Audiophile Vinyl

This month we review: Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, Ted Hawkins, Simon And Garfunkel< and Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra

This month we review: Bo Diddley, Big Brother & The Holding Co, Holly Cole Trio and The Shadows Of Knight

This month we review: The Beatles, The Band, Little Willie John, and The Kinks

This month we review: King Solomon, Mel Henke, Sarah Mclachlan, & Matthew Sweet

This month we review: Buffalo Springfield, Paul Rodgers, Ultimate Spinach, and Sonny Boy Williamson.

This month we review: Slim Harpo, Lynyrd Skynyrd, A Sea For Yourself, and The Rising Storm.

It simply doesn’t get any better than this if you’re a Motown addict. This LP from ’67 contains a half-dozen gems, eg, ‘Bernadette’, that are forever associated with the ’Tops, plus a couple of covers they made their own: ‘Walk Away Renee’ and ‘If I Were A Carpenter’. With 20/20 hindsight, considering that The Monkees have been reassessed and found not to be the infra dig swill that snobs once deemed them to be, we learn here just how appealing was the material they chose: the ’Tops cover two of their hits, turning ‘Last Train To Clarksville’ and ‘I’m A Believer’ into almost-credible Motown stompers. Reach Out is the quintessence of the group’s and the label’s sound.