The Goldies label is dependable for one thing: you never know what you're going to get. This compilation by Tom Jones is a case in point. While there are some of his classic songs here such as "Delilah" and "She's a Lady," they are not the original versions. They're recorded with a big studio band with a funked up bassline and some cheesy keyboards with a bigger than God horn section and a doubled up female backing chorus. But those aren't the biggest surprises. Those come later, making this an almost indispensable collection.

Europe's hottest big band of the 60s swings hard and tight with its trademark two-drummer-sound and exciting solos by European and American jazz legends. "All Smiles" is a first rate powerhouse session.

There are singers who let it fly from deep within and pour out red-faced bellows complete with bulging eyes and pulsating neck cords. They rip it up with big bands and belt it out until the sun comes up, then follow with swashbuckling encores that bring down the house with slaps-on-the-back and flamenco table top dances.
Then there’s Julie. No gala musical fanfare or big-sound glitter. No jokes, no jugglers, no soft-shoe. Just a blues guitar, a well-placed bass, a drummer’s light brush… and Julie. The combo provides a mere musical skeleton, a framework that serves only to complement the singer; it doesn’t try to compete. The combination is distinctively blues… and distinctively Julie. Julie is a mysterious, sultry woman with a moist-eyed singing style and real feeling for loneliness…

The debut album from Second Hand which was released in 1968 and called Reality is a pretty psychedelic experience. The music is heavily influenced by rock/ blues bands like Jimi Hendrix and Cream but in addition to that sound Ken Elliott´s vintage keyboards are a trademark in Second Hand´s sound. His voice is very strong and humourous. This music seems to be made while having lots of fun and probably under the influence of various drugs.

Formed in 1967 by keyboard player Vangelis, the band also featured Demis Roussos on bass and vocals and Lucas Sideras on drums. "End Of The World" (1968) features the international hit 'Rain And Tears', partially inspired by Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' . However, the album revealed a more experimental side to the band s nature with such Psychedelic gems as 'The Grass Is No Green', 'You Always Stand In My Way' and 'Day Of The Fool'. This reissue has been remastered from the original tapes and includes both sides of Aphrodite's Child's first single as bonus tracks.
Their classic second album, "It's Five O' Clock" (1969) featured the international hit from which the album took its name. The LP revealed a more experimental side to the band's nature with such Psychedelic gems as 'Funky Mary' and 'Let Me Love, Let Me Live'. This reissue has been remastered from the original tapes and includes six bonus tracks…

Manfred Mann always used the long-play format to showcase its virtuosity and range of influences away from the world of pop singles. This was evident early in the band's career with albums such as The Five Faces of Manfred Mann, which was a hardcore R&B album, far removed from the pop sensibilities of singles like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Sha La La." The contrast between this album and their singles output of 1968 is not quite as stark, as the LP contains pop material such as "It's So Easy Falling" and "The Vicar's Daughter." More unorthodox selections include "Cubist Town," "Harry the One-Man Band," and "Country Dancing," which showcase the eclectic side of the group.

It's about time these early Canned Heat albums were made available once again! Thanks in part to their appearance in the Monterey Pop and later Woodstock festival films, these two albums, especially Boogie With Canned Heat, built Canned Heat's reputation as a top-notch white blues band of the late '60s. The self-titled disc from 1967 features a rough mix of originals and blues standards, including "Catfish Blues," "Rich Woman," and "Big Road Blues." Boogie was released the following year and actually contained a hit single, "On the Road Again." The other tracks on the album, especially "Fried Hockey Boogie" and "Amphetamine Annie," became staples of early FM underground radio. Canned Heat would rarely sound this together as a working unit in the studio again.

None of the Band's previous work gave much of a clue about how they would sound when they released their first album in July 1968. As it was, Music from Big Pink came as a surprise. At first blush, the group seemed to affect the sound of a loose jam session, alternating emphasis on different instruments, while the lead and harmony vocals passed back and forth as if the singers were making up their blend on the spot. In retrospect, especially as the lyrics sank in, the arrangements seemed far more considered and crafted to support a group of songs that took family, faith, and rural life as their subjects and proceeded to imbue their values with uncertainty.

According to the liner notes on their album, drummer Nick Alexander, singers Liza Gonzales and Dave Riordan, guitarist Greg Likens, keyboard player Bill Masuda and bassist Bill Reynolds met while students at San Luis Obispo's Cal Poly. Signed by Dot, their 1968 debut teamed the band with producer Frank Slay. Musically "The Yankee Dollar" was nothing less than wonderful. Gonzales and Riordan were both gifted with nice voices and on tracks such as "Sanctuary" and "City Sidewalks" effortlessly trading lead vocals. Backed by Likens' fuzz guitar (check out the great solo on "Live and Let Live"), Masuda's stabbing organ chords and occasional sound effects, the collection sported a sound that successfully blended folk-rock with Jefferson Airplane-styled psychedelic…

Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (1968). Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits! concentrates on the Chairman of the Board's pop hits from the mid- and late '60s, several of which were single-only releases or only available on movie soundtracks. Appropriately, it begins with his biggest solo hit of the '60s, "Strangers in the Night," and then vacillates between adult contemporary pop songs and ballads. Much of the production sounds dated, with its guitars, reverb, and arrangements bearing all the hallmarks of '60s pop. While some of the songs rank among Sinatra's finest moments, particularly "Summer Wind" and "It Was a Very Good Year," most of these songs are guilty pleasures. They might not have the emotional resonance of his finest ballad and swing albums, but fluff like the Nancy Sinatra duet "Somethin' Stupid," the fuzz guitar-tinged "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" and the bluesy "This Town" are enjoyable as pop singles…

This three-disc box set from Sony gathers up the first three long-players from Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1968, Fleetwood Mac (often referred to as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac) was a blues-rock juggernaut that stayed on the U.K. charts for nearly 40 weeks, while that same year's Mr. Wonderful beefed up the band's already meaty sound with a full horn section. Appearing in 1969, Pious Bird of Good Omen offered up a collection of B-sides and singles that were recorded between 1967 and 1968.

The popularity of California rock bands with both female and male vocals was simply immense in the wake of the Mamas & the Papas and Jefferson Airplane. Morning Glory pay significant tribute to both bands on their obscure and only LP, though you can certainly hear some Byrds in some of the guitar licks, as well as traces of Bay Area psychedelic groups like Moby Grape in some of the arrangements. It's well-sung (with the sole woman in the group, Gini Graybeal, handling most of the lead vocals) and tightly played, with Abe "Voco" Kesh, most famous for his work with Blue Cheer, handling the production. The problems are a little predictable for bands heavily influenced by California heavyweight groups of the era, but they're present nonetheless: a lack of top-flight songwriting in particular, and an absence of overwhelming personality in general…

It was never supposed to be like this: "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" was supposed to mark a beginning of a new phase in Otis Redding's career, not an ending. Producer/guitarist Steve Cropper had a difficult task to perform in pulling together this album, the first of several posthumous releases issued by Stax/Volt in the wake of Otis Redding's death. What could have been a cash-in effort or a grim memorial album instead became a vivid, exciting presentation of some key aspects of the talent that was lost when Redding died. Dock of the Bay is, indeed, a mixed bag of singles and B-sides going back to July of 1965, one hit duet with Carla Thomas, and a pair of previously unissued tracks from 1966 and 1967, respectively…