‘Out of the Blue’ is full of treasures, a sweeping double-LP that Jeff Lynne dubbed “probably the hardest work I have ever done, but the most satisfying.”
Author: Mark Leviton
Mark Leviton
Mark Leviton began writing about music and pop culture in 1967, with credits in Rolling Stone, Creem, Fusion, Bay Area Musician, LA Weekly, Phonograph Record and many fly-by-night publications. For 25 years he worked for the Warner Music Group and Rhino Records, producing hundreds of compilation albums and historical reissues, placing recordings in films and TV, and generally having a blast. His weekly radio show "Pet Sounds" is heard on KVMR-FM in Nevada City, CA and the website www.petsoundsmusic.com.
With hit songs like “Moonshadow,” “Peace Train” and “Morning Has Broken,” the singer-songwriter became a star, lighting up pop radio.
When it came to recording their second album, the band wanted to expend more effort, and make a better-sounding record, than their somewhat rushed debut.
The sole Stills-Young Band set is an outlier, a stopgap that is often overlooked. But there are treasures in it.
In 1975, with CSN&Y in limbo once again, the two banded together to make a followup to their debut as a duo. They landed their 2nd Top 10 LP
As the 1972 triple album broke all the rules it revitalized the country-rock scene and made some very old music cool again
The front album cover didn’t even call them Traffic; it just listed the names of the musicians. But there was no mistaking who they were.
The sparks of genius are here and there in the songwriting, and especially in the deft singing and instrumental arrangements.
With both Duane Allman and Berry Oakley now deceased, the ABB had to decide how to move forward. The answer: their biggest album yet.
The 1976 release became Ronstadt’s third platinum album in a row, and earned her the second of her eventual 13 Grammy awards.