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The Road Goes On Forever: A Collection of Their Greatest Recordings by The Allman Brothers Band (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Road Goes On Forever: A Collection of Their Greatest Recordings
  • Group name: The Allman Brothers Band
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Capricorn Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on front: PROMOTIONAL COPY / CAPRICORN RECORDS / NOT FOR SALE
    • All four sides say PROMOTION and NOT FOR SALE
  • Buy it:

The Road Goes On Forever: A Collection of Their Greatest Recordings by The Allman Brothers Band

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve had an Allman Brothers playlist in my regular rotation for two decades.

What I expected

Blues rock, country rock, rock.

What it was actually like

I almost panicked for a moment when, at a glance, it didn’t look like this two-record compilation album included Jessica, my favorite Allman Brothers song – but I’d just overlooked it and it was right there on side 4, between Wasted Words and everyone else’s favorite Allman Brothers song, Ramblin’ Man.

Not surprisingly for anyone who’s ever listened to the Allman Brothers or been a fan of their music, this was a fantastic collection and every minute of it was excellent.

Grade

5/5: love it

Loggins and Messina by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Loggins and Messina
  • Group name: Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina
  • Year: 1972
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: CBS
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • “PC 31748” sticker on front
    • “DEMONSTRATION / Not For Sale” stamped on back
  • Buy it:

Loggins and Messina by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve heard of both Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, but I don’t know much about either or both of them.

What I expected

I think Kenny Loggins is a country musician, but in all fairness, I might have conflated him with Kenny Rogers.

What it was actually like

Lady Of My Heart must have been one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard, and I couldn’t make any sense of how or why it got included on this record. It was sort of an approximation of jazzy lounge music, but just really bad, with even bad vocals. I think it must have been a joke or a dare.

Till the Ends Meet was also pretty boring. Holiday Hotel was lively and I enjoyed it, and Just Before the News was bluegrass-inspired and pretty good. Your Mama Don’t Dance was a decent bluesy rock song.

Angry Eyes had a saxophone, and I want to stress that rock musicians really need to avoid using saxophone in their music. If you’re Charlie Parker, I want to hear your saxophone part, but in rock I just don’t think there’s a lot of use for it. The same song also had a flute part and I’m maybe slightly more forgiving of flute being used in rock music, if only because it’s so uncommon, but there’s a simple standard that I would apply: are you Jethro Tull? Are you better than Jethro Tull, or engaged in a serious attempt to do something that Jethro Tull hasn’t done or can’t do? If you answer no to all of those questions, then you probably should leave the flute out of your rock song. Anyway, the vocals at the end of this song sounded like they were trying to channel Crosby, Stills and Nash (and maybe Young), and they weren’t half bad at it, so that was nice.

Grade

2/5: weak, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

Willie and Family Live by Willie Nelson (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Willie and Family Live
  • Artist name: Willie Nelson
  • Year: 1978
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it:

Willie and Family Live by Willie Nelson

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I know Willie Nelson as a popular culture icon, but haven’t ever given him much thought or listened to much of his music.

What I expected

Country-rock, rock, blues.

What it was actually like

This was a fantastic double record of a live performance, or perhaps multiple live performances. I’ll definitely be listening to it again. I loved all four sides, but highlights were probably Will The Circle Be Unbroken (I’m most familiar with the Staple Singers’ version) and Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms (I’m most familiar with the Flatt and Scruggs version).

Whiskey River is a terrific song, but it was slightly weird that it somehow got included on this record twice: as the first song on side one, and then again as the second to last song on side four. I guess they just really liked it?

Grade

5/5: love it

This Is The Moody Blues by The Moody Blues (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: This Is The Moody Blues
  • Group name: The Moody Blues
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: BMI
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it:

This Is The Moody Blues by The Moody Blues

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

The only Moody Blues song that I know I can name is Nights in White Satin, because it’s been in so many movies and television programs, and played so much on the radio. I’m sure I know other Moody Blues songs as well, without realizing it.

What I expected

Progressive rock.

What it was actually like

Before listening to this, I definitely expected to come out of it as a Moody Blues fan, but having just finished listening, now I can see why I never was a fan. Much of the record seemed to be channeling the Beatles consciously, but only the weirdest and worst tendencies of the Beatles, rather than their superior work from the mid 1960s.

I also got some Space Oddity vibes from the Moody Blues a few times, and a couple of songs had a weird science fiction narrator voice that definitely did not belong. Ride My See Saw was good, Nights in White Satin was as remembered, and I also recognized Tuesday Afternoon.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Come And Get These Memories: The Motown Story by Various Artists (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Come And Get These Memories: The Motown Story
  • Group name: Various Artists
  • Year: 1981
  • Number of discs: five
  • Label: Columbia House
  • Collection: Selman

Come And Get These Memories: The Motown Story

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve listened to a fair bit of Motown.

What I expected

It’s a Motown compilation.

What it was actually like

I spent basically a whole day listening to this incredible box set because the five records in it were labeled in such a confusing way that I kept accidentally playing them out of order, and that made it very difficult to remember what I had already heard. But I did manage to listen to all ten sides.

It was actually a pretty interesting concept for a compilation: rather than organizing all the music thematically or chronologically, it was instead organized by artist, with each performer or group getting one out of the ten sides:

  • Record 1, side 1: Martha and the Vandellas
  • Record 1, side 2: The Miracles
  • Record 2, side 1: Mary Wells
  • Record 2, side 2: The Four Tops
  • Record 3, side 1: The Marvelettes
  • Record 3, side 2: Marvin Gaye
  • Record 4, side 1: The Supremes
  • Record 4, side 2: The Temptations
  • Record 5, side 1: The Jackson Five
  • Record 5, side 2: Diana Ross

Of those, the best three sides were the Four Tops, the Supremes and the Temptations, with my least favorite being both sides of record five, the Jackson Five and Diana Ross.

Highlights included some of my favorites: You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, You Can’t Hurry Love, My Girl, I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) and It’s The Same Old Song.

Weirdly and unfortunately, this collection doesn’t appear to be for sale on Amazon, but if it were, I would link to it and encourage anyone to buy it.

Grade

5/5: love it