Bloggerhythms

I've only recently become aware that people have been clamoring a long time for Stephen Stills and Judy Collins to work together. That time finally arrived late last year with their album, Everybody Knows. Now that it's happened I can say that, at least professionally, Judy Blue Eyes and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's best all around musician are a perfect pair. Stills' vocals are less gravelly than they have been in recent years and Collins' angelic voice has not withered at all. She sounds exactly as she did in 1968 and when they duet she more than compensates for any aging in her partner's voice. Song for song there is very little new music on Everybody Knows . The ten track set includes five covers, three Stills compositions and two by Collins. The originals are mostly older songs but it doesn't matter because the end result is quite rewarding. The ten track album's rockier moments are all courtesy of Stills. The only two obvious rockers...

Don’t Call Me Angel is the twelfth album in Hilary Scott’s catalog so she is not a newcomer to the business even if she is not a household name. It's a shame that so many things written about Scott include a statement similar to this: Singer-songwriter Hilary Scott (with only one "l") should not be confused with the "double l'd" Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum fame but I'm sure she understands why comments like this one are inevitable and necessary. Any confusion surrounding Scott's chosen stage name has to be especially galling to her because she took it as a tribute to her late brother who passed away twenty years ago and because she preceded her more well known namesake on the music scene. Scott's music has always leaned toward the country side of things but her new album cannot be categorized easily. You can call it a country record, a singer-songwriter affair, or even classify it in the too broadly named Americana genre and you'...

Transcriptions were studio recordings made exclusively for radio broadcast that were never intended to be released to the public via commercial records. Transcriptions began in the 1930's and were used on radio for decades. Even as late as the 60s The Beatles used the transcription process for their British radio show appearances, most of which have since been released on their two double-set Live At The BBC releases in 1994 and 2013. Micheal Cuscuna, a long time jazz fan and impressario, explains further in his excellent liner notes for the King Cole Trio's excellent Transcriptions box set on Blue Note Records . "In the 1930's, when radio featured live music, the playing of commercially available 78 rpm recordings was frowned upon on the premise that the listener was less likely to go out and buy a record that he or she could hear over the airwaves for free. Many records issued in the 30s and 40s even stated on the label: "not licensed for broadcast". S...