On the back cover of Captured Live!, Johnny Winter's second live album (following 1971's Live Johnny Winter And), Winter is pictured with his band (second guitarist Floyd Radford, bass player Randy Jo Hobbs, and drummer Richard Hughes) from the back, playing before a giant, open-air sports stadium full of fans. The photograph is not identified, leaving the impression, along with the large cheering heard on the LP itself, that Winter was headlining such a venue – but he couldn't have been, because he isn't that big a name. He must have been performing as part of a festival or opening for an act that can fill stadiums, like the Rolling Stones.

Tejas is the fifth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in late November 1976. The title is a Caddo language word meaning 'friends', which is the origin of the name of the band's home state, Texas. On Tejas, ZZ Top countrified the bluesy posture of their previous albums, resulting in a slight detour between the madcap spirit of Fandango and the psychedelic strut of Deguello. While the album lacks any singles as strong as "Tush" or "La Grange," "Arrested for Driving While Blind" is one of ZZ's classic anthems, capturing the group's wacky humor and jaunty good-time boogie. Other highlights include the driving "Enjoy and Get It On," "Avalon Hideaway," and the fine instrumental "Asleep in the Desert."

Respected musician and producer Rupert Hine has sold many millions of records, particularly for his work on several Tina Turner titles and with 80's band The Fixx. Quantum Jump was an attempt to mix jazz rock influences (Weather Report, Miles Davis) and early 70's funk (Kool And The Gang, Tower Of Power) with an English song writing sensibility. Originally released on the Electric label in 1976, it contains all 11 of the cuts that first appeared on it, plus five bonus tracks.

A band with a revolving cast fronted by Iraklis Triantafyllidis between 1972 and 1995, Iraklis played a blend of traditional Greek folk with psychedelic rock and classical aspects. They released 3 albums from 1976-1984, the most acclaimed being "Se Allous Kosmous", a double LP at the time, marked by ambitious blending of seemingly disparate styles and instruments that somehow works.

Hearts on Fire is Baker Gurvitz Army's third and last studio album, released in 1976. Baker Gurvitz Army were an English rock group. Their self-titled debut album featured a blend of hard rock laced with Ginger Baker's jazz- and Afrobeat-influenced drumming. The lengthy "Mad Jack" was that album's outstanding track, and the album hit the US Billboard 200 chart, and peaked at number 22 in the UK Albums Chart. The two following albums contained similar material, although neither charted in the UK nor the US.

Latte e Miele is an Italian progressive rock musical group. The group formed in 1971 in Genoa. In 1972 they realized their most famous work, the concept album Passio secundum Mattheum, with part of music inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach and recitatives from the Gospel of Matthew. After having opened the concerts of Van der Graaf Generator, in 1973 they released another concept album, Papillon, and disbanded in 1974. The group reformed in 1976, with only Alfio Vitanza from the original line-up, and with the name of the group spelled as "LatteMiele". After the album Aquile e scoiattoli, best known for its 23-minutes-suite "Pavana", they gradually abandoned the progressive style and approached pop-rock. After disbanding in the early 1980s, the original line-up reunited in 2008.

Just like Sade is the band fronted by singer Sade Adu, Luther was the band fronted by Luther Vandross. Unlike Sade, however, the recorded output of Luther has never made much of an impact. To be sure, Vandross's run as a solo artist starting in 1981 was massively successful, starting with the now-classic "Never Too Much." In the mid-'70s, however, he was a struggling singer possessed of incredible skill who had yet to find a breakout moment, despite making notable appearances on albums by Roberta Flack, Sister Sledge, Mandrill, and many others. The most renowned of his work as a backing vocalist was with David Bowie who, in seeking out soulful collaborators for Young Americans, found an iconic song ("Fascination" is a lightly rewritten version of Vandross's "Funky Music [Is A Part of Me]") and a fantastic voice. That song is reprised on this debut album from Vandross's short-lived group Luther, which was originally released in 1976 with a wildly incongruous cover that definitely made more than a few people think they were buying a heavy metal record. Luther featured some of Vandross's longtime collaborators (some of whom also appeared on Young Americans), and the performances are remarkable.

Blood, Sweat & Tears didn't get around to cutting an official live album until they were well past their prime years - in this case, 1975, long after every original member (and even most of their first-generation successors) except for drummer Bobby Colomby (a true founding member, going back to the Al Kooper lineup) and vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, was gone. But, as Clayton-Thomas was back for the accompanying album, New City, and was with the group on this tour, one supposes that Columbia Records decided to take advantage of its good fortune by taping several shows. For his part, the singer is more mannered and pretentious than ever on most of this album, his singing powerful enough but his instincts pushing him more toward loud, ultimately over-the-top soul strutting, lacking any hint of subtlety…

This material is quite excellent, often adventuresome and some of his best studio sides. Included here from 2/5/68 and never issued before is a brief "Nice Work If You Can Get It" with Garner singing along to himself - it's a wonderful gem of a private moment. Backup is Eddie Calhoun or Ike Isaacs on bass, Kelly Martin or Jimmie Smith on drums and Jose Mangual, congas.

La Düsseldorf is Klaus Dinger's side project after the scission of Neu! in 1975. In this musical adventure, Dinger is accompanied by Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe who also participated to the recording of the third and last Neu! The self titled album "La Dusseldorf" was released in 1976, venturing from avant-garde for concrete noises, manipulated sounds, pre-punk atmospheres. This album has a total disregard for musical convention, the musicians don't hesitate to mix without restriction a bunch of sounds taken from a great variety of musical styles (with pop accents, motoric "electronic" pulses, krautrock weird instrumentals and punk's eccentricity). After this original and diverse collection of experiments, the band recorded their second "Viva" in 1978…

Spacey electric work from guitarist Pat Martino - a record that seems to be as concerned with sound overall as it is with the jazz stylings of Martino's guitar - and we mean that in a good way! The older modes of Martino's 60s soul jazz work are very far gone by now - but in their place is a new sense of space and tone, one that makes him a completely different player altogether! A few cuts get hard and funky - pairing Martino with the fierce keyboard work of Gil Goldstein - while others are mellower and atmospheric, with lots of moody sounds floating along.

Boston is the debut studio album by American rock band Boston. The album's style, often referred to as the "Boston sound", was developed through Scholz's love of classical music, melodic hooks and guitar-heavy rock groups such as the Kinks and the Yardbirds. The album was released by Epic in August 1976 and sold extremely well, breaking sales records and becoming one of the best-selling debut albums of all time. Boston's style was appropriated by label executives and imitated by bands to create radio-friendly "corporate rock", the creation of which the band was also accused. The album's singles, most notably "More Than a Feeling" and "Long Time", were both AM and FM hits, and nearly the entire album receives constant rotation on classic rock radio. The album has been referred to as a landmark in 1970s rock and has been included on many lists of essential albums. The album has sold 17 million copies in the United States alone and 25 million worldwide.

The Isley Brothers came with love, funk and the too seldom mentioned socially consicous songs; this album is titled after one of those social gems. However, "Who Loves You Better," with its disco flair, was the album's first release. Ronald Isley's aggressive delivery blends nicely with Ernie Isley's tantalizing guitar solos. It was a top three single on the Billboard R&B charts. The title track is a tour de force. Preceded by a mellow intro in which Ronald Isley's earnest plea rings with urgency, the timeless lyric and festive rhythm make "Harvest for the World" a welcomed anthem for all the people of the world. It cracked the Billboard R&B top ten at number nine.

When We'll Be Together Again was recorded in 1976, a 31-year-old Pat Martino was four years away from being operated on for the brain aneurysm that would wipe out his memory. The Philadelphia guitarist was also very much at the height of his creative powers - a fact that's hard to miss on this excellent session. Forming an intimate duo with electric pianist Gil Goldstein, Martino is at his most introspective on sparse interpretations of the standards "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Willow Weep for Me" as well as Henry Mancini's "Dreamsville," J.J. Johnson's "Lament," and Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns." Martino's lyricism was never more personal than it is on this album.

Streetmark was founded 1968 in Düsseldorf, when Dorothea Raukes, who had studied Classical Music and played keyboards, met the Brothers Thomas and Bernd Schreiber, both guitarists. Dorothea and Thomas formed the nucleus of the band. In the beginning Streetmark played mainly covers of The Beatles, Jon Mayall and Deep Purple. In 1969 they refused a proposal for a record deal. In the following five years Streetmark developed their own style mainly based on the compositions of Dorothea and Thomas, influenced by Procol Harum, Focus and ELP. Finally in 1975 Streetmark recorded their debut record "Nordland" for Sky.
"Nordland" was a brillant debut record, the band had taken the time to play the compositions live and to work them out. ..