Third Album By BEACH BOYS Lyricist Stephen Kalinich To Be Out

April 27, 2025

It’s so fitting that a full-length follow-up to “A World Of Peace Must Come” which Stephen Kalinich recorded back in 1969 only to see it shelved for three decades will see the light of day on June 6th: after all, the American wordsmith is mostly known for his summery-vibe collaboration with THE BEACH BOYS. His lyrics elevating such classics as “Little Bird” and “All I Want To Do” – to mention but a couple, as well as “Rainbows” from Dennis Wilson’s acclaimed “Pacific Ocean Blue” album, and also pieces like “Only Your Love Song Lasts” by Randy Crawford, there’s a lot to enjoy – or, rather, a lot of joie de vivre – in Kalinich’s stanzas, so there’s not a lot of wonder in Stephen’s lines being sung by Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney on “A Friend Like You” from the former’s “Gettin’ In Over My Head” or augmented by Brian May’s guitar on a pair of cuts on the veteran’s several collaborative longplays. What is surprising is the scarcity of his solo platters, with “Scrambled Eggs” succeeding the belatedly issued aforementioned one in 2018, and “I Love My Life” ready to be out just now.

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A Book On MANFRED MANN Ready To Be Out

April 26, 2025

Remembering “5-4-3-2-1” and other early hits from a band known lead by a keyboard player named Manfred Mann, it’s all too easy to see MANFRED MANN as a successful pop band which would go through jazzy permutations of MANFRED MANN CHAPTER THREE to become MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND and rule the waves for decades to come. However, a deeper look into that ’60s ensemble’s membership should reveal the collective as a musicians’ institution to rival Alexis Korner’s BLUES INCORPORATED and John Mayall’s THE BLUESBREAKERS, as Manfred’s friends in his endeavor included singers Paul Jones and Mike d’Abo, bassists Jack Bruce and Klaus Voormann, and trumpeter Henry Lowther to mention but a handful of future stalwarts of British scene. One could only imagine the allure of stories they are able to tell – and now, there’s a book coming out in June with those stories prepared for fans to devour.

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Jesse Ed Davis’ Unreleased Tapes To Be Issued

April 24, 2025

One of the most celebrated Native American musician, Jesse Ed Davis may be best known for turning into a go-to guitarist for three Beatles – moved by Jesse’s performance at the Concert for Bangladesh, George gave him “Sue Me, Sue You Blues” before the writer’s own version was out; John invited him to deliver all the electric solos on “Walls And Bridges”; he left a noticeable imprint on Ringo’s “Goodnight Vienna”; and that’s just a few Davis’ contributions to rock canon – but much more impressive is the fact of his presence on records by fellow six-stringers Eric Clapton and Bert Jansch. Factor in his work with Albert King and Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Leon Russell, Taj Mahal and Jackson Browne, and it’s quite surprising that this artist’s solo albums, of which there only three, all appearing between 1970 and 1973, plus a mid-’80s collaborative effort with poet John Trudell, are not universally known. Still, aficionados cherish those platters and will welcome the long-overdue CD version of the great late performer’s “Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day” comp which first arrived several months ago on a limited-run vinyl.

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Steve Harley & COCKNEY REBEL’s “Best Years” Gets Upgraded

April 22, 2025

It’s a matter of taste whether to consider 1975’s “The Best Years Of Our Lives” the best Steve Harley & COCKNEY REBEL album, yet there’s no denying this platter’s popularity – for no other reason than the presence among the record’s tracks of the British ensemble’s signature single “Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)” that topped the UK charts back in the day and spawned a plethora of covers. The band’s first longplay to separate their singer’s name from the rest of musicians, whose number included the fantastic guitarist Jim Cregan and stellar drummer Stuart Elliott, has seen quite a few reissues, but the one to be out on June 20th must become the ultimate re-release.

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WAR Drill Into The Making Of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”

April 22, 2025

While “You Can’t Have Too Much Of War” may sound militaristic, it’s certainly true when WAR is a name of one of the greatest soul-funk ensembles. Last two years saw a sort of start for their reissue programme, which, in addition of regular rereleases packaged into box sets, captivated fans first with a slightly belated 50th anniversary edition of “The World Is A Ghetto” and “Live In Japan 1974” tapes, and will now offer a jubilee variant of the fantastic “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” album.

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