Since I was a young lad, one of my favourite Rock magazine, up through its demise, was Crawdaddy! It was a series of smart articles, great awareness, and reviews of albums. It was, at first, run by Paul Williams. Moving from a paper to a glossy magazine, Crawdaddy! covered my world pretty damn well. Since its departure, I've missed it greatly. Of course there were others, how could there not be. I enjoyed Robbin's Trouser Press, Wenner's Rolling Stone, Creem as well. But like Crawdaddy! all but Rolling Stone has disappeared. And I have a life-time subscription to Rolling Stone (a one-time offer extended several years back that I jumped on).

Williams' contribution has been vast. He started Crawdaddy! as a small 'zine, and worked it up to a popular glossy that contributed back to the world it covered. It was an invaluable resource of discovery, filled with reviews and insightful articles.

Recently, it has been learned that Paul Williams is in need of monetary assistance after a fall on a bicycle caused serious brain damage. This event occurred in 1995, and since, Williams has required full-time, 'round-the-clock care as a result of his deteriorating condition. If you'd care to donate to the fund, you can do that here at this link.

I've a great idea that I have passed along to folks that could birth the idea in a product, and that is to create a digitized archive of every issue of Crawdaddy! and put them out on DVDs. This has been already been done with various decades of Playboy, the immortal Mad Magazine, the great National Lampoon, and Rolling Stone (inception to 2007.) These are wonderful, complete cover to cover scans that allow for reading, page by page, issue by issue. They cannot be more important archives than these formats, short of having original copy.

I can see where the production and sales of an archival set for Crawdaddy! can be beneficial for the needs of Paul Williams. It might not cover everything but it could be a help. I sincerely hope that the people involved with Crawdaddy! on every level, would be able to create such a set and provide not only an important archive for fans, but also a potential source of revenue to help with the care of Paul Williams, the father of Rock journalism.

Keep your fingers crossed. And keep Paul Williams in your thoughts and prayers.

There are three reviews today that include Oh My God, Charlie Darwin by The Low Anthem, as well as a high-end audio release by Audio Fidelity, Hearbeat City by The Cars. Finally, out last review is of Motor City Mayhem, a Blu-ray DVD of the 6000th concert featuring the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent.

I'm pretty excited by the upcoming Ang Lee film (being that it's Woodstock Nation's 40th Anniversary coming up in a few weeks), called Taking Woodstock (due out on August 28). Here's a link to the movie's official site, their Facebook page, and a jump to the trailer for the upcoming film. I'm very excited about the film.

Sadly, there is so little to report on in the new release area that I feel bad that there is nothing to leave you with. I do maintain regular contact, even on vacation, with new releases and such. I will be on Twitter to announce these. If you check back (if you do not already follow Twitter now), you can catch up on those in the Twitter box found below this area.

Note that Reprise has moved the release date for their upcoming reissue of the S/T Neil Young re-mastered vinyl LP. It is now planned for September 29.

I've started a new Best of Band Poll. But this time, we're going with a solo artist, Neil Diamond. Love him or hate him, he's had a series of periods and plenty of recorded albums to challenge our Poll greatly. I myself am a big fan. It is very difficult to select one for me (not as difficult to banish some though) as there are several that, at any given time, really works for me. One is Serenade. There are eight strong tracks on this album, all of which i can listen to forever. Another is Moods. And those two are not alone. Now here's the thing: Because this will create some soul-searching for a lot given his large catalogue, it is logical to do this Poll now even though I will be gone from the site until August 3 (beginning July 20; July 17 is last post until the 3rd) and will not be able to post results until then. So give it a think and then vote for the Best of Neil Diamond.

The bad news is that I only have 6 emails for votes as of this post. Wow. I didn't expect this one to burn out but I thought for sure that we'd see better participation. Hmmm. But we have two weeks until I return to see if he commands much in the way of respect.

TAP will be back on August 3. Sorry for the lengthy departure. Hopefully, we can make it up to you.

We have three sets of new Great Album Covers.

The first is given by Jeff P.:

This one comes by suggestion of Robert B.:

This is our third set of the day, which comes from Sean A.:

We mentioned on last post that Shout! Factory is releasing an Essential 3.0 series title for The Marshall Tucker Band on September 1. I have noted that there will also be a title for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, same date. I have an email in to Shout! Factory to get an idea on what this series entails. More info forthcoming...

Tantric and their new album, Mind Control, will be getting a new release date for the album. The new date is August 4.

Rhino Records will be releasing a 4CD Box for Rod Stewart called The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998 on September 29.

American Recordings and Columbia Records will release the debut by The Avett Brothers called I And Love And You, planning for September 22.

LAW Records (owned by Pepper) will be releasing the third album by Passafire. Called Everyone on Everynight, it is planned for September 15.

Epic Records will release the new Chevelle album, Sci-Fi Crimes, on September 1.

I know that you don't want to hear it (I understand) but Capitol Records is making with the Christmas titles already. These are planned for August 25. They are for The Beach Boys (Christmas Harmony); Nat King Cole (The Christmas Song); The Chipmunks (Christmas With the Chipmunks).

There are three Radiohead Limited Edition sets coming for Kid A; Amnesiac; and Hail to the Thief. These titles will be available as 2CD/DVD sets, and single CD issues. These are scheduled for August 25.

Watch for a DVD of Elvis Presley called Love Me Tender: The Love Song, which is planned for August 25.

Candlelight Records will release a collection for Opeth called The Candlelight Years on August 25.

Has anyone heard the interesting thought from EMI where they will be releasing original and historical 45s (A/B sides) on CD?

Hollywood favours an industrial style of music when soundtracking for their high energy action films.  Good reasoning as that style of music is like audio adrenaline and seems to engage the listener with heart-pounding effect.  And within a film that stars the current energetic action hero, Jason Statham, such music just seems right.

Composed and performed by Mike Patton of Faith No More/Fantomas fame, this experimentally  industrial 32-track set is the wired, standalone music from the Statham vehicle, Crank: High Voltage.  It is a definite fan-set as it is quite musically inconsistent, transitioning from one track to another.  But Patton fans are used to the eclectic manner in which he works and so a set like this should be satisfying to them.  But traditional soundtrack buyers should beware.  What works with visual counterparts within the film, may be bizarre in a non-visual environment.   ** ½

Nettwerk Records will digitally release the 4-track EP, named Great Escape, by UK's The Rifles, whom Paul Weller of The Jam has gushed about, on July 28. Later in the year, Nettwerk will release their full-length album, which we'll be sure to cover. Three tracks found on this release will NOT be found on the band's upcoming album. Check 'em out at Facebook, and/or MySpace, and/or their official site.