George Graham's Best of 1996 albums list.
Part 4 -- October-December 1996

This is a the list of albums featured during the multi-part Best of 1996 series presented during the last two weeks of the year on Mixed Bag, heard on WVIA-FM. These albums were selected by series host George Graham from the over The lists are arranged chronologically by month of release. The asterisk (*) indicated an recording featured on the Mixed Bag Weekly Album Review (Wednesdays at 9:00 PM). (#) indicates an instrumental album in the Mixed Bag list

Best of 1996, Part 1: January-March
Best of 1996, Part 2: April-June
Best of 1996, Part 3: July-September

Note: This is best if viewed on a browser with TABLES feature.

October
Madeline Peyroux Dreamland Atlantic 82916 Young French bred American singer harkens back to jazz age
Medicine Band Dangerous Kingdom Prime CD 023 Tasteful 60s-influenced folk-rock
Afro-Celt Sound System Volume 1 Sound Magic Realworld 2359 African+Celtic+hip-hop plus musical creativity
Rusted Root Remember Mercury 314534050 Nice new effort by young group that recall hippie days
Counting Crows Recovering the Satellites DGC 41109 Sophomore effort didn't sell as well as debut, but solid effort
* Donovan Sutras American 43075 Like he never left... Like sequel to Sunshine Superman
Iris Dement The Way I Should Warner Bros. 41689 Appealing country folk
various Christine Lavin Presents Laugh tracks Vol 1 & 2 Shanachie 8022, 8023 2 separate anthology CDs of humorous folk live
Van Morrison et al Tell Me Something Verve 314533203 Van keeps busy, this time with more of his own songs
various True Life Blues, The Songs of Bil Monroe Sugar Hill 2209 Nice anthology of bluegrass luminaries feting genre's father
The Civil Tones Rotisserie Twist # Pravda 6361 More fun twangy guitar instrumentals
Marti Jones My Long-Haired Life Sugar Hill 5503 Tuneful studio effort by pop songstress
Clarence Spady Nature of the Beast + Evidence 26080 National debut release by Scranton blues great
Gary Frenay Jigsaw Puzzle + Tangible 56807 Fine melodic, jangly guitar pop
* Dick's Hat Band Got the Whole Town Talkin' Vent 30004 Outstanding big blues band with horns
Exit 13 Wind on My Back FRC 0648 All-female bluegrass band with fine original material
Wyatt Rice & Santa Cruz Picture in a Tear Rounder 0372 Classy bluegrass & new Acoustic from Tony's brother
Lucky Dube Serious Reggae Business Shanachie 45029 Good reggae from S. Africa
Carl Perkins Go Cat Go! Dinosaur 640184508 Rock & roll pioneer in nice new set
Aztec Two-Step Highway Signs Prime CD 025 Another reprise of 70s group's earlier material in good live set
Michelle Shocked Kind Hearted Woman Private Music 100582145 Some dark, brooding songs from folk-rocker
Joe Cocker Organic 550 Music 67880 Woodstock singer's best in nearly 20 years -- great selection of material
* Susan McKeown & Chanting House Bones Prime CD 027 Great Celtic-rock mix, creative material
Darden Smith Deep Fantastic Blue Plump 6905 Nice new collection from respected Austin songwriter
Rob Spence Rhythm of the Universe + R.A.S. British-born regional singer-songwriter with melodic original songs
Brother Black Stone Tramp Rhubarb RR 03 Australian band does Celtic-rock w/ didgeridioo
Beatles Anthology 3 Apple 834451 Lots of interesting material, especially acoustic outtakes and demos
Kathy Kallick Call Me a Taxi Sugar Hill 3856 Fine bluegrass singer-songwriter
Paul DeLay Band Ocean of Tears Evidence 26079 Worthwhile electric blues

November
T.J. Kirk It Four Was One # Warner Bros. 45885 Creative, eclectic jazz-rock instrumentals
13th Floor Circus Under the Sky Very Independent 11312 Melodic Beatles-influenced pop
* Pierce Pettis Making Light of It Compass 74236 The best yet from this fine singer-songwriter in anyone's book of folkies to watch
Kula Shaker K Columbia Paisley psychedelic revival complete with sitars
Rees Shad Anderson, Ohio Sweetfish 0720600012 Good articulate folk singer with narrative bent
* Allen Toussaint Connected NYNO 9601 New Orleans songwriter & producer legend returns with excellent set of R&B
Barenaked Ladies Rock Spectacle Reprise 46393 Live CD by fun Canadian folk-erock group
* Värttinä Kokko Nonesuch 79429 Creative global sounds from Finland with Nordic influence
Stewart Copeland The Leopard Son # Ark 21 Mostly short, interesting instrumentals of film music by Police drummer
Amy Rigby Diary of a Mod Housewife Koch 7922 Interesting, fun alt. rock influenced singer-songwriter
Junior Wells Come On In This House Telarc 83395 All-star gathering with blues harmonica legend
David Wilcox The Nightshift Watchman Koch 7921 Reissue of this fine singer-songwriter's 1988 debut
The Outsidemen Band Overboard # Terra Nova 9012 Thoughly creative jazz-rock trio
* Steve James Art and Grit Discovery 74706 Acoustic blues with sound that harkens to 1930s and 40s.
Joni Mitchell Hits Reprise 46326 Nice collection, including first release of "Urge for Going"
Joni Mitchell Misses Reprise 46358 This was Joni's choice of songs -- interesrting mix
BoDeans Blend Slash/Reprise 46216 Wisconsin roots-rock duo returns with competent set

December
Carl Verheyen Slang Justice Mighty Tiger 6004 Rock guitar virtuoso in set ranging from blues to fusion
Terry Robb Stop This World Burnside 9925 Acoustic blues from John Fahey cohort
Jimmy Breaux Le Chemin que t'as Pris La Lousianne 1015 Fine traditional-style Cajun from Beausoleil member
Those Darn Accordions No Strings Attached Globe 017 Fun band mostly covering rock & roll classics with multi-accordions
The Mighty Reapers Trouble People Terra Nova 9014 First-rate Australian blues with horns
Boys of the Lough Midwinter Night's Dream Blix Street 10033 Good traditional & contemporary Celtic
various SKAndalous: I've Gotcha Covered Shanachie Fun collection of often wacky ska covers of old tunes
Africando Gombo Salsa Stearn's Africa 1071 Fascinating, enjoyable blend of S. American and African
The Seldom Scene Dream Scene Sugar Hill 3858 Great bluegrass
John Brown's Body All Time I-Town 001 Good reggae from Upstate New York

1996 Christmas Releases
Laurence Juber Winter Guitar # Solid Air 909 Nice acoustic guitar instrumentals
The Bobs Too Many Santas Rouder 9060 All-new, often wacky acapella songs of seasons
Nashville Mandolin Ensemble Gifts # Columbia Nice mandolin instrumentals of carols
various A Hometown Christmas II regional independent benefit CD Eclectic sampler of regional musicians
various Snow Angels Compass Mostly acoustic singer-songwriters for the holidays
Jimmy Buffett Christmas Island Margaritaville/MCA 11489 Xmas with the Coral Reefers
Pat Godwin Reindeer Games Ikon 364928159 Another collection of humorous songs for the holidays


(c) 1997 George D. Graham. All rights reseved.
This page may not be copied to another Web site without written permission.

Best of 1996, Part 1: January-March
Best of 1996, Part 2: April-June
Best of 1996, Part 3: July-September
The 1996 Graham Awards
Index of Weekly Album Reviews

Comments to George:
To George Graham's Home Page | What's New on This Web Site

This page last updated August 03, 2014