I've been driftin' (Burdon/ Witherspoon) (LP 3400 - 3403)

Ginger Baker's Airforce  Ginger Baker's Airforce 2 (Vinyl, Atco Records, 1970) ****  

Jimmy Buffett  A1A (Vinyl, ABC Dunhill Records, 1974) **** 

Eric Burdon & Jimmy Witherspoon  Black & White Blues (Vinyl, LA International Records, 1976 - originally released as Guilty! 1971) *** 

Dragon  Dragon (Vinyl, Portrait, 1978) *** 

Genre: Jazz rock, country, blues, pop rock

Places I remember: Wax Trax Records (Denver), Amoeba Music (LA)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: 12 Gates of the City (Ginger Baker's Airforce 2)

Gear costume: This Time (Dragon)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: This post continues with the albums I picked up from a trip to California and Colorado. First up in this group of 4 is an album I hesitated to buy. It was the most expensive album I bought from Wax Trax ($US16) but I couldn't leave without it. I'm talking about Ginger Baker's Airforce 2.

My hesitation was because I had read some reviews of it over the years that were quite negative.

Just goes to show you often can't rely on critical reviews. It's a great continuation of the big group jazz rock approach of the first album. Denny Laine and Graham Bond are on hand to provide some sympathetic musicianship to the Airforce.

As the AllMusic says: something should be said for the honesty and purity of Ginger Baker's Airforce 2, and if it is too musical and avant garde for an audience that embraced Clapton, it should be commended for its sense of adventure and elegance. "12 Gates of the City" is a delight, swimming with sounds from the Arabian nights and the swamps of New Orleans, a sublime and uncharted mix that sounds better years after it was recorded. A timeless, yet pretty much forgotten record.

I managed to complete my Jimmy Buffett list while in Wax Trax Records, as I'm not too interested in his slicker post seventies output.

A1A is an excellent album - pure laid-back easy-going Jimmy Buffett. In many ways it is one of his best, and that's without a big hit song. The Third Coral Reefer Band are locked in, and the songs are spot on. It's a great place to start for those who are wondering what all the fuss is about regarding Jimmy's cool dude persona.

Black & White Blues (originally called Guilty!) was the first album Eric Burdon did after leaving War. That said, the album mainly features members of War!

It's a solid set of covers for the most part, that includes songs by John Mayall, James Taylor and Chuck Berry, alongside some original Burdon songs.

The Dragon album, called Dragon, is the international version of Sunshine (their third album, released in 1977), designed to introduce Americans to the band.

It's the one with Get That Jive, This Time (renamed In The Right Direction for this album) and Sunshine on it. Some reasonable hits in 1977.

Where do they all belong? Another bunch of American purchases coming right up.