Sal Valentino - Come Out Tonight

 

Sal Valentino - Come Out Tonight - 2008

By Bruce Eder, AMG

This record is a genuinely amazing listening experience -- in fact, it's downright spellbinding for anyone who remembers the Beau Brummels, the mid-'60s/late-'60s outfit that Sal Valentino fronted. One hears accounts of enduring talents all the time, but even so, nine times out of ten with veteran performers of four decades' standing, it's too much to expect that they could actually deliver albums as strong as their classic work. But that's precisely what Valentino has done with Come Out Tonight. The voice is a little rougher, to be sure, but it's also every bit as powerful, expressive, and memorable as it was in the 1960s -- and with some fine songwriting of his own plus some careful selection of other people's tunes, he's come up with an album that's a fine successor to the first two Beau Brummels albums or just about anything else he ever did during his classic years. Come Out Tonight does cover all kinds of ground that wouldn't have been in evidence in the mid-'60s, of course, including a killer slow acoustic blues-style rendition of "Folsom Prison Blues" and a similarly unexpected interpretation of Jimmy Webb's "The Highwayman," his singing driving any of the pop smoothness from the piece. The newer numbers are also memorable, if mostly in more of a pop/rock vein (with a folk-rock veneer on a lot of them), and one could see a song like "Treasure of the Orient" turning into a hit in a friendlier musical environment. And although he's mostly known as a singer and songwriter, Valentino also contributes some acoustic guitar to his cause on a pair of tracks, most notably the title song. A dark, minimalist, bluesy personal reflection that's as alluring as it is devastating listening, "Come Out Tonight" delves into profoundly moving depths of despair and loneliness. And what makes this record even more special is the energy behind it -- Come Out Tonight isn't just an exercise in nostalgia, or an example of a veteran artist ascending to an unexpectedly high plateau, but a solidly compelling body of performances, surprisingly close in spirit to the records that Johnny Cash cut with Rick Rubin -- except that Valentino never needed (or saw the urgency for) the "comeback." 

01. All The Places
02. Catherine I Do
03. New Day
04. The Devil Is In The Courtyard
05. Grease The Wheel
06. For The Longest Time
07. Folsom Prison Blues
08. Treasure Of The Orient
09. Lookin' For You
10. The Highwayman
11. Come Out Tonight

+@192

The Pete Best Band - Live At The Adelphi

The Pete Best Band  - Live At The Adelphi - 1992

Randolph Peter "Pete" Best is an English musician, principally known as the original drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962.

The Beatles invited Best to join on 12 August 1960, on the eve of the group's first Hamburg season of club dates. Ringo Starr eventually replaced Best on 16 August 1962 when the group's manager, Brian Epstein, dismissed Best under the direction of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, following their first recording session at Abbey Road Studios in London.

After working in a number of commercially unsuccessful groups, Best gave up the music industry to work as a civil servant for 20 years, before starting the Pete Best Band.

01. Slow Down
02. Be My Baby
03. When You Walk In The Room
04. I Hear You Knocking
05. Some Other Guy
06. Mr Moonlight
07. When A Man Loves A Woman
08. Keep On Running
09. Rock And Roll Music
10. Rockin' Robin - Rip It Up (Medley)
11. Lucille
12. Great Balls Of Fire
13. Interview With Pete Best



🔻@192

Spencer Davis & The British All-Stars - Keep On Rollin'

Spencer Davis & The British All-Stars - Keep On Rollin' - 2016

01. Let The Good Times Roll
02. Key to The Highway
03. Feets Too Big
04. Tamp 'Em Up Solid
05. Ain't Nothing Shakin' But The Bacon
06. I Think It's Gonna Rain Today
07. The Thrill is Gone
08. Watch The River Flow
09. Stormy Monday

Spencer Davis - Guitar, Vocal
Dave Kelly - Guitar, Vocal
Pete Emery - Guitar, Vocal
Gary Fletcher - Bass, Vocal
Zoot Money - Keyboads, Vocal
Pick Withers - Drums

+@192

Phil Parlapiano - The Mordacious Mr. Squeeze

Phil Parlapiano - The Mordacious Mr. Squeeze - 2013

Phil tracked the album with the Medicine Men (Lynn Coulter-Percussion, Butch Norton-Percussion, Tad Wadhams (electric and upright bass) and was joined by drummer Herman Matthews, David Sutton, guitarists Doug Pettibone, Doug Hamblin, Chuck Kavooras, Donny Kilpatrick and Bruce Watson. Aubrey Richmond played some fiddle and Dan Navarro added some sweet Backgrounds. These players have played with a great number of music legends including Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow, John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Tower of Power, Foreigner, Lucinda Williams, the eels, John Mayer and many others. This record was done strictly on tape with no computer, no synthesizers and no drum loops. Just the sound of two drummers, bass and a few guitar playing, picked up expertly by a ribbon mike. Armed with an UREI 1176, the Medicine Men planned to re-inject, though not necessarily recreate some of the best neo-afro-redneck blues that one could in the new millennium.

01. Taking Me Back
02. The New World
03. This Road Is Not My Own
04. A Little Love
05. Under the Bus
06. Direction
07. Girlfriend Revenge
08. Bully
09. Two Ways
10. Breakout
11. Maggie's Farm
12. Shilo
13. Mordacious




+@192

The Pat McManus Band - Dark Emerald Highway

The Pat McManus Band - Dark Emerald Highway - 2013

Dark Emerald Highway is the fourth album from former Mamas Boys guitarist/songwriter, Pat McManus. His most personal and introspective album to date. Recorded around the time his father passed away, this is not a mournful collection of songs, rather a collection of tracks that positively reflect on life, family, and the world around. Still holding true to his Celtic roots, and mixed with his own distinctive style of Blues Rock, it is easy to see just why Pat was nicknamed "The Professor" when he was just a boy starting out. Indeed, with the sad and untimely passing of Rory Gallagher, and then Gary Moore, Pat McManus can lay claim to the title of "The last of the truly great Irish blues rock Guitarists.

01. S Before X
02. Transformations
03. Loving Kind
04. Lets Turn It Up
05. Lazy Days
06. Cold Town
07. Fallen Angel
08. Shame On You
09. Belfast Boy
10. The Bolt    

Pat McManus - Lead Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Bouzouki , Backing Vocals, Slide Guitar, Bass Guitar
Marty McDermott - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Paul Faloon - Drums
Paul Marshall - Drums (Lambbeg Drums)
John McCullough - Keyboards
Mudd Wallace - Percussion, Keyboards
Maura Donaghy - Backing Vocals 

+@192

Eric Clapton - Live in San Diego

Eric Clapton - Live in San Diego - 2016

On March 15, 2007, Eric Clapton's world tour stopped at San Diego's iPayOne Center (originally the San Diego Sports Arena and now the Valley View Casino Center). The band lineup for the tour continues to be a firm fan-favorite, with Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II on guitars, Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon on keyboards, Willie Weeks on bass, Steve Jordan on drums and backing vocalists Michelle John and Sharon White During the set, EC's long-time musical inspiration, JJ Cale, sat in for five songs, including three from their Grammy-Award winning album, The Road To Escondido, released in 2006.

Live in San Diego is the thirteenth live album by the British rock musician Eric Clapton. It was released on 30 September 2016 through Reprise Records.

Special guests on the Live in San Diego release include guitarists J. J. Cale, Robert Cray, Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks. The live album marks Clapton's second collaboration with Cale after The Road to Escondido was released on 7 November 2006. Also, the album features the first new live music from Clapton and Cray following Clapton's 1991 live double album 24 Nights.The album, which is available on compact disc, as a digital download and on gramophone record was recorded on 15 March 2007 at the Ipayone Center in San Diego, California during the "Doyle & Derek World Tour" and features a total of 16 tracks.

01. Tell the Truth
02. Key to the Highway
03. Got to Get Better in a Little While
04. Little Wing
05. Anyday
06. Anyway the Wind Blows
07. After Midnight (with J. J. Cale)
08. Who Am I Telling You? (with J. J. Cale)
09. Don't Cry Sister" (with J. J. Cale)
10. Cocaine (with J. J. Cale)
11. Motherless Children
12. Little Queen of Spades
13. Further On up the Road
14. Wonderful Tonight
15. Layla
16. Crossroads

+@320

Marc Benno And The Bluesblasters - Live at the Pour House

Marc Benno And The Bluesblasters - Live at the Pour House - 2011

Marc Benno has been giving blues, rock n roll, and pop music an unmistakable Texas flavor for years. A singer/songwriter who plays the guitar and piano, Benno is a strong force behind some of rock and blues greatest talents making them sound even better. The list of legends he's worked with includes The Doors, Eric Clapton, Lightnin Hopkins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bill Wyman, Georgie Fame, Rita Coolidge, Eddie Murphy, Leon Russell and many more! In the 60's, after performing in Dallas with Steve Miller, Boz Scaggs, the Eagles, first known as Felicity and The Moving Sidewalks, Aka ZZ Top, Benno headed to Los Angeles to further his career. That put him in the right place at the right time! Marc Benno recorded a pair of albums with Leon Russell as a duo under the name The Asylum Choir. These recordings are considered rock classics by Billboard Magazine. Benno was then picked to play guitar on an album by the psychedelic rock greats The Doors. The sessions were for the classic L.A. Woman (1971), the group's last LP before Jim Morrison's death. Benno recorded four albums for A&M Records in Hollywood in the 70's. Eric Clapton played guitar on two tracks from Benno's 1979 album Lost in Austin, recorded in London, produced by Glyn Johns who was famous for producing The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. He toured with Rita Coolidge as lead guitarist and band leader opening for The Byrds at Royal Albert Hall in London! After two years serving as Lightnin Hopkins bandleader and lead guitarist, Benno formed Marc Benno & TheNightcrawlers, opening shows across America for Humble Pie and The J. Geils Band. One of the Crawlers was a young guitarist named Stevie Ray Vaughan. Benno's career got an unexpected boost in 1985, when his song "Rock & Roll Me Again", recorded by The System for the movie Beverly Hills Cop, won a Grammy for Best Composition for a Motion Picture Soundtrack! Guitar World Magazine credits Benno for giving The Doors a Texas flavor, with his style of guitar playing on their album titled LA Woman release in 1971. He is featured on The Doors Greatest Hits album. Leon Russell's Greatest Hits, a long overdue release, features the Asylum Choir II classic, Tryin to Stay Live, co-authored by Marc and Leon. 

01. Love Junkie
02. Yonders Wall
03. Alligator Boogaloo
04. Sweet Home Chicago
05. Killin Floor
06. Born Under A Bad Sign
07. Mustang Sally
08. Georgia
09. Sweet Lil Angel
10. Do It To Ya
11. Tip Jar


+@192