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The two Shaw albums were from the same session (Jazz Forum 2/25/82 - I just looked it up to confirm). McCoy Tyner also was involved in the Columbia to Elektra Musician move. The Gordon album was pretty ill-conceived, with Grover Washington. But they probably couldn't just make a normal Dexter Gordon album, as his playing had deteriorated at that point.

There are a couple of two-disc anthologies from her time at Columbia (with less overlap than you would expect, about half the track) which are very inexpensive. The first, as you can tell from the title, is a little broader stylistically, the second a little more focused on pop/soul. I prefer the second. For all the things Aretha was, to me she was not a jazz standards singer. BTW, the Amazon and ebay crowd are trying to cash in on these, especially the second one, but thye are still low-priced on discogs. They aren't great musically, but will certainly give you an idea of what she sounded like on Columbia.

Looks fabulous - thanks for the info, and welcome to the neighborhood!

Agreed, my expectations for the Shaw Onkel PO release were sky-high, and it still blew me away. To me, his most essential 80's recording.

Reminder that BN released this little gem in 2002:

Agreed it looks better this year, but apart from the Coltrane kids, don't see much tie-in to his music. Dianne Reeves? Dirty Dozen Brass Band? Sheila E.? Lee Ritenour?

Robin Williams Robin Wright Robin Lane (and the Chartbusters)

Also available on this 4CD box set on Rhino, along with some other crucial non-album cuts. Beautiful set:

Just listened to Braufman's "Valley of Search" for the first time last week. It's pretty wonderful, wish there was a CD release of it.

I think same comment would fit for any of those years, just substitute the album from that year and the key songs from the album. I was still hearing them on both AM and FM radio into the early/mid-70's. But as Jim pointed out, it would very possibly depend which songs he was playing by them.

Will pick up that Myers book, thanks for the heads-up!

Yep. For that matter, you can go back even way earlier (pre-"Pet Sounds") in the Beach Boys recordings and find plenty that ain't the basic sound you think it is. And a lot of interesting stuff on "Wild Honey", "Friends", "20/20","Sunflower", and "Surf's Up" (especially the gorgeous title track from the last one, which was the centerpiece of "Smile". Also, understood on "Cabinessence" and "I Went To Sleep", which would never make sense as radio fodder. Although neither did a lot of things back then. I mean, I heard this on WEBN in Cincinnati ca. 1968:

Interesting. Beach Boys were consdidered AM/FM credible in 1969 with the 20/20 album and "Do It Again", "I Can Hear Music", and "Bluebirds Over The Mountain" from that album.

that's a great cut. Love both her version and Dionne Warwick's, and they are so different from each other's versions (just as they were both wonderful but very different signers).

Good and bad, I define these terms Quite clear, no doubt, somehow

To me, this is one of the seminal recordings in the history of music. Staggering talent that hits on all cylanders on this, glad she escaped Columbia and found Jerry Wexler/Rick Hall/Muscle Shoals.

I wouldn't be so sure of the legitimacy, at least in the case of Sun Go with the collections on Varese or Rhino. I'd choose the Varese for later vintage/mastering and many more cuts: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sun-Sessions-Roy-Orbison/dp/B00005LNGM/ref=pd_sbs_15_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00005LNGM&pd_rd_r=4620f90b-9da9-11e8-8a22-f3d4eee18e06&pd_rd_w=iB5Wk&pd_rd_wg=hA8Ne&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=8702255303818932494&pf_rd_r=SE5V9T6JVFRCWSFZCC1E&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=SE5V9T6JVFRCWSFZCC1E

Not that I can think of. Then Matthews pushed it towards the disco dance floor. And I don't dislike good disco, but his weren't that...

I basically agree, though even the Bob James-era ones were notably better than the David Matthews-era ones that followed.

Yeah, some of those early album covers (the Deodato Prelude was a favorite along with the Jackson) were awesome, but some were, shall we say, a bit twisted (looking at you, Stanley Turrentine's Sugar). But they were all attention-getters, for sure.