Ian Matthews: If You Saw Thru’ My Eyes

if_you_saw-through-my-eyes

In January 1971, “Vertigo” label released “If You Saw Thro’ My Eyes”, the third Ian Matthews solo album. It was recorded in 1970, and was produced by Ian Matthews.

Personnel:

  • Ian Matthews – vocals, guitar
  • Andy Roberts- guitar
  • Tim Renwick- guitar
  • Richard Thompson- guitar, accordion
  • Sandy Denny – vocals, keyboards
  • Pat Donaldson- bass
  • Gerry Conway- drums

Track listing:

All tracks by Ian Matthews except where noted.

  1. Desert Inn
  2. Hearts
  3. Never Ending
  4. Reno Nevada – Richard Fariña
  5. Little Known
  6. Hinge I
  7. Hinge II
  8. Southern Wind
  9. It Came Without Warning – Jerry Burnham, Allan Jacobs
  10. You Couldn’t Lose
  11. Morgan The Pirate – Richard Fariña
  12. Thro’ My Eyes

Cass McCombs: Prefection

prefection

On January 11, 2005, “4AD” label released “Prefection”, the second Cass McCombs album. It was recorded in 2004, and was produced by Cass McCombs.

Personnel:

  • Cass McCombs – vocals, guitar
  • Natalie Conn – vocals, keyboards
  • Trevor Shimizu – vocals, bass, sampling, photography
  • Dutch Germ – vocals, drums
  • Bill Skibbe – engineer
  • Jessica Ruffins – engineer
  • Chris Coady – mixing
  • Steve Rooke – mastering
  • Asha Schecter – layout design

Track listing:

All tracks by Cass McCombs.

  1. Equinox
  2. Subtraction
  3. Multiple Suns
  4. Tourist Woman
  5. Sacred Heart
  6. She’s Still Suffering
  7. Cuckoo
  8. Bury Mary
  9. City of Brotherly Love
  10. All Your Dreams May Come True

Durutti Column: The Return of Durutti Column

the_return_of_the_durutti_column

In January 1980, “Factory” label released “The Return of the Durutti Column”, the debut Durutti Column studio album. It was recorded in 1979, at “Cargo Studios” in Rochdale, UK, and was produced by Martin Hannett. The initial two thousand album copies  included a flexi-disc single with two tracks.

Personnel:

  • Vini Reilly – guitar
  • Pete Crooks – bass guitar
  • Toby Toman – drums
  • Chris Nagle – engineer
  • John Brierley – engineer
  • Anthony H. Wilson – artwork

Track listing:

All tracks by Vini Reilly.

  1. Sketch for Summer
  2. Requiem for a Father
  3. Katharine
  4. Conduct
  5. Beginning
  6. Jazz
  7. Sketch for Winter
  8. Collette
  9. In ‘D’

Bonus flexi-disc

  1. First Aspect of the Same Thing
  2. Second Aspect of the Same Thing

Fairport Convention: What We Did on Our Holidays

what-we-did-on-our-holidays

In January 1969, “Island” label released “What We Did on Our Holidays”, the second Fairport Convention album. It was recorded June – October 1968, at “Sound Techniques”; “Olympic Studio No. 1”; “St. Peter’s Church”, and “Morgan Studios” in London, and was produced by Joe Boyd.

Personnel:

  • Sandy Denny (as Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny) – vocals, acoustic  and 12-string acoustic guitars, organ, piano, harpsichord
  • Richard Thompson– vocals, electric, acoustic and 12-string acoustic guitars, piano accordion, sitar
  • Simon Nicol– acoustic and electric guitars, electric autoharp, electric dulcimer, backing vocals
  • Ashley Hutchings– bass, backing vocals
  • Martin Lamble– drums, percussion, violin, tabla, footsteps
  • Iain Matthews– vocals, congas
  • Peter Ross – harmonica
  • Bruce Lacey and his Robots
  • Claire Lowther – cello
  • Kingsley Abbott – coins, backing vocals
  • Paul Ghosh, Andrew Horvitch, Marc Ellington – backing vocals
  • John Wood – engineer
  • Richard Bennett Zeff, Annie Brown – photography
  • Diogenic Attempts Ltd. – design

Track listing:

  1. Fotheringay – Sandy Denny
  2. Mr Lacey – Ashley Hutchings
  3. Book Song – Iain Matthews, Richard Thompson
  4. The Lord Is in This Place…How Dreadful Is This Place (based on “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” by Blind Willie Johnson) – Ashley Hutchings, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson
  5. No Man’s Land – Richard Thompson
  6. I’ll Keep It With Mine – Bob Dylan
  7. Eastern Rain – Joni Mitchell
  8. Nottamun Town – traditional, arranged by Sandy Denny, Iain Matthews, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Lamble
  9. Tale in Hard Time – Richard Thompson
  10. She Moves Through the Fair – traditional, arr. Sandy Denny, Iain Matthews, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Lamble
  11. Meet on the Ledge – Richard Thompson
  12. End of a Holiday – Simon Nicol

Kaleidoscope: A Beacon from Mars

a_beacon_from_mars

In January 1968, “Epic” label released “A Beacon from Mars”, the second Kaleidoscope album. It was recorded in 1967, and was produced by Mike Goldberg and Stu Eisen.

Personnel:

  • David Lindley – guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin
  • Chris Darrow – vocals, bass, guitar, mandolin
  • Solomon Feldthouse – vocals,  saz,  bouzouki,  dobro,  vina,  oud,  doumbek, dulcimer, fiddle, guitar
  • Chester Crill (as Fenrus Epp) – violin, viola, bass, organ, piano, harmonica
  • John Vidican – drums, percussion

Track listing:

  1. I Found Out – Earl Shackleford
  2. Greenwood Sidee – traditional
  3. Life Will Pass You By – Chris Darrow
  4. Taxim – Kaleidoscope
  5. Baldheaded End of a Broom – traditional
  6. Louisiana Man – Doug Kershaw
  7. You Don’t Love Me – Willie Cobbs
  8. Beacon from Mars – Kaleidoscope

David Bowie: Black Star

blackstar

On January 8, 2016, “ISO”, “RCA”, “Columbia”, and “Sony” labels released “Black Star”, the twenty-fifth and final David Bowie studio album. It was recorded in 2015, at “The Magic Shop” and “Human Worldwide Studios”, in New York City, and was produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti.  The album was voted Best album of 2016, in the annual choices by many medias including The A.V. Club, Mojo, Newsweek, Paste, Q, Rolling Stone (Readers Poll), Uncut and The Wire Magazine. “Black Star” became Bowie’s only album to top the “Billboard 200” in the United States, and it remained at the number one position in the UK charts for three weeks. The album was certified Platinum in Australia by “ARIA”; in Austria by “IFPI”; in Belgium by “BEA”; in Canada by “Music Canada”; in France by “SNEP”; in Italy by “FIMI”, and in UK by “BPI”.

Personnel:

  • David Bowie– vocals, acoustic guitar, “Fender Guitar”, harmonica, string  arrangements, mixing
  • Ben Monder– guitar
  • Jason Lindner– piano, organ, keyboards
  • Tim Lefebvre– bass
  • Mark Guiliana– drums, percussion
  • James Murphy– percussion
  • Donny McCaslin– flute, saxophone, woodwinds
  • Tony Visconti– strings, engineer, mixing
  • Kevin Killen– engineer
  • Erin Tonkon – backing vocals, engineer assistant
  • Kabir Hermon – engineer assistant
  • Tom Elmhirst– mixing
  • Joe Visciano – mixing assistant
  • Joe LaPorta– mastering

Track listing:

All tracks by David Bowie, except where noted.

  1. Blackstar
  2. Tis a Pity She Was a Whore
  3. Lazarus
  4. Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) – David Bowie, Maria Schneider, Paul Bateman, Bob Bharma
  5. Girl Loves Me
  6. Dollar Days
  7. I Can’t Give Everything Away

Elvis Presley: Promised Land

promised_land

On January 8, 1975, “RCA” label released “Promised Land”, the twenty first Elvis Presley album. It was recorded in December 1973, at “Stax Records” studios in Memphis and  was produced by Felton Jarvis.

Personnel:

  • Elvis Presley- vocals, guitar
  • James Burton- guitar
  • Johnny Christopher – guitar
  • Doug Bartenfeld – guitar
  • Per Erik Hallin – piano, organ
  • David Briggs- piano, organ
  • Norbert Putnam- bass
  • Ronnie Tutt- drums
  • Per Eric “Pete” Hallin – clavinet
  • Voice (Donnie Sumner; Sherrill Nielsen; Tim Baty; Per Eric “Pete” Hallin) – backing vocals
  • Jeannie Green – backing vocals
  • Mary and Ginger Holladay – backing vocals
  • Susan Pilkington – backing vocals
  • JD Sumner& The Stamps (Bill Baize; Ed Enoch; David Rowland) – backing vocals
  • Kathy Westmoreland- backing vocals
  • Mike Moran, Dick Baxter – engineer

Track listing:

  1. Promised Land – Chuck Berry
  2. There’s a Honky Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In) – Troy Seals, Denny Rice
  3. Help me – Larry Gatlin
  4. Songman – Donnie Sumner
  5. Love Song of the Year – Chris Christian
  6. It’s Midnight – Billy Edd Wheeler,Jerry Chesnut
  7. Your Love’s Been a Long Time Coming – Rory Bourke
  8. If You Talk in Your Sleep – Red West, Johnny Christopher
  9. Thinking About You – Tim Baty
  10. You Asked Me To – Waylon Jennings, Billy Joe Shaver

Robert Fripp: God Save The Queen / Under Heavy Manners

god-save-the-queen

In January 1980, “Polydor” label released “God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners”, the second Robert Fripp solo album. It was recorded in 1979, and was produced by Robert Fripp.

Personnel:

  • Robert Fripp – guitars, Frippertronics, Discotronics, design concept
  • David Byrne (credited by the pseudonym Absalm el Habib) – vocals, spoken word
  • Michael Busta “Cherry” Jones – bass
  • Paul Duskin – drums
  • Chris Stein – design concept

Track listing:

All tracks by Robert Fripp

Side A: God Save the Queen

  1. Red Two Scorer
  2. God Save the Queen
  3. 1983

Side One: Under Heavy Manners

  1. Under Heavy Manners
  2. The Zero of the Signified

Jon And Vangelis: Short Stories

short-stories

In January 1980, “Polydor” label released “Short Stories”, the debut collaborative album by Jon and Vangelis. It was recorded February – October 1979,at “Nemo Studios” in London, and was produced by Vangelis.

Personnel:

  • Jon Anderson – vocals
  • Vangelis – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, electronics
  • Raphael Preston – acoustic guitars

Track listing:

All music by Vangelis, all lyrics by Jon Anderson

  1. Curious Electric
  2. Each and Everyday
  3. Bird Song
  4. I Hear You Now
  5. The Road
  6. Far Away in Baagad
  7. Love Is
  8. One More Time
  9. Thunder
  10. A Play Within a Play

Ronald Asheton

On January 6, 2009, Ronald Franklin Asheton died aged 60. He was musician (guitar, bass), songwriter and actor, best known as founding member (together with Iggy Pop, his brother Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander) and guitarist of The Stooges. In 2014, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked him at number 60 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.