Linda Jones - Your Precious Love (1972)

You know that feeling, when you sing so hard you think you're gonna puke?  No?  Well, Linda Jones knows a thing or two about that feeling.  This record is a showcase of one of the most impressive and criminally overlooked vocalists in soul history.  Released posthumously in 1972 after her tragic death at 27 due to complications with diabetes, Your Precious Love is a dynamite album.

The music behind the voice ain't nothin' to sniff at either.  Syrupy sweet backing vocals drip soul over organs, strings, and a sharp lead guitar.  But oh, those vocals.  The songs aren't so much sung as they are attacked.  Destroyed, vandalized, and ripped to shreds.  It's incredible, and a testament to Linda Jones that songs recorded forty years ago can still have such a raw, visceral, and immediate quality.

Highlights include the title track, Not on the Outside, and Behold.  Disclaimer.  Singing along my cause you to cough up a lung.

Banana and The Bunch - Mid-Mountain Ranch (1972)

Great, great, great little slice of early alternative country, from a band about which not much is known.  The mastermind behind this 1972 album is "Banana" a.k.a Lowell Levinger III, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist for the folk rock band "The Youngbloods".  As far as I can tell, this record was recorded either during or just after the Youngbloods called it quits.  I think that has a lot to do with the appeal of this set.  It sounds like a couple of really talented musicians stretching themselves out and trying new things.  They sound generally excited by the material.

I know I say this all the time, but this is one album that really grows on you.  It also has a lot more interesting things to offer than just a straightforward country-fied folk rock.  There are flourishes of jazz, and bluegrass, even bits of found-sound, that prove that there was more to this group than just a knack for a tasty alt. rock lick.

Highly recommended for Sunday mornings with a cup of coffee, a good book, and nothing to do.  Check out the sample, Familiar Patterns, which actually is one of my least favorite songs on the album, but the only thing I could find on YouTube.