The second in a series of catalog re-recordings and revisions, Red [Taylor's Version] finds Taylor Swift revisiting her self-styled pop breakthrough Red. Released nine years after the original album, Red [Taylor's Version] does bear a few signs of maturation, notably on the explicitly pop moments, such as "I Knew You Were Trouble," "22," and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," which seem ever so slightly muted when compared to the 2012 versions. Nevertheless, much of the point of the re-recordings is to get these new versions as close to the original versions as possible so they can be easily licensed and to that end, Swift succeeds admirably. The more interesting part of Red [Taylor's Version] arrives in the second half when Swift records songs left in the vault, including "Better Man" -- a song she gave to Little Big Town, who won a Grammy for Best Country/Duo Group Performance in 2018 for their recording -- and duets with Phoebe Bridgers ("Nothing New"), Chris Stapleton ("I Bet You Think About Me"), and Ed Sheeran ("Run"). The highlight of these is a ten-minute version of "All Too Well," a bitter ballad that was already one of the peaks of Red and is now turned into an epic kiss-off. This, along with excavated songs, are reason enough for Swift to revisit Red and they, not the re-recordings, are the reason to return to Red [Taylor's Version].© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Considering that Southern Accents took so much time and money to complete, finally hitting the stores two and a half years after Long After Dark, it wasn't surprising that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers decided to release a double live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, a mere eight months after its release. After all, Southern Accents was criticized from many corners for being too slick, too much in Dave Stewart's corner instead of the Heartbreakers', so it made sense to quickly return the focus to the band, showcasing the group as the rockers they are. Pack Up the Plantation does do that, even if it isn't quite the barnburner it should have been. Part of the problem is that the song selection isn't quite as good as it could have been, relying heavily on Southern Accents material, including the weak "It Ain't Nothin' to Me." Then again, the weaker songs and dubious choices are outweighed by a strong performance and neat surprises like a tough "Insider" and covers of "So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star," "Needles and Pins," and "Don't Bring Me Down." That alone makes it worth investigating for dedicated fans, even if it doesn't quite deliver the knockout punch many listeners might have wanted.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Most definitely a part of the late-'60s West Coast psychedelic blues revolution that was becoming hipper than hip, Steve Miller was also always acutely aware of both the British psychedelic movement that was swirling in tandem and of where the future lay, and how that would evolve into something even more remarkable. The result of all those ideas, of course, came together on 1968's magnificent Sailor LP. What was begun on Children of the Future is more fully realized on Sailor, most notably on the opening "Song for Our Ancestors," which begins with a foghorn and only gets stranger from there. Indeed, the song precognizes Pink Floyd's 1971 opus "Echoes" to such an extent that one wonders how much the latter enjoyed Miller's own wild ride. Elsewhere, the beautiful, slow "Dear Mary" positively shimmers in a haze of declared love, while the heavy drumbeats and rock riffing guitar of "Living in the U.S.A." are a powerful reminder that the Steve Miller Band, no matter what other paths they meandered down, could rock out with the best of them. And, of course, this is the LP that introduced many to the Johnny "Guitar" Watson classic "Gangster of Love," a song that would become almost wholly Miller's own, giving the fans an alter ego to caress long before "The Joker" arose to show his hand. Rounding out Miller's love of the blues is an excellent rendering of Jimmy Reed's "You're So Fine." At their blues-loving best, Sailor is a classic Miller recording and a must-have -- especially for the more contemporary fan, where it becomes an initiation into a past of mythic proportion.© Amy Hanson /TiVo

Having completed his relatively brief sojourn with MGM/Verve with 1973's Listen Easy, Tony Bennett was in the midst of forming his own label, Improv Records, when he made a deal with jazz pianist Bill Evans to cut two LPs: The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album and Together Again. (The first would be for Evans' label, Fantasy Records, the second to follow on Improv.) The singer and his collaborator -- "accompanist" does not adequately describe Evans' contribution, and in any case he received co-billing -- got together in a recording studio over four days in June 1975 with no one other than the producer, Helen Keane and an engineer present, and quickly recorded two of the best albums of either's career. For Bennett, it was a dream project; for years (decades, actually), he had been balancing the demands of commerciality with his own inclinations toward jazz and affection for the songs of Broadway masters and of the Great American Songbook. Left to himself with a jazz partner, he naturally gravitated toward both interests. There were songs here that he had already recorded, but never in so unadorned and yet fully realized a fashion. Evans was an excellent accompanist, using his steady left hand to keep his singer centered, but ready, whenever the vocals were finished, to go off into his characteristically lyrical playing. Bennett could seem a bit earthbound when he came back in (he still wasn't really a jazz singer), but his obvious enthusiasm for the project, coupled with his mastery of phrasing in songs he understood perfectly made him an equal in the partnership. As far as the major-label record business was concerned, the 46-year-old singer might have been over the hill and indulging himself, but in fact he was in his prime and finally able to pursue his ambitions unfettered, and that would prove itself a major boost to his career over time. For the moment, he'd made an excellent jazz-pop hybrid in which both musicians were shown off to advantage. [Of the 20 alternate takes and two bonus tracks included in this complete package, nine are previously unreleased except on the Bennett box set, The Complete Improv Recordings. Not surprisingly, they are more interesting for Evans' different improvisations than for anything else. But they also demonstrate that he and Bennett tried different approaches to the tunes. "Young and Foolish," the lead-off track on their first album, begins with both Bennett and Evans on the refrain, but the alternate take starts with Evans alone, followed by Bennett singing the song's introductory verse instead; the version runs a minute longer. The alternate take of "The Touch of Your Lips," on the other hand, is at a faster tempo and a minute shorter. None of the alternate takes actually improves on the originally released ones, but they show how well considered the album was.]© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

If ever there was a soul singer who rivaled Otis Redding's raw, deep emotional sensuality, it was James Carr, and the proof is in the pudding with You Got My Mind Messed Up. Carr was one of the last country-soul singers to approach any chart given to him as if it was a gift from God. Carr was Redding's rival in every respect if for no other reason than the release of this, his debut album recorded in 1966. The 12 songs here, many of them covered by other artists, are all soul classics merely by their having been sung and recorded by Carr. Among them is the Drew Baker/Dani McCormick smash "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man," George Jackson's "Coming Back to Me Baby," a handful of tracks by O.B. McLinton, including "Forgetting You" and the title track, and the Chips Moman/Dan Penn hit "Dark End of the Street." And while it's true that few have ever done bad versions of the song because of the phenomenal writing, there is only one definitive version, and that one belongs to Carr. In his version he sings from the territory of a heart that is already broken but enslaved both to his regret and his desire. This is a love so pure it can only have been illicit. When he gets to the beginning of the second verse, and intones "I know time is gonna take its toll," he's already at the end of his rope; he knows that desire that burns like this can only bring about ruin and disaster, and it is precisely since it cannot be avoided that his repentance is perhaps accepted by the powers that would try him and judge him. He holds the arrangement at bay, and unlike some versions, Carr keeps his composure, making it a true song of regret, remorse, and a love so forbidden yet so faithful that it is worth risking not only disgrace and destruction for, but also hell itself. As the guitar cascades down the fretboard staccato, he can see the dark end of the street and holds it as close to his heart as a sacred and secret memory. By the album's end with the title track, listeners hear the totality of the force of Memphis soul. With Steve Cropper's guitar filling the space in the background, Carr offers a chilling portrait of what would happen to him in the future. Again pleading with the beloved in a tone reminiscent of a church-singer hell, he's in the church of love. He pleads, admonishes, begs, and finally confirms that the end of this love is his insanity, which was a chilling prophecy given what happened to Carr some years later. This is one of theMemphis soul records of the mid-'60s, full of rough-hewn grace, passion, tenderness, and danger. A masterpiece.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Following on from four past single disc collections of hits collections, Cliff Richard's first ever U.K. double album offered a straightforward recounting of, not necessarily his 40 greatest hits, but certainly his 40 best known. No statistical ground rules set out its contents. Rather, the compilers went by instinct and, perhaps, a well-developed sense of the mystic point where musical immortality departs from commercial superiority. Of the artist's eight number ones to date, one, 1960s "I Love You," was absent. Of 12 Top Ten hits scored between 1966-79, three were replaced by lower ranking, but infinitely more memorable efforts. It seems incredible that such mid-1970s gems as "Miss You Nights" and "My Kinda Life" were outperformed by the likes of "Big Ship" and "It's All Over," but that's the mystery of the pop charts for you. The bulk of the album, of course, is concentrated on the years when Richard didn't simply dominate British rock, he epitomized it. The whole of the first album (the first disc on the CD reissue) is dedicated to the 1958-63 period; the remainder of the 1960s consume more than half the rest of the record -- 1970s "Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha," famously celebrated at the time as the artist's 50th single, doesn't arrive until the 33rd track, while the five years which divided that from his "Devil Woman"-led rebirth are summed up in just three songs. And that is precisely how it should have been. 40 Golden Greats slammed to the top of the U.K. chart in November 1977, his first number one since 1963's Summer Holiday, and was it mere chance -- or wry fate -- which decreed that when it was dislodged from that lofty peak, it was the Sex Pistols who did it. Twenty years earlier, after all, Richard himself had been Public Enemy #1, with "Move It," a blast of brutal punk rock as potently shocking to listeners of the time as all of Johnny Rotten's patent outrage. The difference is, in 1977, "Move It" still bristled with all its original passion. One could not help but wonder whether the Pistols would prove so enduring.© Dave Thompson /TiVo

Joni Mitchell here turned to guests like Michael McDonald, Thomas Dolby, Don Henley, James Taylor, and Wayne Shorter, continuing to straddle the worlds of California folk/pop and jazz fusion. Musically, it worked, although as a lyricist, Mitchell again took off after abstractions (one song railed against "The three great stimulants of the exhausted ones/Artifice, brutality and innocence"), such that, even when you could figure out what she was talking about, you didn't care.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

A talented songwriter, the American pop/soul singer (who relocated to the UK) A Girl Called Eddy aka Erin Moran made waves back in 2004 with her eponymous album produced by Richard Hawley. In 2018, she graced the studio once more, as The Last Detail, a project she formed with the marvellous musician and artist Mehdi Zannad. It’s only in 2020, sixteen years later, that she is releasing her second solo project Been Around. This (very) prolonged absence is referred to from the first song, as a mysterious voice asks: “Girl, where you been?” “I’ve always been a huge fan of Burt Bacharach”: this testament by Erin Moran is one of the first points of reference of an album where the melodic sophistication and harmonic complexity indeed remind the listener of the golden years of the legendary composer (The Look of Love and Walk On By). The complex melody of Charity Shop Window and the lyrics of Someone Gonna Break Your Heart resound like postmodern echos of the hits of the composer and his lyricist Hal David. There are some more clear Bacharach influences, like the orchestration which is simultaneously original but also suave, able to get even the most uptight listeners moving. In this vein, some highlights include the vocal harmonies of Big Mouth, the harmonica solo in Been Around and the fantastic piano/guitar/harpsichord combo of Finest Actor. There tends to be a constant underlying coat of placid and discreet strings, that never dare to swagger (Pale Blue Moon). Admittedly, the homage occasionally skirts parody in some cases, but overall the project remains magical thanks to the enchanting voice of the girl called Eddy. Paul McCartney appears to be the other great idol of the songstress, as certain melodic inflections point out in the chorus of Lucy Jack or of Two Hearts. The influences are plain for all to see on Been Around, but they dance around the listener’s ears with subtlety over the course of this album which dives right into the heart of the 1960s and 70s. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

The former lead singer of the Wild Colonials -- who also lent her vocals to "Breathe," the pop hit from Télépopmusik and a Mitsubishi commercial -- returns with an album that brings to mind Macy Gray and Catatonia's Cerys Matthews. Beginning with a soulful and midtempo groove on "It's Been Done," the singer is quite at home delivering a highbrow pop tune with traces of reggae. "Somebody Got Lucky," which concerns a one-night stand, is a light and rather chipper offering that shows the strength of McCluskey's vocals. It's as if she's the perfect complement to Echo & the Bunnymen lead singer Ian McCulloch. The darker "Love Is Stronger Than Death" is a captivating and barren tune mindful of PJ Harvey's work with John Parish. But the song's intensity rises with each verse, reaching a crescendo that is quite striking. The first true radio-friendly pop nugget is the Southern-tinted "Know It All," with its Keith Richards-esque guitar touches -- subtle but all important. Another strong tune that has single material written all over it is the catchy and punchy "Perfect Girl Eleven." In other instances, it's her fine sultry aura that carries the old-school R&B oozing from "A Thousand Drunken Dreams." "Sleep On It" is possibly the album's sleeper pick, as it has McCluskey carrying it despite the needless string and orchestral textures. She continues to up the quality ante, though, as "Wrong Side" will induce goosebumps with her heartfelt, tender performance. The only downside to the record comes on the rather ordinary "Sucker." Fortunately, "Long Live I" more than atones for this with another stellar, polished downtrodden tune. If only the things we did were as spectacular as this body of work.© Jason MacNeil /TiVo