Search - Judy Collins, Phil Ochs, Fred Neil :: Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra 1963-1973 { Various Artists }

FOREVER ELECTRIC

Tom West | J.T., PA, USA | 04/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the best box sets ever, "Forever Changing" spans an incredible ten-year period of Electra Records. The stable of amazing artists Jac Holzman signed to the label are all here on the 5-CD set.



Those great artists include:



Judy Collins, beautiful than as now. Featured on all five discs, she opens the package with "Turn! Turn! Turn!/To Everything There Is A Season."



Love, on CD 2 and 3. "My Little Red Book" has lost none of its punch. Sounds as good today as in did in 1966. The cut opens Disc 2. Sadly, we lost front man Arthur Lee recently.



Tim Buckley. His loss to the world of music? Incalculable!!! Four of his songs are here. "Wings", "Once I Was", "Sing a Song For You" and "Wayaring Stranger."



The Doors. The most famous of all Electra artists. An early recording of "Moonlight Drive" is included along with "Light My Fire", "Five to One", and "Riders On The Storm."



The list goes on. Carly Simon, Nico, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Tom Rush, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Bread and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band must be noted.



Over 120 songs. Also, a terrific 76-Page Booklet provides information on the artists and the history of Electra Records.



It's highly recommended.



It goes perfect, by the way, with another great box set. "The Complete Studio Recordings" by The Doors. The 7-CD Set with the original artwork is on, of course, Electra Records.



"

Nuggets of the folky variety

attentive listener | Joysey | 03/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are some real forgotten gems here. If you've enjoyed any of Rhino's other comprehensive mining operations, this is a no brainer. When I first saw the track list and listened to the 30 second lo-fi snippets, I thought this might be a risky acquisition. I'm sure glad I ignored that initial evaluation. I would never have guessed that Judy Collins would neatly fit in with my other musical interests. Show a little faith, this collection really stands up and grows some hair. Royal flush, aces, back to back.



I shopped it around as the prices on this were all over the map."

Essential listening for music geeks!

William M. Feagin | Upstate New York, USA | 03/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Forever Changing might be the single best various-artists label-related box set I've yet purchased (and I have several, all of them good). From the opening track (Judy Collins' recording of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" from her 1963 album, #3 [produced, incidentally, by Roger McGuinn]) to Jobriath's funky "World Without End," which closes the 5th disc and ultimately the whole set, there's really not a bum track on here.



Judy, of course, is the best-represented artist, featuring on every disc; you also have her version of Dylan's "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" on the first disc, her rocking "Hard Lovin' Loser" on the second disc, her incandescent cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" on disc #3, her recording of the gospel standard "Amazing Grace" on disc #4, and her non-LP single recording of Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine" on disc #5 (her least favourite recording, according to the notes, but you can see where Fairport Convention got their version of the song). Also well-represented are The Doors (an early version of "Moonlight Drive," "Light My Fire," "Five to One" and "Riders on the Storm"), Love ("My Little Red Book," "She Comes in Colours," "Alone Again Or" and "August"), Tim Buckley and Tom Paxton (including Paxton's best-known and best-loved song "The Last Thing on My Mind"). Along the way, you get a raft of indispensable classics from Judy Henske ("High Flyin' Bird"); Koerner, Ray & Glover ("Linin' Track"); Phil Ochs (the rousing "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" and the achingly beautiful "Changes"); Tom Rush ("Joshua Gone Barbados" and the break-up song "No Regrets"); the MC5 ("Kick Out the Jams"); Carly Simon ("That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" and, of course, "You're So Vain"); Harry Chapin ("Taxi"); and Bread ("Dismal Day" and "The Guitar Man"). You get deep folk tracks from Dian & The Greenbriar Boys, Bob Gibson, Fred Neil (the classic "Other Side to This Life"), the late Richard Farina (gone but not forgotten, like many other artists in this box set), Steve Noonan, David Ackles; psychedelic relics from Pat Kilroy, the Incredible String Band, Clear Light, Earth Opera (the prescient "The Red Sox Are Winning"--about 40 years too soon!--and the unsettling "Mad Lydia's Waltz"), Nico; heavy music from Stalk-Forrest Group (later to become Blue Oyster Cult), The Stooges, Goodthunder, and Queen (their storming first single "Keep Yourself Alive"); and all sorts of forgotten one-shots, many worth hearing (Dino Valente's sole Elektra single "Birdses," Oliver Smith, The Waphphle [whom not even Jac Holzman remembers], Crabby Appleton, Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse [one lone single recorded between his leaving the Bluesbreakers and forming Cream]) and some perhaps not (David Peel & The Lower East Side's rather embarrassing paean to dope, "Alphabet Song").



All in all, it's the tale of a great label's classic years, before Jac Holzman left and David Geffen took over, bringing Asylum Records with him and (unintentionally?) sidelining the main label for many years. For all the hits and misses, this set is absolutely worth having."