Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

For Record Store Day Black Friday in 2024, Jorma Kaukonen released a limited edition album titled Reno Road , issued in both CD and vinyl double-LP formats. The album contains previously unreleased blues recordings made in 1960 by the future guitarist of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. The double-LP was pressed in translucent gold vinyl, and limited to 2,000 copies. The CD, limited to 500 copies, was designed to resemble a gold vinyl record. The album's acoustic blues tracks were recorded in the summer of 1960, when Kaukonen was a 19-year-old student at Antioch College, and had been recently taught to play fingerstyle blues guitar by Ian Buchanan. These recordings were made in the home of his friend Jack Casady on Reno Road in Chevy Chase, MD. Casady, as you probably know, has been Kaukonen's lifelong musical collaborator, in the Airplane, Tuna, and elsewhere. Casady recorded these homemade tracks on his Wollensak tape recorder. 60-odd years later, Casady rediscovered these ...

The 61st set of exclusive vinyl items offered to members of Third Man Records’ Vault service was mailed out to the members in the fall of 2024. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, who was the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather, and is 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 61st Vault package featured a 3-LP live album by Bob Dylan and The Band, recorded in 1974 during the same tour utilized for the 1974 double-album Before The Flood . The package's 7-inch single contains two additional live tracks from that tour. The 3 LP's and the single were all pressed in green vinyl. The 3-LP set was packaged in a gatefold cover. The set also contains a 15-page booklet with photos from the tour, and new liner notes by Elizabeth Nelson. Dylan's 1974 tour reunited him with The ...

For Record Store Day Black Friday 2024, Pearl Jam are issuing a limited edition 12-inch single apparently titled RSD Song of the Year . The 45 rpm, black-vinyl disc will be limited to 4,000 copies. So, what is the Record Store Day Song of the Year? Officially, it is a live version of Pearl Jam's "Waiting For Stevie", the fourth single from Dark Matter , the 2024 album which displays admirable vitality from the long-running Seattle grunge band. Why this song? Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz explains it this way: "The sentiment behind the music and the fact that it’s just an overall amazing rock track that transcends when performed live makes 'Waiting for Stevie' an easy pick for RSD Song of the Year". And what is that sentiment behind the song? Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder says: "It’s a song about being affected by music. And music changing your life, and maybe leading you to your tribe." Got it...I think. In any case, ...

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...