The Raven Records label closed out its 2014 with a pair of double-CD sets reliving the seventies – one, a retrospective of Foghat’s first decade, and another, a complete collection of John Prine’s first four albums.

Foghat’s Drivin’ Wheels: Best of 1972-1982 brings together 32 tracks from the FM radio titans, spanning the period of 1972-1982 and culled from ten studio and live albums.  The blues-rock band was founded in Manchester, England in 1971 by three Savoy Brown expatriates – vocalist/rhythm guitarist “Lonesome” Dave Peverett, bassist Tony Stevens and drummer Roger Earl – and slide guitarist Rod Price, but it was in the United States that Foghat took flight.  With the patronage of Bearsville Records’ Albert Grossman, Foghat found an audience for their blues and boogie-rock stylings which encompassed both original songs and rip-roaring covers from Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, Big Joe Turner, and even Al Green, The Rascals and The Righteous Brothers.

Drivin’ Wheels features tracks recorded by Foghat with producers including Dave Edmunds, Dan Hartman, Tom Dawes, and Nick Jameson.  Jameson replaced Tony Stevens in 1975, kicking off a series of personnel shifts that have continued through the 21st century.   It was Jameson who was at the helm of 1975’s Fool for the City, generally considered the group’s finest hour as well as its most commercially successful.  Though the LP had just seven tracks, one was “Slow Ride” – soon to conquer FM airwaves and reach a Top 20 Pop standing.  “Slow Ride,” of course, can be found on Raven’s new compilation.  It’s presented in its full-length, eight-minute-plus album version, as are other favorites like “Honey Hush,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You” and “Fool for the City.”  Drivin’ Wheels comes with a full-color booklet containing new liner notes from co-producer Ian McFarlane; Warren Barnett has remastered.

Over the course of a career now in its fifth decade, John Prine has transcended the long-ago tag of “a new Dylan” to be appropriately recognized as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation.  Raven’s Angels from Montgomery: 4 Essential Albums 1971-1975 collects on two CDs the first four Atlantic Records albums from the troubadour as newly remastered by Warren Barnett.

Prine burst onto the scene with his 1971 self-titled release, establishing his own blend of folk, country and rock.  Though John Prine didn’t get any higher than No. 154 on Billboard’s U.S.  Pop Albums chart, it introduced a number of now-standard compositions including “Sam Stone,” “Hello in There,” “Angel from Montgomery” and “Paradise.”  Produced by veteran Arif Mardin and featuring session greats like Reggie Young on guitar, John Prine was soon raided by other artists.   Bonnie Raitt and Carly Simon tackled “Angel,” Bette Midler recorded “Hello in There,” and Swamp Dogg had an R&B hit with “Sam Stone.”  John Denver covered “Spanish Daydream,” and Prine’s friend Steve Goodman, who played on the album, recorded “Donald and Lydia” for a solo LP of his own.  It wasn’t long before “Paradise” became a bluegrass staple, and in fact, Prine embraced the bluegrass sound on his follow-up, 1972’s Diamonds in the Rough.  Again helmed by Mardin, Diamonds was recorded in New York but beautifully recreated the sound of Appalachia.   Prine's brother Dave was featured on dobro, banjo, and fiddle, with Goodman playing guitar and supplying harmonies.  Though the sound was modest compared to Prine’s debut – a fact that wasn’t ignored by critics at the time - the stripped-down approach allowed Prine’s distinctive voice as a songwriter to come through vividly.

Mardin recorded most of Prine’s third album, Sweet Revenge, in Nashville, with two more tracks taped in New York’s Atlantic Studios and one taken from a live performance.  The album’s title track reflected on his career to date.  He later explained, "I'd quit my job at the post office, I had this album out that got incredible reviews, and then this second one where the critics started to hit me. I think it got under my skin."  Bitingly humorous, cynical and  irreverent, Sweet Revenge returned to a fuller sound, with guest musicians including Goodman, Dave Prine, percussionist Ralph MacDonald, pianist Kenny Ascher, guitarist Reggie Young, keyboardist “Nashville” David Briggs, and background vocalists Judy Clay and Cissy Houston.  The final album in Raven’s collection, 1975’s Common Sense, marked a change of pace for the singer-songwriter.  He decamped to Memphis with Stax legend Steve Cropper, and welcomed Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Glenn Frey, J.D. Souther, and Cropper’s old bandmate in Booker T. and the MG’s, Donald “Duck” Dunn.  Ironically, critics gave Prine his harshest reviews to date for this album which concluded with a cover of Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” but proving Berry’s adage, it was Prine’s most successful LP to date, reaching No. 66 on the Billboard chart.  When he returned with his next studio album, it would be for a new label (Atlantic’s sister imprint Asylum) and with Steve Goodman in the producer’s chair.

This celebration of the foundation of John Prine’s career features a full-color booklet with liner notes by Keith Glass.  Both Angels from Montgomery and Foghat’s Drivin’ Wheels are available now and can be ordered at the links below!

Foghat, Drivin’ Wheels: Best of 1972-1982 (Raven RVCD-382, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

1. I Just Want to Make Love to You
2. Trouble, Trouble
3. Maybelline
4. Ride, Ride, Ride
5. What a Shame
6. Long Way to Go
7. Couldn’t Make Her Stay
8. Honey Hush
9. Home in My Hand
10. Wild Cherry
11. Eight Days on the Road
12. Trouble in My Way
13. Rock and Roll Outlaw
14. Chateau Lafitte ’59 Boogie
15. Drive Me Home
16. My Babe
17. Slow Ride

CD 2

1. Fool for the City
2. Take It or Leave It
3. Drivin’ Wheel
4. Night Shift
5. Take Me to the River
6. Fool for the City (Live)
7. I Just Want to Make Love to You (Live)
8. Road Fever (Live)
9. Honey Hush (Live)
10. Stone Blue
11. Easy Money
12. It Hurts Me Too
13. Chevrolet
14. Third Time Lucky
15. And I Do Just What I Want

CD 1, Tracks 1-3 from Foghat, Bearsville BR 2077, 1973
CD 1, Tracks 4-7 from Foghat (Rock and Roll), Bearsville BR 2136, 1973
CD 1, Tracks 8-10 from Energized, Bearsville BR 6950, 1974
CD 1, Tracks 11-14 from Rock and Roll Outlaws, Bearsville BR 6956, 1974
CD 1, Tracks 15-17 & CD 2, Tracks 1-2 from Fool for the City, Bearsville BR 6959, 1975
CD 2, Tracks 3-5 from Night Shift, Bearsville BR 6962, 1976
CD 2, Tracks 6-9 from Live, Bearsville BRK 6971, 1977
CD 2, Tracks 10-13 from Stone Blue, Bearsville BRK 6977, 1978
CD 2, Track 14 from Boogie Motel, Bearsville BHS 6990, 1979
CD 2, Track 15 from In the Mood for Something Rude, Bearsville 23747, 1982

John Prine, Angels from Montgomery: 4 Essential Albums 1971-1975 (Raven RVCD-383, 2014) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

CD 1

1. Illegal Smile
2. Spanish Pipedream
3. Hello in There
4. Sam Stone
5. Paradise
6. Pretty Good
7. Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore
8. Far from Me
9. Angel from Montgomery
10. Quiet Man
11. Donald and Lydia
12. Six O’Clock News
13. Flashback Blues
14. Everybody
15. The Torch Singer
16. Souvenirs
17. The Late John Garfield Blues
18. Sour Grapes
19. Billy the Bum
20. The Frying Pan
21. Yes, I Guess They Oughta Name a Drink After You
22. Take the Star Out of the Window
23. The Great Compromise
24. Clocks and Spoons

CD 2

1. Rocky Mountain Time
2. Diamonds in the Rough
3. Sweet Revenge
4. Please Don’t Bury Me
5. Christmas in Prison
6. Dear Abby
7. Blue Umbrella
8. Often is a Word I Seldom Use
9. Onomatopoeia
10. Grandpa Was a Carpenter
11. The Accident (Things Could Be Worse)
12. Mexican Home
13. A Good Time
14. Nine Pound Hammer
15. Middle Man
16. Common Sense
17. Come Back to Us, Barbara Lewis, Hare Krishna Beauregard
18. Wedding Down in Funeralville
19. Way Down
20. My Own Best Friend
21. Forbidden Jimmy
22. Saddle in the Rain
23. That Close to You
24. He Was in Heaven Before He Died
25. You Never Can Tell

CD 1, Tracks 1-13 from John Prine, Atlantic SD 8296, 1971
CD 1, Tracks 14-24 & CD 2, Tracks 1-2 from Diamonds in the Rough, Atlantic SD 7240, 1972
CD 2, Tracks 3-14 from Sweet Revenge, Atlantic SD 7274, 1973
CD 2, Tracks 15-25 from Common Sense, Atlantic SD 18127, 1975