CD Reviews : Music critic Kevin Bryan delivers his verdict on new releases

The Charlie Daniels Band, “The Epic Singles As & Bs” (Floating World Records)

This fine 2 CD set showcases the work of American multi instrumentalist Charlie Daniels and his talented cohorts, drawing on the cream of the material that they recorded for Epic Records during his lengthy association with the label. Daniels’ eclectic fusion of rock, country, blues and jazz helped to pave the way for the relatively short lived Southern Rock boom during the early seventies, although he’s still best remembered these days for his chart topping country hit from 1979 ,”The Devil Went Down To Georgia.”

This infectious ditty is one of the highlights of this beautifully annotated exploration of the veteran musician’s singles repertoire alongside gems such as “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” and “Uneasy Rider,” and if you enjoy the highly entertaining contents a deep delve into Charlie’s album output should also repay closer investigation.

The Strawbs,”A Glimpse of Heaven-Radio & TV Sessions 1966-1983” (Cherry Red Records)

This West London rock outfit started life as a bluegrass duo in 1963 and went through a whole host of line up changes over the years, including brief collaborations with luminaries such as Sandy Denny and keyboards ace Rick Wakeman.

This audio visual anthology brings together the radio and TV sessions that the various incarnations of the band recorded for the BBC over the years, including crowd pleasing renditions of their early seventies hits,”Lay Down” and “Part of the Union” and a string of superior album tracks. Perennial frontman Dave Cousins’ distinctive, drama laden vocals were always something of an acquired taste but his abilities as a songwriter of rare narrative power were surely never in question, and gems such as “The Hangman and the Papist” and “New World” supply an ideal introduction to The Strawbs’ unique sound.

Return to Forever featuring Chick Corea,”Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy” (Floating World Records)

Classic jazz fusion fare is the order of the day as Floating World unveil this re-issue of the 1973 album from keyboards ace Chick Corea and his multi talented musical cohorts.

The finished product followed a much more rock orientated path than previous Return to Forever albums in sharp contrast to its much more acoustically based vinyl predecessors. Corea supplied the bulk of the material for what would prove to be one of the jazz fusion genre’s finest offerings, with bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White and recently recruited guitarist Bill Connors in sparkling form throughout.”Captain Senor Mouse” and “Space Circus” are the cream of a particularly impressive crop.