Articles by Doug Collette
Faces: Early Steps
by Doug Collette
Released somewhat under the radar in the fall of 2025, Early Steps is the missing link in the chain of archiving projects within the vault of the now-defunct British band Faces. Its content discovered by late band member Ian McLagan while researching the essential box set Five Guys Walk Into A Bar (Rhino, 2004), this compendium joins the anthology Stay With Me (Rhino, 2012), the collection of full-length albums (plus a disc of outtakes, rarities, ...
Continue ReadingNeil Young: Tonight's The Night 50th Anniversary Deluxe
by Doug Collette
Given the checkered history behind Neil Young's Tonight's The Night (Reprise, 1975), the 50th Anniversary Deluxe might well have been issued as a multi-disc package. An expanded collection of this third entry in 'the Ditch Trilogy'--along with Time Fades Away (Reprise, 1973) and On The Beach (Reprise, 1974)-- would accommodate the original recordings of 1973, the subsequent additions from different sources (overseen by Young's now-deceased manager Elliot Roberts), plus the (multiple and) final (sic) resequencing of the dozen cuts during ...
Continue ReadingThe Beatles Anthology (25th Anniversary Reissue)
by Doug Collette
The Beatles Anthology 25th Anniversary Reissue The Beatles 368 Pages ISBN: # 978-1797241487 Chronicle Books 2025 Reprinted to commemorate the quarter-century since its first publication, the 2025 edition of The Beatles Anthology (25th Anniversary Reissue) book is little different from its now hard-to-find predecessor, except in the most cosmetic sense(s). Without any notation of its distinction, this milestone edition has an outer graphic design matching that of the audio companion piece ...
Continue ReadingGraham Parker's Howlin' Wind
by Doug Collette
Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind Jay Nachman 247 Pages ISBN: #979-8299219296 Self Published 2025 About fifty pages into the two hundred forty-seven total of Jay Nachman's Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind, the narrative turns distinctly cinematic, right in keeping with a kinetic cover painting by Steve Keene much superior to the cut-and-past of the album art. From that point on, the book reads like the novelization of a film, graphically depicting in prose the increasingly ...
Continue ReadingThe Beatles: Anthology 4
by Doug Collette
The Anthology Collection is a box set of music by the Beatles, released on CD as well as vinyl to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original broadcast of the video documentary The Beatles Anthology. In addition to remastered versions of the previous collections--each of which focuses on a designated period of the iconic band's history--the comprehensive set now features Anthology 4, a 36-track microcosm of the Liverpudlians' canon, thirteen selections from which have never been released before.
Continue ReadingRolling Stones: Black and Blue (2CD)
by Doug Collette
Forgetting for the moment any revisionism applied to the Rolling Stones album Black & Blue (Rolling Stones Records, 1976), the iconic British band was in more than a little disarray when it repaired to a variety of studios for recording sessions beginning roughly two years prior to issue. Still, retrospect applied via the reissue(s) of the band's 13th studio album reveals it to be a patchwork of tracks far more cohesive than the sloppy collage of salacious images on the ...
Continue ReadingTommy Talton: Seven Levels
by Doug Collette
Tommy Talton has the distinction of co-leading the band Cowboy, one of the select few acts on the Capricorn Records roster during the heyday of Southern rock that did not sound like the Allman Brothers Band. Emphasizing vocal harmonies and concise song structure with a decidedly folky feel, Talton, along with Scott Boyer, co-fronted an ensemble of shifting personnel over the years, but an early incarnation of the band also contributed significantly to the live presentation of Gregg Allman's early ...
Continue ReadingJimi Hendrix: Bold As Love ( 4CD + Blu-ray)
by Doug Collette
Recent history suggests the Jimi Hendrix estate would seem to be approaching the iconic guitarist's three original studio albums in reverse order. Electric Ladyland (Reprise, 1968) was issued in suitably extravagant form in 2018, fifty years after its original release. Now, Bold As Love (Reprise, 1967), simultaneously follows and predates the previous entry in the man's oeuvre, perhaps as means to suitably memorialize the 1967 debut in coming months. Four CDs (or five LPs) plus Blu-ray constitute a ...
Continue ReadingThe Who: Who Are You
by Doug Collette
Besides being the last studio album issued prior to drummer Keith Moon's passing in 1978, Who Are You holds the distinction of being the most enervating release in the British quartet's discography, even more so than the previous album, The Who By Numbers (MCA, 1975).Featuring as it does only one outside musician, the late pianist extraordinaire Nicky Hopkins, The Who By Numbers was refreshing and authoritative in its simplicity even as its material, authored in the throes of ...
Continue ReadingMike Mizwinski: Sometimes By Surprise
by Doug Collette
The 53-plus minutes of deep introspection rendered tangible in a baker's dozen tracks by Mike Mizwinski and company transcends its most overt influences. In fact, the clear-cut echoes of Bob Dylan's “Tangled Up In Blue" on this opener, “Out at the Lake" pique the curiosity to hear more, if only to take note of the esteemed company in which 'Miz' made this record. Recorded live to two-inch tape at The Studio Nashville in May and June of 2024, ...
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