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If you are looking for an introduction to the Allman Brothers Band, you can't go wrong with The Allman Brothers Band Gold; two discs of studio material through the 1970's and some great live tracks. 

Duane Allman is best known for his work with the Allman Brothers Band followed by Derek and the Dominoes. Though, prior to forming the Allman Brothers Band, Duane performed session work and appears on numerous great records from the likes of Boz Scaggs, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, King Curtis to name just a few. 

Our Duane Allman page reviews The Duane Allman Anthology Vol. 1, and provides information on many of the albums that he appears on. 

Chet Atkins style of playing is not popular with the masses so he often gets overlooked, but his musical abilities are no doubt phenomenal and we consider him one of the best guitarist players. Atkins' largest influence came as a session musician and a record producer, and he is often credited with creating the Nashville sound. That's an incredible accomplishment. Chet's recording career is as impressive an anybody's.  A great overview is his two disc release from RCA records. 

Chet Atkins was influenced by Django Reinhardt. His earliest material makes it obvious. However, he didn't just copy the riffs and personnel line-up. Rather, he had his style to the guitar arrangements. As for personnel, with the Colorado Mountain Boys he used a fiddle player, but after that just on occasion. He also used accordion and lots of mandolin.

Chet Atkins, The Early Years 1946-1957, on the JSP label, covers quite a bit of material is very reasonably priced. The release made his previous set, Galloping Guitar: The Early Years, irrelevant as it includes all the material on that plus another 40 or so songs for much less money.

Their Anthology release includes all one would need in a Bad Company collection. It even includes a handful of key outtakes that are not available elsewhere. Notably several from their self-titled debut and Straight Shooter albums.  

The Band's Greatest Hits is an excellent low price introduction to their studio material. 

If you are a fan of Bob Dylan, you may want to pick up one or both of the Bob Dylan live albums where the Band back him.   

Jeff Beck offers a very good one disc compilation that highlights his solo career. The song selection can not be faulted, but the poor non-chronological sequence should be criminal. The live version of "Blue Wind" lacks some fidelity and the studio version would have been the wiser  choice.

Beck's more expansive three disc box set, Beckology, has lots of early material dating back to the Yardbirds and even earlier.  

In October 2006, The Jeff Beck's first two solo albums were reissued w/ bonus tracks - Truth , Beck-Ola.

This classic line-up included Rod Stewart, Nicky Hopkins, Ron Wood, within the personnel. I recently listened to Beck-Ola. I was expecting a little better sound, but the music is good, especially if you like Beck's guitar playing. While I enjoy this music a great deal, it is a Jeff Beck purchase. Rod Stewart is better in The Faces and his early career, Ron Wood is better in The Faces and The Rolling Stones, and Nicky Hopkins is better showcased with The Rolling Stones. Liner notes by Charles Shaar Murray include interview excerpts with Beck, credits, and photos.

We think the best way to collect Chuck Berry is through one of his compilations.  They have been so many that you can become dizzy considering your options. In 2007 there was a release entitled, Ultimate Chuck Berry, 56 songs. It runs neck and neck with Gold 50, songs, offering the best value. Note: Gold has the same songs as the Chess release Anthology, but is less expensive. Below we listed a single, double and triple disc release.  

Black Sabbath borders between the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal

For a casual fan, Black Sabbath's two-disc compilation Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 is a superb choice.

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Hard Rock

Eric Clapton short lived pairing with Steve Winwood in the super group Blind Faith has some great moments mixed in with good material. 

Clapton's long career has so many different facets, and we would rank the Blind Faith stint as  average. When we reach for Eric Clapton it is seldom to hear Blind Faith. For many listeners, if you have a few songs from a collection that is satisfactory. Picking up Clapton's box set Crossroads includes plenty of material from this period.  

Blind Faith: Deluxe is a two disc collection that includes the remastered original album loads of extra songs and jam sessions, for the serious collector. 

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Eric Clapton profile

Wow!!! Oh my!! (insert other exclamations as needed) But you're probably wondering "What the ---?", and rightly so: STAGE was a live album released in 1978, scoring no hits, and dismissed at the time in favor of DAVID LIVE, which had been released four years earlier and was better mixed & more focused in style.

And yet .... continued

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David Bowie

Buchanan's playing offers the guitar sustain that Carlos Santana mastered, the phasing of David Gilmour (particularly like he demonstrated on Animals), the natural blues flow of Stevie Ray Vaughan, all rolled into one. Perhaps most important or at a minimum impressive, is that Buchanan's playing is so unique and original.

There is a superb career retrospective entitled Sweet Dreams: The Anthology, which includes unreleased material, six live tracks (blistering), and an assortment of his best songs from his albums. 

Some of the best material from Sweet Dreams was previously unreleased such as "Dual Soliloquy," a twelve minute solo guitar piece recorded in 1972, and two live covers songs, "Hey Joe," and "C. C. Ryder." Buchanan's version of Joe Walsh's track "Turn to Stone" is very David Gilmour like.

Buchanan's compilation Deluxe Edition that covers material from his last three albums with Alligator records; Dancing on the Edge, Hot Wires, and When a Guitar Plays the Blues.

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Profile and discography
Instrumental