David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971)

Jerry, Phil, Mickey and Bill from The Dead.

Michael Shrieve and Gregg Rolie from Santana.

Jorma, Jack and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane.

Graham Nash.

Neil Young.

Joni Mitchell.

And David Crosby.

All-star line-up gets together for this criminally underrated 1971 classic.

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971; Atlantic Records)

Guru Guru - Dance of the Flames (1974)

A guitar-driven Krautrock record from the Mani Neumeier-led Guru Guru; which is notable because Neumeier was one of the better drummers in the Kosmiche scene so for him to sort of step back and allow his supporting cast to shine here makes this record altogether more special.

This was the only record guitarist Houschäng Nejadapour recorded with the band, and his contributions are pretty spectacular- his playing borders on spine-tingling fusion jazz a la John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra before giving way to straight up Krauty motorik and world music excursions.

Prepare to have your faces melted. Off.

Guru Guru - Dance of the Flames (1974; Atlantic Records)
-links to YouTube-

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori (1971)

Heavy psych from Japanese stoners; think Sabbath and Zeppelin channeled through extensive LSD trips, Eastern philosophy and Asian technical superiority- this is the essence of Flower Travellin' Band's 1971 classic Satori (the Japanese Buddhist term for "understanding"). Yeah, I understand that this fucking rocks- it acts as both an homage and an encouragement to American-slash-British hard rock, pushing the envelope a little further than Grand Funk, Deep Purple or Blue Cheer could've hoped to.

Lead guitarist Hideki Ishima may also be one of the most under-rated axe men of all-time; he shreds. Balancing the precarious tightrope between psychedelia, prog and metal; he weaves lines in and out of Joe Yamanaka's harmonica runs, all over Jun Kozuki's outstanding, plodding bass lines and George Wada's tight drumming.

I can't believe I didn't discover this record earlier in life; it's filled a void I didn't even know existed. Do yourself a huge favor; Oh, musical adventurer!- listen to this shit right now!!!

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori (1971; Atlantic Records)

Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959)

Uh oh. People are resistant to change. They don't like to be uncomfortable. They like reliability...

Considering the other "top" records from 1959; Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' Moanin' and The Dave Brubeck Quartet's Time Out; the world wasn't exactly ready for Ornette's "changes". He was giving clues (mostly hidden in plain view; the titles of his albums for one- Something Else!!!! and Tomorrow Is The Question: The New Music of Ornette Coleman are as obvious as it gets) as well as the clues in his music; abandoning structure ever so slightly, it's not as "free" as Coleman would eventually become (or as out there as Ayler, Sun Ra and eventually Coltrane) but these are the seeds being planted in the soil, right next to all those other big trees that have their roots planted firmly in the earth of hard bop; it would shake their foundation to the core and by 1964 the entire jazz community would embrace "free" jazz.

So yeah, this kind of started it all...

Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959; Atlantic Records)