Ohio Players: Taste of Honey

(The) Ohio Players - Honey.  Honey is the third album (on Mercury records) by (The) Ohio Players, from 1975.  As with their previous records, this one was best known for its racey cover photo.   I took the photo shown at left, it is the full album cover, unfolded and of course, rotated 90 degrees to vertical.  The model was Playboy magazine's October 1974 Playmate of the Month, Ester Cordet.  The other thing this record is known for is the hit song Love Rollercoaster.  The song was covered by the Red Hot Chili peppers 1996.  OK, now you youngsters and little leaguers out there, don't look below.  It is another photo that I took of the inside of the cover - unfolded.  This is what is wrong with digital music today.  There are no visuals, artwork, or packaging to go along with the songs.

Grateful Dead: Shakedown Street

This is my only Grateful Dead album: Shakedown Street.  I take my Dead in small doses.  I do really like some of their songs.  Bertha (Los Lobos), Jack Straw (Bruce Hornsby, and a few others - becoming familiar with the Dead via an all-cover versions compilation CD called Deadicated.  Perhaps one of the great covers of all time is the Dead's take on "Good Lovin,'" on this record.  It was written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a number one hit single for The Young Rascals in 1966.  The album cover art for Shakedown Street was drawn by Gilbert Shelton, creator of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and other popular titles from the San Francisco underground comics scene.  This record was produced by the late, great Lowell George, of Little Feat, and also formerly of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.  Many would agree that one of the all-time great double live records is Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus.