Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

Robert Hunter, who died in 2019 at the age of 78, was best known as the lyricist for the Grateful Dead, though he was never a member of that band. Hunter -- not to be confused with a recent contestant on The Voice with the same name -- recorded several of his own albums between 1974 and 1993. Tiger Rose was his second, released in 1975. Tiger Rose was produced by Jerry Garcia, and is the most noticeably Grateful Dead-like of Hunter's albums. Garcia also played guitar and synthesizers, and two other members of the Dead also participated: percussionist Mickey Hart, and background singer Donna Godchaux. (The drums were credited to "B.D. Shot", a pseudonym for Hart). Other supporting players included two members of Jefferson Starship (David Freiberg and Pete Sears), as well as bassist David Torbert from New Riders of the Purple Sage, and mandolinist David "Dawg" Grisman. In March 2025, Rhino Records issued a 2-CD Deluxe Edition of Tiger Rose , marking the 50th ...

For Record Store Day 2025, an album of rough mixes from the Doors' 1967 sophomore album Strange Days was issued as a translucent blue vinyl LP, limited to 7,500 copies. Strange Days 1967: A Work In Progress contains unfinished -- though apparently almost finished -- mixes of six of that album's 10 songs, along with "We Could Be So Good Together" from Waiting For The Sun , which was the band's third album. These early 1967 mixes were (reportedly) just recently uncovered after 58 years by Bruce Botnick, who was the engineer on the album. How much difference is there between these mixes and the mixes on the final album(s)? Not much. They are mainly just missing the final overdubs, making them sound like they needed just one more layer of polish before becoming the familiar finished versions. The title track is the one that sounds the most different to my ears, as it is without some of the echo effects added to Jim Morrison's vocals on the album version. Othe...

On Record Store Day 2025, the Sundazed label issued a green vinyl LP edition (limited to 1,100 copies) of a 1968 album by Eden's Children, a short-lived psychedelic rock band from Chicago. According to Sundazed, this was the first official reissue of the band's self-titled debut album. Although this reissue (Sundazed LP 5688) served as an exclusive Record Store Day release, the official RSD website states that it is an "RSD First" release, meaning that it "may be released to other retailers or webstores at some point in the future". I would say that scenario is very likely, because I would be surprised if Sundazed dug up this long-buried psych gem only for RSD purposes. Eden's Children was a power trio consisting of singer/guitarist Richard "Sham" Schamach, bassist Larry Kiely, and drummer Jimmy Sturman. The brand of psychedelic rock they played on the self-titled Eden's Children album is fascinating, showing an impressive degree of ener...

For Record Store Day 2025, Post Malone is issuing a limited edition LP containing 14 tracks recorded during an April 2020 livestream , during which the rapper/singer (who is the official RSD Ambassador for 2025) paid tribute to Nirvana by performing many of their songs from his home. The LP Post Malone Tribute To Nirvana is pressed in yellow vinyl, and limited to 17,000 copies. The live set was originally streamed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, to raise money for the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Response Fund. For this vinyl release, 100% of the net proceeds from sales of this LP will be donated to the Addiction Recovery/Mental Health division of MusiCares, a charity that provides support to musicians through financial assistance and health and wellness services. During this set, the tattoo-faced Malone (real name: Austin Richard Post) was supported by Blink-182’s Travis Barker on drums, guitarist Nick Mac, and bassist Brian Lee. I realize that Malone has a penchan...

Joey Molland died on March 1, 2025. The English guitarist and songwriter was the last surviving member of the classic lineup of Badfinger, the '70's power pop band who were the one of the first acts signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label. Molland died at age 77 from complications of diabetes. Molland's very first recording was made with a band called Gary Walker & The Rain, whose one and only album, titled Album No. 1 , was released only in Japan in 1968, and was unavailable elsewhere for decades. Album No. 1 was eventually released on CD in the U.S. (on Distortions Records, cat. no. DR 1011) in 1993, 25 years after it was recorded. Band leader Gary Walker was also known as Gary Leeds, who had previously been the drummer for the Standells (before their "Dirty Water" days) and the Walker Brothers (a trio of unrelated Americans who were popular in the U.K.). The Rain was rounded out by British singer/rhythm guitarist Paul Crane (aka Charlie Crane of t...

David Johansen died on February 28, 2025 after a long battle with cancer and other health troubles. Johansen was the last surviving original member of the New York Dolls, the early-'70's glam rock quintet who came to be recognized as one of the earliest punk rock bands. After that band called it quits in 1976, lead singer Johansen began a solo career that aimed closer to rock's mainstream, but with little success. Johansen finally hit it big in the late-'80's under the name Buster Poindexter, his kitschy pompadour-topped lounge-singer alter ego, who became famous for the party song "Hot Hot Hot". Johansen's fifth solo album, Sweet Revenge from 1984, is currently unavailable. This was the last album he released before he adopted the Buster Poindexter persona. (One of the songs, "Big Trouble", is about a womanizing bad guy named Buster, but it's hard to say if it refers to Johansen's soon-to-be-alter-ego). This album is heavy on synt...

For Record Store Day Black Friday in 2024, Garbage issued a vinyl LP titled Copy/Paste , pressed in magenta-colored vinyl and limited to 1,300 copies. The album collected 10 cover songs recorded by the Shirley Manson-fronted alternative band over the course of their 30-year history, nine of which were previously released. An abridged version of the album was made available digitally, featuring six of the ten tracks (marked with an asterisk in the track listing below). The other four tracks can be found digitally as bonus tracks on the Deluxe Editions of the band's first four studio albums. The album begins with a cover of David Bowie's classic "Starman", a song for which Garbage's futuristic sound is well matched; the result has a convincingly cosmic aura. The band's futuristic ethos was equally appropriate for their cover of U2's "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses", one of the songs which helped to redefine U2 as a futuristic band in 1991;...