A spotty but basically worthwhile three-disc set, Collectables' 1966-1967 Unreleased Masters Collection scours the International Artists vault for previously unreleased songs, alternate takes, rehearsals, and demos of songs that appeared on The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Easter Everywhere, and a couple of live cuts for good measure…

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton was Eric Clapton's first fully realized album as a blues guitarist – more than that, it was a seminal blues album of the 1960s, perhaps the best British blues album ever cut, and the best LP ever recorded by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Standing midway between Clapton's stint with the Yardbirds and the formation of Cream, this album featured the new guitar hero on a series of stripped-down blues standards, Mayall pieces, and one Mayall/Clapton composition, all of which had him stretching out in the idiom for the first time in the studio…

Chet Atkins' sleek, elegant guitar-playing almost single-handedly ushered in the so-called Nashville sound in the 1950s and 1960s, and in retrospect his perfect tone and easy grace on the guitar on his solo albums almost seem closer to smooth jazz than country. This set combines on a single disc two of his mid-'60s albums for RCA's Camden Records imprint, 1966's Music from Nashville, My Home Town and 1967's Chet Atkins, and the two outings fit together seamlessly into an impressive look at this amazing player…

One of the most ambitious debuts in rock history, Freak Out! was a seminal concept album that somehow foreshadowed both art rock and punk at the same time. Its four LP sides deconstruct rock conventions right and left, eventually pushing into territory inspired by avant-garde classical composers…

Dippin' is one of Hank Mobley's finer moments, even considering that his entire Blue Note catalog is masterful, particularly his 1960s dates that reveal the depth and dimension of his understanding of harmonic invention - all in the name of groove and swing, of course. This date, recorded on a single day in June of 1965, netted four Mobley originals as well as two covers. The band included trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Larry Ridley, and drummer Billy Higgins. The two-horn front line always served Mobley well. Here, with Morgan, the groove commences from the first notes of the title cut that opens the set. The short bluesy lines burst from the horns, and are turned inside out with elegant yet knotty lines that move the tune almost into pop territory but never venture far from the blues…

The group's second and, for all intents and purposes, last full album was recorded while Them was in a state of imminent collapse. To this day, nobody knows who played on the album, other than Van Morrison and bassist Alan Henderson, though it is probable that Jimmy Page was seldom very far away when Them was recording…

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton was Eric Clapton's first fully realized album as a blues guitarist – more than that, it was a seminal blues album of the 1960s, perhaps the best British blues album ever cut, and the best LP ever recorded by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers…

The McCoys' first two albums, Hang on Sloopy and You Make Me Feel So Good, were combined on one CD by Repertoire Records in the early '90s. 30 tracks, both of their first two LPs plus five rare bonus cuts salted with the hits Hang on Sloopy; Fever, and You Make Me Feel So Good. The most comprehensive retrospective of one of the great American '60's Pop bands.

Two very groovy records - back to back on a single CD! Gypsy 66 is one of Gabor Szabo's best records - a hip small combo session, featuring backup by Gary McFarland, Sadao Watanabe, Richard Davis, and Willie Rodriguez - an odd kind of lineup, but one that goes well with the offbeat grooves of the set! The overall sound has lots of touches of the McFarland Latinized rhythms of the time - but also stretches out with some of those great snakey guitar solos from Szabo - not nearly as extended or trippy here on other albums of the time, but in a really great way that makes for some tight, hip, mod little tracks!…