories and You're The One are pretty special. John Allair plays Hammond organ and piano throughout, and also gives a featured boogie-woogie piano break on his own (Go To The) High Place In Your Mind. 

But the guest star that makes the most impact is Buddy Guy on the last two tracks. Guy's idiosyncratic guitar playing is nothing short of amazing, and the two tracks he plays on own the record.

So I could do with 4 or 5 less songs, as several seem interchangeable, and eighty minutes is too long. It could have been compressed into a stone classic. With too many songs, it plays like the 30th anniversary version with the songs that were rightfully cut added to a perfectly fine record. As it is, it's good. 

Play On: A Raspberries Tribute 2025

 

Here's a fine idea. Get a bunch of pop and power pop bands and artists to cover Raspberries songs from their four LPs, which were released between 1972-1974. 2 CDs, 37 songs, only two artists get more than one song. Lemon Twigs get two, and author and musician Ken Sharp gets two. Sharp also plays on and produces many of the recordings. Usually these things stick mostly to the hits, but there's plenty of deep cuts here. In fact, those four original records contain a total of 39 tracks, so all but three songs are represented here. That math doesn't work, but there is also a cover of Please Let Me Come Back Home, a demo that was only included on the Raspberries - Greatest Hits Columbia CD from 2000.

Plenty of big names contribute, but so do some less well known bands and artists, as well as a few names I didn't think were still recording (Shoes, Spongetones). Almost everyone does a fine job. In fact, the quality of these covers is consistently very good compared to how discs like this usually go. That may be due to the level of respect that The Raspberries have achieved, or maybe the songs are just that good. Spending time with those four originals certainly supports the later theory. 

I could nitpick and point out the three or four efforts that are inferior. But four out of 37 is darn good for a various artists tribute record. So this is one great tribute to one great band, who deserve the adulation they have belatedly achieved.

There is only one better way to listen to these songs. I made a playlist of the originals in the same order as this set. You can do a good job of covering The Raspberries, but you can't really improve on the originals. 

Carl Perkins Some Things Never Change 2025

I need an editor. If I had one, she would have told me some time ago to stop using the phrase "there's not a weak track". I'll be working on that, but this new Carl Perkins record is going to test my resolve.

Recorded in 1990 and produced by the talented Bill Lloyd, the recording was lost until Lloyd found it in his archives in 2024. It is essential Perkins. It sounds like the follow-up to Perkin's debut, the wonderful Dance Album of Carl Perkins from 1958, which was a collection of singles released on Sun Records between 1955-1958. 

It is 33 minutes long. Lots of artists make records that are too long in this CD era. This one leaves you wanting more. 

The record kicks off with Perkins' Baby, Bye Bye, a classic rockabilly stomper, followed by Don't Cha Know I Love You, a fine mid-tempo rocker with Perkins' southern drawl and sweet pedal steel guitar from Pete Finney. Then it's on to John Hiatt's great Memphis In The Meantime, and Perkins does it even better than the original and gives it a hot lead guitar break. Messin' Around With Rock and Roll tells the story of a young man in love with country and blues who discovers that his rockabilly is indeed rock and roll, and Perkins lays down some serious chicken-pickin' leads and fills.

The title track is a sweet love ballad about love that lasts, and is enhanced by Joe Schenk's piano. Miss Muddy is a piano-led boogie-woogie blast of an ode to the Mississippi river with more hot guitar in Perkin's inimitable style. The country-folk of Where Does Love Go makes heartache sound fresh, and again Carl adds a simple yet perfect lead. Since Carl played lead guitar in Johnny Cash's band for a decade he has the right to do a cover of Get Rhythm, and while nothing new, it's a fine version again with Carl's guitar featured. Finally Heart Of My Heart is pure stomping rockabilly with more guitar and steel guitar.

Every song is an opportunity for Perkins' country twang of a voice to light up the room. He's a fine singer, a great songwriter, and a killer guitarist. His sons make up the rhythm section, and they are competent professionals. In addition to the aforementioned sidemen, Jerry Douglas helps out too.

Perkins made five or six more records after this before his passing in 1998. But like that Jerry Lee Lewis record I reviewed recently, this is a late career masterpiece. Available for streaming and on all physical formats, including vinyl. 

Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells a Story 1971

It's a classic, and it sat idle in the stacks for years until a few days ago when I gave it a spin and was reminded of how great it is. Like Stewart's previous two solo outings, it is a mix of rock, folk, blues and soul. Those first two, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (The Rod Stewart Album in the US) 1969 and Gasoline Alley 1970 are both solid. The third time was the charm. 

Maggie May was the B side of the cover of Tim Hardin's Reason to Believe, but DJs flipped the record and that B side became a #1 hit on both sides of the pond. Rockers That's All Right, (I Know) I'm Losing You and the title track are all great in that loose Faces way. The folk numbers Seems Like a Long Time, Tomorrow Is a Long Time, Reason to Believe, and Stewart's own Mandolin Wind are a fine song selection and are presented in lovely arrangements. Stewart sings everything with as much bravado or sensitivity as the tune requires. As great as the cover songs are, the three from Stewart's pen are all highlights. There isn't a weak track.

There is a lot of good music on Stewart's early solo work; the seven records from 1969-1976 all contain some great songs, and 1976's A Night on the Town closes Stewart's early career on a high note. Remarkably the five Faces records were all released during the same period. That's a whole career for anyone, but Stewart has soldiered on and continues to this day. That voice is a rare gift, and Rod has never let it rest very long. 

Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 1998, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 2001

 

The original Nuggets double LP, compiled by Lenny Kaye, was released in 1972. It was an important seed for punk rock in the seventies, and frankly a whole lot of fun. Then in 1999, at the height of Rhino's compilation fever, comes this four CD box set. The first CD includes the same 27 tracks that were on the original LP. You might think that the quality would sag a bit to fill three more CDs, but alas you would be wrong.

Kaye's original concept was to focus on what he termed Garage Rock, a simple, bash-it-out aggressive style often featuring relatively primitive recording techniques. The psychedelic and poppier sounds included weren't exactly what Kaye was looking for, but the set achieves it's goal. Many of the songs made the charts although quite a few languished in the higher numbered positions. Quite a few didn't chart and will be new to many listeners. Some were regional hits that weren't as successful nationally. That was a thing in the 60s before corporate radio owned every station.

The box set was a big hit for Rhino, and for good reason. The song list is excellent. Songs you've heard if you were around in the 60s plus similar and only slightly weirder or more challenging songs from the period, many of which listeners haven't heard. The box is well curated, well sequenced, and the music is well documented in the accompanying book.

Three years later they couldn't resist a Volume 2. But they didn't try to dig up more similar material from the US. Instead they went international, collecting songs from the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Iceland, Peru, and Brazil. This time, there are not many that you've heard. That means that this is a big old box of garage rock exploration. Approach with open mind and ears, and you're in for a treat. While the band names may not ring a bell, a lot of the artists in those bands became familiar names a few years later. Again, well assembled material and another informative book.

Two great box sets. One a classic, the other a wild deep dive.