Steve Earle’s dusty, gritty tribute to his late friend Townes Van Zandt issued last year is about what you can usually expect from “tribute” albums. The two met when Earle was still a kid and Van Zandt was already established.

If you’re interested in Van Zandt you should pick up some of his originals or the vinyl reissues on Fat Possum. If you are an Earle fan you probably would prefer to listen to some of his older albums of original material, though he does pour everything he’s got into this.

If you didn’t know who was playing behind the honey-voiced Hartman on “They Say It’s Wonderful,” the opening track of this short, thirty one minute set, you’d probably never guess it was John Coltrane or that Coltrane asked Hartman to collaborate with him and his classic quartet on this mellow, relaxed and relaxing album, all of which was recorded April 7^th, 1963.

The forced revisiting of old, long neglected favorites is one of the great benefits of reviewing reissues. I hadn’t played this chestnut for years, maybe decades and never in the mono mix since by then stereo ruled—at least for me and a small minority of other kids.

I was obsessed back then to find the stereo mixes of everything, not realizing that mono was better for many recordings, like the early Dylans, Stones and Beatles albums, among others.

Dan Dyer sings mournfully,  earnestly and soulfully on these two direct to disc recordings produced at Chad Kassem's Blue Heaven Studios in Salina Kansas. He also plays keyboards and guitar and is accompanied by Michael Hale on drums and backup  vocals  and Mark Williams on bass and cello. 

The precedent for this sprawling, personal three record set might be Joni Mitchell’s Blue but don’t expect to be humming the tunes as you head for the exits.

The precedent for this sprawling, personal three record set might be Joni Mitchell’s Blue but don’t expect to be humming the tunes as you head for the exits.

The back story here is that in May of 1963, the Yardbirds’ first guitarist, “pimply” 15 year old Anthony “Top” Topham stepped on stage with the new group at the Eel Pie Island Club.

Stars from across the musical universe donated their time and considerable talents to perform with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on this thoroughly entertaining and superbly recorded double LP set celebrating the Hall’s 50th anniversary.

Stars from across the musical universe donated their time and considerable talents to perform with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on this thoroughly entertaining and superbly recorded double LP set celebrating the Hall’s 50th anniversary.

The 37 year old bassist Christian McBride apparently assembled the powerhouse quintet "Inside Straight" at the behest of Village Vanguard owner Lorraine Gordon, who told him he was welcome to play the legendary club anytime, but not with the “rock’n’roll” band he was playing with at the time. The group consists of veterans saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist Eric Scott Reed, drummer Carl Allen and newcomer Warren Wolf, Jr., who, based on this outing has a bright, swinging, musical future.

Carla Thomas mocked Otis Redding as unsophisticated and “pure country” in their classic recorded duet “Tramp” and when Otis welcomes the “…ladies and gentlemens” to one of his Whisky A Go Go sets back in April of 1966 you get the picture.

The first Costello album backed by The Attractions released in March, 1978 on Radar in the UK and Columbia in America (with differing song lineups) cemented the singer’s leadership in the “angry young man” wing of the late ‘70’s “New Wave” musical explosion. More than expressing anger, the album was a full-blown misogynist outburst that contains some really nasty stuff starting with the opener “No Action,” which is filled some deliciously ugly obsessive/compulsive sentiments.