The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on September 16th, 1957. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own self-written material. After Holly's death in 1959 the band continued to tour and record with other band members into the 21st century.
James Gang was an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh, Tom Kriss (bass), and Jim Fox (drums). Dale Peters replaced Kriss on bass for the band's second and third albums. Two of the band's songs, "Funk #49" and "Walk Away", continue to be popular on classic rock and AOR stations. In late 1971, Walsh left to pursue a solo career and would later join the Eagles. The band carried on with a number of other guitarists and lead singers to replace Walsh, but failed to produce a hit song over the course of six more studio albums, and broke up in 1977. Several incarnations have reformed for reunions since then.
Rare Earth was an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan. According to Louder, "Rare Earth’s music straddles genres and defies categorisation, [sic] slipping seamlessly between the two seemingly disparate worlds of classic rock and R&B." The band was signed to Motown's Rare Earth record label. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members.
Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, progressive rock, and (briefly) glam rock.
The Grass Roots are an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums, two gold singles and charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100 a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they achieved Top 10 three times, Top 20 six times and Top 40 fourteen times. They have sold over 20 million records worldwide.
The Monkees Present is the Monkees' eighth album. It is the second Monkees album released after the departure of Peter Tork and the last to feature Michael Nesmith until 1996's Justus.
Instant Replay is the seventh studio album by the Monkees. Issued 11 months after the cancellation of the group's NBC television series, it is also the first album released after Peter Tork left the group and the only album of the original nine studio albums that does not include any songs featured in the TV show.
The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993.
"I'm Free" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by the Who on the album Tommy. The song has since been released as a single, becoming one of the best known tracks from Tommy.
AC/DC, released only in Australia in 1989, is a video album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. In March 2005, all nine tracks were issued on the DVD compilation Family Jewels.
Michael Waller was an English drummer, who played with many of the biggest names on the UK rock and blues scene, after he became a professional musician in 1960. In addition to being a member, albeit sometimes briefly, of some of the seminal bands of the 1960s, Waller played as a session musician with a host of UK and US artists and was famously known for never having a full drum kit whenever he turned up for recording sessions.
Days May Come and Days May Go is a compilation album by the British hard rock band Deep Purple, released in 2000.
Baby Snakes is the soundtrack to Frank Zappa's film of the same name. It features several of the songs from the film and was originally released as a picture disc.
Hero and Heroine is the seventh studio album by English band Strawbs.
Nomadness is the ninth studio album by English band Strawbs. It was their last album recorded for A&M Records and their first with no full-time keyboard player since 1970's Dragonfly. Indeed, Strawbs would not feature a full-time keyboard player until 1978 when Andy Richards joined the band. All the tracks are timed at less than five minutes giving the album a lighter, less 'epic' feel in contrast to the previous three studio albums. Rick Wakeman came back to help on electric harpsichord on one song.
Tommy Eyre was an English session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Greg Lake, B.B. King, John Mayall, Ian Gillan, Gerry Rafferty, Tracy Chapman and Wham!. He played on Joe Cocker's UK chart-topper "With A Little Help From My Friends", on which he arranged the distinctive organ introduction, and Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line".
Riff Raff is a 1984 album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. The album was his third release for Arista Records and Columbia Records, following 1983's Information.
Fuse was an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois, in late 1968, after Rick Nielsen proposed the merging of two local bands: The Grim Reapers and Toast and Jam. Managed by Ken Adamany, Fuse's line-up consisted of Rick Nielsen (keyboards/guitar), Joe Sundberg (vocals), Tom Petersson, Craig Myers, and Chip Greenman (drums/percussion).
Omen is the seventh studio album from Brazilian metal band Soulfly. It was recorded in November 2009 and was released first in Japan on May 18, 2010 and on May 25, 2010 in other parts of the world. It was released on May 24, 2010 in parts of Europe. It is the last album to feature bassist Bobby Burns and drummer Joe Nunez who were replaced by Asesino frontman, Tony Campos and former Borknagar drummer David Kinkade in mid-2011. At just over forty and a half minutes, it is the band's second shortest album while the shortest being Archangel at thirty-six and a half minutes.
The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette is a 1969 album by American rock band the Four Seasons. Member Bob Gaudio teamed up with Jake Holmes to create a psychedelic rock concept album which adjusted the band's stylings to the changing times of the late 1960s. Instead of love songs, the band tackled subjects such as war and racial tension.
