Review, buy 60s Blues Boom: Top Priority, Live in Oz, Guitar Legends, Little Games, 461 Ocean Boulevard [CASSETTE], Mary Wells Sings My Guy, Live in Australia, The Collection, Truth, Live at Winterland '68, Greatest Rock: All-Time Classics, Blues Breakers, Hog Heaven [Us Import], Plains Music, The Experience Collection, Platinum Series, Freeway Madness, The Ties That Bind, Woodstock: +DVD, Johnny Winter

Predictably, given the drug problems which preceded its release, Clapton's second solo album proper seems to come and go in an opium haze of its own making. Oddly though, it suits him. As the history of rock attests, if you're going to get into one hard drug then you may as well make it heroin. Whereas cocaine feeds the ego and destroys judgement, heroin sublimates it and allows the artist to regress into his music. Which pretty much describes where 461 Ocean Boulevard is at. Because tracks like "Steady Rollin' Man" and US chart topper "I Shot The Sheriff" sound like they have all the time in the world, they make light work of putting the listener in a similar frame of mind. Best of all though is "Let It Grow", for many the kind of tender, foetal balladry which finds Clapton at his most quintessential. Inevitably, he cleaned up his act and sporadically attained similar heights. But for sheer mood and sense of moment, 461 Ocean Boulevard remains his masterpiece. -Peter Paphides.

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Review Mary Wells / Mary Wells Sings My Guy

Mary Wells Sings My Guy (Mary Wells)

Tracks Mary Wells Sings My Guy

I Only Have Eyes for You
My Guy
My Baby Just Cares for Me
At Last
How? When My Heart Belongs to You
If You Love Me (Really Love Me)
Whisper You Love Me Boy
He Holds His Own
It Had to Be You
You Do Something to Me
He's the One I Love
Does He Love Me?

Publisher: Motown
Release date: 1998-06-30
RRP: ~~£10.16~~
Price: £29.72

Review Mary Wells Sings My Guy / Mary Wells:

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Live in Australia (Canned Heat)

Publisher: Proper Music Distribution
RRP: ~~£14.99~~
Price: £10.12

Review Live in Australia / Canned Heat:

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The Collection (Yardbirds)

Tracks The Collection

Got To Hurry
Stroll On
Twenty Three Hours Too Long
Heart Full Of Soul
Too Much Monkey Business
Here 'tis
I Ain't Got You
Honey In Your Hips
Jeff's Blues
For Your Love
Shapes Of Things
Smokestack Lightnin'
You're A Better Man Than I
Let It Rock
Boom Boom
Evil Hearted You
I'm A Man
I Wish You Would
Still I'm Sad
Good Morning Little School Girl (2)
Pontiac Blues
Got Love If You Want It
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl

Publisher: Castle/Collectors
Release date: 1987-10-02
RRP: ~~£7.99~~
Price: £9.78

Review The Collection / Yardbirds:

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Truth (Jeff Beck)

Tracks Truth

I Ain't Superstitious
Beck's Bolero
Ol' Man River
Morning Dew
You Shook Me
Let Me Love You
Rock My Plimsoul
Blues Deluxe
Greensleeves
Shapes of Things

Publisher: Epic
Release date: 2000-08-21
RRP: ~~£11.99~~
Price: £9.24

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Review Janis Joplin / Live at Winterland '68

Live at Winterland '68 (Janis Joplin)

Tracks Live at Winterland '68

Down on Me [#]
Ball and Chain [#]
Bye Bye Baby [#]
Flower in the Sun [#]
Easy Rider [#]
Magic of Love [#]
Catch Me Daddy [#]
Light Is Faster Than Sound [#]
Farewell Song [#]
Down on Me [#]
Summertime [From Porgy and Bess][#]
Combination of the Two [#]
I Need a Man to Love [#]
Piece of My Heart [#]

Publisher: Sony
Release date: 1998-06-02
Price: £11.99

Review Live at Winterland '68 / Janis Joplin:

This belated collection of Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company tracks features 14 performances, a dozen of which debut here. Of the two familiar selections, the version of "Ball and Chain" here is the same one that graces Cheap Thrills, and "Bye Bye Baby" can be heard on In Concert. No matter if it's not quite the definitive Big Brother album; it is nonetheless a hell of a lot of fun. Big Brother's playing is intense and relatively tight. A magnificent moment is heard in "I Need a Man to Love" when Joplin urges the band on. "C'mon boys, play," she prods, and a stunning Sam Andrews guitar solo ensues. If you've never heard Joplin do "Summertime," grab this album. If you have, grab it anyway. It's wonderful. -Myra Friedman.

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