James Brown: "Revolution of the Mind"

Quintessential James Brown.

Released in 1971, this LP is subtitle "Live at the Apollo, Vol. III"

This double album went to a collector in Texas.

Sons of the Pioneers: "Cool Water"

Recorded in June 1959.

The Sons of the Pioneers were arguably the godfathers of Country & Western music.

Founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (aka Roy Rogers) the group was greatly popular during the '40s, '50s, and '60s when everything Western was "all that."

Even if you are not specifically a fan of western music styling, you cannot honestly deny the essential musicality and primal simplicity of this classic music.

This LP ended up with a fan in Pennsylvania.

Cover painting by Mel Doyle (?).

Steely Dan: "Pretzel Logic"

Steely Dan's third (3rd) studio album, released in 1974.

Read an article about this LP HERE.

The musician credits reads like a Who's Who of great session players.

Album Design by David Larkham;

Art Direction and Photography: Ed Caraeff;

Cover photo: Raeanne Rubenstein.

This LP went to a collector in Malaysia.

Various Artists: "Fillet of Soul"

This is one tremendous GEM of a compilation LP from the early '70s.

Take a gander at the back cover for the featured artists.

Really wish I knew who did this album design and artwork.

There is a signature below the merfox on the front cover, but I can't make it out.

UPDATE - 8 August 2012:

An Anonymous commenter provided some album credit information on 6 July 2012,

which I have confirmed with other sources, too;

and added the Album Design credit as well.

Cover Art: Alex Eben

Creative Direction: Larry Shaw / Ron Gordon

Album Design: Ron Canagata

Art Direction: Davis Fried Krieger

This LP traveled to a discerning buyer in France.

Private Lightning (eponymous)

Released in 1980.

File this under "Great Music That Never Made It To The So-Called Big Time."

Raucus and highly enjoyable!

Read a great review HERE.

This LP generated some unexpected competition during its online auction;

ended up with a fan in Massachussetts (the band is from Boston).

The Whiffenpoofs: "1909-1959"

I'm still trying to figure out what's up with having their picture taken with a flock of sheep...

This longstanding Yale select men's chorus created this LP in 1959 as a Golden Anniversary retrospective of the first fifty years of Whiffenpoof history and artistry.

It is a fun listen.

This LP went to a collector in Florida.

Tania Maria: "Wild"

Tania Maria is a dynamite Brazilian jazz vocalist and pianist.

This LP is, as far as I can discern, her eighth (8th), released in 1984.

Contagious and irrepressible, this music will stay with you.

Again, >>sigh<<, I can ALMOST see the design, art and photography credits on the back cover of this LP.

I sent the original to a collector in the Netherlands.

Atlanta Rhythm Section: "Third Annual Pipe Dream"

Released in 1974, this is ARS's third LP.

Contains the track "Doraville" - which is the town in Georgia where "Studio One" is located.

Straight ahead Southern rock.  Gotta love it.

This LP went to a fan in Nebraska.

Again, I neglected to note who did this great artwork before I let it slip out of my custody.

I can almost see the names on this picture of the back cover.

Looks like maybe "Artwork and Design by Mike McCarty" and "Photography by Mark B....????"

Brewer & Shipley: "Shake Off the Demon"

A delicious listen: this is Brewer & Shipley's fourth LP, released in 1971.

Several tracks from this great folk-rock album come up regularly in my iPod rotation.

This LP went to a collector in Spain.

Sea Level: "On the Edge"

This is an OUTSTANDING jazz-rock/Southern rock LP, released in 1978.

Great music, not heard by nearly enough people, I'm convinced.

This is LP is now with a fan in California.

Unfortunately I did not take note of who did the artwork and design before I send it away.

Contemporary Ragtime Guitars

This is great music!

OR, as "Joe" at "Guitar Archipelago" puts it -

"Truly a great example of the art of ragtime guitar as played by White people."

Released in 1974. A rare classic.

Front design by Rodney Matthews.

Back design by Elaine Newman and Ruth Kirschner.

Joshua Rifkin: "The Baroque Beatles Book"

This is an absolutely fabulous novelty LP released in 1965.

It takes musical parody right down to the level of the cover art, the liner notes, and the compository presentation of the track titles.

Fun, fun, fun.

Cover art by Roger Hane.

Decent article providing more details: HERE.

Jimi Hendrix: "War Heroes"

"war heroes" is the sixth studio album of Jimi Hendrix's recordings.

It is the third LP released posthumously, in 1972.

This album went to live with a collector in Nevada.

Poco: "The Very Best of Poco (1975)"

One of the groups that formed after Buffalo Springfield split up, Poco recorded some enjoyable music.

This compilation album brings together the best of their recordings 1969-1974 in a double LP package.

For a good rundown of the amazing history of Poco, its members and their eventual careers, go HERE.

This album went to a fan in West Virginia.

Elton John: "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player"

Elton John's sixth (6th) studio LP, this one was released in early 1973.

It features two major hits: "Daniel" and "Crocodile Rock."

This LP ended up with another fan in Maryland.

Aerosmith: "Permanent Vacation"

Released in 1987, this was Aerosmith's ninth (9th) studio album.

As always, a pretty great sonic ride - and it includes "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Angel" among others, including their cover of an old Beatles tune "I'm Down."

This album made its trek to a fan in Massachussetts.

Santana: "Greatest Hits (1974)"

A truly delightful collection of some of Santana's early recordings and commercial hits.

Don't know what else to say.

Can't help but love every minute of it.

This album went to a collector in Nevada.

Stevie Wonder: "Where I'm Coming From"

This is Stevie Wonder's thirteenth (13th) studio LP, released in April 1971.

It was his last album under his first contract with Motown, and the first album on which he had complete artistic freedom.

Great music on this LP. Great music before it, and even greater music after; but this is a milestone LP for one of the greatest talents of all time.

And I mean great, greater, and greatest in every possible positive definition.

This LP went to Denmark.

Dave Grusin: "Discovered Again!"

This fantastic 1976 recording from one of the most respected musicians in the business is delicious and memorable on several levels.

First, it is just great music plain and simple.  Not that the music itself is plain or simple, but the music is enjoyable (to say the least) without taking any other factors into consideration.

Second, the artists making the music are phenomena each in their own right.  If you look up each one of them separately - Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason, Ron Carter, Larry Bunker, and of course Dave Grusin himself - you will find sterling careers and amazing connections with multiple recording artists.

Third, this recording was made "direct-to-disc" - meaning the engineers were mixing on the fly and the musicians did the recording in ONE take with no further post-session mixing.

Fourth, it was 1976.  There had been huge advances in recording technology in the previous decade, but that was thirty-four (34) years ago.  Compared to how recording is done now, the results they achieved in a single take are nothing short of transcendent, although the artists themselves did not feel that way about it at the time.

Read an excellent article and review HERE.

This LP ended up with a collector in Thailand.