John Mellencamp - Freedom's Road CD
Release Date: January 23If you watch much TV -- particularly male-dominated sporting events -- you've probably already heard a sample of John Mellencamp's new album. The single "Our Country" is the anthem of the current Chevy Trucks ad campaign.
Mellencamp's first new release since 2003's Trouble No More is, as the title suggests, populated with a number of songs of a patriotic nature. Racism (in a duet with Joan Baez) and religion are also featured themes. The artist leaves no doubt about his politics in a song that describes America as "an arrogant nation" and President Bush as a "Rodeo Clown".
Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Ten Days Out (Blues From the Backroads) (CD / DVD)
Release Date: January 23This CD/DVD set is the result of ten days of travels with a film crew and portable recording studio through the South, visiting an impressive list of Blues legends including B.B. King and the late Gatemouth Brown.
Shepherd's travels to artist's homes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas and Missouri resulted in this documentary film and accompanying live performance album.
Listen to a sample: "The Thrill Is Gone" (with B.B. King)
Grateful Dead - Live At The Cow Palace - New Year's Eve 1976 (3-CD set)
Release Date: January 23Unlike most Grateful Dead concert performances, this one -- three hours worth -- showcases samples of several of the band's distinct musical styles, from experimental jazz to reggae to orchestral.
This recording of a live broadcast of the concert on San Francisco's KSAN is accompanied by vintage (some rare) photos.
Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records -- 1963 to 1973 (5-CD box set)
Release Date: January 23The Doors, Love, Bread, Stooges and Paul Butterfield Blues Band are among the many artists featured in this musical documentation of Elektra Records as it morphed from folk to folk rock to psychedlic and glam rock.
Some of the songs appear for the first time on CD. The set includes a 96-page book.
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive II (2-CD / DVD)
Release Date: January 30The fact that Peter Frampton's Fingerprints CD is up for a GRAMMY may have something to do with the reissue of FCA II. The two-CD set was recorded at The Fillmore in San Francisco in 1995, 20 years after the release of the original FCA. The reissue contains 40 minutes of previously unreleased material, and this is the first time the performance has been available on DVD.
