You’ve heard of Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill? This writer would rather talk about big, beautiful box sets. Here (listed alphabetically, by artist) are 21 of popular music’s most spectacular gargantuan anthologies, each featuring 10 or more discs. Mildred Bailey, The Complete Columbia Recordings of Mildred Bailey (2000, 10 CDs). You’re probably wondering who the […]
Bentley’s Bandstand: October 2024 By Bill Bentley Gregg Allman Band, UNCLE SAM’S. It doesn’t take long for Gregg Allman’s well-tested road band to hit the monkey nerve and go for the gusto. There is something so pleasingly swinging about this octet that once the first song, “Midnight Rider” kicks in, it’s all over but the […]
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The Power of the Heart: A Tribute To Lou Reed Lou Reed was a hard musical pill to swallow for some. Vocals were dry & monotone. He always “sang” in a somewhat narrative manner rather than a musical one. But there was an attractive idea to his repertoire. He did mine a dark side quite […]
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The Beatles’ Revolver Reappears as a Box Set Can we pinpoint the time when the Beatles took their first giant step beyond creating extraordinary pop/rock love songs to chase even loftier ambitions? The answer is yes: it was April 1966, a mere three years after the UK release of their first album, Please Please Me, […]
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