Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

Libby Titus (born Elizabeth Jurist on July 6, 1947) died earlier this month at the age of 77. Titus was a singer-songwriter who largely stayed out of the spotlight, and was best known for her personal and musical associations. She married Donald Fagen of Steely Dan in 1993, and the couple remained together until Libby's passing. In 1970, she dated Levon Helm of The Band, with whom she had a daughter. (Their daughter Amy Helm is now a recording artist as well). Titus collaborated with numerous musicians over the years, including Burt Bacharach in the late '70's. She was the subject of her friend Carly Simon's 1976 song "Libby". Titus recorded only two albums of her own, both of them self-titled. The second of those, Libby Titus from 1977 (Columbia PC 34152), is currently available. That album is a charming, tastefully arranged lounge-pop offering, which found Titus sharing songwriting credit with Carly Simon, Al Kooper, and Eric Kaz. The Titus/Kaz compositio

Cunningham Bird is a duets album recorded by solo artists Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird, released digitally in October of 2024, with CD and vinyl formats coming in December. The title not only denotes the collaborating performers, but is also a play on the name Buckingham Nicks, the duo whose self-titled 1973 album is the basis for this new duets album. For those who are unaware -- and I can't blame anyone who is -- Buckingham Nicks was a duo which consisted of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, shortly before both of them joined Fleetwood Mac. The sole Buckingham Nicks album from 1973 is historically significant, because it led to the duo being discovered by Mick Fleetwood, which led to the two of them becoming members of Fleetwood Mac, which led to the creation of Rumours -- one of the best-selling albums of all time. So, you would think the Buckingham Nicks album would be similarly iconic, right? But it's not, because it has not been legitimately commercially

You've probably heard the news by now that Linkin Park are releasing a new studio album in November, featuring new singer Emily Armstrong (formerly of Dead Sara, replacing the late Chester Bennington) and new drummer Colin Brittain (replacing Rob Bourdon). The band has already begun touring in support of the album. The album's title is From Zero , and according to the band's official website: "Before Linkin Park, our first band name was Xero. This album title refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we’re currently undertaking." Xero was the early name used by Linkin Park when the band first formed in 1996. The early lineup included original singer Mark Wakefield, along with Linkin Park emcee Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, DJ Joe Hahn, guitarist Brad Delson and bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell. This early version of the band recorded a short demo tape which was circulated among friends and relatives. After Bennington joined the band in

Who created the folk-rock genre? Most pundits (as well as Google) will credit the Byrds for this achievement, as their 1965 debut album Mr. Tambourine Man effectively bridged the gap between Dylan-esque folk music and British Invasion-style rock music. Another music history question: What was the first country rock album? Most will argue that it was either the Byrds' 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo , or the Flying Burrito Brothers' 1969 debut album The Gilded Palace of Sin , and it's hard to argue against them in either case. However, there is an obscure album from 1963 -- predating the aforementioned albums -- which could be said to mark an earlier beginning for both of those genres. And one of the members of the band who recorded it was a teenage mandolin player named Chris Hillman -- who would later become a founding member of both the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Before the Byrds formed in 1964, Hillman had played in a San Diego-based bluegrass band cal

The 60th set of exclusive vinyl items offered to members of Third Man Records’ Vault service was mailed out to the members in July of 2024. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather, and now a solo artist. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (usually one full-length album and one 7” single) to its members every three months. The 60th Vault package featured a 3-LP set titled Third Man Live , containing live discs from Jack White, Dinosaur Jr., and W.I.T.C.H., recorded at the three different Third Man Records locations in Detroit, Nashville, and London. The 7-inch single offers three live cuts by Mudhoney, recorded at Third Man in Nashville. All of the discs in this set were pressed in beautiful "skycloud" colored vinyl, a blue-and-white marble blend based on the color of the walls in all three Third Man venues. Each of the three LP's

Jack White has once again boldly bucked music industry convention. On July 19, 2024, White secretly guerilla-released a new limited-edition, vinyl-only studio solo album through his Third Man Records imprint. The album, simply titled No Name , was distributed only at the Third Man Records stores in Detroit, Nashville, and London as a free item given out with any purchase at the stores. Some copies were randomly sent to Third Man Records Vault members. (I was not one of those members who received it). The number of copies printed and distributed was not disclosed. The album was not initially available from streaming services, but White’s official Reddit page provided a link (now deleted) to a Google Drive featuring various formats of the album for download and distribution. Besides having no name, the album also has no cover art, as it's packaged in a plain white sleeve, with a plain white center label which has "NO NAME" stamped on Side A. It's pressed in natural-colo

For Record Store Day in 2024, the British alternative band Keane issued a live album titled Live At Paradiso 29.11.04 . Limited to 2,500 vinyl copies, the album documents a concert performed by the band in Amsterdam in late November of 2004, the year in which their debut album Hopes and Fears was released. The double-LP was pressed in one red vinyl disc and one white vinyl disc. During the titular concert at the historic Amsterdam venue, the band performed 11 of the 12 tracks from Hopes and Fears , as well as the non-album B-side "Snowed Under", and two songs ("Nothing In My Way" and "Hamburg Song") which would later be recorded for Keane's 2006 sophomore album Under The Iron Sea . The band did an amazing job of performing the songs live, suggesting that the material had been developed over time. Tom Chaplin's falsetto vocals do not soar quite as high in this live setting as they do on record, but his soft and emotive tenor is still powerful,