Liner Notes
Some were terrific fun to research and write. If there was time, I’d contact the artist and get new retrospective quotes in there. With the Cat Stevens project, I spent months on the phone talking with him, along with his longtime producers and many of the musicians who appeared on his records – some of my favorite stuff from the early to mid 1970s. That was a pure pleasure.
There wasn’t a lot of information available on the (extremely bizarre) Rosewood: Discoballs Pink Floyd tribute. I did a Sherlock Holmes on that one, and was able to reveal many of the principals involved.
And some were just money gigs – Kix and Damn Yankees, for example, and something I don’t remember much about called Heart of Metal 2.
Getting asked to write CD liner notes was always a privilege, whoever the artist, whatever the label. I love this kind of work, although the word counts are restrictive: There’s never enough room to say everything that needs to be said!
I’m pretty sure this is a definitive list – there might be one or two I forgot to write down. At this writing, just two of these titles – Manassas Pieces and Everybody’s Talking – are available on vinyl.
B
Paul Butterfield: Definitive Blues
The Definitive Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas: The Complete Raunch & Roll Live
Millennium Collection: Bell Biv DeVoe
C
Classic Masters: Patsy Cline
Classic Masters: Crowded House
Cactus: The Live Gigs 2
Chicago’s 40th
Chicago: Stone of Sisyphus
Only the Beginning: The Very Best of Chicago
Essentials: Confederate Railroad
Millennium Collection: The Call
D
Essentials: Damn Yankees
Donovan: Greatest Hits Live
Spencer Davis Group: Live Anthology
Classic Masters: Jackie DeShannon
Classic Masters: Dr. Hook
E
Eric Quincy Tate
England Dan & John Ford Coley: Definitive Pop
F
Essentials: Foghat
Foghat: Millennium Concert (DVD/CD)
The Definitive Foghat
G
Millennium Collection: Grass Roots
Essentials: Georgia Satellites
David Gray: A Bird Without Wings (unreleased)
H
Shine On: A Tribute to Pete Ham
Heart of Metal 2
I
Ides of March: Friendly Strangers
Millennium Collection: Donnie Iris
J
Classic Masters: Robert John
K
Essentials: Kix
Classic Masters: BB King
L
Millennium Collection: Left Banke (unreleased)
M
Moody Blues/Live at Red Rocks (Deluxe Edition)
Meat Loaf/Bat Out of Hell II (Deluxe Edition)
Millennium Collection: The Mindbenders
N
Classic Masters: Aaron Neville
Everybody’s Talking: A Tribute to Fred Neil
O
Time Warp: Very Best of Ozark Mountain Daredevils
P
Millennium Collection: Billy Preston
Q
Classic Masters: Quicksilver Messenger Service
R
Rosebud: Discoballs (A Disco Tribute to Pink Floyd)
Essentials: Eddie Rabbitt
Tom Rush/Live at Symphony Hall
The Rockets (aka Crazy Horse)
S
Cat Stevens (Box Set)
Stephen Stills: Manassas Pieces
Leo Sayer: Definitive Pop
Essentials: Leo Sayer
Classic Masters: Joe South
The Very Best of Seals & Crofts (unreleased)
T
.38 Special Anthology
Traffic: Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory
Traffic: On the Road
Traffic: When the Eagle Flies
The Very Best of Sylvia Tyson
Millennium Collection: The Troggs
W
Steve Winwood: Revolutions/The Very Best Of
Recollections: The Best of Rick Wakeman
Essentials: Gary Wright
Millennium Collection: Wet Willie